NEXT MEETING --- SAVE the DATE!!! JULEFEST Koffee Klatch Gathering with St

FJELL-LJOM.. (MOUNTAIN ECHOES).. BLÅFJELL LODGE 3-646 December 2019 President: Sharon Rohrback 540-774-0006 Vice President: Joann Barfield 540-380-2926 Secretary: Kathy Clark 540-977-2349 Treasurer: Cheri Johnson 540-989-6330 Editor: vacant (Sharon Rohrback, acting) ======Blåfjell's website: sonsofnorwayblafjell.org Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/SonsOfNorwayBlaFjell ======Mission Statement: The mission of the Sons of Norway is to preserve and cherish a lasting appreciation of the heritage and culture of Norway and the other Nordic countries. ======Regularly scheduled meetings: Fourth Saturday of each month, 1:00 PM, College Lutheran Church, 210 South College Avenue, Salem (Except for special events) ======NEXT MEETING --- SAVE THE DATE!!! JULEFEST Koffee Klatch gathering with St. Lucia December 14, 2019 1-3 pm (note earlier date) College Lutheran Church Refreshments: by all: Bring dessert, fingertip sandwiches, open face Danish sandwiches to share Volunteers needed: to assist Event Chair Joann Barfield with organization of details for Julefest. Plz respond to Joann at [email protected] or call 380-2926. Many thanks! ======INDEX: Local Lodge Section Page 1: Newsletter title, Officer contact info, Mission Statement, Next Meeting date, Index Page 2: Mark Your Calendars, Member News, Lodge President Message. Lodge VP message Page 3 : Minutes of Previous meeting, Cultural Director Message. Page 4-5: Pictures from Nov. 11 Adopt-a-School Viking Day Page 5-9: Pictures from November meeting: speaker and display of cherished treasures. Page 10: Cultural pictures from Kathy Clark (Alstahaug church) and Cheri Johnson (sheep) SON Third District and International Section Page 11-12: SON District 3 Presidents Message, Links to Third District/Zone7/International News

