The Norwegian flag ascends the pole during a flag raising ceremony at the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Saturday, June 16.

Skip Hauke doesn’t sing in Norwegian – in fact, he barely sings in English.

But as part of a family with deep roots in Astoria, he is connected with a group of men who started the Norwegian chorus movement on the Pacific Coast.

His great uncle, E.B. Hauke, was the first president of the Astoria Song Association, a group of about 30 men who got together in the early 1900s to sing in Norwegian. In later years, Adolf, Alfred and Paul Hauke were members, too.

The Astoria Norwegian chorus hasn’t performed since the 1930s, but the movement lives on in the Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers Association.

If any Astoria chorus singers or their relatives are still around, they’ll be added to the list of special guests when PCNSA holds its annual Sangerfest, or song festival, in Astoria Thursday through Sunday, June 21 to 24.

In 1906, there were eight Norwegian male choruses in the Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers Association, according to Alf Lunder Knudsen, editor of Norwegian American Weekly and a former chorus director. Early groups were based in Astoria, Barlow and Portland and Washington’s Ballard, Everett, Seattle, Silvana and Tacoma.

The singing groups sprang up across America to continue a time-honored tradition in the old country that unified Norwegian voices after Norway merged with Sweden in 1814. As Norway struggled to declare its independence from Sweden, which it finally did in 1905, the patriotic songs of male choruses took on heightened significance.

Knudsen, who directed the Seattle Norwegian Chorus for many years, said the choruses are kept alive today by “a bunch of old stubborn Norwegians.”

It’s been 100 years since Astoria hosted its first Sangerfest. The association later returned to Astoria for festivals in 1921 and 1929.

Today, there are 12 all-male choruses on the West Coast that still perform in Norwegian, though they also sing songs in English. The singers convene annually in a host city to socialize and celebrate Norwegian heritage in an event that culminates in the Gala Grand Concert, featuring patriotic songs and other folk music.

Members of the Astoria Singing Society posed for this photo. It is from the 1904 Sangerfest program. Photo courtesy Ed Crosby, Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers Association.Of the 130 singers expected in Astoria this weekend, around 30 are from choruses in Eugene and Salem, both of which were formed after Astoria’s group disbanded.

Claire Egtvedt is one of the “stubborn” Norwegians working to keep the tradition alive. He lived in Astoria from 1959 to 1980 while working for Bumblebee Foods and will perform this weekend in the Sangerfest with other members of his chorus from Everett, Wash. At a Scandinavian Festival booth last weekend, Egtvedt sought out descendents and family members of former Astoria singers. His list of local people with connections to the historic Astoria Song Association includes the Bue, Hauke, Hucklestein, Soderberg and Thorsness families.

Miss Norway Janessa Gramson, right, of Warrenton, and Junior Miss Norway Anna Gimre, of Astoria, model Norwegian clothing during the Parade of Native Costumes at the 2007 Scandinavian Midsummer Festival.”We’re looking for families of former singers and relatives of those early pioneers because we want to recognize them and dedicate our concert to those early singers,” said Egtvedt. Anyone who has a connection to a singer from days gone by should notify organizers at the concert this weekend.

Pete Butler, director of the Norwegian chorus in Salem and organizer of this year’s Sangerfest, is one of the earliest members of the 28-member group, which has been performing formally since 1978. He said his chorus has stayed together because members enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie of the gatherings, as well as the songs, many of which “reflect back on home country and Norway being the land of ice and rocks and glaciers and shores.”

Gregg Hilliard, of Portland, has been adjusting his Viking costume for more than seven years while attending Scandinavian festivals around the Pacific Northwest.Most of the songs date back to the early 19th century, he said. “No one has written anything new. The newest songs from the old country are from the 1920s.”

Butler is actually Irish by heritage, but he married into a Norwegian family, offering proof that “you don’t have to be Norwegian to sing in the chorus or to enjoy the music.”

“Lærken” [the name of the chorus] in Astoria was established Dec. 11, 1904. Among the “veterans” is the name E. Hauke. He is the one – so they say – that it’s all about when people talk about the Astoria Song Association. He is the one, who in thought and deed has worked and still works in the service of song … He is the center. Singers emulate him and look up to him as the leader he is.

– Excerpt from “Pacifikkystens Norske Sangerforbund” by Ph. F. Hamann, courtesy Clatsop County Historical Society. Special thanks to Gladys Dyer and Jorgen Madsen for help with English translation.

E. Hauke, ancestor of Astoria resident Skip Hauke, is lauded as a sterling member of ‘Lærken,’ the Norwegian chorus that was active in Astoria in the early 20th century. Photo courtesy Clatsop County Historical Society.Ja, vi elsker dette landet

(“Yes, we love this country”)

National anthem of Norway

Lyrics by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Music by Rikard Nordraak

Yes, we love with fond devotion

This our land that looms

Rugged, storm-scarred o’er the ocean

With her thousand homes.

Love her, in our love recalling

Those who gave us birth.

And old tales which night, in falling,

Brings as dreams to earth.

English translation from en.wikipedia.org