The Norden Club of Lincoln

Next Meeting: March 18 @ First Lutheran Church. Doors open at 5:30, dinner at 6:30

Reservation due by Tuesday, March 12

Contact Ron/Karen Nielsen—402-477-0065

Our 72nd Year

Norden Club

Officers & Committees

March 2019

www.nordenclub.com

Inside this issue:

March meeting information ... 1

President’s Corner ................. 2

Calendar of events 2019 ........ 2

Menu for March meeting ....... 2

Foundation News ................... 3

Courtesy Report ..................... 4

Membership report ................. 5

Special Program — Runic Stones .................................... 6 The Vikings .......................... 7 Scandinavian Cruise Tour ...... 9 Smorgasbord pictures .......... 10

The Norden Club promotes fellowship among Scandinavian-Americans and their descendants and helps preserve for the benefit of the United States the best in the cultural heritage

of Scandinavia.

The countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden make up Scandinavia.

Reservations for March Meeting

You can register your attendance by calling Ron/Karen Nielsen at 402-477-0065.

Contact Information President—Del Stites:

402-830-6679 or nordencluboflincoln@gmail.com or delstites@gmail.com

Foundation —Joan Tomlinson White: 402-423-0023 or joantw@inebraska.com

The Norden Club of Lincoln, promoting Scandinavian heritage, has its first quarterly meeting/dinner of the year on Monday, March 18 at First Lutheran Church, 1551 S 70th St. Doors open at 5:30. The public is invited!

The dinner, catered by The Eatery, is $16 for members and $20 for the public. The event begins with a 5:30 pm social hour with musical entertainment by Marcia Claesson playing Scandinavian and other folk tunes on autoharp. That will be followed by dinner and a program of Evert Claesson's slide show and talk about his recent visit to Sweden.

Members & public call Ron at #402-477-0065 for reservations. Deadline is March 12. The public must pay in advance by mailing a check to: Norden Club, 5015 NW 7th St, Lincoln, NE 68521.

March Meeting—March 18

President Del Stites

Vice President Cyndi Mattson

Secretary Sandy Hanson

Treasurer Ted Ericson

Membership Mary Brass

Courtesy Mary Brass

Historian Phyllis Ericson

Name Tags Ingrid Stites

Newsletter Len Nelson

Song Leader Kendra Hartwick

Pianist Kristina Hanson

Librarian Phyllis Ericson

Web Master Len Nelson

Foundation President

Joan Tomlinson White

Advertising & PR Terri Heckman

Past President Ron Nielsen

Reservations Ron & Karen Nielsen

PAGE 2 March 2019

President’s Corner Dear Norden Club Members:

As I sit here watching the umpteenth snow of the season, my hope has turned to a warm spring and for our Norden Club

events. Our regular quarterly meeting will be Monday, March 18 and later we will have a special coffee and talk meeting (no supper) on Runic Stones on Monday, April 29. Please read the articles about them in this newsletter.

At our Norwegian Norden Club Smörgåsbord last December, the weather was good, the music delightful, the talk entertaining, the venue decorative and comfortable, and the food right on target. Thanks to the committee who put the afternoon celebration together and to those who attended.

A few news tidbits – Ron and Karen Nielsen are recommending

the Swedish restaurant, Krokstrom Klubb and Market, 3601 Broadway Boulevard, Kansas City, MO, 816 599-7531.

A new Swedish bakery has opened in Omaha (Millard). It is Shandy’s Bakery, 13811 T Plaza, 402 340-3925, shandy@shandysbakery.com shandybakery.com. The baker, a young woman who grew up in Wausa, NE, is reviving the Swedish breads and cakes of her Swedish grandmother. The bakery is small so call to place an order or before visiting to make sure what the daily choices are.

Rasmus Thøgersen has resigned from being the Director of the Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, IA. Rasmus is returning to his first career love – Library Science. He has been a very major contributor to the Museum’s work and the Danish communities of Iowa and Nebraska.

Some unwitting souls think Scandinavian cooking is bland and routine. However, the latest edition of Posten (American Swedish Institute Newsletter) relates the following: “Nordic countries recently swept the top four prizes in the world’s most prestigious culinary competition, the Bocuse d’Or, held in France. Denmark , led by Chief Kenneth Toft-Hansen, took the gold. Sweden’s Sebastian Gibrand was second. Norway’s Christian Andree Pettersen was third, and Finland’s Ismo Sipaelainen was fourth.”