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

a. Upcoming BLA Fjell MEETINGS AND EVENTS Dec. 14 (earlier date) JULEFEST KOFFEE KLATCH: 1-3 pm, at College Lutheran Church. Bring dessert, fingertip sandwiches or open face Danish sandwiches. Event Chair: Joann Barfield. January date tbd: Bla Fjell Board planning mtg to set events for 2020. Anyone interested is invited to attend. You are welcome to submit ideas for programs. b. Third District and/or Zone 7 other-lodge events. Dec. 6-7, 2019: Washington D.C. lodge Christmas Festival, Fairfax, VA. June 5-8, 2020: D-3 Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. BlaFjell Lodge will have to determine if we will be sending a convention delegate. ======MEMBER NEWS Gratuler Med Dagen - December birthdays: Cheri Johnson 12/8 Robert Rohrback 12/13 Helene DeVries 12/23 Jennifer Nelson 12/27 Prayer needs: Prayers of healing for Marilyn Barrier, who had two hand procedure surgeries on November 15. Prayers of healing for Joanne, daughter of Karen and Scott Rice taken to emergency room Nov. 16. Prayers of healing for Inga Solberg, who had shoulder surgery November 18. ======LODGE PRESIDENT MESSAGE We are blessed to have members and friends who volunteer on a consistent basis, and I thank you all. But special Mange Tusen Takk to these board members who help me immensely behind the scenes. All four have served for many, many years in various capacities. But I have been most aware during my previous six-year stint as lodge president and now. You see me more frequently because I lead the meetings and am the newsletter editor, BUT these folks also do so much to manage the lodge. Joann Barfield is Vice-President/Membership Secretary and has had many roles since Bla FJell was instituted. Kathy Clark, a charter member, is Secretary responsible for the minutes/year end reports to SON, coordinator of our sewing projects, and has had many roles over the years. Cheri Johnson is Cultural Director/Treasurer and has been responsible for many years for meeting programs and for ensuring we educate children by special events such as Local Colors, St. Lucia concert, and our adopted school programs. Helene DeVries is our Historian, responsible for taking pictures and filing them. I also wish to thank Robin Lambert who was our newsletter editor through 2018 and now posts photos on BlaFjell lodge Facebook page. Submitted by Sharon Rohrback ======Vice President/Membership Director Message As reported in the November meeting, the Sons of Norway 2019 Membership Campaign has, as of October 31, 2019, already surpassed its goal by 17%, with the addition of 4,587 new members. Considering the diminishing membership of most organizations around us (church, fraternal benefit, and civic, for example), I think it is quite remarkable that Sons of Norway has had such great success! Proof positive of the benefits of Sons of Norway membership in fulfilling our mission of preserving our heritage and culture, while enjoying wonderful fellowship and friendships! CONGRATULATIONS to the four new members who have contributed to our success in this Campaign: Gail Ofte-Atha, Ellen Hinlicky, Karen Rice, and Janice Quick! The November meeting was another most enjoyable occasion, as members shared their treasures, and we got to know each other a little better. The upcoming Julefest will be another event full of fun and 3 holiday surprises, as we are entertained by our traditional St. Lucia procession, a Lutefisk Skit prepared by Kathy, and a surprise visit by "guess who"! This would be a good time to invite family/friends/neighbors to come and see what we're all about! As Chair of the event, I would welcome any who would like to help with some details. Happy Holidays to all! Submitted by Joann Barfield ======MINUTES OF NOVEMBER MEETING The November 16, 2019 meeting was at College Lutheran Church, Salem, Va. Sharon opened the meeting with the singing of the Norwegian, Canadian and American national anthems. Fourteen members, three guests, and one visitor of SON Washington lodge were present. The guests were Anna Clem, Janice Quick and Gracelynn Clark. Janice Quick joined SON at this meeting. The guest was Mr. Haakon T. Lerwick, member of Washington Lodge meeting in Fairfax, VA. Business session: Cheri gave the treasurer's report. Joann reported that Sons of Norway International, including Bla Fjell lodge, met their new-member goal. Cheri as Cultural Director and event chair, reported on Bla Fjell's participation with our Adopt-a-School's Icelandic Viking Day event at Faith Christian School, Roanoke, VA. Four members displayed and explained cultural information (Storytelling, Viking History/Longhouse Culture, Norway traditions/culture, Viking ships and travel, and Snorri -the first Viking child born in North America. Cheri showed a DVD about the discovery of Viking ruins in L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland; the only authenticated Norse site in North America. Parents provided an authentic Viking meal. New Business: We voted on recipient of our cumulate Worthy Cause Fund. During the year, Bla fjell lodge collects spare change and gives the total for a worthy cause. We voted to give this collection to the family of a young boy bitten by a dog; the boy has had several facial surgeries and will need more. Program: a) Speaker Haaken T. Lerwick, SON member of Washington Lodge, was the recipient of the SON Lund scholarship. Haaken attends Virginia Tech. He spoke about the two weeks he spent with other engineering students in Australia and New Zealan b) members then showed treasures they would never part with and enjoyed an exchange of cookies provided by the members. Announcements: St. Lucia Concert, December 13, at St. Andrews Catholic Church in Roanoke. Bla Fjell Lodge has been asked to provide the children for the St. Lucia procession as we have done for several years. Julefest, December 14, will be a Koffee Klatch at College Lutheran Church with member- provided open-face sandwiches and desserts. All members are urged to participate. There will be a St. Lucia procession, a humorous lutefisk skit by the members, and Santa will also be arriving. Submitted by Kathy Clark ======CULTURAL DIRECTOR MESSAGE St. Lucia Day December 13, 2019 St. Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13th in memory of a kind girl called " Lucia " who brought food to persecuted Christians in Sicily. She was sentenced to death. Today St. Lucia is represented by a girl wearing a white dress with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head. She leads a procession in church or in the community. In a home, the eldest girl is the " Lucia." She lights the candles on her crown and carries a tray of coffee and buns to her parents still in bed. Other children may follow wearing white and carrying a candle. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take the life of St. Lucia in Italy as she was sentenced to be burned. This light from the fire and the candles overcomes darkness and evil. You have 2 opportunities to visit and see Lucia 1. St. Andrews Catholic Church: Dec. 13th, 7:30 - 8:30pm. Musical concert with Lucia girls. 2. College Lutheran Church Sons of Norway Julefest: December 14th, 1 - 3pm. Lucia starts the luncheon program. Submitted by Cheri Johnson 4

