News:
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May 5, 2008
(Don Danielson)
Attention All Polar Star Members:
Financial Secretary, Lee Olson, is our official membership record
keeper. It is necessary to route
all new member applications through her so that our lodge records match
Sons of Norway
records in Minneapolis.
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April 13, 2008
(See flyer)
UPCOMING EVENT -
THURSDAY, April 24th, @ 7PM
FROM Batavia Viljan Lodge 349, VASA Order of America, A
Scandinavian/American Social Org.
Mark your calendars for a very special event coming to Batavia in April
The CHICAGO SWEDISH GLEE CLUB performs at the Bethany Lutheran Church, 8
South Lincoln Ave, Batavia
The Free CONCERT is sponsored by Viljan 349 and is open to the Public
The CSGC was organized in 1869, making it the second oldest continuously
performing male chorus in the USA. They will present a broad variety of
songs from many venues with the inclusion of Nordic folk tunes and songs
sung in Swedish.
For more information contact VASA member Bob Villwock at 630-801-9008 or
via e-mail at mrvillwock@comcast.net.
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Mar
24, (Harriet Eklund)
Julianna is participating in annual Talents For Christ competition of
her church denomination. There are a number of categories that the teens
who participate can choose from. Julianna chose "Oral Interpretation of
Scripture". Other categories involve various musical and Bibe knowledge
categories. Julianna chose a passage from Isaiah.
The students start at the state level and if they win first or second
place there, they can go to the National Conference in June.
The 1st and 2nd place winners at the National receive a scholarship to
one of the denomination's colleges
This year the state competition is in Bunker Hill, IL. The National is
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. |
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Mar
18, 2008 (Don
Danielson)
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Torsk Dinner April 25-26,
2008
Friday 5:00 p.m.
Unload equipment from truck
Sanitize and rinse all dishes, coffeemakers and pots
Saturday 8:00 a.m.
Peel potatoes, carrots and onions
Wash and cut potatoes into smaller pieces
Cut up cabbage and carrots
Cut loaves of bread
Cut fish into smaller pieces
Saturday 1:00
Cut cakes
Cook Potatoes
Prepare Cole slaw
Make onion butter
Serve tables
Fill serving bowls
Handle carry outs
Carry boiled fish into kitchen
Wash and dry serving dishes
Saturday Evening
Wash all dishes, pots and pans
Clean kitchen and all areas
Load equipment back on truck
For information and sign-up please call Don Danielson at (630) 299-3661
or e-mail at ddlcdan@aol.com
OR Harriet Eklund at (630) 690-8699 or e-mail at
heklund@isp.com
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Mar
3, 2008 (Karen Oswald)
At least three members/families are needed each meeting to serve on the
kitchen committee.
Join in by volunteering for one time each year.
Instructions for Hosts and Hostesses for Monthly Meetings :
Note: Chairperson needs to contact other members of the committee
and complete plans ahead of time.
• Arrive at hall 1½ hours prior to the meeting time (generally 12:00
noon.).
• Set up 6-8 round tables with 8 chairs each.
• Provide table decorations according to season. There may be some
napkins and placemats in the cabinet in the storage room
– check for inventory the meeting before.
• Set up the buffet table (2 long tables). Arrange the food on the table
as it comes in. Include a basket at the front end for donations.
• Make the coffee (50-60 cups – ½ pound of coffee used with cold water).
Be sure to start the coffee immediately when you arrive since it
takes at least one hour to brew. Coffee is provided by the lodge and may
be found in the lodge cabinet - check coffee inventory the
meeting before.
• The committee normally supplies meat or main dishes, and one gallon of
2% milk for coffee. All other members are asked to bring a pot
luck dish to share.
• After everyone has eaten, wash bowls, dishes, serving spoons, etc. as
needed, and clean up the area. Use our lodge dish towels (in
storage room).
• One person from the committee needs to take the dish towels home, wash
them, and then bring them back in time for the next meeting.
• Return all chairs and table to their proper places.
• If it becomes inconvenient for you to serve at your scheduled time,
please exchange with someone or find a substitute.
