Sons
of NorwaySons
of Norway
Edvard
Grieg Lodge 657 District 5
Cincinnati-Dayton,
Ohio
The First Lodge in Ohio
Sons, Daughters, and Friends of Norway
August, 2005
Per Flem, Editor
President’s Message A recent New York Times article entitled, "Chasing Summer in Norway", taught me a lesson I needed to learn again. The author described summers in Norway by explaining that “Summer is an elusive season to Norwegians. Many Norwegian families spend a good part of the summer in summer cottages.” Doesn’t that sound beautiful and peaceful? The author went on to describe the land that so many of us love as being, “…perched at the same latitudes as Alaska, Greenland, and Siberia, snow and ice stubbornly cling to the wilderness well into May and then reappear with a jolt in the early fall. But summer -- when it finally does arrive -- opens a window into this country's love affair with its natural surroundings, as Norwegians of all social strata bound into the outdoors the moment the snow begins its retreat.” In Norway, when summer comes, people spend most of summer time outdoors and with their families. This sounds good. We need to slow down and borrow a page from our Norwegian cousins. Several of us have been involved with outdoor activities with our families and traveling this summer. I trust that you had a good summer of pleasant travels and had a safe return. It has been nice to have a short break from our regular monthly meetings this summer, but I am excited about the plans that we have for the Lodge this fall for Jule Fest. We are always saddened to hear of the death of one of our Sons of Norway family. The recent death of Lief Torkelsen was felt by many of us. Unfortunately, we were out of town during the funeral, but several of you were able to attend. We extend our condolences to his family. I am so thankful that Lief was able to attend the 17th of May gathering at Kari Poe’s. He was a gifted after-dinner speaker and had a wonderful sense of humor. One of the blessings of our Lodge is the sense of family we have as being part of the Lodge. Let us continue to nurture our family-friendly atmosphere at all of our gatherings. As we move forward, I believe it is important to pause to reflect and give thanks for those who have worked so hard and have contributed so much to the Lodge. Too many in America live such hectic lives that they do not slow down and “smell the roses.” So, learn a lesson from our Norwegian cousins, slow-down, spend time outdoors and tell others how much they mean to you. Four million Norwegians in Norway cannot be wrong. God bless you, |
Hytte Famlie Morro Dag! Saturday - August 20, 2005 - 2:00PM Please bring a dish to share. |
Membership With the addition of the Karam's our membership is at 103 adults, and we have 10 heritage members, those under age 16. Donna(Sutphin) Marstrander emailed to tell us that her husband Anders and his son Kjetil 15, have immigrated from Norway on July 29th and will become permanent residents. If you have ideas on ways we can promote our lodge please
contact me and we can work on them. |
Visiting Royalty
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Happy Birthday! Robert Price celebrated his 90th birthday on April 26,2005. To honor this event, the Board of County Commissioners of Warren County proclaimed April 26,2005 as “Robert D. Price, Sr. Day”. Our friend was born in LeRoy, Minnesota in 1915, graduated from the University of Minnesota, and after World War II got his PHD from the same institution. He then became a Professor of Education at the University of Cincinnati. Robert has been a member of Sons of Norway since 1987, while wife Adelheid Haugan Price, the Norwegian in the family, has been a member since 2001. On April14, 2005 the LeRoy Independent newspaper published
his letter, a poem from “Anonymous”, and an “Author
Unknown” letter describing how life begins at 80. I will have a picture of Robert and Adelheid celebrating the
birthday in a future issue, when I get access to a scanner. |
Centennial Celebration We were honored to have our district president, Harland Anderson, and his wife June, join us at our dinner on June 7th in honor of Norway's Centennial. He gave us greetings and news of District Five. Roman Fedwik, State of Ohio International Director presented us with a resolution, signed by Governor Taft, in honor of the day. You may see it on our website and appreciate the research Roman did for the resolution. All of these folks joined with Bob Ford, a folk singer, who provided our program. At one point we had an impromptu quartet of Harland, Bill Halverson, and Kjell Evensen singing "Per Spelmann:" in Norwegian. They did it as a round with Bob Ford. As you can see, this was a busy fun-packed unique event in honor of Norway's Centennial. For those of you that missed the dinner, there are photos on the web site, thanks to Lois Evensen. |
Reports on Recent
Lodge Meetings |
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June 25, 2005 Thank you Susie and Glenn Mikaloff for hosting our 6th annual Summer Solstice Celebration. The food brought by everyone was delicious, which is one of the best features of this type of event. As it was a nice warm (hot) day their pool was enjoyed by many. Even the pool slide and diving board were used by some. You can see who by the photos on the web site. Just as the party was winding down, the clouds opened up. There was a downpour as we all drove home. |
July 16, 2005 Thanks also to Dan and Carol Beckman for hosting the lodge's indoor picnic at their house on Hidden Valley Lake. This was our second time out to the Valley. Dan presented programs on "Ski for Light". He has been a volunteer with them for many years. After we saw a video on Norway and enjoyed our food, the weather cleared and it was decided to go for a boat ride. Bob Hippert took many photos, and Lois put them on the web site. One unattainable photo was Carol and Dolly using a rope to swing over the lake and jumping, all in the pouring rain. |
Notes from the Viking
Did you all see our lodge photo in the District Happenings section (page 30), of the August Viking? Thanks to Bob Kyvik for sending in the photo and information for us.