BLA FJELL at Adopt-a-School VIKING DAY Statement from Cheri Johnson, Cultural Director. Today was our annual Icelandic Viking Day at Faith Christian School in Roanoke! It is always a lot of fun and the children learn so much! We added Puffins this year and a study of Greenland and Gudrid, mother of Snorri, first born in Newfoundland around 1006. The kids were so attentive and interested in everything!

Viking Children display in the foyer where the students gather for pictures.

Cheri, Peter Baur-school head, Kristin Brown Just the 4th grade class. Lower-level head

Shield Wall Cheri teaching about Long house living 5

Kathy teaching about Norway Robin teaching about ships and voyages

Bla Fjell donating a book to school library Parents serve a Viking meal

Book about Gudrid, mother of Snorri who Loaned for our story telling by Zone 7 was first-born in Newfoundland. Director, Dirk Hansen ======

BLA FJELL'S NOVEMBER 16. 2019 MEETING.

(two-part program: speaker and sharing treasures SPEAKER: Haakon Trygve Lerwick. Haakon is a second-year student at Virginia Tech, studying mechanical engineering, and is a member of SON Washington Lodge, which meets in Fairfax, Virginia. His parents live in Front Royal, VA. His father's side of the family is of pure Norwegian heritage, and the family owns a home in Eidbo, Norway, (closest to Sagesund) which was built in the 1530's, where Haakon has visited three times. Mange Tusen Takk, Haakon! Haakon was a recipient of the Sons of Norway Lund Fund Scholarship"established in 2010 to pay tribute to former Sons of Norway CEO John Lund and former Sons of Norway Legal Counsel Allan Lund for their combined 40 years of service and dedication. This opportunity supports American students studying abroad in any country." (from October 2019 issue of Viking magazine). The scholarship enabled a small group of 37 engineering students in a variety of disciplines to participate in the Rising 6

Sophomore Abroad Program (RSAP). They spent 2 weeks in Australia and New Zealand, learning about specific engineering challenges and how these challenges can drive the major engineering disciplines of a specific region; they also were able to do some scenic sightseeing, and he presented a beautiful slide show of these sights. Upon their return, they had to write a variety of reflections about the trends they noticed, engineering challenges they saw, and things that were the most meaningful to them. We look forward to Haakon visiting and sharing with us again.

Haakon Lerwick recipient of the "Lund Fund" Scholarship shares a presentation of his trip to New Zealand and Australia. Haakon and 35 other engineering majors traveled to these countries as an educational trip. TREASURED ITEMS: Each member or visitor brought items to share that were of sentimental value, and shared the story about how the item was inherited or found. We also shared delicious cookies. Not shown in pictures: Robin (taking pictures), Sharon, Kathy (somewhere in the room).

Left side table: Haaken, Lucy's vacant chair, JoAnn, Gail, Helene, Robin vacant chair, Janice, Anna and Ingrid. End and right-side table: Ellen, Cheri, Joann & Bob at coffee bar, Ed, Walter, Beverly, Lucy standing, Gracelynn

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From Kathy Clark heritage: Alstahaug Kirke (church Alstahaug Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in the municipality of Alstahaug in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. Alstahaug church is one of seven surviving medieval churches in northern Norway. The church is associated with Petter Dass, who was appointed vicar in 1689. Many of Kathy's family were baptized and confirmed at this church Alstahaug is a municipality consisting entirely of islands. Most residents live on the main islands of Alsta and Tjøtta, and Alstahaug stretches from the Skålvær island group in the west, to the Vefsnfjorden in the east, and to Mindlandet island to the south..

