2008 Rediscovery Tour
Day 20 - May 14 – Thisted – Nykøbing M - Skive 79 km (1414)
The day started in Thisted with visits at the Coloplast factory there as well as Vity Hall. Later in the day Ambassador Cain crossed the island Mors and ended the day in Skive.
Below you can read about the day's events in Ambassador Cain's own words. Please check back soon for photos
Ambassador Cain's remarks
Day 20 Started with a full stomach from the fantastic dinner the night before. We had driven back to Western Jutland to meet the legendary Lars Larsen, founder of “Jysk”, on the golf course at Himmerland Golf Club in Gatten. The “New Course” at Himmerland is one of finest golf courses I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Lars and Hans Henrik Kjølby, the Managing Director of Jysk Holdings, were great playing companions, and I think Lars is the best marketing genius in Denmark. (He wrote a book a few years ago and, as a marketing device, sent a copy of it to every household in Denmark.) So the conversation was inspirational, and I learned a great deal about the opportunities of doing business in “New Europe”and the challenges of doing business in America. But as good as the companionship was, I could not wait to get off the course to email my two brothers to tell them that on the only Par 6 hole in Europe (a 713 yard, 620 km monster), I had a birdie! (Of course I won’t talk about the rest of my game.)
The Himmerland Club is situated in a beautiful part of Jutland, and features, without question in my opinion, the finest restaurant of any Golf Club I have ever eaten in. Claus, the restaurant manager, and the club’s chef have recently arrived from other parts of Denmark where they worked in several of the finest restaurants in the country. We had a 17 course meal (if you count the nine different items on the appetizer plate) that rivaled anything I have had in the finest restaurants of Copenhagen or New York. (We started with a fascinating watermelon on a skewer, onto which you squeeze a few drops of balsamic vinegar from a medicine dropper, and to which you add a dash of salt. It was a delightful combination and started us down a path of gastronomic delight. The most intriguing feature of the experience was the ‘self administered” sauces, creams, juices and syrups that we applied to the dishes ourselves, from every manner of device imaginable; a tube that looked like a toothpaste tube, a small areosol spray, a ‘cough medicine “ bottle, a “cold cream jar” and several others. It was a fun surprise, and added to the already creative presentation of the dishes. I highly recommend this restaurant to my friends, even if you don’t play golf.
So, awaking from a good night’s sleep in one of the Himmerland Clubs rooms overlooking the 18th green, we set out by car to Thisted where we had left off two weeks ago. Our first stop was Coloplast, the Danish company that is the market leader in ostomy products. Steen Scheibye, the CEO and my good friend, joined us for the ride to Coloplast, and stayed with us for the morning ride. Coloplast was founded in 1966 based on an idea from Nurse Elise Sørensen, by the company founder Louise Hansen. It now employs 6,000 people in 33 countries, and produces over 80 million units per year in the Thisted facility alone. The most remarkable thing about the Thisted location is that machine manufacturing section where engineers design and custom manufacture the complicated and huge continuous-line manufacturing machines that make Coloplast’s products.
Thisted Mayor Erik Hove Olesen joined us at Coloplast and biked with us to the Thisted Town hall where gave us a nice overview of the Town, and particularly its commitment to alternative energy. (they brand themselves as “Denmark’s leading environmental municipality”.) I continue to be impressed with the municipal commitments in the country to alternative energy. Thisted’s alternatives are a broad mix of wind, geothermal, waste incineration and wave technology. There are 226 windmills in the municipality, producing 332 million kws. From the town hall we were joined by ‘Team Coloplast”, ten riders who joined Steen for the 13 km to the Vilsund Bridge through beautiful countryside.
At the beautiful bridge, which connects the island of Mors to the mainland, we were joined by Mors city Council members Lauge Larsen and Martin Jorgensen who guided us through the stunningly beautiful island of Mors toward Nykøbing Mors. Along the way we climbed to the highest point on the island, from where we could see the entire island and marvel at the beautiful patchwork of bright yellow fields where the Rapeseed is in full bloom. We soon stopped at Morsø Jernstøberi, the oldest and best known Danish stove producer. I was able to watch their assembly, which is still by hand to preserve quality, and see their newest, and as yet unreleased “glass front” stove, designed by our friend Monica Ritterband. Morsø Managing Director Peter Jessen-Hansen treated us to a healthy barbecue chicken lunch, with delicious potato salad, that I had to quickly eat in order to greet the crowd of new riders forming in the parking lot. We were joined by one of the most delightful combinations of “riders” we have yet had on the Tour. First, we had a dozen young people, around 14-15 years of age, from the Holms Skole. The young people all were waving Danish flags. The girls were delightful with “greenery” woven into their hair, and the boys were eager and full of questions. (Interestingly, the boys all spoke very good English, while the girls all seemed to really struggle with it, even though they were the same age.) The second group that joined us for this leg consisted of the “Pain and Agony” Club. This is a running Club in Mors that has decided to “adopt” the elderly and the infirm who do not have the “Power of legs”. Ten times each year these compassionate volunteers take 40 to 50 “guest riders” out in running strollers to expose them to the outdoors and give them the exuberant experience of running in nature. Two such guests accompanied us this day, including a 94 year old lady who spoke absolutely no English, but who smiled and laughed for the entire trip. This example of “the Diplomacy of Deeds”, volunteers doing good for others in need, was particularly inspiring. Jens, the group organizer, came up with the idea several years ago and hopes to spread the effort throughout Denmark. (I think it would be really popular in America as well. Perhaps we can find a “sister organization” in America.)
