What
a wonderful time we had this year at our Spring Banquet! The afternoon 
of our
20th Anniversary started at 5 PM with the presentation of the 2009 Greater
Tacoma Peace Prize (GTPP) in the Regency Room of the
Tonia Simpson, the 2009
GTPP Chair, welcomed everyone and presented information about the Prize, and
how the recipient is chosen. She noted
that our 2009 Laureate, David Alger, was nominated by the staff of Associated
Ministries, and that he has worked tirelessly in his 30-year career with that
agency. He was instrumental in the founding and growth of many ecumenical
agencies in our area, including (among others!) the Pierce County Aids 2009 GTPP Laureate David T. Alger Foundation, the 
Moments of Blessings, and the Hilltop Action
Coalition.
GTPP Founder Tom Heavey
reflected on his inspiration for the concept of a local Peace Prize (an idea
which came to him while serving with the Coast Guard in the Middle East) and
thanked the supporters of the GTPP, including PLU and the Scandinavian Cultural
Center Council (SCC Director Susan Young is a member of the GTPP Committee), as
well as the people and organizations in Oslo who facilitate and host the
recipient’s trip to Oslo in December.
Tom then introduced PLU
Pres. Loren Anderson, who greeted the audience and eloquently thanked Rev.
Alger for his years of service to the
President Loren Andersen
Sandra Sanderson,
representing Associated Ministries, was on hand to introduce Rev. Alger and
relate a few stories about his tenure there. The GTPP Committee members then
presented Rev. Alger with a unique glass artwork (designed for the GTPP by
Also attending the
presentation were GTPP Laureates David Corner (2008) and Ron Vignec (2007).
After their trip in 2007, Ron and his wife Nancy commented that “This trip
renewed
Sandra Sanderson us and inspired us to reflect on the future.” David Corner remarked that
he and 
his
friend Liz were treated royally last December. “Those people in
David Alger has been a
model for peace building and peace keeping, and we are honored to support his
selection as the GTPP 2009 Laureate. Congratulations, Rev. Alger! (For more
information about Rev. Alger and the GTPP, go to ww.tacomapeaceprize.org.
Ron Vignec ('07 GTPP Laureate) and Davod Alger
After visiting with Rev.
Alger and others at the reception in the Regency Room, we convened in the 
The evening began with
greetings from SCC Council President Lisa Ottoson and Mary Ann Anderson, from
the President's Office. Mrs. Anderson commented on the wonderful visitors who
have been brought to the Center, from student musicians to Scandinavian
royalty. She said that it has truly been a warm and delightful venue in which
to welcome our Nordic guests.
Mary Ann Andersen
The Dean of Humanities, Doug
Oakman, gave the invocation before a delicious traditional Nordic meal of
halibut and all the trimmings. For entertainment, the attendees were treated to
“Sølvvinden,” a flute quartet under the
direction of Jennifer Rhyne.
Audun Toven and Lisa Ottoson
presented lovely bouquets to several “original” SCC founders and supporters, in
appreciation of their time and efforts to make the SCC a reality: Kim Kittilsby
(accepting for her father Jim Kittilsby), Dick and Rosemary Brynestad, Ed and
Betty Larson, Inge Miller, Gunnulf Myrbo, Molly and Tal Edman, and the first
president of the SCC Council, Ray Tobiason and his wife Phyllis.
Dick and Rosemary Brynestad
It was a delight to visit with folks
who were instrumental in overseeing the fund-raising years and active in the
planning and design of the Center, and
to hear their reactions to the tremendous events, presentations, performances,
and lectures that have 
graced the space since it first came into being. Thus,
our theme - “From Gravel Pit to Gracious Space." (See last month’s “Scandinavian
Scene.”)
The introduction of the
2009-2010 SCC Council officers was followed by a tremendous video presentation
prepared by Kerstin Ringdahl - a pictorial sampling of the last 20 years in the
Center. It seems that too often we forget the 
SCC Executive Committee: Janet Ruud, Karen Giguere, Kathrina Jaech, Gunnulf Myrbo and Lisa Ottoson
Delores and Carolle Kastelle, long-time SCC members and volunteers.
details and uniqueness of events
as the years pass, so it was wonderful to see the pictures from “back in the
day” and be reminded! And the technology that was used to put the presentation
together, along with the hours of work by Kerstin, was phenomenal.
After the program, attendees enjoyed the chance to
reminisce while viewing the exhibit in the Center, also prepared by Kerstin. In includes dozens of photographs of the early years: Nordic Nights, Troll Club, Sankta Lucia, Christmas, volunteers at work, concerts, classes, royalty and dignitary visits, and so much more.
Thank you to all who helped to make it such a fantastic evening!
Troy
Storfjell, Chair
A recent (June 29)
opinion piece in the Guardian, by Swedish expatriate Ruben Andersson,
examined the demise of the “Swedish model” of social 
democratic welfare
capitalism, noting that “jobs, social services and healthcare are eroding,” and
adding, pessimistically, that “the social state is failing.” Andersson blames
the demise of the Swedish model on the neo-liberal deregulation that led to the
country’s own credit crisis in the 1990s, from which he argues it hasn’t really
recovered.
Alarming as the Swedish
meltdown might be, that country is not alone in witnessing the erosion of its
social democracy. Throughout the Nordic region the once loudly trumpeted “third
way” for which the region made itself famous is slipping into something less
social, less democratic, and more like what can be found in other western
industrialized nations. Formerly public concerns have been privatized, waiting
periods for health care procedures have increased, poverty has re-appeared, and
the economic gap between the privileged and the rest has widened.
