Our newest lodge, Helga Estby #47, was instituted on Saturday, April 28, 2007 in Mountain Home, Idaho. The membership's heritage includes all five Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland). The lodge meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 PM at Faith Lutheran Church, 1190 North 6th East, Mountain Home, Idaho. Contact the lodge for specific meeting details.

Helga Estby Lodge #47 offers a variety of programs and activities. In 2008 they have begun growing Black Bearded wheat to make ornaments for the holidays. In March, they had a special Finnish program. Lefse, hardanger embroidery, and rosemaling lessons are also offered at the lodge. A craft groups also meets regularly. In April, a visiting Norwegian rosemaler, Bjorg Kleivi, will teach the lodge’s rosemaling group during her short stay. In April, 2008 the group held its first annual Helga Estby Walk. This 3.5 mile hike is in rememberance of the walk Helga Estby and her daughter Clara actually traveled, including their walk nearby Boise, Idaho. Some historical facts enroute will help guide the hikers and make history come alive. Prizes are available to all who finish! All interested hikers, contact the lodge for more details. On May 18th the lodge joins the Sons of Norway Grondal Lodge in celebrating Syttende Mai (17th of May). St. Hans Day is celebrated in June. The lodge’s annual Helga Estby Lutefisk/Swedish Meatball Feed is held in the fall.

Helga Estby lodge members are enthusiastic about their Nordic heritage. They encourage like minded women (ages 13 and over) to join them. Contact the lodge for additional details. You can contact the lodge for additional information.

Each Daughters of Norway lodge is named after a noteworthy Norwegian woman. Helga Estby Lodge was named after a Norwegian immigrant, whose walk across America in the late 1800's was unknown to almost all of her descendents because her journey caused hardship and embarrassment to her family at the time.

Much later, one of Helga Estby's grandchildren heard tidbits of the real story and of how Helga tried to save the family farm when her husband was unable to work it during an economic downturn. She is credited with walking from Washington State to New York City during the Victorian Era, accompanied only by her eldest daughter Clara. This amazing story was brought to light by her great-grandson who entered it in a writing contest. One of the judges told his wife, the writer Linda Lawrence Hunt, about this amazing feat and it inspired her to write Bold Spirit—Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America. The book highlights the courage, fortitude, and desire that Norwegian immigrant women had to make this new land of America their home. The Viking spirit lives on in Helga Estby's story of exploration against the unknown.