In the St. Olaf church kitchen Monday, there was a swarm of women baking pies for their upcoming Scandinavian Festival. This annual event is scheduled for Thursday and will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Many people are involved with planning, cooking and baking Scandinavian food, which will be offered throughout the day.

"Today we are baking pies," said Pat Radford, one of the kitchen leaders. "We had a lefse making day, and we will be making Scandinavian baked goods such as fattigmans kaker, rosettes, sand bakelser and krummkake.

And tomorrow we're making donuts."

Anyone who does not know what all the above means should visit the Festival and find out. Those who know about and have tasted those morsels know it's worth coming back for more. There will also be three kinds of sandwiches served with chips. The prices start at $1.50.

There will also be a bazaar, which is an old Scandinavian church tradition. Norwegian-imported items, such as jewelry, will be for sale and there will also be a used-a-bit sale. All proceeds go to WELCA, an association of Lutheran women universally noted for extending Christian goodwill.

The kitchen patrol, led by Marily Reuter, Marilyn Brehmer and Radford, seemed to have coordinated a good group of people to work with. Smiling and chatting, they skillfully dodged each other as they moved about, each one tending to her particular job in the process.

"You all come -- tell everybody to come and see us!" Radford exclaimed, and all the ladies stopped momentarily to smile and nod in agreement -- it's a worthwhile cause, it's tasty and it's downright fun.

Nini Johnson can be reached at newsroom@austindailyherald.com