Contact
School
Folk Dancers
SC News
About
Events
Lucia
Archive
How to join
Links
![[ Guest Book ]](guestbook.gif)
![[ E-mail ]](mailPost.gif){kind=small}
1998 Events
Viking Fest Participation
|
Georgetown, TX -- April 25-26, 1998.
One day of faultless weather, one day of drizzle, but two days of fun.
That was Viking Fest 1998.
This is a huge undertaking by the Viking Fest Board of Directors, spearheaded by Irma Pearson. The festival started in 1996 as a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the mass emigration from Scandinavia to America. It is intended to continue to be a biennial event that includes all Texas Scandinavian organizations. The Swedish Club of Houston provided much of the entertainment. Peter Widmark, Reidar Eliasson, and Mario Pedone played their accordion music everywhere -- at our Swedish Club booth, in the entertainment tent, and at night for dancing under the not-so-clear skies. The Gulf Coast Scandinavian Folk Dancers and the Nilsdotter Scandinavian Folk Dancers (both groups which include many Swedish Club members) performed both days in the Heritage Hall. Club President Mona Raspler (aided by Significant Other, Jim), Erich and Karen Wolz, and Jay Flusche helped promote the Club by selling T-shirts, and giving away flyers and copies of our newsletters. Other activity at the Swedish Club booth included Sammye and Leslie Munson, selling her book, and Jonathan Widmark, selling his father's CDs. Besides our presence, there were a number of other interesting items at the Fest. Members of the Society for Creative Anachronism gave us an idea of what a Viking encampment might have looked like. The SCA also provided the Skelmir (Rogue), a longship similar in style to the Osberg ship. Built in Wimberly by members of the Society, the ship is 21 feet 6 inces long, with a 73 inch beam. It can carry up to 3,000 lbs. and it weighs approximately 700 lbs. The Skelmir sailed on the San Gabriel during Viking Fest -- a very short practice run for the planned sailing at the Leif Ericson celebration in Newfoundland in 2003. Special guests from Scandinavia were the Barkeryd Church Choir from Sweden, the Monaco Blues Band from Sweden (and they don't sing in Swedish), the Svardsjö Spelmanslag from Sweden, and Virmon Pelimannit from Finland. More entertainment was provided by the Skandi Dancers of Dallas, Hardanger fiddler Bud Larson from Minnesota, The Texas Cardamom Band from Dallas, the Norwegian Society of Texas Leikarringen, the Svenska Singers from Dallas, and Austin's Jim Ivy and the Evergreens. As if this wasn't enough entertainment, there were plenty of vendors with enough Scandinavian merchandise to stock a small town in Minnesota. There were also games galore on the lawn for adults and children -- including a tug-of-war for children that ended up to be an adult grudge match between the Norwegians and the Swedes. The outcome? Swedes rule! Click here to see photos of the Barkeryd Church Choir, Virmon Pelimannit, the Svardsjö Spelmanslag, the NST Leikarringen, the Skandi Dancers, and our own Gulf Coast Scandinavian Folk Dancers. Click here to see photos of just a few of the many other Viking Fest activities and booths. (These two sets of photos were taken by Gus Stangeland.) |
Golf Tournament benefitting Sweden House
|
The Golf Tournament benefitting Sweden House, held at Tour 18
in Humble on May 8, was very successful. There were 28 players.
Unfortunately, some teams that wanted to register to play after the deadline
had passed could not be accomodated. We apologize, and hope that next year
everyone will register early to participate.
The weather held up -- a nicely overcast day, perfect for golf. Everyone bought mulligans, which meant extra income for the benefit. Thanks to many: to Sandvik for being a $600 Gold Sponsor, for fielding eight players, and for the fabulous unsolicited door prizes which were much appreciated; to Hagglund Drives, Rune Edlund, and Widmark Properties, Peter Widmark, for being Silver Sponsors; to Todd Little, for bringing seven players from Landmark; and to Tom Ryder, for bringing a team from Houston Flame Hardening. All these have been continuous supporters; our hope is that one day in the near future we will be able to invite you as our guests to the Sweden House opening. Other thanks are due to Tour 18 for their donation, and to Maths Westlund for making all the arrangements with Tour 18. Tournament winners were: |
||
| 1st Place | (52 points) | $25 Gift Certificates |
| Widmark/Welling, Westlund/Villamagna | ||
| 2nd Place | (54 points) | Swedish Club memberships |
| Little/Karisch, Webb/Borton | ||
| 3rd Place | (57 points) | Swedish Club T-shirts |
| Ryder/Salemi, Abrams/Manley | ||
| Closest to Pin: | Round of golf with cart at Tour 18 | |
| S. Manley | ||
| Longest Drive: | Round of golf with cart at Tour 18 | |
| M. Rame | ||
| Congratulations to all! Thanks again! | ||
Stacking 'em deep and selling 'em cheap at the
Garage Sale
|
When one enters into something new, be it a new job, home, relationship, etc.,
there are feelings of both trepidation and anticipation. Having a garage sale
is no different! When Peter Widmark first brought up the idea last spring,
there were those who did not think that it would ever fly. "No one is going to
donate anything of value, much less volunteer to help out," they told
themselves. How wrong they were! We had 2+ UHaul truckloads of items to sell, and a handful of folks who volunteered to help with item pickups, publicity, and with working the day of the sale. The day of the sale was absolutely beautiful. It was a pleasure to be outside. Our location (corner of Weslayan & Alabama) was awesome! We sold around 90% of the items that we had, and we took the unsold remainder to the Goodwill Collection Center down the street on Alabama. Two very good causes were helped that day. Gross & net figures will be in the next newsletter. Sincere thanks go out to the following: |
|
| Jim Daniel |
Helped with item pickups; helped the day of the sale |
| Mike & Ylva Forsten | Donated items |
| Chuck & Barbara Nelson | Donated items |
| Carl Nielson | Donated items |
| Howard Phillips |
Donated items; helped the day of the sale |
| Mona Raspler |
Donated items; helped with overall organization; helped the day of the sale |
| Elliott Robertson | Donated items |
| Pat Shea | Donated items |
| Linda Southwell | Donated items |
| Monica Voss | Helped the day of the sale |
| Peter Widmark |
Created the flyers; helped with overall organization; helped with item pickups; helped the day of the sale |
Home - Contact - School - Folk Dancers - SC News
About - Events - Lucia - Archive - How to join - Links
Please sign The Swedish Club of Houston's guest book
The Swedish Club of Houston, Texas
URL - http://www.swedishclub.org/scrapbook98.htm
Questions or comments regarding this page should be addressed to
the webmaster