Vennskap Lodge Sheboygan Falls, Wi June, 2015

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1 Coming Attractions June 20th Annual Summer Picnic Milsted Residence 1222 W725 Garton Rd. Sheboygan Lunch at Noon July 21st Monthly Meeting 6PM First Lutheran Church 521 North 8th St. Manitowoc August 18th Monthly Meeting 6PM First United Lutheran 2401 Kohler Mem. Dr. Sheboygan Vennskap Lodge Sheboygan Falls, Wi June, 2015 Volume 22, Issue 4 The Fun Begins! Yes, it finally arrived! Reluctantly, it seems, with temperatures bouncing, summer seems to have taken grip of the calendar. Most people will agree: It s about time! We have enjoyed our annual dinner and now it s time for the outdoor activities at the famous Vennskap National Park under the direction of residents and Rangers Joyce and Louis Milsted on the shores of Lake Michigan. While several Sons Of Norway lodges maintain lodge buildings, I believe our lodge is the only one sited on a National Park. Our thanks to Louis and Joyce for their contribution to our Vennskap enjoyment. Mange takk! Some changes have been made. Darkness creates a danger for lodge travellers as they return home after meetings. The result is a new 6 PM meeting time and the Wisconsin roadspeed will be changed to 70 MPH. We can fly faster homebound!! Uff dah! Then, July 4th activties with family picnics, concerts and fireworks! We deserve a great summer after all the unusual weather experiences. However, we have been very fortunate not to have had the extreme floods, earthquakes, and tornados of those less fortunate. Count our blessings! Enjoy your summer! Shop with Scrip! Contact Dawn Gratulerer Med Dagen! June Callie Turner.(Heritage)...2 Hayden Bruechert..( Heritage)...11 Chase Williams (Heritage)...11 Linda Olson...17 Patricia Cook...19 Nolan Olson (Heritage)...22 Naomi Dickrell...26 GraceAnn Winkel..(Heritage)...26 July Andrina Soto..(Heritage)...3 Signe Jorgenson...4 Virginia Mikkelson...6 Dick Bronson...16 Sandra Bruns...23 Elijah Whitaker..(Heritage)...24 Paul Kraus...25 August Anne Bruechert...5 Nethanyel Whitaker ( Heritage)...5 Vi Rue...7 Richard Peterson...16 Liana Mecha...21 Nancy Koch...24 Carolyn Johnson...25 Anika Soto (Heritage)...27 Michael Jurgens...28 DawnBergsBaken@hotmail.com (920) Scrip Cards Available or Place Your Order Happy Birthday!

2 Hei mine venner! What a busy month May has been! Vennskap members Dolcye Johnson, Dolly Dickrell, Andy Giesen and I spent Monday, May 4th, getting the display highlighting Norwegian heritage in the Sheboygan area set up at Mead Public Library in Sheboygan. It turned out great if we do say so ourselves. Abig thanks to all of our members who graciously donated items for the display. Plans are in the works to have a similar display at the library in Manitowoc. Next came Vennskap Lodge's participation in the Local History Expo held at the Wade House in Greenbush on Saturday, May 16th. There were 22 local history organizations that participated and several with things that I had no knowledge of. Did you know that there is a Badger Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail? It was great to learn about these different groups and collect their various pieces of information. Thanks to the Solberg's, the Milsted's and the Mikkelson's for helpingandy and me with providing a lodge presence at Vennskap's display table. Finally our annual banquet was held at Knox's Silver Valley Restaurant on Sunday, May 17th. Twenty eight of you braved the fog and made your way to the event. We also welcomed one visitor, Molly BergsBaken (Dawn's sister) and one guest, Susan Curtis- Gary Henderson's wife. Many thanks to Inez Jurgens for making the arrangements with the restaurant. It was a lovely setting and we had good food and good fellowship. We know that Norwegians are a smart lot and that was shown by how well you all did playing my "WhoAm I" game. The articles on "Legendary Norwegians" in the Viking must have been read by you all. Two Tusen Takk awards were given to Jere Solberg for her great job as our Sunshine Chairman and also to Joyce Milsted for her terrific job as lodge librarian. There were four membership awards to be given out but unfortunately none of the four members were in attendance. I hope to be able to award the certificates and pins at either our summer picnic or at our meeting in July. The four membership awards are for Judy Block, 10 years of membership, Nan Webster for 20 years, Doris Fredricksen, 25 years and Carolyn Johnson, 35 years. Congratulations to everyone. I am confident that Dell will have information on the upcoming picnic in this issue, but wanted to remind you all that it is Saturday, June 20th at 12 noon at the Milsted's. Remember to bring a dish to share and put your Kubb shoes on! There will be a silent auction again this year so bring your next to new items to sell. If you have multiple books and/or smaller items, please consider packaging them together to help save table space. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there. If you are able to come out by 11 am to help set up tables and chairs, please give Louis a call. We have a new member of the lodge and his name is Steven Olsen. Many of you may have met Steve and his wife when they attended our March meeting. Abig Norwegian welcome to you Steve and we hope to see you at the picnic in June. I want to also pass along a reminder to all that per the changes made by the Lodge membership at the April meeting, we will be having a meeting in July and it will be in Manitowoc.Be sure to make the change on your calendars. Summer is on the way so let's hope that by picnic time we have some nice warm temperatures and lots of blue sky. See you all soon. Yours in vennskap, Marge

