I hope for this to be the last letter to you regarding our Viking statue. I want to take part of the responsibility for all the uproar because I am the person who put the pink apron — it was supposed to be a skirt but he’s just too big — on him.

The pink attire was not for Mother’s Day, as referenced by one letter, but for Girls Night Out on May 6.

Girls Night Out was created to help celebrate the start of the season in which merchants could once again, hopefully, look forward to the end of the belt-tightening of all the months following the brief holiday shopping season.

Last year, the Girls Night Out  planning committee decided to try to do something with the event that would truly benefit our beloved community. We took on the cause and needs of our local domestic violence program.

This year, we were very excited about the upcoming event and what we might be able to help do with the money we could raise. The women of Poulsbo and the downtown merchants, many of whom are women, want to help build Morrow Manor, a new domestic violence and counseling center. To do this, we are trying to find fun, upbeat ways of getting the word out.

During one of our planning meetings, it was suggested that we dress our wonderful Viking statue in Girls Night Out colors. With the go-ahead from our mayor’s office, Closet Transfer donated a beautiful dress, and it was altered for the Viking.

In no way did we mean disrespect to our proud symbol. For 59 years, from founding and post office establishment to the end of World War II, Poulsbo was a Norwegian town with most all residents speaking only their native tongue. For the last 70 years, Poulsbo has grown by leaps and bounds with an increasing number of ethnicities, languages and cultures. I believe we still have a great deal of pride in our city’s history, both lifelong residents as well as those who have “immigrated” here.

I understand the pride and desire for respect that Mr. Tweiten desires (“Don’t ‘deface’ the Norseman statue,” page A4, May 8 Herald). Sir, I say to you that it is there. We are a community made up of Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Californians, New Yorkers, Native Americans, African Americans, Hawaiians and more. We speak Norwegian, Spanish, Lushootseed, Hawaiian, Vietnamese and more. We celebrate Christian and pagan holidays, and our great microbreweries.

Even our mighty Viking statue shows pride in other cultures, with his German horns proudly — however erroneously — mounted on his helmet.

If you still feel resolute in your feelings with regard to the few days out of the year that he is lovingly adorned, please stop by my shop (Wide Mouth Frog) and let me know. The planning committee of Girls Night Out will find another way, hopefully as smile-inducing, to draw attention to our event and our communities’ need.

Pamela Bellesen
Poulsbo