FJELL-LJOM.. (MOUNTAIN ECHOES).. BLÅFJELL LODGE 3-646 April 2017 Co-President: Joann Barfield 540-380-2926 Co- President/Secretary: Kathy Clark 540-977-2349 Treasurer: Cheri Johnson 540-989-6330 Editor: Robin Lambert 540-904-1817 Lodge Counselor: Sharon Rohrback 540-774-0006 ======================================================================================================= 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) ======================================================================================================= NO MEETING IN MAY .. WE WILL ALL BE AT LOCAL COLORS! Saturday May 20, 2017 11am-5pm Location: Elmwood Park Roanoke, VA (If you have not yet signed up for a baked goods donation or to work the booth, call Sharon Rohrback at 774-0006) NEXT MEETING: SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1-3 PM COLLEGE LUTHERAN CHURCH ====================================================================================================== CO-PRESIDENT MESSAGE: Local Colors time again .. our largest event, both in public visibility and, hopefully, in recruiting! With our theme of "Christmas in May", we should attract a good number of the many thousands of people attending this event. In addition to doing some "business", this is a great opportunity to meet and greet and visit with folks .. and have a good time! If you have not yet signed up for a donation of baked goods and your time to work our booth, please contact Event Chair Sharon now .. thanks in advance for your participation! Thought for the Month "Ideas never work unless you do. Submitted by Joann Barfield /Kathy Clark, Blåfjell Lodge Co-President/Secretary ======================================================================================================= LOCAL COLORS MAY 20, 2017 Our big fundraiser and fun day is coming soon: May 20, 2017, setup 9am - takedown 5pm. We will be near our usual location along the Fountain Walk sidewalk in Elmwood Park. Parking is free in a large lot across Williamson Road about a half-block away. Work shifts: we need volunteers to work 2-3 hour shifts at the Sons of Norway tent. Baked goods needed: baked, pre-wrapped, and price marked at home. No ingredients that need to be kept on ice such as puddings, cream fillings, fruits. Place a sticker on the item showing the item name, the country represented, and ingredients (esp if one could cause an allergic reaction). The cost of cake depends on size: $1.00 for single slice; $2.00 or $3.00 for larger sizes. The cost of cookies/bars is $1.00 a bag: four small cookies or two large cookies per bag. Please call or e-mail Sharon Rohrback stating if you can work and when; and what baked item you will provide. Most baked goods should be at the site by 10:30 am. Submitted by Sharon Rohrback, Event Coordinator Phone (540) 774-0006. Email [email protected]. ======================================================================================================= MINUTES OF MARCH MEETING: The April 22 meeting of Blafjell Lodge was called to order by Co-President Joann Barfield. New member Jeff Helgeson was welcomed and given a new member pin. The following guests were welcomed: Marissa (JoAnn Stephens-Foster's daughter), Ed and Grace Wold. We sang the Norwegian, Canadian, and American National Anthems. The March minutes, as posted in the April newsletter, were approved. Cheri Johnson, Treasurer, gave the report; the balance is $2,526.97. The Worthy Cause bag was passed to collect money to be given to a family in need at Christmas. We have an open position for Community Service Chairman; we would like a member to take this office. Sharon Rohrback reported on the Boy Scout event at the D-Day Memorial on April 8. The May 6 yard sale will be at Cheri Johnson's home. Our goal is to make $300.00 for the lodge. Call Cheri 989-6330 if you need her to pick your things up. Sharon, chairman of Local Colors event, gave an update on the May 20 event in downtown Roanoke. We will be featuring baked goods and Nordic Christmas ornaments made by our members. A sign-up sheet was passed to sign up to work that day. Joann Barfield distributed more buttons that are promoting the Sons of Norway's membership campaign. Our June event will be a presentation by our Cultural Director Cheri Johnson on Norway's flowers, oils, and perfumes. Heritage Minute will be given by JoAnn Stephens-Foster. The meeting was adjourned by Joann Barfield. Bob Rohrback gave an interesting and entertaining Heritage Minute on a member of Sharon's family who served in