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Scandinavian Cultural Center

November-December 2006

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Holiday Events Fill SCC Calendar

 

The holiday season is a very special time of the year, when hearts are filled with the spirit of Christmas and Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. The Scandinavian Cultural Center Council takes pride in presenting several holiday events that will enhance this time of generosity, merriment, remembrance of times past, and hope for the future.

 Christmas in Scandinavia Exhibit

 
The season begins with the annual “Christmas in Scandinavia” exhibit. The exhibit will be mounted on November 14-15, and available for viewing November 19 through January 7. The holiday festival of trees will line the east and south walls of the Great Hall and will be decorated in the tradition of the five Nordic countries.  A 13-foot evergreen tree will provide the centerpiece for holiday events occurring  in the Center. 

Guests visiting the Center will also enjoy the accompanying exhibit entitled, “Christmas Spirit: Early 20th Century Magazine Covers,” which will be beautifully displayed in the Stuen Room.

Late 19th and early 20th century Scandinavians were fond of Christmas magazines, with titles such as Juleroser, Julstämning, Julhällen, Julfrid, and Julehelg. Inside were articles of interest and—for its time—lavishly reproduced art work. The cover of the magazine was sometimes inspired by nature, sometimes religion, and often created by prominent artists of the day. This display features a private collection of magazine covers spanning 1890 to 1943.  (See p.6 for public hours.)

Sankta Lucia Fest

 

In 1950, Rev. E. Arthur Larson introduced Sankta Lucia to Pacific Lutheran University. On a cold December morning, members of his Swedish language class were awakened by a knock at the door. According to Swedish tradition, the white-robed saint, wearing a crown of candles and a red satin sash, carried a plate of saffron buns in one hand and a pot of freshly brewed coffee in the other. Lucia’s real name was Lola (Murk) Gracey (‘54) who currently lives in Seattle, Washington. The crown she wore over fifty years ago is a now part of the SCC permanent artifact collection.

From it’s humble beginnings, the Santka Lucia Fest has become a time-honored tradition at PLU. This year’s event will take place on Friday, December 1, at 7:30 pm, in Lagerquist Concert Hall, located in the Mary Baker Russell Music Center. A reception follows in the Scandinavian Cultural Center, where Swedish music, song, and dance will abound. Admission: $8 (General), $5 (SCC Members/Students), $3 (children 11 and under). For reservations, call 253-535-7411 no later than November 29. (A limited number of tickets will be sold at the door.)

 Curator of Vesterheim Museum

To Present Lecture on Norwegian Immigration, November 18, 1:30 PM

The Scandinavian Cultural Center Council recently received a grant from Pierce County Arts Commission to bring Tova Brandt, renowned curator from Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa, to Pacific Lutheran University. Ms. Brandt, who has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of Nordic artifacts, will conduct presentations at local elementary schools, public libraries, and the Scandinavian Cultural Center.

The PCAC grant was approved under the project title, “Scandinavian Artifacts as Tradition and Their Relationship to Today—A Living Legacy.” The first phase of this three-day program begins on Thursday and Friday (November 16-17) with trips to local elementary schools and public libraries. The goal is to provide school children with education regarding the immigrant experience. Through the use of a “traveling trunk,” Ms. Brandt will share insights as to how selected artifacts affected the daily lives of the immigrants, and how these artifacts are linked to today. These visual illustrations will provide a “hands-on” opportunity for children to touch and feel the textiles, and to examine the workmanship of various items up close. The artifacts will become a living legacy of a bygone era and will open a new world of ideas as children gain an understanding as to why these artifacts were important and how they relate to other ethnic cultures.

The lecture on Saturday, which is aimed at a mature audience, is

“Norwegian Immigration: History and Interpretation”

In addition to providing insights into the reasons for immigration and how the immigrants created a new lifestyle in America, Ms. Brandt will explore how Vesterheim, a museum started in 1877, has interpreted that history and how the museum plans to meet the challenges of a 21st-century audience. Plan now to attend this motivating and informative lecture.

   Admission is free and a reception will follow.

 

News and Notes

 

Welcome New Members! Esther Ellickson (Gig Harbor), Elsie Johanson (Tacoma), John and Eeva Lalone (Puyallup), Rebecca Richardson (PLU student), and Dale Wright (Tacoma).

 
Membership Directory: We are currently in the process of designing a new membership directory to be distributed to all members of the Scandinavian Cultural Center. The directory will include members’ names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses (if applicable). If you would prefer that certain information not appear in the directory, please let us know (by December 1) in writing (addressed to SCC, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA  98447), by phone (253-535-7322-leave a message), or email <youngse@plu.edu>. 