(Download
the instructions here - 19kb PDF)
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Jan
7, 2008 (Don Danielson)
CALL FOR COOKIES
Each year at this time Lodges in District 5 are asked to bake and
donate cookies for the Barnebirkie
cross-country ski event for kids. Cookies should be put in sturdy
non-returnable containers (shoeboxes,
ice cream pails, coffee cans work well). Attach a card with the name of
your lodge and the number of
dozens of cookies. Cookies need to be brought to our February meeting
and will be transported to Hayward,
Wisconsin where the Barnebirkie takes place. These cookies are truly
appreciated by the kids participating.
Home made cookies are preferred but purchased cookies are appreciated
also.
VOLUNTEER HOURS
Members are reminded that all who have volunteer hours to report
need to bring the report to the February
meeting or mail them to Harriet Eklund (1732 Harrow Ct. Apt.D Wheaton,
IL 60187 by that time. It is
important to the lodge that all possible hours be reported. For
questions call Harriet at (630) 690-8699.
PENNY SOCIAL (Explained for the benefit of our new members)
Our February Meeting program will be our annual Penny Social. This
is a type of auction. Members
are asked to bring a few novel items or items of interest that are
placed on tables with a small paper
lunch sack taped by each item. Individuals buy tickets and place a
ticket or tickets in the bag of an item
they would like. When all tickets are in the bags a ticket is drawn from
each bag and the winner gets
the item. It is really a fun event.
STAMPS
Flag stamps are now acceptable again for our stamp collection
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Jan
6, 2008 (Don Danielson)
1. Access Sons of Norway Website
2. Do Members Log In
3. Click on Member Resources
A. Norwegian in 5 Minutes a Month
37 Lessons of Simple Phrases
B. Norwegian for Reading Comprehensions
Introduction and 9 units of grammar
The following website is also good:
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Jan
6, 2008 (Don Danielson)
POLAR STAR FAMILY OF THE YEAR:
The Polar Star Lodge Family of the Year for 2007 is Tom and Vi
Skogen. They are members of
St. Olaf Lutheran Church and their contributions as our liaison with
the church have been invaluable
to the lodge.
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Nov
9, 2007 (Don Danielson)
Vallie Rice, a former member of Polar
Star Lodge, died Thursday, November 8, 2007. The wake is at United
Methodist Church; 2505 Boomer Lane; Yorkville, Illinois from 9:00 to
11:00 a.m on Friday, November 10, 2007. The funeral will follow at the
church. Vallie and his wife, Kari, were members of Polar Star for a
number of years before transferring to Cleng Peerson Lodge. They
continued to attend many of our meetings. Our sympathy and prayers are
with Kari and family.
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Nov
5, 2007 (Don Danielson)
Ken Leindecker who used to play the accordion at our Polar Star picnics
years back died Sunday, November 4, 2007. He is survived by his wife,
Bernadine.
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Oct
23, 2007 (Harriet Eklund)
And where are you from? This has been the password for a very exciting
week as Ray and I were at the Norsk Høstfest in Minot, North Dakota. Ray
and I have been on a journey that started before we made it to the
Illinois border last week. Our first hour we missed the exit in the
Elgin area and Ray made an improper left turn to get back to the
tollway. We still haven't figured that one out--but best not to go back
and check it. Ray was pulled over by a young female police officer, and
thankfully, her only advice was in the future, it would be smarter to
take a plane.
As we traveled on the weather was awful, but we made it to Duluth,
visited relatives and got up early the next morning and hit the road. It
was still raining and getting colder every minute. Guess Marge knew what
she was doing--she reminded Ray to take the snow shovel he had forgotten
in February. Lucky we didn't have to use it -- we just simply followed
the salt trucks through Bemidji where the ground was totally covered
with at least an inch of snow.
On to Minot to the Dakota Rose Bed and Breakfast. Another surprise! I
went back in time and I could envision Miss Kitty coming down the
beautiful staircase, as Matt Dillon came in off the trail to freshen up
in that quaint old bathtub, or perhaps maybe use the foot tub. We fell
in love with the place, all lace and roses. The woodwork was
indescribable! The owners Jim and Carol were attentive and caring hosts.
