Lisa André | July 3, 2024
2024 Danish Days Maid Kaeley Reid, 16, will preside over the 87th annual Solvang festival as a tribute to her grandparents and Danish roots.
{Photo Credit: Mike Mesikep}
Kaeley Reid will carry the torch of tradition for her family — and town — as the presiding maid in this year’s 87th annual Solvang Danish Days festival in September.
Reid, 16, comes from a line of local royalty as the granddaughter of originating Danish Days Foundation board member Hans “Farfar” Birkholm (1946-2019) and daughter of Karine Birkholm-Reid, 1998 Danish Days Maid.
“Having the honor of being this year’s Danish Days Maid means the world to me,” said Reid. “I would love to carry on the family tradition and follow in my mom’s footsteps. My parents have always encouraged me to follow my dreams, and this is a big one.”
Reid is no stranger to the event, having participated since she was just nine months old alongside members of her family who carried out a number of duties to support the festivities for decades.
Birkholm and his wife — Reid’s late grandmother — Denise “Nisie” Birkholm (1951-2018), are considered instrumental in the history of the organization, having aided in the growth of Solvang Danish Days over the years.
Early memories treasured by Reid include the Danish Days dresses she would wear, all of which were handmade by her grandmother Nisie. Reid said she would proudly don these special dresses, particularly during the Friday evening Torchlight Parade where she would be perched upon the Viking ship float.
On Saturday and Sunday mornings of the festival weekend, Reid recalled how she would help her grandfather Farfar and her father, Peter Reid, in the breakfast tents, learning how to make the the perfect aebleskiver. It was all hands on deck, with members of the family carried out numerous duties to ensure the festival’s success.
“Once we were done with breakfast duties, I would gather with all of the event workers for lunch in the Solvang Festival Theater garden, and dance with my friends before getting to participate in the Danish Days Parade on my Farfar’s golf cart,” the 2024 Danish Maid recalled, adding that on Sundays, she would walk in the Children’s Parade, “tossing candy from the back of a cart that was usually driven by my mother.”
Honoring the family’s Danish roots has always been important to her mother, Reid said, insomuch that her mother, after graduating from high school, moved to Denmark for a year to attend a Danish folk school in Helsingør, a coastal town north of Copenhagen, where her father was born and raised before moving to Solvang with his family in 1957.
Following in the footsteps of both her mother and Farfar, Reid also attended Solvang Elementary School and currently is a student at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. The honors student will begin her junior year in the fall and continue as a Pirates cheerleader.
The spirit of Reid’s Nisie also lives on.
Reid’s Danish maid dress follows her grandmother’s style of dress-making which is inspired by her mother’s 1998 maid’s dress.
Helping make that a reality, Solvang local Roberta Skidmore designed and crafted Reid’s dress. The dress is composed of a blue skirt — a nod to the blue found in the Scottish flag, in honor of her father who moved to the U.S. from Scotland at the age of 17 — and a red bodice, fashioned after the red in the Danish flag.
The teen also noted that the dress includes fabric swatches from Nisie’s and Farfar’s Danish costumes that have been sewn onto the inside of the dress.
“I am happy to give back to the community I hold so dear, and most importantly, I will be honoring the memory of my grandparents, who left me too soon,” said Reid. “I know they will be smiling down on me.”
Danish Days schedule
The 87th annual Solvang Danish Days festival, which celebrates the city’s founding Danish roots in 1911, will take place Friday through Sunday, September 20-22 and feature authentic food, music, dancing, parades, live entertainment, and family activities.
For more information about Solvang Danish Days weekend schedule and details, parade applications and contact information, visit www.SolvangDanishDays.org.
Aebleskiver Breakfast tickets and “Dane For A Day” ticket bundles for the 2024 event weekend are on sale at solvang-danish-days-2024.eventbrite.com.
Leading up to the weekend the Danish Maid will sell “Win a Trip to Denmark” opportunity drawing tickets at the weekly Solvang Farmers Market (Wednesdays) and will make appearances at the Danish Brotherhood, the Danish Sisterhood, the Vikings of Solvang and at Valley Rotary Club meetings to discuss the upcoming events and represent her Danish lineage.
The Danish maid will also be available for media appearances.
Read the original article, here: syvnews.com/news/local/kaeley-reid-honors-family-tradition-as-2024-solvang-danish-days-maid/article_73d8fa8e-8bc6-55ad-8a89-34860d1a35ca.html
