Sons of Norway- Elvesvingen Lodge

October 2008 Newsletter

 

 

October Lodge Meeting: Saturday, October 11, 5:30 pm at Bethlehem Lutheran Church Program:  Norwegian Dance Entertainment “Fjordland” Sons of Norway Lodge 1-508 in Brookings, SD

October Lodge Serving and Decorating Committee:  Ilene Blum, Jan Flowers and Lynell Pemble

 

 

Hilsen fra Presidentene Paul Olson og Phil Wold:  Hilsen fra Presidentene Paul Olson og Phil Wold  We had a wonderful time at our Sept. 13th Lodge meeting – it was good to see our membership again after a long summer break. The evening meal was potluck and plentiful with an excellent variety of breads, salads, main course selections, desserts and beverages. Mange takk to all who provided food or contributed in other ways and to our Serving Committee for decorating the tables with lots of Scandinavian color and providing a nice choice of beverages  – Allen and Jane Torgerson, Jerry and Helen Hansen, Don Felch, Emmet and LaVonne Iverson and Adrian Lo. Our guest speaker for the evening was Bill Musser from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, IA. He presented an excellent program on the “Vesterheim Traveling Exhibit” that will tour various parts of the United States, including the Twin Cities and Decorah beginning in 2010. Mark DeGarmeaux led us through another entertaining Norwegian language lesson. Karen Abbott presented a summary report on the very successful District One Convention held at the Alltel Center June 12-14. “MANGE TUSEN TAKK” to the Convention Planning Committee who volunteered countless hours over three years to organize the event and to all of you who so willingly gave of your time and talents to help during the Convention. Joel Brude presented his summary report and impressions as a delegate to the SON International Convention August 27-30 in San Diego, CA. Ralph Carpenter, the SON financial benefits representative for our area spent a few minutes sharing information about new products available to SON members. Phil Wold presented information concerning the upcoming visit to Mankato of a tour group from Norway on September 24th and the reception for them that our Lodge is planning at the Best Western. Phil also encouraged members to bring prospective new members to the October 11th Membership Banquet. Entertainment for this event will be a cultural dance performance, in bunads, by the Fjordland Lodge from Brookings, SD. Our new 2008 Lodge Yearbook will be distributed to all members at the Membership Banquet. If you would like to add your name and ancestry information to the Member Networking page, please contact Kris Norland. The first “Heritage Story” has been submitted and we look forward to receiving many more - please send them to Paul Olson. We encourage each of you to help grow our membership. If you need information, or would like interested persons to be contacted, please get in touch with one of our Membership Committee volunteers – Phil Wold, Linda Stelter, Clancy Olson, or Dale and Gail Mikkalson. If you know someone that needs transportation to our Lodge meetings, please take the initiative and offer them a ride. A number of people would likely be very appreciative of the offer but don’t want to inconvenience others by asking for assistance. Enjoy the beauty of nature during this fall season – a welcome respite from summer’s heat and humidity.

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In the Footprints of the Emigrants

        

Travelers from Norway meeting with Elvesvingen Lodge Members on September 24, 2008

  

                 Enjoying the presentation                                  Mixing with our guests from Norway

Our guests entertaining us with a song                               Sharing cultures

 

          

Our guests enjoyed singing to us                               Co-President Phil greeting our visitors

 

 Bill Musser on Traveling Exhibit from              Enjoying the wonderful potluck at the Vesterheim                                                           September Lodge Meeting

 

 

Twenty-first Annual Leiv Eriksson International Festival Sept. 28 - Oct. 14, 2008 Minneapolis, MN    Explore  the world and times of the Vikings through film and expert commentary  Discover  the musical sounds of Scandinavia with such artists as Annbjørg Lien and Sondre Bratland Celebrate  with renowned Nordic theologians, including former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevi

Wanted Norwegian Models for Bethlehem’s Nordic Bazaar on November 5, 2008.  Lodge Members should have full Bunads.  If you can help out, please call Betty Sanger at 388-5626.

Our Sympathy  We mourn the death ofElvesvingen Lodge member Patricia A. Johnson, who died at the age of65. After finishing college, she taught elementary school and later substitute taught in theLoyola Catholic school system in Mankato. Many local organizations benefited from her volunteer services, she will be trulymissed. She is survived by her husband, Douglas W. Johnson,their two children, Julie and Michael, and their spouses.$25.00 has been given to our lodge scholarship program inher memory.

What Souvenirs Tourists Want

The Italians love trolls. Germans can't resist anything with a moose. Russians like things with gold. The Spanish want Vikings. The British buy tea-towels and Americans take home T-shirts and caps. "Actually, as long as you write Oslo or Norway on it, you could probably sell anything," says Stine Steen at Visit Oslo. Russians and eastern Europeans are coming to Norway in greater numbers than before. Steen thinks the tourist trade could be better at catering to Russian tastes. "The Russians especially like decorative plates to hang on the wall. The more gold, the better," says Steen. The French are best known for buying lots of post cards. "They buy as many as 50 in one go. With big French tour groups in town, we often run out of stamps," she says. The Japanese like key-rings. "I once sold NOK 800 (USD 160) worth of key-rings to one man from Japan. I think they hand them out to friends and relatives when they get home." The latest figures from tax-free sales show that tourists from the United States spend more in Oslo than anyone else. Even so, Oslo's tourist trade has noticed that American purchasing power is lower. Tax-free sales in Oslo are down 10 percent, compared to 20 percent in the rest of the country. "Americans are unsure of what will happen to the economy and they are taking holidays in their home country, if they go on holiday at all," says Sissel Guleng at Global Refund. "It looks like the bulk of tourists will increasingly come from Russia and China," she says.

Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB

Sons of Norway Blog

As you may know, Sons of Norway launched a blog (e.g. an online journal that is updated frequently with news and other tidbits) earlier this year. Since then it has provided real-time coverage of the 2007 Norwegian Experience winner’s trip to Norway, Norway’s participation in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China and the 60th Biennial International Convention in San Diego. During the holiday season the Sons of Norway Blog will host a number of articles on Norwegian Christmas traditions, holiday recipes and links to interesting Norwegian-related websites. Please take a moment to visit the blog and see all the new posts. To view the blog go to www.sonsofnorwayblog.blogspot.com.

Also, to keep up on all the newest information and announcements from the Sons of Norway Headquarters, make sure to add sonsofnorway@sofn.com to your “trusted” e-mail list. We’ve heard from a lot of members who have been missing out on important announcements because they have not done so and the e-mails have been redirected to their spam folder.

                                                                             

Norwegian-Minnesotan Sesquicentennial Celebration  Displays, demonstrations, speakers and an evening banquet will honor norwgians who helped develop Minnesota.  Rochester, MN October 18,2008. Visit www.mn-nspp.org/october/index.htm.

 

 

HERITAGE STORIES

A primary purpose of Elvesvingen Lodge is to celebrate our culture & heritage with one another. Factual stories from the past history of one’s own family can not only be fascinating, but educational for others as well. Although completely voluntary, we hope that each of you will give thoughtful consideration to this worthwhile project. The goal would be to have all stories submitted by late fall or early winter. The collection of stories will be compiled in booklet form & made available to members at a later date.

Format suggestions

1.  Create a TITLE
2.  SUBMITTED BY (your name)
3.  WRITE your story
A brief INTRODUCTION provides a “setting” for your story

> time period (year or range of years)
> location of events described
> relationship (if known) of the person(s) in the story to you
> the source of your information (if known)

            -The MAIN BODY should be kept reasonable in length (Readers Digest format)

**It is possible that some of the submitted stories may need to be edited for length. If a story is edited, it will be re-submitted back to the writer for approval prior to printing.

When completed, please SUBMIT to Paul Olson

- Preferably in either MS WORD 97-2003 or MS WORD 2007 formats

 

October Membership Banquet

If you haven’t sent your Registration in for the Membership Banquet, please do today or contact Phil Wold at 340-2370 to let him know the Registration will be late and how many will be attending.  The number of people is important because it will be catered by Applewood.  Thanks and hope to see you at the Membership Banquet.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 11th, and join us for our Membership Banquet held in the lower level dining hall at Bethlehem Lutheran Church from 5:30 – 8:30. The meal will be catered by Applewood Restaurant and the program will feature an entertaining dance  performance by members of the “Fjordland” Sons of Norway Lodge 1-508 in Brookings, SD. We are looking forward to having them visit us in their colorful bunads and watching them demonstrate a variety of cultural dances. Please clip and send the reservation form to reserve your place. The cost is $10 per person. Any current member who brings a prospective new member will pay only $5 and the prospective new member is free. The deadline for reservations is Wednesday, October 1st.

Clip & Mail

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Elvesvingen Lodge Membership Banquet Reservation Form

Saturday, October 11, 2008 (5:30 – 8:30)

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

Great Norwegian Dance Entertainment

Catered by Applewood Restaurant

 

Current Elvesvingen Lodge Member – Name, Address, Phone #, E-mail

____________________________________________________________

Current Elvesvingen Lodge Member – Name, Address, Phone #, E-mail

____________________________________________________________

Interested Prospective New Member – Name, Address, Phone #, E-mail

____________________________________________________________

Interested Prospective New Member – Name, Address, Phone #, E-mail

____________________________________________________________

Current member attending without prospective new member: $10 per person

Current member bringing prospective new member: $5 per member

Interested prospective new member: No charge!

                                                                                   Total amount due: $____________

Please complete this registration form and mail with a check payable to:

Elvesvingen Lodge / Sons of Norway; P.O. Box 1091; Mankato, MN 56002

DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 1st

For more information, please contact Phil Wold at: 507-340-2370

 

 

SONS OF NORWAY
ELVESVINGEN LODGE 1-582 CALENDAR

October, 2008/

Oct 11  -  Annual Membership Meeting, Bethlehem Lutheran Church 5:30 pm Program: Norwegian Dance Entertainment “Fjordland” Sons of Norway Lodge 1-508 in Brookings, SD

Sept 28 – Oct 14   Twenty-first Annual Leiv Eriksson International Festival

Oct 18  -  Norwegian-Minnesotan Sesqucentennial Celebration Rochester, MN

Nov 9  -   Lodge Meeting, Bethlehem Lutheran Church 5:30 pm Program:  Storytelling / Tracing Your Roots in Norway (June Nelson and Hal Natvig)

For information call 507 625-3705 or 507 387-5705

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