Our diverse group left Morsø Stoves and headed for the town center of Nykøbing Mors. At the beautiful old Town Hall, dating to 1846, the Mayor gave us a very gracious welcome including sharing with us the story of Ted Sørensen, President Kennedy’s famous speechwriter who visited here in 2004 to trace the roots of his grandfather, who was born here. (As he was leaving, Sørensen apparently said; “Why on earth did my ancestors leave this place??”) I was honored to sign the town’s guest book just a few pages after Ted Sørensen’s signature. Leaving the Town Hall, I was given a walking tour of the city center, and was told the story of Niels Andersen Christensen, the founder of the Morsø Stove company I had just visited, who built the first “modern” industrial assembly factory in Europe here in 1913 after visiting the assembly plant that Henry Ford had set up a couple of years earlier in Detroit. We then toured the Library, built inside the original factory that Christensen built, and I had the chance to visit with the young people who had been accompanying us for the past hour or so. I found them eager and interested in America, and their answers continued to confirm my impressions of young people in Jutland (8s and 9s to my two questions.)
After the short ride down the charming walking street (where bikes are not allowed!) we headed off to the other end of Mors to the Sallingsund Bridge for our departure from the island. The Mors Kommune is planning a 160 km “bike path” around the island. I cannot imagine a more beautiful place for biking. As we crossed the long Sallingsund Bridge, a new group of riders, led by mayor Eskildsen joined us for the ride into Skive. This was perhaps the largest group yet of “professional” riders. There were at least 20 guests, including many of the 31 Town Council members and Kommune staff, a number of business leaders like Timothy Jensen and Peter Vinther Christensen, and several riders who heard or read about the Tour in the local media and just decided to join us (these are my favorite kind; the spontaneous and curious). This was a spirited ride through more beautiful countryside for 35 km toward Skive. At Skive, the end of our riding for the day, I learned of the history of this town, founded over 800 years ago at the origin point of the Limfjord. This municipality has the most coast line of any in Denmark, at 190 km, and boasts some of the prettiest views in Denmark. We learned a great deal about the kommune’s commitment to alternative energy, and I was impressed to learn that there were many schools with solar collectors, and an ice hockey rink with a heat exchange. There are also 47 Church’s to accommodate the 47,000 people in the Kommune (as Niels Mortensen of the local historical archives said, “there is a lot of room in the Church’s on Sunday.”) Niels gave us a great history lesson, and told about the Priest who travelled to the US in 1903, and upon his return to Denmark in 1908, decided to organize a reunion of Danes who had immigrated to the US. Over 50 immigrants attended, joined by his Royal Highness King Christian IX and Queen Louise. This was the inspiration and predecessor for the Rebild Festival, which commenced a few years later in 1912.
Following a quick shower at the Skive Town Hall, we headed to the pastoral offices and design studios of Jacob Jensen, the world-renowned Danish design firm. The company has produced some of the most stunning designs ever, with an incredibly diverse product array; from watches to wind turbines, and stereos to suntanning beds. They have received over 100 international design awards since Timothy’s father Jacob Jensen founded the company in 1958, and have 19 products that are exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Jacob Jensen is perhaps best known for being the lead designer for Bang and Olufsen for many years. The first stop was the ‘Jensen Design house”, a new facility in an old farm house that is part museum, part showroom, and part office. (I really enjoyed lying in the dentist chair, seeing the amazingly stylish B&O stereo designs, including some that are almost 50-years old, and the beautiful watch, designed by Tim, that is one of the 19 MOMA exhibits. They also showed me the mock-ups of the 11 “Round Abouts” that Jacob Jensen designed for the Skive Kommune. They have won awards all across the globe. )
Tim has done a wonderful job of maintaining the creative, inspirational, and at times whimsical atmosphere first built by his father. He refers to his father as a “Charlie Chaplain figure”, and Tim has a photo of the Marx Brothers proudly displayed in his office. The Design Studio from which his designers work, and which upstairs houses Tim and his family, is a stunning converted farm house overlooking the marsh and fjord. We were treated to a superb dinner while watching the pink and purple-hued setting sun. I was really charmed by the story of Tim’s father meeting his mother. His mother Patricia Ryan was an American. At the time Tim’s father met his soon-to-be bride on a boat cruise in 1956, she was married to a “spy who was on his way to Moscow.” They fell in love during the cruise, and she left for Moscow to tell her husband that she had found the man of her dreams.
I really like the inscription in the Jacob Jensen book that Tim presented to me. It captures the essence of the Jacob Jensen inspiration:
“One of the eternal laws of our planet is action-reaction; in nature and in culture. A creation demands a reaction. The success of a creation is dependent upon commitment, idea, communication and the evolutionary process until perfection is reached. Being aware of these components, one can achieve results which reduce vulnerability and strengthen recognition and survival. It is in fact very simple.”
Our delightful evening ended as the last light was leaving, with still-pink hues over the water. After catching the ferry to Fur we settled in for the night at the home of Mayor Flemming Eskildsen, ready for a good night’s sleep, and hopefully