Famous

Emma is now famous.  Okay, not really, but her picture was in the local newspaper this past week.  The story wasn't about her, but about her school class.  Actually it was about a lady who came to visit her school class.  But who cares!  Emma thought it was cool having her picture in the paper, no matter what the story was about.  Here is the picture and the article.  (FYI - I've left out her school name and the last names of the other kids mentioned).  Emma told me that the other kid in the picture was trying to have his troll kiss Emma, hence her face.  He wasn't simply showing it to her as the caption indicates.


First-graders find Norwegian trolls fascinating

Jordynn shows his troll puppet to classmate Emma Meadows, whose fingers are covered with black hair from making her own puppet during a presentation about the creatures to Jill Jensen's first-grade class Tuesday morning.

Troll fur was flying in Jill Jensen’s first-grade classroom on Tuesday morning, as students explored the history of the mischievous Norwegian creature.

As the sun streamed in the windows, Sons of Norway Hafrsfjord Lodge member Gerry Lachman, 79, sat in a small chair and read “The Little Troll” to a rapt group of 26 children.  Lachman has been sharing her love of Norway and trolls with children for years, first at Southport and Somers schools.

“Trolls are so ugly, they’re interesting,” Lachman said. “The children love to hear stories about something unusual.”

Trolls, Lachman and fellow Norwegian Celia Walther said, can be found in forests, trees, mountains, and under bridges; can have more than one head, which makes them loud and fierce; can be thousands of years old; and have all kinds of unlikeable traits (stinginess, ignorance, clumsiness, and sneakiness). The message resonated with the kids.

“Trolls live in tree trunks and under bridges,” James, 7, said.

“I would be scrunched up if I lived in a tree,” said Madison, 7.

“They don’t like sun and they don’t like people,” Bailey, 7, said. “They are very weird.”

Madeline, 7, knew just what to do to get rid of one: “I would get it into the sun because they turn to stone.”

The children wrapped up their morning by making troll puppets with fake fur.  Some of the kids used their safety scissors to give their trolls haircuts and ended up with glue and fur stuck to their fingers — looking a little like trolls themselves.

Jensen is the secretary of the Sons of Norway Hafrsfjord Lodge, and has Lachman and Walther give annual presentations on Vikings, Norwegian Christmas traditions, and “Syttende Mai,” the patriotic 17th of May “Constitution Day” celebration.  For Tuesday’s visit, Lachman came bearing more than just stories — she also brought sandbakkel, which are Norwegian shortbread cookies baked inside individual tins.  The finished result looks like a small pie shell with no filling.

Walther, who was named the K----- News 2011 Person of the Year, beamed at the children as she and Lachman waved goodbye.

“I just love being here,” she said.