POULSBO — The Poulsbo First Lutheran Church’s annual lutefisk dinner is Oct. 18, 11:40 a.m. to 4:20 p.m., in the  Christian Center next to the church, 4th Avenue and Hostmark Street, Poulsbo.

It’s an event that is rich in culture and tradition.

First, this year’s dinner is the 102nd annual.

Second, there’s the menu: Lutefisk served with melted butter or cream sauce, Norwegian meatballs and gravy, potatoes and lefse, dinner salad and fresh sliced tomatoes, krumkake and sherbet, and coffee, tea and/or milk.

As you read this, potatoes are being peeled and the lefse dough is being made, mixed, balled and rolled. If the dinner is like past events, volunteers will prepare about 2,000 lefse, 2,000 pounds of lutefisk, 650 pounds of potatoes, 325 pounds of meatballs and gravy, 100 pounds of cabbage, and three boxes of apples.

It’s easy to feel the immigrant history at the dinner. Norwegians began migrating to Poulsbo in the 1880s, attracted by land and marine resources similar to those in the land of their birth.

J.T. Norby was pastor of the church (it was Fjordeford Lutheran then) when the first lutefisk dinner was held in 1913. That dinner raised $26.80, roughly $628 in today’s dollars, enough for a new cookstove. The dinner became an annual event.

Norby’s daughter, Valborg “Volly” Grande of Tacoma, attended the 100th annual dinner in 2012. She called it “the best lutefisk dinner anyplace.”

Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for children younger than 12. Info: Email poulsbofirstlutheran.org or call 360-779-2622.

Stories about the 100th annual lutefisk dinner
— For the love of culture, and lutefisk | Kitsap Week 
— Annual lutefisk dinner was a cultural homecoming | Editor’s Notebook