Next stop was to the fairgrounds to find the J & C Building, our home
base, and to meet Karen Rath, our boss for the week. This is where the
accordion players who came from almost every state in the union met and
formed groups. It was a delightful experience to meet so many wonderful
people. We arrived on Tuesday when it kicked off with a potluck dinner
and in one short evening all of these strangers became one huge family.
From then on each morning we arrived at 8:00 am for instructions for the
day, which included performances at 10:00 am and 1:00 pm that lasted for
one hour, including playing in the entrances, hallways and where there
was space for three or four people playing accordions could squeeze
together. It was a week of accordion musicians hauling their accordions
from building to building.
Thursday night the band played at the Moose Lodge where we were all
treated to a turkey dinner and a dance. Friday night there was a banquet
for everyone at home base. It was a very exciting week, but I will also
add a very tiring one. But as one of the gals told me, "Make your
reservations NOW for next year because they don't want to lose Ray's
voice."
I'll miss being in that line of accordion club members dragging their
accordions from one building to another looking for a place to play. If
you have never been there you have no ideal of the ground you have to
cover. But all in all it was a fun week and we enjoyed every minute of
it. My fondest memory will be when Ray dedicated his first song to the
police office who let him go with out giving him a ticket back on the
first morning when it all started.
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Oct
18, 2007 (Michael Lund)
Our website has a new address: www.polarstarlodge.com. We have been
using Comcast web space for our lodge website but we ran out of space.
To be able to continually add more pictures and expand the website we
required more storage space. With this change we had the ability to
change the name of the website to a name that was easier to remember.
There is still no cost to the Lodge for the web space.
The website is pretty much the same as before, just a little wider. The
best way to see the website is to have your screen resolution set to a
minimum of 1024 x 768. Settings lower that 1024 X 768 will still work,
but require scrolling left/right to see the screen.
A guestbook link has been added for you to use. Please give us feedback,
suggestions, concerns etc.
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Sep 25, 2007
We are sorry to inform our members that
Margaret W. Knutson died Sunday at the age of 88. Margaret joined Polar Star Lodge February 1,
1970 and was a Golden Member. She was an accomplished rosemaler and
won many prizes for her work. Margaret was to present the program
for our October meeting. We encourage members to attend our meeting
October 7 as a tribute to her.
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Sep 9, 2007
YOU CAN MAKE HISTORY – AND SAVE IT TOO – BY VOTING FOR THE VIKING SHIP!
American Express and the Midwest office of the National Trust have announced
that 25 Chicago metro sites are eligible for a fabulous grant. To win the
top $$, or to be one of the 12 other finalists, we urge the public to VOTE
FOR THE VIKING!
How?
Go to http://www.partnersinpreservation.com between September 6 and October
10 and vote for the Viking Ship as your favorite Chicago area cultural
landmark. At that website, you will see photos of the Viking, details about
its background and 4-5 anecdotes from local folks about their passion for
this amazing artifact.
Do it now!
YOU CAN VOTE DAILY! And, you don’t have to be from Chicago to vote. Anyone
interested in the Viking ship can vote.
More Info
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Aug 21, 2007
We are a student exchange program that has High School students from
Sweden, Denmark and Norway who are looking to come to the USA to live with
an American family and study in the local high school for one year.
Attached is a flyer that
will introduce our students.
Some of the places the students are from are listed below:
Grua, Spikkestad, Krakeroy, Oslo, Akershus, Sor-Trondelag,
Royken, Hønefoss, Aust Agder, Telemark and Hamar.
