DiAnn & Gary Svenson Stories

  Over the 4th of July in 2004, Gary and DiAnn took a special trip as VIP guests of the Welcome America Festival. They were able to visit the site of Gary's father Sverre's  immigration to the United States 102 years after Sverre, his brother Sig, and their parents, Karl and Nikolina entered the United States through the port of Philadelphia on July 2, 1902. The images above depict: Gary and DiAnn on a float in Philadelphia's 4th of July parade with Ben Franklin and other historical characters they truly enjoyed hanging out with. The photographer in that picture is from the Philadelphia Inquirer. If you look near the bottom left of the next image, you will see DiAnn from page B8 of the July 5, 2004 Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. Their friend, then Philadelphia Norwegian Consul General Erik Torp sent them the article.  Their VIP trip letter details special aspects of the trip they experienced including: VIP seating for the Philadelphia Liberty Medal presentation to then-pr

  If you're in the Decorah area, you are encouraged to pickup your own copy of today's Decorah Public Opinion which includes a wonderful front page story by Roz Weis about the recently-installed benches in memory of Gary & DiAnn Svenson at the Winneshiek County Fair.   When you pickup your copy, be sure to take in all the wonderful fair content as you plan to make the most of your 2022 Winneshiek County Fair! 

Recently, one year passed since DiAnn's passing.  In honor of that milestone and the summer heat, here is one of DiAnn's many recipes in her own handwriting that was a particular favorite during her in-home daycare days: Quick Energy Pickups. This one is both easy and tasty - no baking required.  The recipe reads as follows: 3-4 graham crackers  1 cup powdered sugar 1 cup crunchy peanut butter 1 cup mini chocolate chips 1/2 cup instant non-fat dry milk 3 T water - or more  Crush crackers very fine and set aside. Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly. Share into small balls and roll in the graham cracker crumbs. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes or until firm. I sometimes add approximately 1 more T water - they told together better + the crumbs stick together better. I think it depends on the peanut butter.