Sunday, June 22, 2003
                        Ruritan Club, Witchduck Rd
                                     .
                                 VÄLKOMMEN

3:00 PM  SMÖRGÅSBORD SETUP  Doors open and setup begins.  Sue Airth  will
setup for the meeting and meal (note this is the last time Sue will perform
this service after doing it for so many years; we all thank her deeply for
this enormous contribution to the Society).  Sandy MacGregor will set up
the beverage table.

 4:00 PM   Den Lyckliga Timmen (the happy hour): Club provides the soft
drinks, beer & wine, but depends on the membership for the hors d'oeuvres
(cheese, crackers, nuts, etc).

4:40 PM    Sing-along with Ted Johnson in Swedish and English.

5:00 PM    Välkommen to members and guests by President Barbara Carlson
Storaasli, followed by Du Gamla Du Fria, My Country Tis of thee, and I Jesu
Namn Til Bords Vi Gå, after which, we can get in the buffet line.

DINING:  This basically is a Midsommar smörgåsbord picnic so everyone
should bring food dishes consistent with that (note, despite the name,
there should be more than butter and goose on the table).  Glenn Gerdin and
hopefully some other volunteers will clean the picnic area outside on
Saturday, June 21, and Bob Olson will provide a charcoal grill and charcoal
for those who wish to grill hamburgers, kielbasa, brats, etc.

GUESTS:  a $5.00 contribution for each adult sixteen or older.  If bringing
guests, please include in your food contribution enough for yourselves and
your guests.

5:45 PM    There are plans in the works to have a Maypole and greenery, and
a boom-box with Swedish music for dancing around the Maypole.  This will
occur either outside if the weather is pleasant or inside if the weather is
too hot or raining or Thor is throwing his hammer around too much.

6:35 PM   The raffle will be held.  The prizes are provided by the members.
Note, it's fun when the kids win, so we need more prizes for children.

6:45 PM   Hälsä Dem Där Hemma and the clearing of tables and stacking of
chairs.

                        DIRECTIONS TO OUR MEETINGS
If coming from the peninsula, take I-64 across the Hampton Roads Bridge
Tunnel, follow I-64 to I-264 East.  Follow I-264 to the Witchduck Road
exit; after exiting, turn left onto Witchduck Road.  About ¼ to ½ mile is
Ruritan Drive (fire station light is there).  Turn left on Ruritan, go to
the end of the street, the
building is on the left.
                             When Last We Met

           The Swedish American Society met on May 18, 2003 at the Ruritan
Club, Witchduck Road, Virginia Beach.  Sue Airth set up for the meeting and
meal, and Sandy MacGregor set up the beverage table.  We greatly appreciate
their fine service.

The fellowship hour or den lyckliga timmen began at 4:00 P.M. with soft
drinks, beer, wine and hors d'oeuvres provided by the members.  Attendance
totaled 26 persons.

      Ted Johnson was unable to attend but we managed to sing, a cappella,
Du gamla du fria; and America.  Then we recited the Swedish table grace: I
Jesu namn.

At 5:00 P.M. we partook of a pot luck dinner of several entrees and
desserts provided by the members. 
 
 

      Hans Blix, Annika Sorenstam and Jon Ericsson were nominated for the
"Notable Swedes" listing.

      The menu for the June meeting was selected to be a smörgåsbord.  Sue
Airth will serve her last meal for the Society in June.

      Diane Newlon conducted the raffle which consisted of adult prizes
only.  No children were present at the meeting.

      The meeting then adjourned and the tables and chairs were stacked.

                                    Respectfully submitted,
                                    Ed Unser, Secretary

CLUB OFFICERS:
President  -  Barbara Carlson Storaasli (423-6711), Vice-President  -  Andy
Hilton, Treasurer -  Donald Lundquist,  Secretary  -  Edward Unser, Asst.
Secretary  -  Merrie Jo Milner, Raffle Master  -  Diane Newlon, Web Master
-  Larry Leonardson, Beverage Master  -  Sandy MacGregor, and Concert
Master  -  Ted Johnson, Newsletter Editor ? Glenn Gerdin.
 
 

Ole and Lena Department.  [This joke came from Scandinavian Yokes, Edited
by Paul F. Anderson, (Eggs Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1979) p. 20. The book
was lent to your editor by Leland Peterson.]

                             A Diamond's Curse
      Vhile vaiting for a streetcar over on Vashington Avenue, Dagmar
noticed dat da voman standing next to her vas vearing a wery big diamond on
her ring.
      So Dagmar says to da voman, "Dat's really a big stone, I bet it must
be famous."
      "Ya," says da voman, "dis is da famous Cedergren Diamond."
      So Dagmar says to da voman, "Oh, dare must be an interesting story
behind dat."
      "Ya," says da voman, "it comes vit dis curse."
      "Ya?" says Dagmar, "So vat is da curse?"
      So da voman says, "Mr. Cedergren!"

Old Norse Mythology Department:
      This is the eleventh installment of this feature intended to inform
the membership about the mythological heritage of the Scandinavian people.
The main source here is my mythology book:  Encyclopedia of World Mythology
, A. Cotterell Gen. Ed., Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 2001, ISBN
0-7607-2855-0.
                            The Treasures of the Gods

      The gods owned special treasures made by dwarves, the most skilled
craftsmen in the mythical world.  Odin had a spear, Gungnir, which no
shield, armor, or hide could stop.  He also had a gold ring, Draupnir, from
which eight rings of equal weight and value dropped every ninth night.
Freyr (the principal fertility god) owned a ship, Skidbladnir, which always
got a fair wind when its sail was raised.  However, Skidbladnir could also
be folded up and kept in a pocket when not in use.  Freyr also owned a
golden boar  which ran across the sky and sea faster than any horse and
illuminated the night with light from its bristles.

      The most important treasure of all belonged to Thor.  This was his
famous hammer, Mjollnir, which would never fail to strike, could never miss
when thrown and always returned to his hand.  The gods relied on the hammer
greatly and felt it was the best treasure of all, since it was used by Thor
to defend them from the giants.  Mjollnir's properties were so special that
it was not only used for protection, but was also raised over objects to
bless them.  The most notable example of that being Balder's funeral ship.
Also, if Thor raised it over the bones of his two goats after they had been
eaten, they would spring back to life, big and succulent, and ready to
eaten again.