GREETINGS FRA PRESIDENT:

It has been a pleasure to serve as President of Gyda Varden Lodge this past year and thanks again for the opportunity to serve you in that office. I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication to our great lodge! I wish G Paul the very best in the next year and I know he will do a great job as President!

Best wishes to everyone and I hope to see you at the next meeting or an upcoming event!

Med Vennlig hilsen,
Cory Lien
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Hei! Greetings to all this cold winter day, It is winter, and we all knew it would come, but me, you didn’t expect. Nor did I, but I have accepted the office of Gyda Varden president to fill the second year of Cory Lien’s term. Corey has done a great job, and I hope I can continue to make Gyda Varden Lodge a more enjoyable organization. I will continue to conduct the necessary business at the business meeting the week before the general membership meeting, leaving the traditional second Thursday of the month meeting to be filled with fun and enlightening programming, and a joy to attend. That is my goal for the year!

A bit about me. I sing. Most of you know my wife Barbara, lefse maker and the egg lady (she scrambles the eggs for the Potato Bowl breakfast, and can shell a dozen boiled eggs in under 1 minute to make the egg salad and smørbrød garnish for the Syttende Mai celebration). We’re both retired teachers, I at UND, she in the GF schools, and have been members of Gyda Varden for 25 years. I hope we all get to know each other better during 2012. I only ask that you tell me your name when we meet so I’m not embarrassed when I say to myself, “I know that person, but what is their name?”

Together, let’s continue to hold fast to the Sons of Norway Mission statement printed right on the front of this copy of the Hilsen. It starts out,” To promote and to preserve the heritage and culture of Norway [and] celebrate our relationship with other Nordic countries...” Hope to see you all at next Thursday’s meeting.

Ha det bra! Ve sees. G. Paul Larson

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).

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.

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.

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.

- 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.

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.


With a bit of joy & vanity, Gyda Varden hopes you will join with us 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 Norwegian National Anthem. ( klikk på mus).

- - - - Ha en god dag! -