Social democratic
welfare capitalism is giving way to neo-liberal welfare capitalism, which
consists of a lot more capitalism and a lot less welfare. Neo-liberalism’s
triple play of privatization, deregulation and financialization is undoing much
of what our grandparents’ generation struggled so hard to put into place in the
middle of the last century.
The Marxists, of
course, warned way back then that this would be the inevitable outcome, that
compromising with capital could only lead to the triumph of capitalism over
socialism, and that the mixed economy was inherently unstable. Others have
critiqued Scandinavian social democracy as quietly but fundamentally ethnocentric,
depending on the sort of thinking that led to Norwegianization of the Kven and
Sámi, sterilization of hundreds of Roma, and increasing xenophobia and
exclusion of immigrants. A third criticism has been that the social democracies
brought about their own decline through their very success, that by increasing
national prosperity they distanced more and more voters from their traditional
alliance with working class politics.
The achievements of the
Social Democratic parties in
Lisa Marie Ottoson
Summer is in full swing and
the fireworks from the 4th of July now continue in the form of sunny
skies, sparks of light on the water, and glorious sunsets. I hope this
note finds you well and having had wonderful mid-summer celebrations of all
kinds.
First and foremost, I must say a heartfelt
"Welcome Home" to Susan Young, our Director of the SCC! We
have missed her, prayed for her, mourned with her as her dear husband Ben
passed on to his final home, and now we celebrate the improving health of her
son, and we rejoice in her return to campus in early July. I am grateful
that the student workers Emma and Robin have done such stellar work during her
leave, and that Prof. Audun Toven was able to serve so capably as Interim
Director during the Spring semester, bringing his expertise and national
contacts to our Center. If I may, I must also thank the council members
who have volunteered 'above and beyond' in terms of hours, writing assignments
and in setting up new exhibits. We are truly blessed.
If you don't have enough to
fill your weekends (and even if you do!), please note that the Center is open
on Sunday afternoons. You won’t have much longer to view the 20th Anniversary
exhibit!
Save the DATE! We
will have our annual membership meeting on Saturday, September 26th,
when we will present the 2009 Outstanding Service Award. Please mark your
calendars to join us.
Lisa Marie
Nancy White,with parenthetical comments by janet ruud
It was MY good fortune to receive
a birthday
lunch and cake for me! How did they know
it was my birthday?]
Birthday cake! Bløtkake! And beautiful linens, china, and silver!
A 'Norwegian guy' wanted really badly to be in the picture.
Karen
Giguere
Garfield Book
Company
The Prince and the
Nanny, by Odell M. Bjerkness
The
life of Prince Harald, now King of Norway, is told in historical context and
through the journal of his Nurse, Inga Berg.
The journal bears witness to a period of transition in the Norwegian
monarchy from a formal, traditional monarchical lifestyle to the more familiar,
unpretentious lifestyle of the modern Norwegian royals. It also gives a portrait of Inga herself, an
extraordinary woman who was raised in humble surroundings, overcame adversity,
and served in the most prestigious house in
Just in case you’d like to
catch up/move ahead, the book for July was Doghead
(Morten Ramsland and Tiina Nunnally); August’s book, which will be
discussed at the September Book Club meeting, is Nicolai’s Fortune (Solveig
Torvik); and September’s book will be Counterfeiter
(Moritz Nachtstern and Ragnar Arntzen).
Join us on Monday, September
7, at 7: 00 p.m. in the fireside lounge at GBC.
C A L E N D A R
EXHIBITS & EVENTS
CURRENT
EXHIBIT: “From Gravel Pit to
Gracious Space” A pictorial history of the SCC in honor of our 20th
Anniversary - through September
EVENTS:
Sep. 9 Knut Erik
Jensen, Pianist, in Lagerquist Hall 8 PM
Sep. 23 Sølvi
Barber, Filmmaker – Edvard Munch documentary 7
PM
Sep. 26 Annual
Membership Meeting/Outstanding Service
Award 3 - 5 PM
MEETINGS:
Danish
Sisterhood, September 3, at 11:00 am Questions, call 253-539-0587
Danish
Sangaften, August 16 and September
20, at 6 pm. Questions, call 253-984-6700
Executive
Board Meeting, September TBD
SCC Council Meetings, September 9, 5:30 pm in the SCC
CLASSES:Cooking classes: $5 per person, no pre-registration necessary, 10 -
noon
Norwegian
- Oct. 17, 20, and 29 Swedish
- TBD
Danish—Oct.
24 Finnish
- TBD
SAVE THE
DATES!
Watch for more information about these
events in the next issue of the Scene!
October
5 Knut
Hamsun Exhibit Opens
9
- 11 Scandinavian Days / Oktoberfest at
the
14 Annual
Swedish Endowed Program: Composer Karin Rehnqvist TBD
21 Lars Nordström: “Swedes in
November
10 Knut Hamsun Film TBD
11
21 Nordic Sweater Exchange TBD
29 Christmas in
December
4
Annual Sankta Lucia
Program in Lagerquist Hall 7 PM
5
Danish Bazaar TBD
9 Norwegian Christmas Service 7 PM
19 Annual Nordic Christmas Fest 6 PM
