`COMING HOME': '51 SAGAMORE QUEEN BACK IN CAPE

In 1951, Gerd Sollid closely resembled your All-American college girl. She was fairly popular, majored in education, and was chosen as the Sagamore queen for her senior year at Southeast Missouri State University.

But Sollid is not an All-American; she's Norwegian.

Sollid, who is back in Cape Girardeau, received a scholarship from the Missouri Association of Women's Clubs in 1949. She graduated with a degree in education two years later.

She said the experience was everything she expected it to be, even though she didn't get to teach kindergarten in Norway, as she had planned.

"I loved it here," she said. "Those years in college meant much to me. I got experience in kindergarten here, but I did not teach it at home.

"I got married and then the babies kept coming. After that I didn't have time to work in a school."

At Southeast it was play that Sollid didn't have much time for. When she was not attending PTA meetings for the campus kindergarten training school were she worked, Sollid was travelling around Missouri making speeches. She made more than 74 speeches about Norway to women's clubs throughout Missouri as a condition of her scholarship.

But the time commitments didn't bother Sollid.

"I really got to see many beautiful parts of Missouri," she said. "And I was able to spend much of my time visiting in Jackson with my friend Virginia (Goodwin)."

Classmates Fred and Virginia Goodwin of Cape Girardeau have kept in close contact with Sollid, who was a bridesmaid in their wedding the day before she returned to Norway in 1951. The Goodwins have visited Sollid twice over the years, and she has stayed with them during her two visits to Cape Girardeau.

Sollid said she planned her third trip after receiving a letter from Virginia Goodwin last year. "She asked me to come celebrate our 45th graduation anniversary," Sollid said. "It's really great being back here and seeing old friends and faculty who were here when I was here.

"I'm not going to miss any of the activities."

Sollid said she has attended dinner parties and a dance since she returned to Cape Girardeau last week. She will return to Norway and her job with the Norwegian Bible Society on Tuesday. Sollid is a fund-raiser for the organization, which is affiliated with the American Bible Society and other societies worldwide.

"I enjoy traveling around the world," she said. "I have visited many interesting places. "This is coming home."