JANUARY 2009 BULLETIN
Ord Fra President
Godt Nytaar og God Jul. Since we did not have a December bulletin, we wish you all
the best 2009 and assume everyone had a super Christmas. We had a very
successful Julebord, our Unge Venner participated in the annual Santa Lucia
procession, guided as usual by Youth Director Judith Gabriel Vinje. We sang
around the Christmas tree (supplied by Cara Clove and Ken Putnam) with our
Musician, Shelley Baum. Our famous secret Santa Claus attended with gifts for
the kiddies. Great fun and fellowship. Lots of great food as usual. Center
pieces were supplied by Connie and Kristen Guritz who always do a really fine
job. They make the tables so colorful and fun. The lefse sale was extremely
successful. After serving and selling we had just a few packages left. Thanks to
you all.
We had a cookie making session and our usual lefse party
in November. Both were super successful. Next time come join us to learn or help
out in making lefse and cookies.
Our 2009 calendar is complete in draft form. Even now we
have changes that will be announced. For now we will publish the first few
months, but as soon as possible the entire 2009 calendar will be published in
the newsletter and on our website Edvardgrieglodge.com.
NOTE: The January 6th
board meeting will be held at my home. This is a change since the member who
planned to have it found out there was a conflict with the date. Our January
24th Family Night, 6:30 pm, will be potluck and
games…cards, boards, etc. Lots of fun for all and a fund raiser as well. Y’all
come.
The February 28th family
event will be a Silent Auction with dinner and fun. Please save your good,
clean, unused or nearly unused articles for our always successful fund raiser.
More info in next bulletin.
Thanks for your support and attendance at our 2008
meetings and events. Please continue your loyalty to our lodge and our heritage
in 2009.
Fraternally, Jo
We would appreciate getting the email addresses from
members who would like to be notified of events ahead of time. Please send them
to Jo Ness at JNess2619@sbcglobal.net and to Margaret Shuler at
alsvid1@hotmail.com
FROM THE EDITOR
There was not a December issue of Edvard Grieg Notes. I hope your holidays were happy.
Best wishes for health and happiness in the coming year.
Margaret Shuler
LODGE ACTIVITIES
BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Jo Ness,
2619 Fairway Avenue, Montrose. (818) 249-8102
POTLUCK AND CARD GAMES NIGHT
Saturday, January 24 at 6:30 pm at the American Legion
Hall.
BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, February 3 at 7:30 pm at the home of
Mim and Amon Johnson, 747 Fairview Avenue, #B, Arcadia.
(626) 574-9550
DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION
Saturday, February 28 at the American Legion Hall. Happy
hour – 5:30 pm, dinner – 6:30 p.m. This could be a good time to check closets
and cupboards for items you no longer want.
BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, March 3 at 7:30 pm at the home of
Tina and Patrick Hartney, 2757 Frances Avenue, La
Crescenta, (818) 957-1294
POTLUCK AND CULTURAL EVENING
Saturday, March 28, at the American Legion Hall. Happy
Hour – 5:30 pm, dinner – 6:30 pm. Bring open-faced sandwiches, salads or a
favorite casserole. Patricia Savoie will give a presentation on Norwegian
writers.
BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30 pm at the home of
Eileen and Herb Wirtz, 425 N. Orchard Drive,
Burbank. (818) 848-1552
DISTRICT
ACTIVITIES
Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. will be held on January
10, 11, 17, 18 at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. There will be
films from
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
For details, please check
www.ScandinavianFilmFestivalLA.com
The Tenth Annual Nordic Spirit Symposium Sagas and the Viking World will be held at California
Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, on February 6-7, 2009. Please call *818)
788-4552 or e-mail seecallan@sbcglobal.net for
information and registration fees.
The Scandinavian Festival will be on Saturday, April 18
and Sunday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at California Lutheran University,
60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks.
For more information, contact the Scandinavian Cultural
Center at (805) 241-0391 or (805) 241-1051 or www.callutheran.edu/scancenter
The distance between Oslo and Norway’s North Cape is
about the same as the distance between Oslo and Rome.
At its narrowest point, near Narvik, Norway is only four
miles wide.