 
Docents Meeting: As you know, the Center is open for public hours three days a week. This requires the help of volunteers who are willing to donate their time to serve as docents. We currently have twenty-nine men and women who work quietly behind the scenes providing regular and consistent service to the Center. Even though it is a well functioning and highly efficient group, our docents rarely get to spend time together. The meeting on October 17 was designed to solve that problem. Our docents met with Director Susan Young to review the operating procedures for the Center during public hours, to enjoy some delicious refreshments, and to spend time getting to know one another better. Our sincere thanks to the current members of the Docent Committee: Esther Hinschberger (Chair), Christine Beasley, Ken and Polly Christopherson, Marian Eberle, Carol Erickson, Esther Ellickson, Margie Ellickson, Elene Emerson, Linda Fialkowski, Phylaine Folson, Alice Govig, Delores and Carroll Kastelle, Ulla Lindwood, Florence March, Phyllis Mjorud, Lisa and Anja Pangborn, Bonnie Rediske, Evelyn Reynolds, Bruce and Sheryl Rytkonen, Cheryl Spidahl, Barbara Tollefson, Carol Tower, Carol Voigt, Anne Whitley, and Thelma Willis.   If you would be interested in joining this elite group of people, please give Esther Hinschberger a call at 253-847-8323.

 
Nordic Cooking Classes: Our cooking classes could not have gone better. Many thanks to our outstanding chefs! There were six classes in all—three Norwegian, two Swedish, and one Danish.  The menus included Skandinaviske kylling med aprikoser (Scandinavian chicken with apricots), grønsaksgratin (mixed vegetable casserole), torsk med rekesaus (baked cod with shrimp sauce), kålrot stappe (vanilla-scented rutabaga), pepperrotsmør (horseradish butter), Danske suppe (delicious Danish soup), rompudding (rum pudding), Danske småkager (Danish lace cookies), hast kake (quick cake), kastrull kake (apple dessert), rullrån (Swedish cookie), skinkeballer (ham and potato balls), Skandinaviske agurker (Scandinavian cucumbers), and Lillehammer cream melts! At the end of each class, there was plenty of food for all our students to sit down to a delicious meal!

 
Oleana Fashion Show: The annual Oleana fashion show, sponsored by Laura Almaas (owner and operator of Chalet in the Woods gift shop in Gig Harbor), was a huge success again this year. All the latest Oleana fashions were available. Each year the event benefits the Scandinavian Cultural Center. This year Laura provided three $100 merchandise gift certificates that were up for bid. As a result, the SCC received $235.  We are grateful to Laura for her continued and generous support of the SCC. You can visit her website at <info@chaletinthewoods.com>).

 
Kitchen Appliances: Our new kitchen appliances have arrived and are up and running! The chefs in our cooking class program have had only good things to say about the new stoves and dishwasher. We want to remind all those who use our fabulous kitchen to be sure to leave it cleaner that you found it! There is a special cleanser to be used on the stove tops. which you will find on the counter on the back wall. The manuals for all the appliances are located in one of the kitchen drawers. We have a new policy with regard to the dishwasher. Since it is not a commercial grade appliance, it takes a bit longer to complete a load of dishes. Therefore, groups are asked to load the dishwasher and turn it on before leaving. The next group to use the SCC can expect to find the dishwasher full of clean dishes that will need to be put away.  We hope that this procedure will go smoothly. 

 

Woven Christmas Hearts Workshop

 

In his workshop on Saturday, December 9, 1:00-4:00 pm, instructor Knud Vægter will take you beyond the traditional two-color woven hearts. As you learn his technique, wonderful images like grizzly bears and church bells, candles and Christmas trees will appear in your creations! Can you see the bear in the heart pictured on the right? Cost is $5/person (includes all materials). To register call 253-535-7322.

 
Knud Vægter was born in Nørre Vedby on Falster in 1931, but his work took him around most of the world for many lengthy periods. No matter where he was, when the Christmas season approached, he was faithful to the Nordic traditions of his youth growing up in Denmark.

At the same time, his sojourn in far away places inspired and stimulated his creativity in what was to become his specialty, the woven paper heart. “Many of my models have been created based on experiences I have from my work. Even though I have celebrated many a Christmas far from home, the memory of my childhood’s Christmas preparations has forever been the driving force that meant it was always possible to create a good Christmas atmosphere from materials close at hand.,” says the artist. 

 

Norwegian Christmas Service

 

An annual event at Pacific Lutheran University for over a quarter century, the Norwegian Christmas Service (Julegudstjeneste) is a tasteful blend of sermon, song, and candlelight. This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, December 6, at 7:00 pm, in the Scandinavian Cultural Center. Admission is free and attendance by the public is encouraged. A reception follows.

