By Brian LeBlanc

On Wednesday April 30, 2013, the Viking Tavern closed and went to Valhalla. I don’t want to make this article one of those Viking funerals where I merely lament about the demise of another piece of “Old Ballard.” Instead, I want to celebrate the “sisu” of our community.

Sisu is a Finnish term that, according to Wikipedia, is defined “as strength of will, determination, perseverance and acting rationally in the face of adversity.” My paternal grandmother came to America from Finland. When I moved to Seattle and heard there was a Scandinavian neighborhood, I checked Ballard out and haven’t left since. I arrived just in time to experience a couple years of the vestiges of Norwegian Ballard, before the bowling alleys, troll knickknack shops and Scandinavian food stores went to Valhalla as well.

Through it all, there was always the Viking Tavern.

The first time I walked in, I knew their motto was “It’s the best place ever -- it just is” was absolutely true. The owners took exquisite care of their vintage 1950s bar. While I can’t say it was my “local,” it was a great place drop in every so often to have a couple of rounds and split some Nordic Nachos with some friends.

When I heard that the property had been sold and they were going to close The Viking to make condos, I reflexively rolled my eyes. The more I looked into it, however, I discovered that the Viking’s owners were the ones who owned the properties that were sold, and the profits from the sale will no doubt afford them a well-earned and comfortable retirement.

Luckily, there was some advance notice about the closure, so there was time for a couple of more visits over the past few months until, finally, I was there for Happy Hour on their last day in business. The Viking was as crowded as I had ever seen it, but everyone was there for the same reason -- even if we didn’t come here every night, we needed to come in one last time and pay our respects.

The next evening, I put on my Viking Tavern hoodie before my wife and I headed over for our first visit to Populuxe Brewing on NW 49th St. Populuxe is one of the newest breweries in Ballard to join the growing ranks. As we sat on the picnic tables behind a barbed-wire fence sipping our nanobrewed beer while the sun set, it hit me.

Life is all about growth and change. Indeed, it’s one of the only constants. In less than 150 years, what we now call Ballard changed from being a Shilshole village to a thriving maritime city to a neighborhood of Seattle. It has had its ups-and-downs, but now Ballard is considered to be one of the Top 10 Neighborhoods in America not yet discovered by tourists, in addition to all of the other local and national publications naming it as a destination. This happened because Ballard has changed but had the sisu to forge ahead while retaining some of its character and history.

The Viking Tavern has closed, but its passing is a great time to celebrate the past and resolve that even with all the change -- welcome or not -- we must make Ballard a great place to live. We should be glad Ballard is changing and growing rather than stagnating or slowly dying. At the same time, instead of letting change happen to us, we have to be active participants in it. Let’s honor the traditional industries that made Ballard what it is today, support the newer businesses that are making an impact on the future and make sure that our neighborhood gets the infrastructure improvements it needs to accommodate all this growth.

Most important of all, let’s continue to honor Ballard’s past as we step forward into the awesome future that we are creating. C’mon Ballard, show some sisu!

Brian LeBlanc, AKA the 21st Century Viking can be reached at brianleblanc76@yahoo.com. You can see more of his writing at his blog, http://www.brianleblanc.info

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