Thinking of food, our next Christmas Smörgåsbord will be Sunday, December 8 and will focus on Sweden, Swedish culture, and Swedish-Americans. Mark your calendar…but first please plan to attend the March 18th meeting.

Please pay your dues – we need you. The Club works on a skosnöre (‘shoestring’ sw.) so we need your dues, but more importantly we need you. By the way, how many times have we been talking to someone and they mention they have Scandinavian ancestors…that’s our opportunity to invited them to Norden Club.

Happy Spring! ?

Del

THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN

Meal Menu for March 18 Meeting

Italian Chop Salad, Pesto Pasta with Grilled Chicken, Garlic Sauteed Mushrooms, Toasted Garlic Bread, Very Berry Cheesecake Pie

2019 Norden Club Schedule Regular Meetings: Monday, March 18, 5:30 p.m. Quarterly Meeting Monday, May 20, 5:30 p.m. Quarterly Meeting Monday, September 16, 5:30 p.m. Quarterly Meeting Sunday, December 8 12:30 p.m. Christmas Smörgåsbord Special Program – Talk on Scandinavian Runic Stones Monday, April 29, 6:30 p.m. First Lutheran Church, No Admission Fee – Open to the Public No Luncheon but coffee and cookies served. Executive and Committee Meetings Tuesday, March 26, 7:00 p.m., First Lutheran, Room 7 Tuesday, August 13, 7:00 p.m., First Lutheran, Room 7 Tuesday, October 15, 7:00 p.m., First Lutheran, Room 7

Foundation News

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 3

Each Scandinavian country has a personality and cuisine of its own. As Norden Club members, we know this first hand. This year, it seems everyone enjoyed the annual Smorgasbord, celebrating the Norwegians. The annual Norden Club Smorgasbord tradition began in 1984. I’m pleased that we still carry on this yearly holiday activity. Over the years we have enjoyed the Scandinavian smorgasbord recipes that have been preserved and shared with us through friends, relatives and personal collections that came from Scandinavian countries. Months of planning goes into the Smorgasbord. A big “thank you” is in order to all involved. Many contributed in a variety of ways, by the planning and organizing of each and every aspect of this special affair. I continue to learn and enjoy so much about our many Scandinavian traditions. The Norden Foundation made a few changes this year in the Smorgasbord Silent Auction. We added a check-in spot so that we could record donated items brought in that afternoon for auction. Also, signage was added for better direction. We offered “The Market” for items previously marked, making it easier for those who wanted to check out quickly and take their items. As before, our “Silent Auction” tables were also available. We always appreciate the wonderful variety of Scandinavian items donated, new and old. Our Norden Foundation team was a big help in organizing this effort. Thank you to all of them. And Donna (Christensen) Thomas, thank you for lending an extra set of hands during our set up time. A special thank you

to all of you who donated cash and auction items: Leona Bellinger, Jana Clark, Karyn and David Glenn, Frontier Bank, Kendra Harding, Terri Heckman, Wanda Hein, Jan Lingren, Greg Nelson, Norden Club, Ingrid Stites, Donna (Christensen) Thomas, and Jan Westburg. And thank you to those who took the time to visit the auction tables and make purchases. As a reminder, Scandinavian items are needed for next December’s auction. Please keep us in mind when downsizing your belongings, cleaning out a closet or a drawer, finding items no longer needed or wanted. Big or small, we are ready to accept them. Handcrafted items are especially appreciated. If you happen to visit a Scandinavian gift shop, or perhaps are lucky enough to travel to a Scandinavian country, think of us. Garage sales can turn up some interesting Scandinavian items, think of us. To make it easy for you, I am able to pick up your donations anytime throughout the year. Please call me at 402-423-0023. Our total auction sales in December brought in, $1,273.00. We know that the items that were purchased have gone to people who will always cherish them. We enjoy doing this fundraiser each year, we hope this is fun for you, too. Always know that your contributions go directly to the scholarships and grants awarded each year. Norden Club recently lost three wonderful longtime members: Al Seagren, in November 2018; Stan Carlson, and Vaughan Bowen passed away in February 2019. We will miss their friendship, wisdom, wit, their

