Ask your average Kansan about Ole and Lena, and chances are the only response you’ll get is a blank stare: “Oleo what?”

But a mention of the comic Norwegian couple at Lawrence’s first Nordic Heritage Festival not only drew knowing smiles, but a few jokes as well.

Niel Johnson spelled Niel because “that’s the Scandinavian way” rattled off several at Sunday’s event, including one about Lena’s two-hour visit to the beauty parlor.

“And this is just for an estimate!” Ole tells his friend Sven.

“It’s kind of an insult to Lena,” said Johnson, who traveled to the festival from his home in Independence, Mo. “But she gets insulted all the time, doesn’t she?”

From jokes to food and music to embroidery, the festival at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds highlighted the best of cultures in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. And turnout was good, despite the perception that those of Nordic descent live only in Lindsborg or far north, in the woods of Minnesota.

Marilyn Meyers, who helped organize the event, said she had a list of 30 to 50 Norwegians who live in the Lawrence area, several of whom belong to the informal Norwegian Heritage Society, which sponsored the event.

Niel Johnson, Independence, Mo., left, Dave Olson, Lawrence, and his son Karl, 5, spread their Lefse crepes with butter, honey or brown sugar during the Nordic Heritage Festival at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds.

“We’re finding a bigger group than I ever imagined,” said Meyers, who started the group with a friend a little more than a year ago.

When Nordic people came to the United States, many wanted to assimilate into American culture, and the result was the loss of some languages and customs. said V.G. Johnson, Niel Johnson’s wife and a genealogy librarian in Independence, Mo.

“Now the interest is back,” she said. “There’s a saying that what the second generation wants to forget, the third generation wants to remember.”

The group is a chance to revive such interests and share them with others, Meyers said.

1 cup water3 cups whole milk1/2 cup margarine or butter1 cup cream2 tsp. salt4 cups potato flakes2 cups flourMix together water, milk, butter, cream and salt, and bring to a boil. Then add potato flakes. Mix well and cool three to four hours or overnight. Add flour after chilling. Roll and cook on hot grill. Eat with honey butter, brown sugar or syrup.

And it was clear the festival was only an extension of that goal.

In both traditional garb and bulky sweaters fastened with silver clasps, men, women and children feasted on leg of lamb, meatballs and Lefse on Sunday as they learned about Nordic culture.

Emily McDonald, 12, left, and Anna Cook, 12, both of Lawrence, make headdresses reminiscent of traditional Nordic costumes Sunday during the Nordic Heritage Festival at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds.

Others learned about Hardanger embroidery and rosemaling, a decorative style of painting that is unique to Norway.

And the highlight of the evening was a performance by Scandinavian dancers from Kansas City.

With his Swedish and Hardanger fiddles in tow, Lawrence performer Byron Wiley agreed the interest in Nordic culture was important.

“In our family it was not emphasized at all,” said Wiley, who is of Swedish descent. “I had to do a lot of digging … They just wanted to be American.”