Ancient Order of the Deep: Lutefisk Eaters

When my wife and I moved to North Dakota we lived among a lot of Norwegians, a new experience for us. We'd never heard of lutefisk...and certainly never eaten it. We learned a lot about "lutefisk and meatball dinners" and other Norwegian traditions. Not realizing the large geographic spread of Norwegian culture in our own country we were amazed when we moved to Libby, Montana, then Chinook, and also found lutefisk eaters in those places.

A recent surprise in Chinook was to learn that back in the 1950's to late 1970's Chinook had its own 'official' group of lutefisk eaters, the Ancient Order of the Deep. Apparently the brainchild of Blondie Austad, a famed connoisseur of eating and cooking lutefisk. The group of ten men met three to four times each year to enjoy a lutefisk dinner. Austad owned the old Bar X and cooked lutefisk dinners for public gatherings as well.

I only learned of this group recently when Russ Skones, a fellow coffee drinker at the Chinook senior center, opened his wallet and showed me an official membership card (see photo with story) for the Ancient Order of the Deep noting, "I bet you've never seen one of these before." The card was signed by Alfred (Blondie) Austad who was titled "Ruler of the Norsemen."

Regular readers know I'm a sucker for a story about local history and this one seemed destined for me to explore. Here's some of what I learned about this noble group of "Lutefisk Eaters." And I'm hoping alert readers might be able to fill in some of the gaps in the story.

Ancient Order of the Deep likely started shortly after WWII

According to Russ Skones' best recollections, the Ancient Order of the Deep began in the early 1950's after some of the original members of the Ancient Order came home from World War II. Russ wrote out a list of ten men he believed were the last members before the group went dormant sometime in the late 1970's.

Here's his list of the last Lutefisk Eaters as Russ recalled them: Peg Kuhr; Gay Fauld; Art Dronen; Ronnie Swenson; John La Plante; Russell Unruh; E.L. Luckett; Marvin Edwards; Russ Skones and Blondie Austad, the latter the group's founder. For a new member to join the group an existing member would nominate a prospect and the existing members would vote to accept or reject the nominee. Russ said he is "pretty sure" Marvin Edwards was the last new member of the group and "the turnover in membership over the years was minimal."

Members paid dues that were used for food and expenses incurred for the dinners. One dinner a year would be "Ladies' Night" when wives and/or special friends would attend the lutefisk dinner. Cherie Edwards, Marvin's wife, said she recalled the annual event but added, "I was never a big fan of lutefisk and don't remember too much about the meal or the evening." Russ said for Ladies Night members dressed up, coat and tie, and the women all received flowers as part of the evening.

Lutefisk was the main event for each club dinner

E. L. Luckett, the other living former member of the Ancient Order, said he remembered one dinner was hosted at the American Lutheran church in Chinook and Agnes Elang did the cooking. E.L. recalls the club then began meeting at the dining area of the Past Time Bar. There's some discrepancy in memory here as Russ recalls the dinners the last few years were all at the Grill Café on the corner of Indiana Street and 3rd Street West, adjacent to the current Mint Bar. Where the group regularly met is one aspect area of the story that might need some clarification if anyone can provide more information.

Olive Lundeen, Karen Pike's mother, was the cook for the group for many years. Of the Ancient Order Karen said, "I don't remember much talk about the group at home. I recall Lucille Nash would sometimes help mom. I didn't like to eat lutefisk and even hated to wash the slick dishes after a meal of it." Interestingly while lutefisk was the featured dish, it appears some members were not big fans of lutefisk so meatballs were also available." E.L. Luckett said of the group, "About ninety nine percent were serious lutefisk eaters."

One tidbit provided by Russ Skones required a bit of international research for clarification. "Before the meal," he explained, "Blondie would stand and repeat this sentence in Norwegian, kind of a call to order: "Takk skal du ha, takk skal du ha, brennevin, lefse and lutefisk. Ya! Ya!" That translates as "Thank you, thank you for 'burning wine,' lefse and lutefisk, ya, ya!"

At first Russ could not remember the exact pronunciation of the word meaning 'burning wine.' Peggy Perry and Ada Brekke reached out to sources respectively in Denmark and Norway to help identify and translate the mystery word referring to an alcoholic drink in Blondie's call to order. Brennevin refers to Aquavit, the favorite alcoholic drink in Norway. Aquavit is derived from potatoes and grain and is traditionally consumed during celebrations during holidays and at weddings. Variations of the drink are popular in virtually every Scandinavian country.

Families recall the members of the Ancient Order

Art Dronen and Blondie Austad roomed together in the dressing rooms in Chinook's old Opera House (above what is now Treasure Island Title Company on Indiana Street) after returning from the war. They were very good friends and both loved lutefisk. Art's daughter, Debbie Pula, said she never heard her dad talk about the club but added, "He was well known as a lutefisk cooker."

Blondie's nephew, Ronnie Swenson, Jr. said, "Blondie loved lutefisk. He would buy two barrels a year and cook it for public meals at the Bar X as well as for the gatherings of the Ancient Order of the Deep." Ronnie's father, Ronnie, Sr., was a member of the Ancient Order but young Ronnie recalled, "If he talked about the club we kids were too young to get it."

Jim Bilger's father-in-law Gay Fauld was a member of the Ancient Order. Jim laughed as he told, "I knew Gay was in some sort of lutefisk eater's club but he never talked about it. However, the first time I was invited to dinner at my future wife's house they had lutefisk, which I'd never eaten and after tasting did not like. The family kept saying, "Add more butter" but that didn't help either."

To a person most all the children or relatives of the members of the club I spoke with knew nothing of the club or had heard only snippets about the group. Whether the fathers were secretive about the Ancient Order, the kids were too young to understand about the club or the youngsters had no interest is uncertain.

The memory of the Ancient Order of the Deep is becoming dimmer and dimmer. One thing I really wish I could find is a photograph from one of the group's gatherings. That would be special-a copy could run in the newspaper and a copy could be preserved at the county museum. If you have information about the Ancient Order of the Deep or a photo you would share, please contact me or leave a message for me at the "Blaine County Journal." Meanwhile,"Til vi møtes igjen." (That's Norwegian for "Till we meet again.")