devotion to their Scandinavian heritage; and especially their attendance and membership in Norden Club. Our hearts go out to their wives, and families that we all know so well. I would not be doing my job, if I didn’t mention the opportunity for our members to make a memorial donation to the Norden Foundation. A donation on behalf of these three active Norden Club members would be noteworthy and appreciated. For several months our Co-Treasurers the Nelsons are out-of-state. If you so choose to make a donation, please make your check payable to: Norden Club Foundation. And mail it to: Joan Tomlinson White, 1667 Cheyenne, Lincoln, NE 68502. Or give your check to me at the March meeting. This is a nice way to remember them and support the Foundation at the same time. Your contribution supports those who apply for a scholarship or grant, and in-turn those recipients share their experiences with us in a program. It’s amazing to meet these recipients and know that we have supported them in their endeavors. In 2019 we accepted some significant donations, thank you to all of you who help support our community and the work of the Norden Foundation. We look forward to seeing you in March. Spring is just around the corner.

Joan Tomlinson White,

President of the Norden Club Foundation

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 4

A sympathy card was sent to Sharon Seagren for the loss of her husband, Alan T.

Seagren. Alan Seagren, 86, passed away on November 27, 2018. Alan earned degrees from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln: B.S. in 1953, M.Ed. in 1958, and Ed.D. in 1962. He was a United States Army veteran, serving in military intelligence during the Korean conflict. Alan Seagren retired after over 50 years of dedicated service to the University of Nebraska. His roles included principal of University High School, Director of summer sessions, associate Vice Chancellor of UNL, Vice President of Business for the University of Nebraska System, professional Director of the Center of Study of Higher Education at UNL. Alan was also an international visiting professor in Japan, China, Australia, Sweden, Thailand, and Guam. He was a lifelong learner and educator, continuing to teach graduate classes throughout his career. He was very active in various church and educational organizations. Alan is survived by his wife Sharon, son Eric and daughter Tracy. A memorial service was held at First Lutheran Church on November 30, 2018. A sympathy card was sent to Joan Carlson for the loss of her husband, Stanley C. Carlson. Stanley, 94, passed away on February 8, 2019. He was born in 1924 on a farm near Oakland where he lived until 1943 when he joined

the U.S. Army and served in World War II. Stan graduated from Midland College (now University) at Fremont and received his Master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Stan Carlson was the elementary coordinator for Nebraska City schools and taught at Midland University. He also served as a consultant to the Winnebago Reservation Schools, and worked for the Nebraska State Department of Education. Stan served in many volunteer positions: First Lutheran Church Council, Fremont Board of Education, Southeast Community College Board of Governors, Nebraska State Community College Board, and Nebraska Educational Television Commission. Stan is survived by his wife Joan of 47 years. He is also survived by 2 daughters and 6 sons, as well as numerous grandchildren. A memorial service will be Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 11:00 am. First Lutheran Church, 1551 South 70th Street. We are saddened by the death of another member, Vaughan Bowen. Below is his obituary. With heavy hearts, at the age of 78, we announce the death of Vaughan Bowen (Lincoln, Nebraska), who passed away on February 17 2019. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Vaughan Bowen to pay them a last tribute. He was predeceased by : his parents,

Lester Bowen and Donelda Bowen (Aspegren); his brother Gene. He is survived by : his wife Mary of Lincoln; his children, Richard (Monika) of Rapid City, SD, Michael (Kasey) of Ralston, NE, Linda Price (John) of Aurora, CO and Diane Bowen of Lincoln; his siblings, Darrell Bowen (Carmen) of O'Neill, NE and Joyce Malone (Terry) of Wilber, NE; his sister-in-law Peg Bowen of O'Neill, NE; his grandchildren, Sarah Eichhorn (Brad) of Sioux Falls, SD, Logan Bowen of Newburg, OR, Lindsey Bowen of Rogue River, OR and Gavin Bowen of Ralston, NE. He is also survived by nieces, nephews and friends. A Thinking of You card was sent to Ron Johnson, who is currently living in San Mateo, California. His cousin, Leona Bellinger, has informed us that Ron has been diagnosed with acute Leukemia. Ron would appreciate hearing from his friends. His address is Ron Johnson, 10 Scenic Way, #306, San Mateo, CA 94403. A Get Well card was sent to Ingrid Stites. We all hope and pray that Ingrid Stites is doing well in her recovery! We like to recognize important events in our Norden members’ lives. If you know of any member who is having a special anniversary, special landmark birthday, or achievement recognized by the community, illness or death in the family, please contact: Mary Brass, Courtesy Chairman 402-483-0035 marycbrass@gmail

Courtesy Report

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 5

Membership Report

We are delighted to welcome our 3 new members to Norden Club.

