Non-Profit “Solvang Danish Days Foundation” Announces 2025 Danish Days Grand Marshals: Brenda and Mark Anderson
News Channel 3-12
Below is a press release from The Solvang Danish Days Foundation regarding the announcement of the 2025 Danish Grand Marshals, Brenda and Mark Anderson
SOLVANG, Calif. – The Solvang Danish Days Foundation is pleased to announce the 2025 Solvang Danish Days Grand Marshals, Brenda and Mark Anderson. The Andersons will preside over this year’s Danish Days weekend, Friday through Sunday, September 19 through 21.
Solvang Danish Days celebrates 88 returns in 2025, and Brenda Anderson’s family has been involved in the event since its 1936 beginnings, when the first Solvang Danish Days festival emerged in honor of the village’s 25th anniversary.
Brenda and Mark Anderson both have Scandinavian roots. Brenda’s great-grandfather on her grandmother’s side, Niels Peter Nielsen, known to Brenda as “Bedstefar,” was born in Fyn, Denmark. He emigrated to the United States in the late 1890s, settling in Iowa, where he met and married Brenda’s “Bedstemor” (great-grandmother), Marie Kristene Grau, in 1906. Grau’s parents were also from Denmark, as were Brenda’s great-grandparents on her grandfather’s side, who moved to the U.S. from the Jutland region of Denmark.
Grau and Nielsen moved to Askov, Minnesota, where they purchased property to start a farm. Upon their arrival in Askov, Brenda’s Bedstefar noticed there were many mailboxes with the last name “Nielsen,” so they decided to add “Nedegaard” to their surname. Together, the couple raised ten children, six daughters and four sons. All were baptized in Askov, and belonged to the Askov Lutheran Church. It was important to Brenda’s Bedstemor that all of the children learn the Danish language and Danish traditions.
In the late 1920s, seven of the children began migrating to Solvang due to its strong Danish community, all in search of work. Ivo (Martin) Jacobsen, Mabel (Hans) Petersen (Brenda’s grandparents), Irene (Aage) Madsen, Margaret (Sigurd) Lunde, Jack (Arla) Nedegaard, Lucille (Vic) Wulff, and Cora (Leland) Vandecar. Each and every one of them spent years participating in Danish Days, either setting up the festival, baking or serving Aebleskiver.
Once in California, Brenda’s grandmother, Mabel Nedegaard (Petersen), met and married her grandfather, Hans Petersen, in 1935, and together, they ran the local laundromat in “downtown” Solvang – just left of the current novelty shop located at 1604 Copenhagen Drive. In 1936, Brenda’s father, Howard Petersen, was born in Solvang. Howard Petersen graduated from Grand View College and returned to Solvang, where he met and married Brenda’s mother, Linda Petersen, who had moved to Solvang from Luck, Wisconsin, after graduating high school.
Brenda’s father was stationed at Air Force Bases in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Great Falls, Montana, and upon completing his military duties, he returned to Solvang to work as a mechanic until 1962, when he and his wife opened their own (Shell) gas station, formerly located on the corner of Mission Drive and Atterdag Road, where the Fredensborg Square commercial building stands today. Brenda’s father served in Solvang’s Volunteer Fire Department for 13 years before becoming Fire Chief, a title he held for 25 years.
Mark’s parents, Arlin and Lorraine Anderson, met and married in Minot, North Dakota. Mark was the oldest of seven children who were born in North Dakota and moved to Santa Maria, California, in 1964, eventually settling in Los Olivos in 1975. Mark’s Scandinavian roots stretch back to his great-grandparents on both his father’s and mother’s sides, who migrated from Norway.
Brenda’s first Solvang Danish Days experience was at the age of five, when her parents enrolled her in Viggo Tarnow’s gymnastics class. His classes performed every Danish Days on both Saturday and Sunday, and Brenda participated in this until her freshman year of high school. Brenda and her family also folk-danced with the Solvang Danish Family Folk Dancers, led by Andrew and Thora Mae Andersen, from the late 1960s until 1979.
In 1978, Brenda was chosen to be Danish Maid, of which she mused, “It was such an honor, and has turned out to be one of the highlights of my life.”
