Borgen's Nisse

by RuthAnn Wilson

"Spis, drik, a ver gla!" 

(Eat, drink, and be glad!)

Ever since Borgen’s was restored, there has been discussion about the Nisse painting on the back wall. A number of people have been asked “Who painted it?” The different answers have been a puzzle for several years. The real artist is listed below.

We know the paint was touched up several times in the past, and at some point, the artist’s name was painted out. Elaine Olson, curator at Norskedalen and at Westby Area Historical Society, thinks Nana Schee did the Borgen’s wall. 

Evelyn Larson thinks Ulla Schee painted it. In 1944, as a Westby High School freshman, Evelyn worked at Borgen’s clearing tables. It had been on the wall for at least several years at that time. Evelyn was asked to touch it up in 1968 and at that time it was signed in the lower right corner by (Evelyn couldn’t remember first name) Schee in a cinnamon brown color paint. 

In the 1980s, Norman Hagen repainted it. In 2008 Verda Lund touched it up.  And it’s possible Karen Hankee may have had a hand in it at some time. 

“Although several people think it was painted by Dagny Schee, Marjorie Schee Hultquist and the other four grandchildren know that it was their Aunt Nana who painted the wall. Dagny was the rosemaling expert. Her older sister Nana was the artist. She did paintings, designed cards, and other special artwork. Dagny lived in Westby with her mother, Nana spent her summers there, and Laila made trips there during the summer. They were all good friends of Asta Krueger having grown up together. Asta owned the Westby Cafe, that later became Borgen’s. Some of the grandchildren also vacationed in Westby during the summer. They would go up to Borgen's to get ice cream in a sandbakkel. Harold and Doris would visit in the winter to go with Eric and Martha to the ski jumping tournament in February. They lived in La Crosse and also had a place in Timer Coulee where their son Tom and his wife Jill now live.

Dr. John Schee was born Bjorn Johan Johannesen in Kragero, Norway on June 11, 1862. He graduated from Christiana University in 1882. He came to the United States and lived with an aunt in Richland County, Wisconsin. He tutored and did farm work there. In 1887 he went back to school, studying pharmacy at the Chicago College of Pharmacy, and then to the University of Wisconsin for a pharmacy degree. From 1889 to 1892 he attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a degree in medicine. He then began using the name of “Schee” which was the old family farm name in Norway.

For nine years he practiced medicine in Blanchardville, and married Ulla Klerck on January 4, 1898. She was born in Elvenes, Norway on January 30, 1868. She studied music, arts, and midwifery at a vocational school in Christiania, Norway. She came to the United States in 1896 to reside in Westby near her relatives, the Schreiners. In 1902 John and Ulla with two children moved to Westby in a house they had built for them. At that time Dr. Schee and Dr. Schreiner became medical partners. John Schee died December 16, 1937, and Ulla died September 14, 1958.” 

Dr. John and Ulla Schee had 5 children in all: Harold, Laila, Nana, Dagny, and Eric. The Schee’s were close friends of Asta Krueger who lived across the street when she owned what is Borgen’s Restaurant today. Their historic home still stands at 106 Hillside Street in Westby. It is a beautiful Victorian home filled with over 100 years of memories. 

And Borgen’s is still serving the best pie in town, where you may come in and admire the Nisse painted on the back wall at least 70 years ago, still enticing visitors to "Spis, drik, a ver gla!”

Next time you are in Borgen’s, take a look at the Nisse and notice that Nana’s name is once again painted by her Nisse.