Welcome to Mike and Jennifer Oneby! Welcome to Susan Erickson! Mike and Jennifer Oneby moved to Lincoln last summer from Wisconsin. They both have grandparents of Norwegian heritage. Mike can explain the complications of Norwegian family names and place names, as well as name changes upon arrival in America. Introduce yourself to Mike, Jennifer, and Susan Erickson at our next March 18, 2019, dinner meeting. Let’s all share our Scandinavian spirit!

Mr. Evert Claesson will be presenting his 2017 trip to Sweden to visit his cousins. His wife, Marcia Claesson, will provide Scandinavian music before or during dinner on her autoharp and dulcimer. Our dinner meetings are held at First Lutheran Church, 1551

South 70th Street in Lincoln. The Lutheran church is located south of the intersection of South 70th and A Street. Doors open at 5:30 pm – Social hour. Dinner is served at 6:30 pm.

Have you paid your 2019 annual dues?? Please do so as soon as you can. We currently have 214 individual members. Many of you have not paid 2019 annual dues as of this newsletter. The dues for a couple / family are $25.00. The dues for a single are $15.00. The dues help pay Norden Club expenses like the caterer and renting the Fellowship Hall at First Lutheran Church.

Our new Treasurer, Ted Ericson, will be the first table you see upon entering. Ted will gladly take annual dues money, at the same time you are paying for dinner. If you cannot attend the March 18 meeting, please send your annual dues check to:

Ted Ericson, Treasurer

4130 North 42nd Street

Lincoln, NE 68504

The second table you will see upon entering is our name tag table. Ingrid Stites and Mary Brass will help you find your name tag with your flag sticker. At the same time, we will probably ask if you have paid your annual dues, as a reminder.

Everyone is welcome at Norden Club. Are you Irish or German? Are you French or Italian? Maybe 1/32 of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, or Finnish blood? Close enough!!! If someone does not have a Scandinavian heritage, do not worry. We simply put an American flag on their name tag. Norden Club is about learning, cultural education, college scholarships, and good fellowship.

Any membership questions?

Mary Brass, 402-483-0035

marycbrass@gmail.com

The following summarizes our costs for the Regular Dinner Meetings. We charge our members $16/meal. With 71 attendees this comes to $1,136. (This does not take into account some guests will be in attendance at $20/meal.)

For the September 2018 Meeting our basic costs, not including any speaker fees, were:

Church Rental, $100

70 dinners at $14.99 per dinner. This includes all food, taxes AND catering costs. Total of $1,049.30. 1 Gluten Free Dinner that was $19.29.

Total expenses were $1,168.59, so we are basically breaking even on income vs. expenses. In the 2019 budget we are expecting the costs to go up slightly. The $16.00 cost per dinner is

unchanged for members. T. Ericson, 1/31/2019

Dinner Meeting Costs Explained

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 6

Special Program – Scandinavian Runic Stones

Monday, April 29, Norden Club will host a special evening program on Scandinavian Runic Stones presented by Loraine Jensen, founder of the American Association for Runic Studies.

Her talk will answer these questions: What are runes and what does runic writing teach us about our Scandinavian ancestry? This presentation will provide an overview of the thousands of runestones existing today, primarily in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, but some in North America.

Loraine grew up in Plattsmouth, NE and graduated from Plattsmouth High School.

She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and graduated from the University of Nebraska Lincoln with a B.S. in Education and has a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Loraine is employed at the Minnesota Department of Education as an Education Specialist.

AARS is a nonprofit organization based in Minneapolis, MN which promotes scholarly research on runes and runic inscriptions in Europe and North America. For further information on AARS their website is www.runicstudies.org .

This special program will be held Monday, April 29, 6:30 p.m., at First Lutheran Church,

1551 South 70th Street, Lincoln, NE. Coffee and refreshments will be served. This is not a Norden Club supper meeting.

This event is free and open to the public. For further information contact delstites@gmail.com or 402 830-6679.

Please put April 29th on your calendar!

Sweden is officially called the Kingdom of Sweden.

The land area of Sweden is the 4th largest in Europe.

The main official language of Sweden is Swedish (svenska), but the country also has 5 other official languages - Finnish, Yiddish, Sami, Meänkieli and Romani.

Sweden shares a land border with it's Scandinavian counterparts Finland and Norway, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge.