If Norway’s approximately 17,000 miles of coastline were
straightened out, it could encircle the entire earth at the equator.
In square miles, Norway is about the same size at New
Mexico (approximately 150,000 square miles). However, only about 3 percent of
its land is tillable, which is closer to the size of
Connecticut.
S/N Newsletter Service
Edvard Grieg Lodge #6-074
Board of Officers
President
Jo Ness
818-249-8102
JNess2619@sbcglobal.net
Vice President
Vacant
Counselor
LaVonne Kerfoot
909-599-3052
LaVonne@kerfoot.com
Secretary
Mim Johnson
626-574-9550
oviere@msn.com
Asst.
Secretary
Elaine Lundby
818-848-4869
Membership
Secretary
Virginia Paulson
323-254-2060
paulsonx@sbcglobal.net
Treasurer
Margaret Shuler
626-303-6465
alsvid1@hotmail.com
Social Directors
Vacant
Social Committee
Peg Chereek
818-241-6773
Yvonne Claypool
213-748-5612
Connie
Guritz
818-249-3014
Kristen Guritz
818-249-3014
Tina
Hartney
818-957-1294
Carl Voien
909-596-6339
Eileen
Wirtz
818-848-1552
epwirtz@earthlink.net
Cultural
Director
Cara Clove
818-249-7371
caraclove@earthlink.net
Editor
Margaret Shuler
626-303-6465
Publicity
Jo Ness
818-249-8102
Historian
Pat Savoie
626-794-8806
patriciasavoie@sbcglobal.net
Youth Director
Judith Gabriel Vinje
818-563-2526
JGabriel@thegrid.net
Sunshine
Yumiko Lovdokken
818-771-0887
YumikoLovdokken@ca.rr.com
Astrid Omdal
626-799-8211
Trustees
Amon Johnson
626-574-9550
Henrik Lovdokken
818-771-0887
Carl
Voien
909-596-6339
Marshal
Milton Paulson
323-254-2060
Musician
Shelly Baum
626-797-8586
Foundation Director
Dorothy Bakken
818-244-2997
dartbakken@charter.net
Librarian
Fran Quick
818-507-6224
Zone 5 Director
Eric Herem
805-480-0937
eherem@verizon.net
Insurance Representative
Dennis Burreson
800-448-2499
EDVARD GRIEG LODGE WEB
SITE
www.edvardgrieglodge.com
Dan Christensen, webmaster
6TH
DISTRICT WEB SITE
http://www/sofn-district6.com
.,,
Our Treasure
2008 Plaque
Presented to LaVonne Kerfoot
at the Splendid Norwegian
Dinner
EDVARD GRIEG LODGE WEB
SITE
www.edvardgrieglodge.com
Dan Christensen, webmaster
6TH DISTRICT WEB
SITE
http://www/sofn-district6.com
.
Celebrating the New Year
and the End of
Christmas
As in many countries, in Norway the change from
one year to another is celebrated on both New
Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. New Year’s Eve is
celebrated with a party or get together either at home or out on the town, which
often culminates with counting down to the new year’s beginning at midnight. On
the table one typically serves among other things lamb ribs (pinnekjøtt), pork
ribs or turkey on New Year’s Eve.
In olden times New Year’s Day was an important
day for the whole country to look for signs of how
the new year would be. The signs people looked
for had mostly to do with how the crops would
do, or what the fishing would be like. The weather
on New Year’s Day was also taken as a sign of how
the weather would be for the rest of the year.
Today New Year’s Day is an official holiday and is
usually celebrated at home and is for many people
a day of rest after New Year’s Eve. The Prime
Minister gives a speech, called the New Year’s
Address.
The thirteenth day of Christmas (January 6th) is
called Helligtrekongersdag (“Three Holy Kings’
Day”) in honor of the three kings who came to
Jerusalem to honor Jesus. In the Catholic era a
pageant was performed on this day, a living
demonstration of the three kings’ journey, but
today it is more of a symbol that Christmas has
come to an end.
From Sons of Norway Newsletter
Service
Adapted from the book Merkedager av Ann
Helene
Bolstad Skjelbred
THE ORIGINS OF THE COFFEE BREAK
Using coffee as a stimulant may have been
discovered in Africa around the year 850, but it was in Stoughton, Wisconsin,
more than a thousand years later that the coffee break was introduced in the
Western World. And by a group of Norwegian women, no
less!
