This is where it was located, the Tater camp, which represented a rich and colourful part of our local history here in Vikvarvet during the war (1940-45) and into the fifties. The German occupants were out to get the Tater people during the war, and if they could not refer to a permanent residence, they would not receive the very important rationing cards. That was no laughing matter in those days. And it so happened that Nils Fredriksen came to the area with his family and his horse Blakken as the first resident, and he bought a small piece of land and a storehouse that he set up as a residence. Thus the Fredrikstad village was built here on the border between Overvik and Samstadsgrenda. 

The name Fredrikstad was probably the result of Fredrik and Fredriksen being in the majority in the name register. But more soon followed. The families Lysgård, Alexandersen, Johansen, and Nilsen came. And all of them with resonant first names and nicknames. At the peak, there were seven houses in the camp, and up to 60 Tater people stayed here for the winter.

The houses were sheds and cookhouses they got hold of in the local area, and even though the conditions were poor and spartan, there was always a certain order in the houses and in the ‘village streets’.

 Quite a few barter deals and watch exchanges took place late in the evenings, and occasionally there would be a loud party. Many residents found their way here to trade goods, and the Tater people ran an extensive tinsmith business. They were good craftsmen, and whisks and ladles, buckets and gutters were produced here during the war. All of this came in handy, because the shops had no such things for sale during the war.

The kids who grew up here attended Vikvarvet school along with the village’s other schoolchildren. New citizens of the world were born here, ably assisted by the village's midwife, ‘Sister Marit’. She was the one who took care of health issues. When four couples from Fredrikstad were married  on the same day in Selbu church, it was quite an event. In many ways the Tater people were actively included in village activities. They were on the board of directors for the Overvik Road, and when Vikvarvet's Consumer Association had their annual meetings they attended diligently. They did a lot of their trading with the Consumer Association, and many a litre of milk and other foods were carried uphill to the camp over the years. Manager Fuglem helped the Tater people during rough times. 

The houses and the Tater people are gone now. So let's take care of the homesteads and the memories. And if you relax on a quiet summer evening, you may very well hear the whisper of the grand days gone by from the firs lining the site. At one time there was hustle and bustle here, and kids nicknamed Smask and Snus, Sander and Frida came running around the corners of the log homes at Fredrikstad!