The capital and largest city in Sweden is Stockholm, other notable cities include Gothenburg, Malmö and Uppsala.

Sweden has a population of 9.5 million people (9,555,893) as of 2012.

Did you know?

Are you ready for another adventure? Last fall some Norden Club members made a pleasant field trip to the Swedish Center in Oakland, NE. There has been some talk of having another small trip this spring, summer, or fall possibly to IKEA in Kansas City along with a visit to the Swedish restaurant, Krokstrom, (or to Watkins Mill, an abandoned 19th Century woolen mill, the World War I Memorial); or to the Museum of Danish America, Elkhorn, IA and the Swedish Cultural Center in Stanton, Iowa. Since we would need to rent a small bus, there would be a cost per person. Let me know what you think, delstites@gmail.com.

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 7

The Vikings – Lords of Sea and Sword The following paraphrases are some interesting facts about the Vikings written by Heather Pringle for the National Geographic – Time Inc. Special Edition “The Vikings – Lords of Sea and Sword”.

1. The Vikings first landed on the Shetland Islands 1,200 years

ago crushing the local resistance and ruling for nearly 700

years. Shetland’s Annual ‘Up Helly Aa’ – Annual Fire Festival

involves burning a Viking burial ship.

2. Recently found – Estonia 2 buried ships on Island of Saaremaa,

filled with the skeletons of 40 slain Viking warriors neatly

buried on top of their chief.

Sweden – studying the DNA remains of a female Viking

Commander.

Russia – Archaeologists tracing Viking slave trade and human trafficking.

3. Vikings sojourned to at least 37 countries (50 cultures) from Afghanistan to Canada. They

were avid seamen, pillagers, and traders. For example, they extorted nearly 14 percent of

western Europe’s Carolingian Empire with an empty promise of peace.

4. In 865 c. e. large Danish army landed in northwest England and established the Danelaw.

5. Byzantine emperors used Norsemen for elite units for personal protection for 200 years.

6. Suspected volcanic eruptions in 536 c. e. produced huge

amounts of ash…led to years of famine and cold in

Scandinavia. The sun darkened and crops failed. This is

paralleled in the legend of Ragnarök. There was good reason

to think the world was coming to an end. In the province

now known as Uppland, Sweden…nearly 75% of the

villagers died from starvation and clan fighting. After years

of regional attacks, groups of Vikings turned their attention

to the wealth of the south.

7. In 789 c. e. Vikings attacked Portland in Southern England, then in 793 on the monastery of

Lindisfarne in northeastern England – The Vikings were well-equipped. Viking burials contain

more swords then men. They were efficient and relentless attackers.

8. In the 8th Century of the Common Era a new technology changed Scandinavian seafaring…the

sail…sleek, lightweight, wind-powered ships. Sharp as knives they were the fastest there

were…quick and deadly. The first raids had few ships and were on coastal or island

monasteries – soft targets. The wealthy monastery of Scotland’s Isle of Iona was violently

raided 3 times between 795 and 806…the last raid massacred 68 monks, novices, and others.

9. A Viking force in 845 laid siege to the walled-city of Paris and refused to leave until the French

King paid 7,000 pounds (3 ½ modern tons) of silver and gold.

10. Scandinavian life was largely rural. Warriors and youth longed for wealth from plunder.

Young men wanted to amass enough wealth to buy farmland and pay bride wealth. They loved

their new wealth – painted their eyes put on looted jackets with tassels and braids…donned

heavy jewelry, dress pins, pendants, armbands and finger rings. Boys were trained from the

age of 5 or 6 to be warriors.

11. The Viking Great Army with 100s of Viking ships landed on the east coast of England in 865.

As many as 4,000 Vikings smashed Anglo-Saxon kingdoms up the rivers and along roads.

There was no single Viking king or leader, but one important chieftain, Ivan, captured King

Edmund in East Anglia…Edmund refused to bend his knee to Ivar, so Ivar had him tied to a tree

and had his archers make a porcupine of his body. They gathered so many riches that in their

abandoned camps archaeologists have found lots of discarded and lost plunder.

12. A Viking ruler Rollo (of Normandy…notice the root word…Norman) may have changed history.

Accepting extensive lands in northern France, he agreed for them to be a buffer from other

raids. In 1066 his descendant, William the Conqueror led the Norman invasion of England and

on Christmas Day 1066 was crowned King of England.