 A family tradition for many in the Tacoma-Seattle area, the Norwegian Christmas Service is a perfect way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. The candlelight service is conducted entirely in Norwegian by a local pastor and students in the Scandinavian Studies Program. This event is co-sponsored by the Scandinavian Cultural Center and the Scandinavian Studies Program.

 

14th Annual Nordic Christmas Fest

 

The holiday season would be incomplete without the annual Nordic Christmas Fest that features a medley of holiday dishes and desserts from the five Nordic countries. Served buffet style, this year’s menu includes laks (Norwegian baked salmon), köttbullar (Swedish meatballs), fyldt flæskesteg (Danish fruit stuffed roast pork), brúna ðarkartöflur (Icelandic caramelized potatoes), lanttulaatikko (Finnish rutabaga casserole), and much, much more!

 The Nordic Christmas Fest, now in its fourteenth year, is a much-anticipated holiday experience. It will take place on Saturday, December 16, 6:00 pm, and will feature a special presentation of the newly-released documentary, “Finding Thea,” co-created by Nancy Haley and Lucy Ostrander. Invitations for this fabulous evening will be in the mail soon  ($35 General/ $30 SCC members and their guests).

 From the Director . . .

As the holiday season approaches, something magical happens in the SCC and across campus. The magic begins in mid-November with the mounting of the annual Christmas in Scandinavia exhibit and continues with the much anticipated Sankta Lucia Fest, Norwegian Christmas Service, Woven Christmas Hearts Workshop, and the Nordic Christmas Fest. I hope you will be able attend all these fantastic events that are guaranteed to fill your hearts with the holiday spirit.

Meanwhile, the Council is actively working on revising our SCC and Endowment brochures. Our membership cards are also getting a makeover. We hope you will like our new look once the project is completed. Many thanks to Viking Bank for funding this project.

The Membership Meeting on September 30 was a huge success. It was well-attended and the comments we’ve received have been very positive. Leslie Foley, Gina Boyd, and Bill Boyd, members of the band, “Hale Bill and the Bopps,” provided an outstanding musical performance (pictured on the right).

We also had a great time at the October Scandinavian Heritage Festival in Puyallup. I’d like to  thank those who were on hand to greet people and share information about the Center—Ken and Polly Christopherson, Esther Hinschberger, Betty Larson, Ulla Lindwood, Christine Reynolds, Janet Ruud, Gail Sawyer, Nicki Tollefson, Audun Toven, and Nancy White. Thanks also to my student assistant, Jarrod Miller, for his help in getting the booth set up, and to my husband, Ben, for his help in the dismantling process.—Susan Young

Smuler fra Presidenten . . .

At our annual Membership Meeting, I talked about my recent hike to Anderson Butte. As I stood at the top, filled with awe at the magnificence of Mt. Baker looming above the deep valley in front of me, I was reminded of what William James said about the ‘mountain top experience’ in his celebrated book, Varieties of Religious Experience. I don’t quite agree with James when he equates mountain top experiences with religious ones, but I do agree that such experiences add immeasurably to life and perhaps are essential for achieving a rich, joyful, excellent life.  I also was reminded that merely to be on top of a mountain is not enough for one actually to have the Jamesian mountain top experience. There must be a capacity for it.  And, I thought, though a particular sort of childhood may not be strictly necessary for acquiring it, being raised a certain way in a certain place will inevitably produce it. My childhood at Høyenhall, on the southeast side of Oslo, surrounded by hills, forests, lakes, and streams, taught me to truly love—as so many Scandinavians do—‘Guds frie natur’, our god-given ‘free’ nature. That learned—inherited—love of nature is what makes possible for me true mountain top experiences, whether I stand atop spectacular Norwegian mountains like Glittertind and Gaustatoppen or beautiful Pacific Northwest peaks like Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Baker—or Anderson Butte.