After high school, Mark, along with his best friend, Glen Jacobsen, started to participate in Danish Days by picking up and delivering the picnic tables that line Copenhagen Drive for the weekend’s Aebleskiver Breakfasts. The duo moved on to co-produce the Danish Days breakfasts for many years, making memories along the sugar-dusted way. Mark continued to help with setting up and breaking down the Breakfast infrastructure, and currently helps in the Breakfasts’ baking area.
Brenda’s and Mark’s sons, Jonathan and Justin, “always looked forward to Danish Days.” The children’s experiences began when they were big enough to put milk on the tables for breakfast, and now they both help with the set-up and tear-down of the festival’s booths, stages, and breakfast equipment. During the Breakfast hours, Jonathan is on quality control and delivery of Aebleskiver from the pans to the distribution tables, while Justin helps with logistics, so supplies and equipment get from one place to another when needed. Brenda’s brother, Kevin Petersen, has spent the last 43 years making sure the event’s bakers and cooks stay hydrated. Her brother-in-law, Peter Bandel, oversees the refrigeration van and delivers products when and where needed.
Brenda’s nieces, Kayla (2021 Danish Maid) and Krystal, help bake, and in recent years her daughter-in-law, Caitlin, and Caitlin’s mother, Susan, have also joined as part of the baking crew.
Brenda added, “It’s been a family tradition and a family holiday we hope continues for many years to come.”
After graduating from Allan Hancock College, Brenda briefly worked for a local CPA firm, then joined her family’s business, Petersen’s Service & Towing, until the business was sold in 2003. She has since been working in property management for RPL Management, based in Buellton.
Mark has recently retired, after working in the construction industry for 40 years. The couple now enjoys camping trips, getting together with family and friends, and watching their grandkids.
Brenda’s and Mark’s sons, Jonathan (wife Caitlin, and children Tatum and Olive), is an Engineer with Santa Barbara County Fire Department, and Justin (wife Maria, and daughter Keira), works for a private family in Montecito.
“It was truly an honor and such a rewarding experience to serve on the Danish Days Foundation Board alongside my father, Howard Petersen, as a founding member, and eventually, as a co-chair with Max Hanberg,” said 2025 Danish Days Grand Marshal, Brenda Anderson. “During my 27 years on the Board, I had the pleasure of assisting in the selection of each of the Danish Maids. This also included arranging for their dresses to be made and taking them around to the local Danish organizations to introduce them, talk about their Danish lineage in Solvang, their duties as Danish Maid, as well as selling ‘Win a Trip to Denmark’ tickets to help support the Foundation.”
Parading through Solvang with the 2025 Danish Days Grand Marshals will be the 2025 Danish Maid, Addie Madrid, the Solvang Village Band atop the Carlsberg Beer Wagon, a bevy of floats, equestrians, Village Dancers and more. The Danish Days Parade line-up starts at 1:30 PM on Saturday, September 20, on First Street near Molle Way. The parade begins by turning east on Copenhagen Drive, then north on Alisal Road, west on Mission Drive, south on Atterdag Road, east on Copenhagen, south on Second Street, and finishes through Molle Way (running behind Solvang Festival Theater) back to First Street. Participation in the Solvang Danish Days Parade is free and Parade applications are available at www.solvangdanishdays.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/DDS-Parade-app-2025.pdf.
Brenda continued, “We are forever grateful to have this honor of representing the Foundation as the Grand Marshals for 2025. We realize how important it is to stay committed so that Danish Days continues for many years to come. To the board and all of the hardworking volunteers, a huge THANK YOU! MANGE TAK!”
The preliminary 2025 Solvang Danish Days event weekend schedule is available on-line, at www.solvangdanishdays.org. Aebleskiver Breakfast tickets are available for advance, on-line purchase, here: https://solvang-danish-days-2025.eventbrite.com.
More information about Solvang Danish Days, including the event’s history and complete contact information, is also available at www.solvangdanishdays.org. Solvang Danish Days is on Facebook and Instagram at facebook.com/SolvangDanishDays and @DanishDays.
Solvang Danish Days 2025 is sponsored in part by the City of Solvang, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Visit the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County Office of Arts and Culture, County of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Bowl, Rio Vista Chevrolet, Danish Folk Costumes, Montecito Bank & Trust, Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital, CoastHills Credit Union, Mechanics Bank, the Red Viking Restaurant and Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery, Sun Coast Rentals, Waste Management, and Nielsen Building Materials. Additional sponsors will be announced during the event weekend.
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