3 Revised Meeting Schedule for 2015 by Marge G. With the changes that were voted on at the meeting inapril, I thought that it would be helpful to put out a revised meeting schedule. Here it is. Saturday, June 20...noon... Picnic at The Milsted's Tuesday, July pm...First Lutheran Manitowoc Tuesday, August pm... First United Lutheran Sheboygan Tuesday, September pm... First Lutheran Manitowoc Tuesday, October pm... First United Lutheran Sheboygan Tuesday, November pm... First Lutheran Manitowoc December... No meeting January No meeting February No meeting Presidents of Vennskap Lodge by Marge G. I was asked at the banquet if I could please put together a list of the people who have served as presidents of Vennskap Lodge. I have put this together based on information from scrapbooks and other materials. If you are aware of an error in the list, please let me know. Vennskap was founded in 1992 by Ken Leffin Ken Leffin 2002 & Anne Bruechert 1994 & Pat Juers 2004 & Wayne Jurgens Anne Bruechert 2006 & 2007 & Dolly Dickrell 1997 & Dell Solberg 2009 & 2010 & Dick Peterson Elaine Bronson 2012 & Marge Giesen Norma Onsager 2014 & Marge Giesen Elaine Bronson King Harald V of Norway came to the USA for Syttende Mai In his first visit to the Seattle area in 20 years, Norway s King Harald V came to the western Puget Sound area to help dedicate a mural at Ballard Park and deliver the commencement address at Tacoma s Pacific Lutheran University. This famous commemorative mural in Ballard Park honors the area s rich Scandinavian ties, particularly with Seattle s Norwegian sister of Bergen. The King s travel plans included Washington State, and Alaska May 21-27th.

4 Knox s Silver Valley Hall was the site of our Vennskap Awards Banquet and Syttende Mai celebration. Our Prez, Marge Giesen, served as MC and game leader. Good job, Marge! Skål! A toast of friendship to our venner. Inez Jurgens brought the Aquavit! Joyce Milsted keeps us reading! We were so puzzled! One of Marge s puzzle pages... Phil Hellestad His badge reads, Some people are married to Norwegians and still go on to lead normal lives Ken Wickland Ken will be shopping at Nordic Accents! Certificates of membership: Carolyn Johnson - 35 yrs Doris Fredricksen - 25 yrs Nan Webster - 20 yrs Judy Block - 10 yrs Jere Solberg & Marge spreading sunshine

5 Vennskap Lodge Is On Display! Mange Takk to all who helped showcase Vennskap Lodge! Vennskap Lodge was the highlight exhibit for the month of May at the Sheboygan Mead Library. On display were various creations of Vennskap members in an arrangement by Dolcye Johnson, Dolly Dickrell, Marge andandy Giesen. Thank you! to all who donated, and set up an outstanding SON display! And at the History Expo at The Wade House, Vennskap Lodge continued a busy month with a Sons Of Norway Booth with a display highlighting Norway created by Marge Gieson Andy appears to be rehearsing his presentation to Marge as they prepare for the Vennskap exhibition at the Heritage Center. The shearing is easy! Catching them is the tough part! he answered as he demon strates the skill of sheep-shearing. Music inside, music outside! Featured: Local communities, local musicians, demontrations and speakers who told stories and facts of Who we are and How it was done in The Old Days! The end of the journey! Whoa!