13. One famous early Irish text records that a woman known as Inghen Ruaidh, or Red Girl, for the

color of her hair, led a fleet of Viking ships to Ireland in the 10th Century. Modern Swedish

archaeologist Charlotte Hedensteiner-Johnson found through DNA evidence that a warrior’s

body which had been buried with full battle regalia in Sweden was not that of a man as first

assumed, but of a woman.

14. In the 10th Century, Harald Bluetooth built a chain of massive Danish ring fortresses (some with

470-foot diameters).

15. Vikings traveled and settled in many places they controlled…parts of England, Scotland, Ireland,

the Shetlands, the Faroe, Normandy and Russia (Rus was the name for Viking setters in what is

not Russia). Some Russian villages still bear Swedish names as does Russia itself.

16. Vikings traveled the sea lanes and the major river systems of northern and central Europe…

selling furs, trading, buying, and capturing and selling slaves…some historic account put an

eastern caliph’s household at as many as 4,000 slave women. The special coin used to purchase

and sell slaves was the Dirham. Russian archaeologists have identified more than 1000 separate

hoards of Dirhams. It is estimated that 10s of thousands of eastern European captives were in

bondage in the 10th Century alone. Most Viking hoards which have been found were likely

buried for safety, but the owner, likely killed, never returned.

17. Evidence shows that 500 years before Columbus, Viking seafarers reached the New World. An

ancient Norse story tells of a young trader, Bjarni Herjolfsson, who was lost in a thick fog while

sailing form Iceland to Greenland about 1,000 years ago, who landed on a place unlike

Greenland…hilly and blanketed in forest, but Bjarni didn’t care, he wanted to get to Greenland

to be with his father.

18. The most important commodity for Vikings was iron…forged from

small pellets washed down mountain streams and gathered along

bogs. Iron was forged into tongs, boat rivets, spearheads, scissors,

swords, etc. Leif Eriksson may have been motivated to explore the

west looking for iron.

19. Nearly a thousand years ago, Viking ships nudged along the shores

of northern Newfoundland to a cove later named L’Anse aux

Meadows. A large landing party of men and women settled there

and constructed two massive Viking halls, each as large as those at home in Iceland and

Greenland. Sailing the relative short distance from Greenland to Baffin Island would then lead

them down the coast to Labrador and Newfoundland (Vinland). Satellite imaging is showing

what looks to be the patterns of Viking building in the Artic and along the Northeast Canadian

Coast.

20. The Viking raiders fought a Blitzkrieg war, but the Slaughter Wolves…the most feared of all

Viking warriors were the berserkers who fought in a frenzied rage, howling as they cut down

their enemies. The Viking world was not a gentle nor peaceful world.

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 8

March 2019 THE NORDEN CLUB OF L INCOLN PAGE 9

SCANDINAVIAN CRUISE TOUR SCHEDULED THIS SUMMER

A former Norden Club member, Lee Rockwell, who is the owner of ValdenTours in Lincoln, is offering an August, 2019 cruise tour to Scandinavia, St. Petersburg, and other ports. This is a great opportunity for those with Scandinavian heritage to visit the capital cities of the Nordic countries. The Princess cruise tour will stop in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Oslo. Additional stops will include two days in St. Petersburg Russia, as well as visits to Tallinn Estonia, and Berlin Germany. The tour will depart Lincoln August 16 and return on August 28. The final registration deadline is April 15. However, reservations prior to March 11 are encouraged since the cruise line holds the option of recalling group reservation space

that is not sold by that date. Please contact Lee to receive a brochure, complete itinerary, pricing, and reservation form. Call him at 402-486-0900 or send him an email at lrockwell@windstream.net and include your name and postal service mailing address.

Copenhagen

Stockholm

If you have not yet renewed your membership for 2019 please do so as soon as possible. If you plan on attending the March Dinner you will need to pay at or before the meeting to get the member rate for the dinner. Dues are $15 for an individual and $25 for a family. They can be sent to:

Ted Ericson/Norden Club 4130 N 42nd St Circle Lincoln, NE. 68504 Please make checks payable to the Norden Club.

2019 Membership Dues Reminder

Recalling our December Norwegian Smorgasbord

Christmas Smörgåsbord Photos Available Photos taken by our club member Fran Freeman at the Norden Club 2018 Christmas Smögåsbord are now available to see and download at our website: http://nordenclub.com/recent-events/norwegian-smorgasbord-december-9-2018/ Thanks to Fran for doing this fine photography for the Club.