Jen Brodal/MDN Ray Haas of Minot enjoys the lutefisk dinner held last Sunday at Oak Valley Lutheran Church in Velva.

VELVA — On the cusp of the holiday season and the wrap-up to the success of Norsk Hostfest in Minot, Oak Valley Lutheran Church held its 29th annual lutefisk, lefse and meatball dinner last Sunday.

Johnny Johnson, Oak Valley’s culinary host, streamlined the dinner and design to keep the tradition going. While the last few years Oak Valley Church participated in the mandatory pandemic break of public functions, Johnson said, folks still look forward to the dinner and enjoy it so they want to keep it going. A few Minot area churches that have previously held lutefisk dinners are not participating this year due to just not having an interest to get back into it after the pandemic break. On the other hand, St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Minot is offering a full roast beef and mashed potato dinner on Oct. 30 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. There are also a number of pancake breakfasts this fall as well as bazaars, bake sales and craft shows. Johnson said it is quite a bit of work to put on the dinners and while it has gotten easier for Oak Valley to cook the 500-plus pounds of lutefisk, 300-plus pounds of potatoes and rolling out 100 pounds of meatballs, the crew is smaller and the volunteers are few. In years before the pandemic, Oak Valley would have numbers in the 500s for attendance. That number is down to the 300s this year, and while the older folks enjoy the lutefisk, the younger generations are less enthused.

Johnson said the majority of volunteers this year were Oak Valley confirmation kids as young as third grade. He said, “Sadly, we have probably lost many of the folks that were our major contributors.” Johnson said they have tried different things through the years, such as outsourcing the lefse making to companies such as Granrud’s Lefse in Montana and Mike’s Lefse in Minnesota. “I can remember when they would have a big crew of guys rolling out the lefse three to five weeks before the dinner, and would learn so much from the guys with perfect-circled lefse coming off the griddle and mine would look like the state of Georgia,” Johnson said. Oak Valley is back to using its signature glass plates and dishes, with the time-honored tradition of a sit-down, served meal that gets passed around the table.