By Mel Stegner, news@pctribune.com 

Starbuck has many people dedicated to preserving its history, evidenced by several organizations including the Starbuck Depot Society. One piece of history that is known the world over is Starbuck’s claim to fame, the world’s largest lefse. 

Starbuck’s nine foot, eight inch lefse has held the record since 1983, and sparked the creation of the Starbuck Depot Society. They were called the “Boys of Starbuck,” the record breaking lefse-makers. The creation of the feat drew quite the crowd, including Gary Legwold, The Lefse King. Legwold published a book about his lefse adventures and features an entire chapter on the Starbuck feat.

With the celebration of Lefse Dagen, coming up this Saturday, May 21, the depot society will hold the grand opening of the Lefse Hall of Fame. The hall of fame includes stories and photos of numerous locals and their lefse-making traditions. Legwold will be in attendance for the grand opening. 

Lefse Dagen is a time for people to gather, learn to make lefse, eat lefse and celebrate lefse. This year’s celebration is guaranteed to include some great storytelling. The event begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Starbuck Depot. 

There have been many stories, photos and traditions already shared to feature at the Lefse Hall of Fame inside the depot. For many, lefse-making is a family affair featuring a lot of what Scandinavians do best – jabber and eat! 

Melody Jackson Sletten is sharing her family’s traditions in the Lefse Hall of Fame. “From a very young age I started my kids as lefse burners, then onto rolling and then buying their own grills and sticks. I use my Grandma Hanson’s recipe and continue to feel her presence when we make lefse,” said Melody.

Marlys Hanson Jackson took the risk of sharing her secret lefse recipe to the hall of fame along with her memories. She is considered the “Queen of Lefse,” creating some of the softest, thinnest, ROUNDEST (the hardest part in this writer’s opinion) and most delicious lefse in the area. 

There are many stories shared for the hall of fame, including the way people around the United States eat lefse. The Peter Baukol family shared their New York grandkids’ preference of Nutella, bananas and chocolate chips on their lefse. 

The Ada and Julian Pederson family shared their process in a short story. “A bunch oof the daughters and daughter-in-laws decided to teach the men how to make lefse. Our sister-in-law Joyce was fighting leukemia, but made sure to let us know we needed some wine to help us stay calm. We could all hear our mother saying “ishda” and “uffda” as the boys rolled and fried the lefse, but knew she would be smiling with pride that they were learning,” said Ada.

Over the years, the Ada and Julian Pederson family have come to be known as the “Holy Rollers” by many of the Starbuck Depot Society members because of their help with lefse-making demonstrations. 

The traditions of the Scandinavian family have been kept alive during the Lefse Dagen celebration and through the Lefse Hall of Fame will be kept alive for many years to come. And go figure, in typical Scandinavian fashion, it’s the stories about food that last!