WWII, followed by Sharon Rohrback's informative program on "Norway in WWII". Refreshments were provided by Ed and Grace Wold, Sharon Rohrback, and Todd Solberg. Submitted by Kathy Clark, Blåfjell Lodge Secretary ====================================================================================================== MEMBER NEWS: Gratuleer Med Dagen May birthdays: Kathy Clark 5/3 AnnitaNelson 5/13 ====================================================================================================== What Did You Miss? April 8, 10am-12pm D Day Memorial Scout Day Location: Bedford, VA Presentations: Erik Brun of the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) Note: This is the third D-Day event we have participated in representing ally Norway. 1. D-Day Memorial Family Day in July 2015 2. D-Day Memorial Home School Day in April 2016 3. D-Day Memorial Scout Day in April 2017 Location: This year we were on the covered patio deck next to the gift shop, instead of a canopy on the lawn. Worked out ok. The scouts were kept busy enough, and were interested enough, not to leave our presentation to go into the gift shop. Group rotation every 15 minutes: Erik was able to cover the main events of the war: when it started, who controlled what, when Norway was defeated and the use of the 99th Infantry Battalion. A good bit of information. Six sites visited, so about six groups of 8-12 scouts, plus 4-6 adults with each group. Event workers: Robin Lambert, event coordinator. Sharon Rohrback Excluding transportation time, we worked on site 9am to 12:30 pm. Two Blafjell members were sufficient (as greeters, crowd control) because Erik Brun did the program presentation. Erik Brun, guest presenter, president of the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) WWII Education Foundation. **a note: Erik has always been interested in history and is working on his Master Degree In history. In about 2011 he became interested in the 99th Infantry Foundation when his father (who is still living) attended a reunion. Equipment: Erik brought his own equipment, but used the posters and black support boards he had loaned to Blåfjell three years ago which we stored in our closet. He has taken those items back to Richmond as the posters were the masters. We gave his business card to every adult person attending. Blåfjell provided the Blåfjell trifolds, given to those interested in receiving them. Handed out about three or four, but most groups travelled some distance to get here Blåfjell also provided each group's scout leader(s) with a document she created for our April meeting. All 15 copies handed out. It showed several citizen resistance symbols, showing their quiet support for Norway and non-support for Germany. Duties: Robin wore her bunad; Sharon wore her Blafjell outfit and vest. Robin: registering us for participation and obtaining any instructions from the D-Day staff, taking photos, showing each group where to sit, and timing Erik so he could concentrate on presenting. Sharon: greeting the adults accompanying the scouts, visiting with them a bit (but letting them concentrate on the presentation also), distributing handouts. Erik Brun, President of the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) WWII Education Foundation, was the presenter. We found out about changes in plan two days before the event, in which our time slot was shared by the scout event and visit to the adjacent gift shop. (as it was, very few scouts left his activity to go into the gift shop; they may have done so when they had lunch on the deck). Erik is very good at shifting plans. He had a great program idea to get the scouts involved. He brought laminated maps of Europe showing East coast countries and extending west to Russia, Italy, and Greece. About 8 places were set with laminated map to color with non-permanent markers. The maps could then be wiped off for the next group. The scouts worked together. As Erik spoke, he assisted the scouts filling in the areas controlled by the Allies, and the areas controlled by Germany and the Nazis. He explained how Norway was used to deceive the Nazi's into thinking allied resources were going to be sent to defend Norway's coastline, so the Nazis sent soldiers to Norway instead of to other areas of Europe. Erik had a wonderful way of simplifying the presentation to match the ages of the boy and girl scouts ranging from 2nd grade to 7th grade. He had no time to try the activity from last year, where a child carried a 25 or 50 or 75 lb bag to see how hard that was to