======Facebook posting shared by member Cheri Johnson. She added this comment: I love sharing my sheep pics.... someone is the leader. They know winter is near and they’re on their way back to the barn just like the sheep 1000 years ago during Viking times. During that time the sheep stayed in one end of the longhouse so they would survive the winter. Did you know sheep milk is 4x better for

you than cow/goat milk!!! ======

DISTRICT 3 PRESIDENT'S DECEMBER 2019 MESSAGE From Fra 3 D Presidenten Kathy Dollymore As we are close to the end of 2019 and thinking about programing and membership in 2020, it can’t be said enough that membership is the life blood of a lodge. Strongly encourage every member who has children or grandchildren to become heritage members, a membership level that is FREE to age 16. Kids will bring in their parents, parents will join as members, those children will bring their friends, the trick is to get them into a lodge with a program to attract and then to keep bringing them back with attractions. With the Christmas holidays coming upon us let’s think about giving those grown children a membership into SON and show them what their heritage looks like with the Viking Magazine and lodge newsletters. Mentoring new leaders, promoting new ideas, giving new life to a lodge!! New members join because they want to belong to something meaningful—and they want to know that their involvement is important. Help them feel valued and appreciated from day one. These are some ideas for getting your new members engaged • Assign a mentor. Mentors can answer questions, serve as a familiar face and help connect new members and answer questions about the lodge or get the answers for them. • Have a new-member ceremony. Welcome new members with a new member welcome ceremony. (Found in the guide for leadership at sofn.com) It’s an opportunity to provide them with a better understanding about your lodge and learn about their skills, what they’re looking for in the lodge by way of programs and interests. Members only get a “first time member” initiation once—so make it memorable. Help other members get to know the new member by including details about their life and interests in your introduction. This is also a good opportunity to show your appreciation to the sponsoring member. • Ask for their feedback. After new members are inducted, you might consider asking some of them to meet casually with some board members. A new person’s input can provide a new perspective • Show them they’re needed. Assigning a new member to a committee can also help to engage special talents and interests. Alternatively, giving new members a simple task connected to a meeting or project can help them feel like part of the team. If they miss a meeting, follow up and let them know you noticed. The holiday season reminds me to think about the people in my life. My family, my friends, and my Brothers and Sisters of Sons of Norway. They give me the opportunity to grow and succeed. As we close out 2019, I’d like to thank our members for making this a District I am proud to be part of. I wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season, Gledelig jul og glade nytt år, Kathy ======

Links to THIRD DISTRICT, 3D ZONE7 LODGEs and INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

For 3D President’s letter, see the Third District Events Calendar: www.3dsofn.org/newsletter/index.html For District 3 events: www.3dsofn.org/calendar For Land of Viking (LOV) camp and conference center in Pennsylvania: www.3dsofn.org/lov or www.Landofthevikings.org For Sons of Norway E-Post: [email protected]

Zone 7 Lodges (this section newly added) Bla Fjell Lodge 3-646 meets in Salem, VA: Website www.sonsofnorwayblafjell.org or Facebook www.facebook.com/SonsOfNorwayBlaFjell Hampton Roads Lodge 3-522 meets in Virginia Beach, VA: Website www.hrson.org or Facebook www.Facebook.com/hrsons Norsk Carolina Lodge 3-679 meets in Charlotte, NC: Website www.norskcarolina.org 12 or Facebook www.Facebook.com/NorskCarolina Norskevenner Lodge 3-678 meets in Roswell, GA: email [email protected] or Facebook www.facebook.com/Sons-of-Norway-Roswell-Georgia-NorskeVenner-Lodge-3-678 North Carolina Vikings Lodge 3-675 meets in Raleigh, NC: Website www.northcarolinavikings.org. There is no Facebook site. Southern Star Lodge 3-360 meets in Myrtle Beach, SC: Website www.southernstar.org; or Facebook www.Facebook.com/Southern Star

INTERNATIONAL NEWS links: For Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington: [email protected] For Nordic News from the Icelandic Embassy: http://www.iceland.is/us For NEWEST NEWS: New newspaper ... Welcome to Norway Today: www.norwaytoday.info For FULL LISTING OF EVENTS around the U.S: wwwnorway.org/calendar

SONS OF NORWAY BLAFJELL LODGE MEETS ON THE FOURTH SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH! PLAN TO ATTEND EACH AND EVERY LODGE MEETING AND ACTIVITY! For the Love of Norway!!

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