It’s that time of year again to remember our heritage and celebrate with Norwegian constitution day. Viking Fest is coming May 20 and we are getting ready to parade and beer garden and have a great time being a part of Poulsbo and the festival known as Syttende Mai. Many lodges do something to honor the day and if you go to Ballard on Wednesday the 17^th you will see the parade of bunads and flags to show Norwegian pride. The Ballard lodge is even having an open house to come and visit that day, so perhaps you can go see the other great Sons of Norway lodge in the area. And I don’t believe there is another parade for Syttende Mai this grand this side of Oslo.
Several groups have started in the lodge to socially gather and share our common interests. Thanks to Social Director Ashley Figlan for getting this together: business networking, country line dancing, German beer tasting, book readings, to name a few.  If you have some ideas of activities, please share them and maybe we can make that happen! Cultural director Alisha Anunson planned an activity for the last lodge business meeting cultural program to build sandwich cakes, or Smorgsatorte. Three teams participated and made each cake with care and beauty, filled with salad and seafood and meats and cream cheese, for an instructive turn into Norwegian cuisine. The winner was picked by a show of applause, but all were winning entries and I enjoyed the presentation very much.
I just wanted to thank you all who have worked so hard to make this a place to be and belong.  I notice it when you go out of your way to make people comfortable and dwell more on the positive aspects of our lodge. As we grow in lodge membership it can be challenging to navigate all the different interests and personal opinions of how things ought to proceed. We follow process and procedure when appropriate so that things can go as smoothly as possible.  It’s not always the quickest but it is meant to serve us well. Thanks for being a part of it!
The parade for Viking Fest is Saturday the 20^th and we usually line up around 1 pm at Lions Park before the parade starts. Bring Norwegian sweaters or costume and Norway flags and walk with the lodge as we represent Sons of Norway! See you down at the lodge!
Paul Anunson
President, Poulsbo Sons of Norway