Fra Presidenten:
Hei alle sammen !! (Hi all) As I write this newsletter, I am reminded of our ancestors (forfedre) as they established their constitution (grunnlov) on May 17, 1814 and as we now celebrate as Syttende mai or Constitution Day in Norway. Syttende mai is a National Holiday of Norway and celebrates Norwegian independence. The constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll and it declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid being ceded to Sweden after Denmark-Norway’s devastating defeat in the Napoleonic Wars.
Our Vikingland Lodge will celebrate Syttende mai at at our regular lodge meeting date on May 9, 2017. Following a program by Tom Reiffenberger, Master Gardener, we will enjoy Scandinavian treats for our lunch.
Highlights ( hoydepunkter ) of our April Board meeting are as follows:
- Growing to 2020… V. Pres Milan explained the Growing to 2020 pins which promotes the 125th anniversary of Sons of Norway.
- Applications are due by May 15 to Roger Josephson for students interested in attending the Norwegian language camps.
- Our June meeting will be a program held at 7 PM at Trinity Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes and will feature an amazing program by Gordy Lindquist or better known as “Crazy Fingers.” This pianist will astound you with his talent. This program is is lieu of our regular Lodge meeting and your attendance would be greatly appreciated. A free will offering will be held to help defray expenses. Bring a friend!
- We discussed purchasing a projector at a cost of approximately $700. When we have a program, we are frequently asked to provide a projector and we do so by borrowing one from the local school system or M State. If we decide to purchase a projector, we could use some of our general fund dollars and we could use some dollars that could be donated by our lodge members for this purpose. If you are so inclined to assist in funding this endeavor, let me know
or someone on the Board.
If you have ideas or suggestions to make our lodge better, please do not hesitate to let us know. Your board is here to serve you.
Dates to remember:
- Tuesday, May 9… Board meeting at 5:30 pm
- Tuesday, May 9… Lodge meeting at 7 pm
Remember that our meetings are held at the Union Central meeting room, unless otherwise noted. Bring a guest!!
Best wishes, ( Beste onsker)
Joe Merseth, Presidenten
Greetings from the Foundation:
Thank you to all of you who participated in the Silent Auction. We have accomplished a wonderful total for our Foundation, $970.00,( which does not include some funds that are still pending for the pickup of purchased items). There are no words to describe how grateful I am as your foundation director to everyone who helped set up, those who donated items and those who purchased items. Now comes the most fun part, deciding where we will use the money we raised. I really would like your input on this. We now have some choices to make; we can increase our giving to the charities we already support and/or add new places for our donations. Please feel free to call or email me to let me know what you are thinking, maybe you have a favorite charity that we have not included before. Again, thank you. Carol Turner 218-234-8887 or taptjc@msn.com
Cultural Skills Pins:
Cultural skills program – Literature
Parts of the requirements for the literature pin are to write a short book report and submit it to our newsletter. I have read a number of books by Sigrid Undset, this report is on the first of a trilogy, “The Bridal Wreath, Kristen Lavensdatter. The book begins when Kristen is a young child, about 7 years old and brings you up to her wedding. It is the first of a trilogy; the other 2 books continue with her married life and take you up to her death.
The books are a fascinating and detailed account of the life, customs, religion, and class structure in Norway during the late 1200’s and early 1300’s. The females did not have much in the form of rights except what fathers or husbands granted, it was a very patriarchal society. As Kristen grows into her teen years she has a mind of her own, choosing to deny the courtship of a man her parents have approved. They send her to a convent for a year of teaching and grooming, (hoping she will outgrow her stubbornness). I don’t want to give too much of the story away here because it is so fascinating I want you to read it for yourselves.
The author won a Nobel Prize for her writing in 1929; I would highly recommend any of her books.
Carol Turner
Greetings from your Social Director:
Hey all, what a wonderful evening we had last month with the silent auction; kudos to Carol for a great job. Thanks to everyone who donated and purchased items. We will use the money for community projects.
Are you ready to get your gardens in order? Tom Reiffenberger a Master Gardener and administrator of Lakes Homes will be our program presenter at our May meeting. It is exciting to think of spring and summer gardens and lawns. You will not want to miss this.
Looking ahead to June; keep in mind we will have Gordy “crazy fingers” Lindguist as our entertainment. Note the time and place change. 7pm, Sunday, June 11 at Trinity Lutheran church.
Hope to see you all May 9. Ps…..bring your green thumb!
Dorothy Hoover, Social Director
