Wendy Harper/MDN Dag Larsson and his wife, Ann Kristin Larsson, stand by Sondre Norheim’s grave after laying wreaths during a bicentennial service Tuesday, Sept. 23, near Denbigh.

DENBIGH — The cemetery outside Denbigh was quiet Tuesday morning except for the sounds of a Nordic trumpet and the soft shuffle of feet on grass, as descendants, dignitaries and community members gathered to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sondre Norheim, the Norwegian immigrant often called the “father of modern skiing.”

Norheim, born June 10, 1825, in Morgedal, Telemark, Norway, immigrated to the United States in 1884 with his wife and five of their six children. After a brief stay in Minnesota, the family settled near Denbigh, where Norheim died in 1897. He was buried at Norway Lutheran Cemetery w

See Full Page