Fargo Dedicates Street in Front of City Hall to Hamar, Norway

The mayor of Hamar, Norway, Einar Busterud, was visiting Fargo, North Dakota the week of June 22, 2007. In honor of more than 30 years of mayoral visits, the street in front of Fargo's City Hall was designated Hamar Drive.

Fargo's city commission voted Monday night to dedicate the block, and by Friday morning everything was in place. In an informal ceremony held at 11:45 June 22nd on the corner of First Avenue North and Third Street, Fargo's mayor Dennis Walaker officially dedicated the street.

A new sign had been installed on the existing poles at either end of the block. A small crowd of city employees and media attended at the presentation.

Mayor Walaker outlined his morning's activities with Mayor Busterud and Hamar's City Manager Svein Skaaraas and joked that everywhere the group went they were offered Norwegian food. He suggested that their lunch plans involved finding "burgers."

Walaker noted that this was the fourth time that Busterud had visited Fargo. Hamar, with a population of about 30,000, has been one of Fargo's sister cities since 1974. The other, shared with Moorhead, Minnesota since 1987, is Vimmerby, Sweden, population 6,000.

The street was dedicated rather than renamed in order to save the expense and confusion involved in reprinting all of the city's brochures, bills, and letterhead. No mention was made of dedicating any of Fargo's other city blocks, nor of Hamar similarly honoring Fargo. The dedication lasted about 10 minutes.