The signing of the Friendship Agreement on May 17—Norway's National Day—with Surnadal, Norway, was a historic event for the City of Rossland.
Signing the document was Ray Gaudart, Spirit of Red Mountain, Rossland Mayor Greg Granstrom, Mons Otnes, Mayor of Surnadal, and Lilli Husby Cultural Director Surnadal.
According to the friendship agreement, the document was “in recognition of our shared history through Olaus Jeldness. He ties the bonds from Surnadal to Rossland with his skiing exploits and his passion for life, sports and community.
The agreement states that in “the future our two communities could consider working together on an exchange, possibly a student exchange program, a program for cultural exchange or coordinated sports events.”
Both communities will always have their doors open to anyone in these communities who would like to come for a visit.
And in Norwegian: “Dette er en erkjenning av vir felles historie gjennom Olaus Jeldness. Han knytte banda fra Surnadal til Rossland med sin skidugleik, sin lidenskap for livet, sport og samfunn.
Framover kan vare to samfunn tenke seg a jobbe saman om nokre utvekslingsprogram, dette kan vere eit utvekslingsp'rogram innanfor skulesektoren. eit'program for kulturell utveksling og eventuelt koordin:enng av idrettsarrangement. Begge samfunn vii alltid gjensidig 0nske bes0kande fn desse kommunane hjarteleg velkomne.”