Swedish-American Society 
Newsletter, March 1999 Edition

President: Leland Peterson 489-7061
Web master: Larry Leonardson 721-6827
WHEN NEXT WE MEET:
More than a few will be turned off by a
program that looks more like a syllabus or
train schedule than a description of a fun and
informal meeting for good eating and
singing, but this is a one-time thing to remind
our good and loyal members that we have
many fun things to do in limited time and
that we cannot wait for everyone to show
before we begin the festivities.  So come as
soon as you can by 4:00 or shortly thereafter
and enjoy!
Sue Arith and Gordy  Nelson will set up
tables and chairs between three and four
o'clock.  Bob Olson will bring the
refreshments before four o'clock. Club
members who bring refreshments for the
happy hour should do so by 4:20.  If possible
we should sell raffle tickets between 4:20
and 4:50 and have the drawing of raffle
tickets between 4:50 and 5:00.
We will sing Du Gamla Du Fria and 
O Beautiful for Spacious Skies before
dinner on the assumption  that we may wish
to adopt some official songs for the club 
(open for discussion).  The specialties will be
stuffed cabbage and baked potatoes
(Kaldolmar och potatisar).  We will eat
between 5:10 and 6 o'clock. 
Announcements will be made the by the
president and treasurer from 5:40 to 6
o'clock.  We will sing along with Ted and
Herb between 6:00 and 6:20.   Herb will then
tell about putting together a family history
and  Larry Leonardson will talk about and
useful items in our Web site for making a
family history. 
          Cleanup will be from 7:00 to 7:30

           WHEN LAST WE MET
Monthly meeting was held on Feb. 21st. 
There were approximately 30 adults and 10
children present.  Our meal included
Pannkakor with butter, syrup and berries,
and a variety of side dishes.  It was topped
off by a generous selection of desserts.
Before the meal, the president, Leland
Peterson, introduced the visitors and had a
short business meeting to discuss plans for
future meetings.  After the meal, all
participated in a sing-along led by Ted
Johnson and Herb Melendy.  At the
conclusion of the sing-along, Nellie and the
children gathered in another room to
complete the painting of their dala horses. 
There was a raffle of prizes provided by
members after the sing-along. This was
followed by an interesting talk on Swedish
history by Hans Thunander.  Hans reviewed
the Swedish kings during the 19th and 20th
centuries.  He gave some background on
how Sweden happened to have a French
king.  The talk was quite informative and
many expressed a desire to hear more from
Hans at a later date.  The meeting was
adjourned around 7:00 p.m. 

Need directions to the meeting, contact us at:
walkept@erols.com 

 TRANSLATIONS
Handouts are available at the meeting for the
three Swedish songs we have been
practicing: Du Gamla Du Fria, Kungssanga,
and Sankta Lucia.  Translations into English
have been made by Hans Thunander and the
texts of Du Gamla and Kungssangen have
been transcribed in Swedish with selected
words marginally glossed so any English
reader may see the close resemblances in
many instances between Swedish and
English.  Swedish is not a difficult language
to learn for speakers of English as both
languages are of the same Germanic family,
which also includes Norwegian, Danish, and
Dutch.
Patriotic songs always have certain images
and themes in common.  Usually they
celebrate the landscape and conditions of
freedom, as does Du Gamla, Du Fria, with
its sun, sky and green meadows.  In
“America of the Beautiful” we celebrate
spacious skies, amber waves of grain and the
fruited plane.  Not quite so obvious is a
parallel from Kungssangen, with a Gene
Autry song.  I remember from olden days
(the 1930's).  Gene used to sing “Deep
within my heart lies a melody, a song of old
San Anton.” which seems to parallel the
opening lines of Kungssangen, which
celebrates “in the depth of Swedish hearts a
unanimous and simple song.”  How many
remember a Victor Herbert melody about a
“a song in the air but the fair senorita does
not seem to care for the song in the air’?  All
of us have had the experience of a song
stuck in the mind that will not go away.  Not
quite what we have been talking about, but
related.
  
                       MEMBER NEWS
  Diane Garvin is ill and confined to bed at  
home.  We are all hoping that she will recover soon. Let her know you’re concerned.

  Gladys Nelson is spending a few weeks in
NY with her brother. 

                        COMPUTER LESSON
            For all of you that use the computer for
            word processing or on the web, here’s a
          quick tip that will allow you to use Swedish
          letters without the inconvenience of having
          to change over your entire keyboard set-up.

            To make the Swedish characters press alt
                  and the following numbers on
                    the right number board:
                 Hold the alt while typing the
                   numbers. After typing the
                 numbers, release the “alt” key
                  and your letter will appear.

                          å = alt 134
                          ä = alt 132
                           ö =alt 148
                          Å = alt 143
                          Ä = alt 142
                          Ö = alt 153
 
SWEDISH-AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
TIDEWATER, VIRGINIA

                     Tentative Schedule for 1999

             Main Dish                       Program

March 21       Kaldomar       Family History 
                      Potatis

April 18       Fisk                      Travels in
Sweden

May 16         Kottbullar        Club Birthday
                     Kottfars          In Memoriam

June 20        Bruna Bonor        Folk Dancing
                   Potatis Sallad

September 19   Lamm med Dillsas 
                 Potatiskorv   Swedish Theatre
 
October 17   Flask a la Olesson 
                                       Swedish Language  

November 21    Kalvkott med Dillsas 
                     Swedish-American Chorale

December 12    Smorgasbord                         Santa Lucia
      Swedish-American Chorale


DIRECTIONS TO OUR MEETINGS

 If coming from the peninsula, take
Interstate 64 across the Hampton Roads
Bridge Tunnel, follow 64 to 264 East.
Follow 264 to the Witchduck Road exit,
after exiting, turn left onto Witchduck Road.
About 1/4 to ½ mile is Ruritan Drive 
(fire station light is there). Turn left on
Ruritan, go the end of the street, building is
on the left.
 

                        CHILDREN’S CORNER
           The children will be making paper cut-out
          Viking ships at this meeting. We will color
            them with markers so will hopefully be a
          little neater this month. If anyone has any
         very fine string or fishing line that they are
             willing to donate, it would be greatly
                         appreciated. 
 
                       CLUB OFFICERS
 
              President - Leland Peterson 489-7061
                Vice President - Alise Dilworth
                   Secretary - Georgie Unser 
                   Treasurer - Don Lundquist
 
 
              Newletter Editor - Nellie Leonardson
                 Web Master - Larry Leonardson 
                            721-6827
 

OUR ADDRESS ON THE WEB:

                    https://members.tripod.com/~SweAmer