| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
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| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
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Parties, receptions to feature VIPs, exotic foods
Many countries will be honored at galas during Olympics
By Elaine Jarvik
Deseret News staff writer
The Russian caviar is on its way. So is a 30-by-15-foot Icelandic flag. And Chaopin Meng is getting ready to carve scores of tiny Chinese dragons out of carrots and celery.
With the world arriving by the plane full, Utahns with foreign ties are finalizing plans for parties and celebrations to honor visiting dignitaries, corporate sponsors — and, oh yes, athletes — from more than 75 countries.
The Japanese-American Citizens League is planning a cultural booth featuring origami and sushi. The Utah Icelandic Association is coordinating the arrival of vinatarta and other traditional Icelandic desserts. In Midway, settled by Swiss immigrants, the town is flying a couple hundred Swiss flags.
There will be dinners and receptions and banquets and performances, most of them organized by the Olympic committees of the visiting countries, but some planned by Utahns. The Asian Association of Utah is sponsoring a "Chinese New Year at the Olympics" celebration that will feature Chinese acrobats, dragon dancing and demonstrations such as vegetable carving and paper cutting.
Some of the events — the Chinese New Year and a reception at the Swiss "country house" at Bon Appetite bistro— are open to the public. Most, however, are by invitation only, including the more upscale dinner honoring Swiss dignitaries, to be held at the Salt Lake Country Club Feb. 21.
Visiting VIPs include the king and queen of Sweden, who will arrive Feb. 15 for a 10-day stay. A reception in their honor on Feb. 19 will include imported herring and Icelandic caviar, according to Kim Eklund of Absolute restaurant.
Absolute and the next-door Dijon Provencal Bistro are also home to the official Austrian House, site of an embassy dinner Feb. 7. Austrian-born Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wolfgang Puck are on the guest list.
The king of Norway is also scheduled to be in town for the Olympics, as is the president of Finland. Guest lists also include lots of ministers of sports and culture, plus consul generals and a sprinkling of ambassadors.
If the men's Russian hockey team makes it to the finals, rumors are that maybe even President Vladimir Putin would make an appearance, says Rusty Butler, honorary consul for the Russian Federation.
South Africa, with only one athlete and one visiting VIP (the consul general), has no special events planned. Iceland, on the other hand — with "the largest Olympic team per capita," as honorary consul Brent Haymond notes — will host a dinner and two receptions. The Icelandic Olympic Committee is importing a 30-by-15-foot Icelandic flag to fly over Iceland House, located in a building now owned by Icelandic-American Eric Olafson.
An estimated 20,000 Utahns are descendants of the 410 immigrants who left Iceland in the mid-1850s to settle in Spanish Fork, the first Icelandic settlement outside the north Atlantic country. Olympic receptions at Iceland House and in Springville will feature smoked fish, dried meat and desserts flown in from Iceland, as well as traditional desserts made by Icelandic Canadians, including Olafson's mother.
Niels Valentiner, Utah's honorary consul for Denmark, has arranged for his Sandy neighborhood to host Denmark's official sponsors and Olympic committee. "We'll make the neighborhood look like a little Danish village," Valentiner says.
Utah members of the New Zealand-American Society, including Maori dancers, will provide the entertainment for a reception honoring New Zealand dignitaries, following a concert at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square Feb. 6. The concert, featuring New Zealand musicians, celebrates Waitangi Day.
The Korean-American Association of Utah and the Korean Olympic Committee will host a dinner Feb. 7 at the downtown Marriott Hotel and a party at Jang Soo Jang restaurant Feb. 9.
Utah's Chinese communities are hosting the Chinese New Year's Celebration at Washington Square Feb. 12, as well as two past events — a evening of Chinese performances sponsored by groups aligned with the People's Republic of China on Feb. 1 and a "Chinese New Year and Winter Olympics Celebration" sponsored by groups aligned with Taiwan on Feb. 2. There will also be a Year of the Horse art exhibit Feb. 9 through 24 at Zions Bank on Main Street.
E-MAIL: jarvik@desnews.com
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February 9, 2002
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