Located in southern Wisconsin about thirty miles from the
state capitol in Madison, Stoughton is a small community of less than fifteen
thousand residents. The town was established in the latter half of the
nineteenth century with farming and a few factories providing the principal
means of livelihood. Dairying and the raising of tobacco were the principal
agricultural pursuits, and the manufacture of wagons was the major industry. It
was that combination of raising tobacco and manufacturing wagons that led
directly to the establishment of the coffee break as an enduring feature in
American life.
Like other states in the upper Midwest, Wisconsin became
home to thousands of Norwegian immigrants, beginning after the Civil War and
continuing for more than fifty years. In Stoughton it was those immigrants who
provided the labor force for fields and factories, and it is estimated that by
1900 seventy-five percent of the town’s population was of Norwegian
descent.
Most of the men were employed in T.G. Mandt’s wagon
factory, and when the time came to harvest the tobacco crop there was a shortage
of workers to sort the tobacco in the several warehouses in the town. With many
Norwegian families residing around or near his warehouse, Oscar Gunderson
decided to ask the women to assist in sorting and collating the leaves for
shipment.
The Norwegian wives agreed, provided they could return to
their homes in mid-morning and in the afternoon to check on the children,
prepare meals, and take care of other domestic duties. With a coffee pot always
on the stove in a Norwegian home, the coffee break thus was born – a brief time
to relax before returning to work.
The town of Stoughton, Wisconsin, where this all began,
regularly celebrates the origin of the coffee break with a “Coffee Break
Festival” held annually in August and featuring a 5k “Java Jog,” a car show,
swap meet, and other activities. Incidentally, as an aside, coffee has sometimes
been referred to as “Norwegian gasoline,” not only because it is a favorite
among Norwegians, as tea is
to the English, but it is also needed to keep one moving!
Kaffe in Norwegian is
obviously related to the English coffee and the
French café, but the origin of those words in the
Near East where it all began is somewhat ambiguous. Tradition holds that around
the middle of the ninth century an Arabian shepherd noted that after eating the
red berries and leaves of a common plant his sheep became agitated, and trying
some of the berries for himself he experienced a surge of energy. Transliterated
into English, the Arabic name of the berry-bearing plant is Kaveh or Qahwah, which found
its way from Turkey to France and thus to modern usage.
With the introduction of the practice of drying the beans
and boiling them in water, Kaveh became coffee, but
it would be many centuries before the coffee break became common. However, its
effect as a stimulant was widely recognized as early as the eleventh century,
and Muslims frequently relied on its properties to get them through their long
religious ceremonies, just as college students do today to keep awake in the
late night hours studying for an examination.
The coffee break which began as a woman’s condition of
employment, in Stoughton, Wisconsin, more than one hundred years ago, is
commonplace today and even more, has become a personal habit and social
institution. It was Olena Nordness and Josie Peterson, whose husbands worked in
the wagon factory, who reached the agreement with Osmund Gundersen to work in
his tobacco warehouse only if they could take a break in the morning and the
afternoon. To those two women, both born in Norway, that we owe both the
privilege and the practice today.
Richard C. Gilman
Pasadena, California
Learn more about Norway
on-line
There’s no end to the information you can find on
the internet. In fact, there’s so much out there,
sometimes it’s hard to focus in on just what you
need. Here are a few valuable online resources for
finding information about or from
Norway.
www.google.no
This is the Norwegian version of the well-known
internet search engine Google.com. Google.no
gives you a few options for narrowing your search.
Just check the box next to “Dokumenter på norsk”
to search for websites in Norwegian only. Check
“sider fra Norge” to search websites based in
Norway. Otherwise, the default setting, “Nettet”
searches the entire internet exactly as Google.com
does.
www.gulesider.no
Gulesider is a Norwegian phone directory. Click
“English” in the lower right corner for a complete
English-language interface. You can use it to find
phone numbers for businesses and private
individuals in Norway, and also search for cities,
towns and even farms by choosing the map
option.
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