Beyond this love of nature, of course, my childhood also conferred on me much else—among them a deep love of music, art, and ethnic cuisine, along with a love of ideas and the discussion of ideas. I came to PLU as a teacher of philosophy—the exploration of ideas has always been a passion—and I was delighted to come here in large part because of the University’s emphasis upon its Nordic roots and its lively connection with contemporary Scandinavia. While teaching at PLU, I took part in making the Scandinavian Cultural Center a reality.  I now treasure the SCC as a place that makes possible cultural mountain top experiences—through musical performances, contemporary as well as traditional, fine art and artifact exhibitions of a truly high order, and encounters with ideas of contemporary Scandinavians about what is truly of value—what a good life really is—and on the direction in which we should seek to steer our ‘awesome’ but also troubled world. I treasure the SCC because we can have mountain top experiences of a deeply rich past and of a vibrant contemporary Scandinavia right here in our own little corner of the Pacific Northwest.—Gunnulf Myrbo

Photo:
Mt. Baker as seen from Anderson Butte

CALENDAR OF EVENTS (NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006)

 

Exhibits

   Christmas in Scandinavia

   November 19—January 7 (See p. 1 for details)

 
Meetings

 Danish Sisterhood

November 1 and December 6

9:30 am, 253-843-2249

 
  Hardanger Embroidery Group

November 8 (No meeting in December)

9:30 am, 253-759-7292.  Free admission— Newcomers welcome!

 
  Danish Sangaften

November 19 (No meeting in December)

6:00 pm, 253-984-6700. Free admission— Newcomers welcome!

 
  Norwegian Rosemalers Group

November 22, 29 and December 20

9:00 am-3:00 pm, 253-841-3392. Free admission— Newcomers welcome!

  SCC Executive Board

November 20, 4:45 pm, UC 214. (No meeting in December)

  SCC Council

  November 20, 5:30 pm, SCC. (No meeting in December)

 

Public Hours

Sundays, 1:00-4:00 pm

Tuesdays/Wednesdays, 11:00 am-3:00 pm

    (Note:  There will be no public hours on November 26, December 24, 26, 27, 31)

 

Classes/Workshops

 

Woven Christmas Hearts Workshop

December 9, 1:00-4:00 pm

Admission:  $5 per person (includes supplies)

(See above for details)

Major Events

 

Norwegian Immigration:  History and Interpretation

Lecture by Tova Brandt, Vesterheim Museum

November 18, 1:30 pm, SCC (See above for details)

 

Christmas in Scandinavia Exhibit

November 19—January 7 (See p. 1 for details)

 

Annual Sankta Lucia Fest

December 1, 7:30 pm, Lagerquist Hall

(See above for details)

 

Annual Norwegian Christmas Service

December 6, 7:00 pm, SCC

(See above for details)

 

Annual Nordic Christmas Fest

December 16, 6:00 pm, SCC

 (See above for details)

 

 

 

News from the

Scandinavian Studies Program

 

Like many Scandinavian Studies programs across North America, the program at PLU is part of a larger Department of Languages and Literatures. Department meetings and work on cooperative initiatives are their own global experiences. When you walk into the room before a department meeting, you hear conversations in Spanish, German, French, and Norwegian. Meetings themselves, in which matters of curriculum, policy, research, and teaching are discussed and decided, continue in this global context that also includes Chinese, Latin, and Greek.

While we are separate programs, we also cooperate on a number of important programming initiatives that reflect our commitment to global education. A sampling of these programs for the fall, and the Scandinavian Studies Program’s contributions to them, includes:

Roundtable Discussions

Scandinavian Studies began this new event last year with our discussion of the debate surrounding the Danish printing of the Mohammed caricatures. The German program held a successful discussion earlier this fall. On October 25, Scandinavian Studies committee members led a roundtable discussion on the recent Swedish elections and the future of Scandinavian social democracy.

International Poetry Readings

Each year, the French program organizes an afternoon of poetry readings. Scones and tea add to the atmosphere as department colleagues, students, and other interested individuals give voice to poetry from around the globe. The event is so popular that we have elected to hold it twice a year, in November and April.

 International Film Series

 
Both fall and spring semesters, the department hosts a film series to supplement course discussions. Classic and contemporary films this semester focus on the topic of immigration. In November, Scandinavian Studies students will view the Swedish film Jalla Jalla.

The Spanish program has led an immersion weekend for their students for the past several years with great success. The first Norwegian language immersion weekend takes place November 17-19 for students at all levels of Norwegian. Students attending PLU from Norway are also part of this weekend where we immerse ourselves in speaking Norwegian, making Scandinavian foods, and discussing films and contemporary culture.

Hong International Hall

The Norwegian wing of Hong International Hall is home to seven students this semester. Faculty and students work together to bring world languages and cultures together as a model of living and learning at PLU. This fall, Scandinavian Studies faculty and Norskhuset residents met for conversation and a meal provided by the faculty.  Discussions of current events often take place in this international atmosphere of Hong Hall.

In each case, such initiatives of the department have proven to be integral to our teaching within separate programs as we seek to make global education a local as well as a study away endeavor.

 

 

 

Scandinavian Cultural Center

Pacific Lutheran University

122nd and South Park Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98447
Ph: 253-535-7532   Email: scancntr@plu.edu   Edit