Sons of Norway District 5

The Sons of Norway D5 Traveling Viking Chest is complete. It is similar to and was inspired by the chest I bring to my Scandinavian turning talks. (This is an evolution and synthesis of my Viking chest for my turning talks with an idea suggested by Burt Bittner three years ago to encourage cultural skills.)

Here is the Traveling Viking Chest.

The chest is seeded with a Viking drop spindle, a Viking bowl, and a Viking cup. 

The Traveling Viking Chest will be in the possession of the zone directors. The Chest will travel from zone to zone being exchanged at our board meetings. The zone director will take the Chest to their lodge meetings. Each lodge should make a reservation with the zone director. Each lodge would be asked to add one new item to the box, and a written description, as their rent. The item could consist of some craft, or even a recipe or photo, or something written, whatever a lodge thinks others might be interested in seeing.

The 2013 Sons of Norway Fifth District Bowling Tournament is now over as of May 10th. Five lodges participated with a total of seventy bowlers. This is a great yearly event that has many benefits. 

Benefits include: time spent with your family and fellow lodge members engaging in a sports activity, you can credit your bowling to the Sports Medal Program, and your $5.00 entry fee supports the Fifth District Scholarship Fund. This year the Bowling Tournament brought in $350.00 for the Scholarship Fund.

The 2013 Bowling Tournament winners are:

Men lane bowler          Brian Lachman      Hafrsfjord 5-206
Women lane bowler     Joan Lachman       Hafrsfjord 5-206
Youth lane bowler       Tyler Hirth             Nordlyset 5-503
Wii bowler                  Todd Fetsch           Fagernes 5-616
Wii bowler                  Mary Tjerstad        Fagernes 5-616

In the Wii bowling category there was a tie so there are two winners. 

The 2014 Bowing Tournament will have a fifth category, youth ages eleven and younger. This new category has been added so that no bowler will be left out of the tournament.

I wish all the District members a “Glad Midsommar”!

Fraternally,
Andy Johnsen
Fifth District Sports and Recreation Director
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With the final numbers in for the 2013 Barnebirkie I would like to report that the Fifth District provided 25 volunteers, donations of 1072 dozen cookies, and cash donations of $580.00.

Personally, I have been a Barnebirkie volunteer for over 20 years but this is my first time as organizer for the Sons of Norway’s participation in this event. Coordinating this event was not as easy as I had thought! I would like to thank each and every one of you who gave of their time and money to make this event successful. Without your support Sons of Norway would not have a presence at this wonderful children’s skiing event.

Parents with their children come from all over the United States and the world in order to participate in the Barnebirkie. Again, I would like to say “Tusen Takk” to those on the district and the lodge level who made the “Barnebirkie 2013 a success. If you have any suggestions to make the 2014 an even better event please contact me.

I would like to remind those of you who are participating in the 2013 Fifth District Bowling Tournament to send there forms and scores in to me by May 10. The proceeds from the Bowling Tournament helps fund the Fifth District Scholarship Fund.

Fraternally,
Andy Johnsen
Fifth District Sports and Recreation Director
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On this Valentine’s Day, I’m reminded either mis-pronouncing or mis-spelling someone’s name is a faux pas (or, in some circles, a “fox pass”). I suppose,though, those in the younger set don’t get in such tremendous trouble if they make an error addressing their Valentine’s Day cards.

Recently, the district received a blow for what some may consider a “minor” problem–on the order of a youngster mis-addressing a classmate’s Valentine. The Headquarters staff advised me the International Board pulled the charter for Gjemtedal Lodge (5-639), Richland Center WI. The board took this action after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withdrew the lodge’s tax status.

The information I have indicates the lodge failed to file tax documents in 2008 and 2009 due to the lodge treasurer’s ill health. The IRS withdrew the tax status in 2011 because the lodge filed their tax documents late. We have all heard about the challenges the fraternal organizations face as the government presumably seeks additional revenue from a variety sources.

At our last district board meeting, I charged the zone directors to “become a member” of their respective lodges. The goal was to help recognize at the earliest possible time those factors in a lodge which might signal a “lodge in trouble.” Of course, the thought was more aligned with dwindling membership, lodge inactivity, etc., leading to lodge failure.

This recent charter-pull adds more impetus to zone director involvement with lodges. I request you let me know your intended schedule about visiting lodges. You can “visit” in person and by phone, e-mail and mail–perhaps to the point of making a pest of yourself, but with the best result intended.

I will track your lodge and zone activity using a handy-dandy chart  For the chart, I’m adding the date of your visit, zone activity, district board meeting, etc. Hopefully, with the chart as a reminder of “things to do,” we will avoid future problems with lodges and not become know as “The Fumbling Fifth.”