An interview with Steinar Opstad on page 38, inside the back cover brought memories back from our trip to Norway. Steiner was our guide for a day and a half in the area around Sarpsborg. When he is not traveling he is helping his friend, the Mayor of Sarpsborg, to promote that area. All of us on the tour were fascinated by his knowledge of Norwegian history and his vast life experiences.
Esther
Lodge Library
Thanks to Lois Evensen for posting our current library titles on the lodge web site.
Come to a meeting and get a book, it’s easier than the public library!
Call Esther at 513-923-3798 for more information.
Birthdays |
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August Sandra Nelson[12], Diane Person[12], Jean Crocker-Lakness[14], Eric Karam[15], Michael Karam[16], Trent French[16], Korinn Flem[20], Helen Hippert[22], Don Norbrothen[23], Kathleen Flem[28], Melanie Petreman[29]. |
September Kjell Evensen[3], Angela Kephart[3], Ordelle Hill[4], Christina Kosobud[10], Glenn Kinney[12], Janecke Santoro[17], Larry Welin[19], Per Flem[26], Jimmy Bowman[28]. |
October Patrick Johnson[1], Sally Lund[8], Chris Buselmeier[9], Roby Bowman[12], Nelda Chandler[25], Birgit Jorgensen[25]. |
Cultural, from Sons of Norway
When the Norwegian King Harald Hardrade was killed on Sept 25th,1006 at Stamford Bridge in England, the last true Viking king died as well, and world history would never be the same.
Harald Hardrade, originally Harald Sigurdsson, was the half brother of Saint Olaf who was himself killed at Stikelstad in the year 1030. The young Harald, only 15, was with his brother at the battle of Stikelstad, and afterwards fled to Constantinople. There he became the leader of a Viking army in the service of the Byzantine emperor. He became rich and famous, and lead many military campaigns.
When he returned to Norway circa 1045, Harald had become
so powerful that the king at that time, Magnus the Good, had to acknowledge
Harald as joint king. The two kings reigned together until Magnus death in 1047.
King Harald went to war many times, both abroad and at home in Norway against
resisters.
Harald Hardrade was important for uniting the country. Under him many parts
of Eastern Norway truly came into the kingdom. Harald consolidated a purely
Norwegian dynasty, and the kings that came after him in the 11th and 12 centuries
were his descendants.
In 1066 Harald tried to take England, and he believed the followers of his kinsman Knut the Great would support him. But that did not happen, and Harald was killed in a terrible battle against the English king at Stamford Bridge in the vicinity of York on September 25th. Just nineteen days later the English king had to fight against Normans at Hastings- and lost the battle. If Harald had not weakened the English, the Normans never would have conquered England, and the history of the world would be completely different.
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Farewell, Dear Friend Our dear friend and charter member of our lodge, Leif Torkelsen died early on June 13, 2005. Leif was born February 12, 1925 in Bergen Norway. He was a charter member of the Scandinavian Society, and All Saints Lutheran Church. After retiring as a photoengraver, he was associated with Berry Woodworking. The picture was taken at the 17th of May party with his daughter Aida. Our deepest condolences go to his family and fiancee Carolyn Hahn. A true ”one of a kind” gentleman, with the gift to make everyone smile, we will miss him. |
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Member News
Recently I had a Norwegian mini vacation right here in the U.S.
I attended a stevne (meeting) of seven lags (areas in Norway) at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
My mother was born in Toten, Norway, and that area was one of the seven lags represented at this stevne. The three day stevne consisted of a bus tour of the Koshkonong area where I grew up, genealogy classes and research, and numerous classes and lectures.
The highlight was the banquet with a bunad parade and the Edvard Grieg Mens Choir of Madison, WI singing Norwegian and American songs.
If you are interested in attending a stevne and want to see if the area in Norway you have ties to has a lag, click here.
Carol Luiso
President Karl Flem 9436 Morrow-Woodson Rd. Pleasant Plain, OH 45162 513-877-3005 Flem1973@Yahoo.com |
Vice
President Nelda Chandler 11409 Geneva Rd. Forest Park, OH 45440 513-742-9504 Neldandelma@earthlink.net |
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Treasurer |
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Social
Co-Chair Sandy Nelson Snel1234@aol.com Social Co-Chair Diane Person |
Raffle
Chairman Susie Mikaloff 7472 Stone Ridge Dr. Springboro, OH 45066 937-748-8121 g_mikaloff@email.msn.com |
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Publicity
Chairman (Position Open) |
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Foundation
Chairman Lance Larsen 1022 Crisfield Dr. Cincinnati, OH 45245 513-752-2740 llars47@fuse.net |
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Membership Esther Charlton 3798 Susanna Drive Cincinnati, OH 45254 513-923-3798 Esthersofn@cinci.rr.com |
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Edvard Grieg Sons of Norway Web Site