6 Let s Have A Picnic! Rangers Joyce and Louis Milsted invite you, once again, to the lakeside Vennskap Norwegian Park. Bring your favorite dish to share, your treasures to add to the famous Silent Auction, and have a ball! West of the curve Louis and Joyce Milsted W 725 Garton Road Got a game to share??? Kubb teams will be on the field...( Is dar such a ting as Svedish Checkers???) Hnefatafl!! (Nef-ah TAH-fel). If you can say it, you can PLAY it! Saturday, June 20th Dinner at 12 noon Your setup skills appreciated!! All willing to help chairmoving, table setting, table clothes are invited earlier! 11 AM!! Nordic Fest Bus Trip Norse Valley Lodge of Appleton is going to Nordic Fest at Decorah, Iowa and you are invited to join us July 24-26th. Dancing With the Trolls is the theme of one of the biggest Scandinavian festivals around. We will stay in air conditioned rooms at Luther College. To see the awesome events go to and view the 2014 Official program. You can choose to tour Vesterheim Museum with it s huge collection of Norwegian-American artifacts. The cost is $168 per person which includes two nights lodging, bus, and entrance to Nordic Fest. Food is your own expense. Make checks out to: Norse Valley Lodge #491. Mail to Leah Johnson, 816 Lincoln St., Menasha, WI Questions (920) Only a paid registration will hold your spot. For each person in your party list name, address, home phone, cell phone, and address. Indicate if you want a single room or a double room (no more than two people are allowed per double room). The bus will load at 8:45.a.m. Friday, July 24th at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 2330 E. Calumet St., Appleton and return at approximately 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 26th to the church. Other lodges can meet us along our route. Member Survey Outcomes from Lodge Meeting April 2015 Thank you to all who attended the April meeting and participated in the discussion regarding the recommendations from the board about the membership survey. Vennskap Membership approved the following: To maintain our meeting day as the 3rd Tuesday of the month To change the meeting start time to 6pm -effective immediately. To change the meeting schedule to include a meeting in July and eliminate the meeting in December -effective immediately. Directive given to the executive committee to make a recommendation about elimination of some appointed lodge positions. Recommendation will be brought back to the lodge membership for discussion and a vote. Additional: The membership was reminded that this fall we will need to elect officers and have volunteers for the appointed positions for the next two year term of Louis Milsted and Mikk Mikkelson shared that they would be part of the nomination committee and a volunteer from the north region was asked for. The nomination committee does not need to be finalized until August. It was shared with the membership that four of the current elected officers will not be seeking another two year term this fall. They are Marge Giesen, President; Louis Milsted, Vice President; Dawn BergsBaken, Secretary; and Arvold Mikkelson, Treasurer.