Fraternally,
Don Hermanson
District Five President

Instead of hitting the numbers (decrease, increase in membership) this time, I thought that I would rather direct your attention to actions you can take to improve your attendance at your meetings and events. Looking at statistics can easily become very discouraging. And it’s not within lodge officers’ power to stop people from moving to other areas, and the same goes for members lost to illness or death. Of course we cared for and will miss those who are no longer with us, and now, on top of that, we can see that Lodge of the Year Award we were hoping to earn slip away this time around. But building membership is so much more than statistics and percentage lost or gained.  

Because we have had some success in my lodge, I want to offer my help to all of you. One way is through the VP’s Tool Kit on our District 5 website,
sonsofnorway5.com, but I am also available to you one-on-one, at one of your lodge meetings, at a zone meeting, by phone if you want to discuss or bounce something off me, or I can make a visit to meet with you or a few officers from your lodge could plan to visit my lodge here in Racine, WI.

I believe in “groups.” Haven’t you found that sometimes if you sit down and explain a situation or a problem to someone, even an outsider, a solution emerges as you are talking? Although research shows that an individual in a large or small group may come up with the very best solution to a problem or idea for action, but if all ideas were evaluated and ranked, group ideas will have higher average ratings than individual ideas.  

I hope you will try this “group” idea, whether with me or within you lodge or at your Board meetings. Interaction, bouncing ideas off others, explaining what you really mean to group members generate synergy and suddenly you find that you just “found” five new ways to approach something! Enthusiasm builds and the support and “tweaking” by the group lead to further refinements and even better solution. And you have created buy-in! Try this at your next Board meeting and let the discussion flow without judgment or “we have tried this before.”  

There is one very important caveat: Don’t let defensiveness have any play! Defensiveness stops new ideas and usually creates a negative atmosphere where ideas and goodwill die. If someone seems to be criticizing something that has been done or someone for doing something that created problems, help everyone to treat these remarks as constructive criticism and try, try to find the constructive part of the remark and focus on what can be done better next time. Very often lack of, or poor communication, is at the center of complaints. Leaders can take ownership of this issue because there isn’t one among us who couldn’t improve how we communicate. And it will shift the uncomfortable feelings of resentment and defensiveness into something more general and constructive.

I hope this message makes sense to you. If not, contact me and “complain” and test my non-defensive attitude. Seriously, I am available for help, suggestions and dialogue.  Try me.

Fraternally,
Nicholas Baldukas
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262-598-9994

Kjaere Venner,

Work on our ‘Traveling Viking Chest’ has started with the purchase of the wood needed for the chest. The plan is to have the chest completed by the Spring board meeting. 

The ‘Traveling Viking Chest’ is a replica of a Viking Age chest that I will make. It will be filled with items contributed by each lodge it visits. The chest will be in the care of the zone directors, and will alternate from zone to zone with each board meeting. Talk to your zone director to schedule a visit. You will be charged rent, that is you will be asked to make something to add to the chest. Then each time the chest is opened at a new lodge, there will be a new surprise waiting. Hopefully these items will be interesting and the rent will encourage lodges and people to display some of their cultural and craft skills.

I continue to travel to lodges and give my talks “Eat Like A Viking’ (ELV) or about my longhouse GRIND. My schedule so far this year is shown in the list below.

March 11- Milwaukee Grind, March 16- Appleton ELV, April 5- D5 Board Meeting, April 8- Pleasant Valley ELV, April 13- Mauston ELV, April 14- Nelsonville (Stevens Point), June or July?  Zone 2 Picnic- Minocqua, October 11- D5 Board Meeting, October 12- Myrmarken 25th Anniversary, November 16- Blair Fagerness ELV

If you would like me to visit your lodge, drop me an email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or give me a call 715-487-0308. I don’t ask the lodges or the district for any money to cover the costs, but any honorarium towards expenses is appreciated. For those lodges far away from my home in central WI, please contact me. There may be Foundation grants that could cover trips to lodges far from where I live. If we could get several lodges scheduled for one trip, that would decrease the cost and also the time required to visit lodges. 

Please start planning what your lodge can contribute to the ‘Traveling Viking Chest’ and talk to your zone director about scheduling a visit.

Again, I wish to thank everyone for the support of cultural and craft skills that people showed at our last district convention. For me as an officer, it was a humbling and gratifying experience. I believe that your support demonstrated that all of you have a well founded foundation and image of what the Sons of Norway is and does. We just need to keep that nourish that dream.

Hilsen, Owen Christianson, Cultural Director