GREETINGS FRA PRESIDENT:
It?s May, the flowers are blooming, the grass is green and the trees have already leafed out. May is a great month and this year should be no different! First, there is the 17th of May, the celebration of Constitution Day in Norway, or as we so affection- ately call it, Syttende mai. Put out your Norwegian flag. Before that there?s Mother?s Day, the opening of Minnesota fishing and then Memorial Day the end of the month. Of course I can?t forget my birthday which also comes in May, but that celebration is the least important.

Back to May 17th! Things will start to buzz beginning the week before in the Gyda Varden Lodge kitchen. The men will be peeling potatoes, Else and Irene rolling lefse, and my wife Barb boiling and shelling eggs. A whole crew of members will be working preparing for that festive day. What a magnificent group of lodge members we have in Gyda Varden! If you haven?t pitched in before, check out the schedule of events leading up to the 17th elsewhere in this Hilsen, and pick out a spot. You can still sign up to work at the May 10 meeting. Then on the 17th, we put it all together and share it with the rest of Greater Grand Forks, food, music, and good fellowship!

Don?t forget, Gyda Varden will still hold our regular second Thursday of the month lodge meeting on May 10. The April meeting was great fun. After eating the Lapskaus dinner, we started the meeting a little early, adjourned even earlier and then listened to „a traditional Irish music session? in which Gyda Varden members Don Forsman and Sharon Myron participate. Some who came for the dinner left early to attend polar explorer Anne Bancroft?s event at the Chester Fritz. The upcoming summer months will offer as much opportunity to enjoy lodge activities as well.

So till then,
Med vennlig hilsen. G. Paul

LODGE HISTORY:
June 22, 1903 the Varden Lodge of Sønner av Norge was founded. "Varden" means "beacon" or "lookout," and is also a masculine name."Gyda" is the ninth century princess who first had a vision of a united kingdom of Norway. The Gyda Døtre av Norge was established two years later in 1905. The Gyda Lodge merged with the Varden Lodge in 1951, to be known as The Gyda Varden Lodge #21. See the Centennial web page (klikk på mus å se HUNDREÅRSDAG siden contributed by Helny Ohnstad).

Sharon Myron publishes NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN HISTORY in the lodge news letter: "HILSEN", edited by Cindy Dahl. Contact Sharon to get access to her archived.

Also: You may like to connect onlineto Norwegian studies. UND offers an online first year Norwegian course. The courses: NORW 101 and 102, taught be Dr. Melissa Gjellstad, attract diverse students from the local campus and tri-state region as well as learners from across the U.S. and Canada.articles.

VIKING MAGAZINE ONLINE:
Flip though digital versions of Viking, from November 2009 to the current issue. On the Sons of Norway home page , click on Viking Magazine Online. Be sure to log in as a member to view the whole issue.

INSURANCE & FINANCIAL PRODUCTS:
Sons of Norway provides quality insurance and financial products to its members. Contact Ann Krause, FIC, our financial bennefits advisor, for information.

FUND RAISING:
Through fund-raising projects, lefse baking, and the fantastic support of members and the community, Gyda Varden has engaged in unlimited cultural, social, and charitable activities. Each June an impressive service is conducted to honor the memory of departed members.

Within our lodge a sunshine committee seeks to cheer the sick and bereaved with flowers or a sympathy card. If you hear about a member in the hospital or a death in a family, please notify Deb Meuwissen at 701 740-3428
Or at robertmeuwissen@gra.midco.net.

Gyda Varden contributes through fundraisers sponsored by the Sons of Norway Foundation, and has benefited from the Humanitarian Fund, which began in 1997 in response to the Red River Flood.
---1. Disaster relief.
---2. Outreach grants for the lodge.
------------ (see Officers page)
---3. Scholarships for
Norwegian-American education exchange.
------------(see Jr. Lodge page)

Gyda Varden is looking forward to providing aid for the handicapped by supporting the TUBFRIM PROJECT. E-mail John Schaffer to receive credit. --Klikk på mus or or for information.

With your used phone cards& stamps the lodge provides medical aid for children in Norway because we give them a "new" value. "Several hundred handicapped children benefit from the fund raised by TUBFRIM -- every year!"

TUBFRIM was established in Nesbyen in 1928. Postmaster Ditlef Frantzen took the initiative to collect and sell used stamps to fund a better quality of life for handicapped children and youth and to support tuberculosis research.

The Gyda Varden Lodge supports many other commitments, including Trollfjorden Language Camp, a scrapbook, and the Nordic Initiative, among others.

- LODGE MEETINGS:-
- (see calendar) We invite you to come to a lodge meeting. Through the years, lodge members have discovered intangible friendships fostered when enjoying traditional Norwegian activities together, including: literature and history -- Norsk Lese Lag (book club), Norwegian language classes, rosemaling, wood carving, genealogy research, ethnic programs, pancake breakfasts, chili suppers, corn feeds, lefse baking, bløtkake demonstrations, pot-luck meals, tours, and celebrations. The meetings contain some business content, but also some youth-oriented cultural and social events.

Friday Movie Nights at the lodge we show movies from Norway. We have a great time and enjoyed pop & popcorn. Check the Gyda Varden Lodge events on this website. Also Gyda Varden movie times, are often published in the print edition of the Grand Forks Herald: “What’s Up.”
May 17 Everyone is invited to celebrate Syttende mai at the Gyda Varden Lodge. Noon Lunch: 11 am - 2 pm we'll be serving smorbrød, rømmegrøt, lefse, søtsuppe, riskem, bløtkake, flatbrød. Afternoon coffee: 2 pm - 4 pm and entertainers will be performing.

If you want to attend Syttende mai and are coming to the lodge during your lunch break from school or work you have our permission to go to the head of the line!

- IN RECENT YEARS:-
In recent years the lodge has developed a Sister-Lodge friendship with a lodge in Lillehammer, Norway. The BIRKEBEINER Lodge adopted the Birkebeiner name being that a long-distance cross-country ski marathon starts at Rena and ends at Lillehammer near their lodge. The Birkebeinerrennet is one of three races held under the Birkebeiner moniker, the other two being Birkebeinerrittet (bicycling) and Birkebeinerløpet (cross-country running).

In addition, on October 10, 2005, Grand Forks City established a sister Sister City Agreement with the city of Sarpsborg, Norway.

- LODGE TRAVEL:-
You may not need a lodge member ship to travel to a lot of places, includin festivities, conventions, with the lodge members. Watch both the yearly calander & each month's calander page for places & cost.

Char Brekke offers cultural, Educational, & Heritage Tours with her association with Brekke Tours.

The Lodge Viking Ship gets ready to set sails in the EGF Heritage Days Parade. Riding the ship are Teressa Wilde, Kendrik Wilde and Darlene Holien.



Olger & Lucille Langheid at the Rosemaling display at EGF Heritage Days.


With a bit of joy & vanity, Gyda Varden hopes you will join with us and eat and celebrate the heritage and culture of Norway and other Nordic countries around the North Sea. We think of each member, as when one thinks of a brother who has been lost and forgotten but found again in discovering a beautiful source of identity. If you are not a member of Sons of Norway we hope that after seeing all of the activities we offer you will consider joining our organization.
Click to hear the ( klikk på mus).
Norwegian National Anthem.
- - - - Ha en god dag! -