7 The Lady s Page Jere Solberg TREAT YOUR HEART TO A SAUNA! Scientists in Finland have been studying the effects of sauna on middle aged men. Of the 2,315 men who were randomly chosen for this test, it was found those who spent more time in the sauna, had a greater chance of living longer. One explanation could be the warm temperature causing a higher pulse rate which improves blood pressure in the same way exercise does. Saunas are often done communally with good company, another plus. More research is needed. Ole vas vorking at the fish plant up nort in Dulut vhen he accidentally cut off all ten of his finkers. He vent to da emergency room in the Clinik and vhen he got dar, da Norsky doctor looked at Ole and said, "Let's have da finkers and I'll see vhat I can do." Ole said, "I haven't got da finkers." "Vhat do you mean, you hafen't got da finkers?" he said. "Lordit's 2015 and I ve got microsurgery and all kinds of incredible techniques. I could hafe put dem back on and made you like new! Vhy didn't you brink da finkers?" Ole says...how da heck vas I suppose to pick dem up? RHUBARB DREAM DESSERT Crust: Blend together 2 cups flour - 2/3 cups sugar - and 1 cup butter Press into ungreased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Topping: Mix together 1 tsp nutmeg 4 beaten eggs 1/2 cup flour 3 cups sugar 1 1/2 tsp salt 4 cups finely chopped rhubarb Pour on crust. Bake 350 for 35 minutes. In a small business office there is an answering machine that instructs callers to leave their name and address and to spell any difficult words. As the secretary was checking weekend messages, she heard an enthusiastic Lena recite her name and address and then confidentally offer, My difficult word is reconciliation. R-E-C-O-N-C-I-L-I-A-T-I-O-N. Ginny Mikkelson Tubfrim leader TUBFRIM A Norwegian -based organization, has been raising money to help children since FRIMERKER is the Norwegian word for stamps. Blend parts of the words tuberculosis and frimerker, and you get 'TUBRIM'. Sons of Norway has been a part of TUBFRIM'S success since Tear Or cut stamps off envelopes, leaving a slight margin (approx. 1/2 ) to keep perforation intact. TUBFRIM will also receive stamp collections,old envelopes, and postcards. If envelopes, postcards etc. are more than 50 years old, please do not cut off the stamp, but send the whole envelope/postcard. Stamps sent to Norway are sold to wholesalers and collectors, with the proceeds used by the Norwegian Health Association. This will finance tuberculosis research and improve the quality of life for children infected by the disease as well as children with handicaps. Our latest stamp cutter, Anne Bruechert, has cut 9 oz. of stamps. For every pound of stamps collected, the member of the lodge is entered into a drawing to win one of two plane tickets to NORWAY!

8 Members of Congress and staffers packed the venue when the Nordic embassies in Washington D.C. hosted the first joint congressional outreach event "Nordic Happy Hour on the Hill recently. The goal of the event, the first of several Nordic projects in 2015, is to build and strengthen relationships with key congressional staff and emphasize the great Nordic collaboration in Washington D.C. We improve our outreach together, said Minister Counselor Birgitte Hygen. We have learned that globally minded staffers are interested in Norway and our views on international issues. They want more information on areas relevant to American interests. On June 1, the five ambassadors meet again at Twitter DC for an open digital discussion with a global audience. The theme of the Twitter Town Hall - meeting is the Arctic. Plans are also progressing for a joint Nordic Day this fall, with focus on climate. Happy Midsummer s Eve The Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St. John the Baptist, and the observance of St. John's Day begins the evening before, known as St. John's Eve. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to to be active when the sun was turning southward again. In later years, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other powerful beings. In another belief, the fires, as explained by the monk of Winchcombe, were to drive away dragons, which were abroad on St. John's Eve, poisoning springs and wells. Currently, this date is used to celebrate the summer solstice, the longest and brightest day of the year. The practice of lighting bonfires during Midsummer comes from the belief that fire awakens the ground and gives renewed strength to the sun. Stav Churches in Jeopardy Stave churches are an iconic part of Norway s cultural identity. Three of the country s lesser-known churches may be facing closure or sale this year due to financial hardship. The care of eight churches is entrusted to the society, as the churches themselves are privately owned and no public sector funding is given to the society to maintain them. The closure of Nore, Uvdal and Torpo stave churches, all of them in Buskerud County are being consided to be closed this summer. These are the churches that have operated with the biggest losses of financial backing. You re In DaArmy Now! Nore Stav church Ole, a smooth-talking Norske and a natural born salesman, got called up to active army duty. Ole s first assignment was in a military induction center. Because he was a good talker, they assigned him the duty of advising new recruits about government benefits, especially the GI life insurance, to which they were entitled. The officer in charge soon noticed that Ole was getting a 99% sign-up rate for the more expensive supplemental form of GI insurance. This was remarkable, because it cost $30 per month compared to what the government was already providing at no charge. The officer decided he d observe Ole s sales pitch. Ole stood up before the latest group of inductees and said, If you haf da normal GI insurans an yoo go to Afghanistan an get yourself killed, da governmen pays yer beneficiary $20,000. If yoo take out da supplemental insurans, vich cost you only t irty dollars a mont, den da governmen got ta pay yer beneficiary $200,000! Now, Ole concluded, Vich bunch you tink dey gonna send ta Afghanistan first?