Call 1-800-458-8336
or email;
casenj@exchangestudents.org
Or visit our website at
www.exchangestudents.org
ELLEN BATTAGLIA
CULTURAL ACADEMIC STUDENT EXCHANGE
19 CHARMER COURT
MIDDLETOWN, NJ 07748
Phone: (732)671-6448
Fax: 732-615-9183
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Aug 2, 2007
We have hit a snag with the Polar Star meeting scheduled for
this Sunday, August 5th. St. Olaf has already decorated the downstairs
rooms for vacation bible school next week, so there is no space available
for us to meet. The August 5th meeting has tentatively been
rescheduled for next Sunday, August 12th. If you have any
questions, please call Roald Berg at 630/892-6803 home or 630/292-6803 cell
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July 26, 2007
Leadership Training Seminar
Leadership Training for Polar Star is scheduled for Saturday, 8
September, 2007 at St. Olaf Lutheran Church from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Training Leader will be our
Zone Director, Ray Knutson. Lunch will be provided. Each participant will receive handouts, flip
charts and a workbook but will need pen and/or pencil
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June 17, 2007
"A
thousand apologies to the 25 Polar Star members who paid to be on the
well-wishers list in the Syttende Mai Parade Booklet. For some reason (We
aren't sure how it happened.), your names were omitted from the booklet.
You will be listed in next year's booklet (at no extra charge). We are very
sorry this happened."
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April 5, 2007
Dear Lodge Members:
Congratulations on your wonderful efforts in achieving a
membership growth of 12% during the last calendar year.
This Founders award has been won by only six lodges in
District Five. Keep up the good work for Sons of Norway.
Fraternally,
/s/
Harland Anderson, President 5th District Sons of Norway
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Sunday April 15, 2007
The Music Institute of Chicago will feature a special concert with guest
Norwegian violinist, Henning Kraggerud. Here is the information:
Henning Kraggerud, violin
Oliver Schnyder, piano
works by Grieg, Franck, and Janacek
Nichols Concert Hall
Music Institute of Chicago
Evanston, IL 60201
For tickets and information, please call the Cultural Events Hotline at
(847) 905-1500 ext. 108
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April 4
Crown Princess
Märtha: The American Story on PBS
The DVD by the Norwegian American Foundation will air internationally
throughout the month of April on PBS. Check your local TV listings for
dates and times! The Crown Princess Märtha DVD is also still for sale at
the Norway.com shop for $19.95. View the listing at
http://noram.norway.com/store.asp today!
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March 16, 2007
Masse Moro is in
its 29th year. As many of the kitchen items are old and need to be replaced,
the following wish list is presented to the members of District Five, Sons
of Norway:
1. A large fan that will help cool the kitchen - a floor model.
2. Stainless steel serving bowls - large sizes.
3. Assorted plastic cups and drinking glasses.
4. Assorted stainless steel whisks, large spoons and forks.
If you or your lodge has any of these items that can donate to the camp,
please contact: Ray Knutson 4533 N IL Route 251 Davis Junction, IL
61020-9531
Email:
raysally@rochelle.net
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January 31, 2007
Marion Marshall
passed away this morning. Visitation is from 10 to 11 on Friday morning,
with the funeral at 11:00 both at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Seneca,
Illinois. Please pass this on to other Sons of Norway members
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January 29, 2007
There is a Scandinavian Cooking program on PBS (Channel 11) every Saturday
morning at 11:30 AM.
Thanks Karen O.
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January 11, 2007
Justin Kasperson, grandson of our treasurer Eleanor Bates, also grandson of
Rev. and Mrs. Bob Kasperson, graduated from the University of Illinois in
Chicago in mid December with a Bachelor of Science in accounting degree. He
is presently working at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as an auditor and is
studying in preparation for his CPA Exam'.
Brian Geddes, a member of Polar Star, also grandson of Harriet Eklund, our
secretary, graduated December 16, 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in History
from Western Illinois University. Brian's desire is to become a Youth
Director, while continuing on with his studies to become a minister.
Congratulation to Justin and Brian.
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January 12-15,2007 -
Bemidji, MN
First-ever
Norwegian Family Fun Weekend, offered by Skogfjorden, the Norwegian Language Village of Concordia College...more
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January 7, 2007
Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamondt
retired, ending a career in
which he won the most Olympic and world championship medals in skiing
history. Aamodt announced his retirement on national television while
accepting a Norwegian award as the best male athlete of 2006
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December 30, 2006
Members are reminded and requested to save the stamps from their
Christmas Cards. However, we do not need the American Flag stamps.
Please bring the stamps to our next meeting.
Don
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December 29,
2006
Grant and scholarship applications will be due soon..more
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