A TOWN’S 700th BIRTHDAY.
A TOWN’S 700TH BIRTHDAY. Chris Weisfelder has been sending me charming descriptions of her days in Sweden, where she spends part of each summer. There was a big celebration of Midsummar –Midsummer Night (Chris notes the theory that summer was once thought to begin on May 1 with the solstice marking the height of summer, which, after all, it does in terms of light.) The banquet she described was tempting, especially the different kinds of herring, including herring with beets. I remember fondly the smorgasbord at the old Copenhagen restaurant in New York with seven different herring dishes followed by desserts with bowls of whipped cream. Chris and her neighbors also celebrated the 700th birthday of the nearby town of Halmstad. Halmstad received the rights of a city from the Danish king (it was then part of Denmark) on May 31, 1307. The event was celebrated all day long with festivities and when it got dark—beginning at eleven p.m.—with fireworks and a light show.