Viking Magazine - November 2009 - 7

L E T T ER S F R O M R E A D ER S
International Offi cers
PRESIDENT DAN RUDE ..................................................406-543-3219
dbjrude@msn.com
VICE PRESIDENT MARIT KRISTIANSEN ................907-562-5172
marit@gci.net
SECRETARY AUDUN A. GYTHFELDT .......................570-646-3817
audun99@ptd.net
TREASURER GENE BRANDVOLD ............................952-831-4361
genegbrand@aol.com
International Directors
JOSTEIN O. BAKKEN ......................................................... 847-526-6486
jobakken@worldnet.att.net
BARBARA BERNTSEN .........................................................516-791-3983
bberntsen1@aol.com
ERIK D. BROCHMANN .....................................................604-473-9760
erik_brochmann@telus.net
WILLIAM E. FOSMOE .........................................................206-782-5175
gps005@aol.com
ERNST GRANLY .............................................................+47-63-95-10-66
ernst@egprodukter.no
ELAINE NELSON ..................................................................701-776-2213
enelcna@stellarnet.com
SHERRILL G. SWENSON .................................................562-861-4748
weirson@aol.com
JON TEHVEN ........................................................................ ...319-352-6094
tehven@msn.com
Headquarters Staff
EIVIND J. HEIBERG .......................... Interim Chief Executive Offi cer
eheiberg@sofn.com
LEN CARLSON ..........................................................Director of Agencies
lcarlson@sofn.com
LEE GORANSON ...........................................................................Controller
leeg@sofn.com
RACHELE HOCKERT..........................Director of Information Technology
rachele@sofn.com
LINDA NELSON ............................................ Interim Fraternal Director
lnelson@sofn.com
CINDY OLSON ..........................................................Foundation Director
colson@sofn.com
DEAN P. STILLER .................................................................................Actuary
dstiller@sofn.com
PHILIP TSCHUMPERLIN .............................Director of Insurance Services
philt@sofn.com
Tubfrim Chairperson
KNUT KARLSEN ...................................................................360-420-2677
Morkulla@aol.com
Viking Staff
Kate Rogers .................................................................................................Editor
krogers@mspmag.com
Kara Eliason .............................................................................Assistant Editor
Jill Adler .................................................................................................................Art Director
Josh Allen .................................................................... Production Manager
Scott Ostwald .....................................................................Advertising Sales
Paul Marihart ..................................................................... Advertising Artist
Robb Mitchell .................................................Digital Imaging Technician
Sons of Norway Headquarters
1455 W. Lake St.
Minneapolis, MN 55408-2666
612-827-3611 or 800-945-8851
www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking magazine for the members of Sons of Norway (USPS 611-600,
ISSN 0038-1462), which reaches the largest
Scandinavian-American audience in North
America, is published monthly for Sons of
Norway, 1455 W. Lake St., Minneapolis,
MN 55408, by MSP Communications, U.S. Bank Plaza, 220 S. 6th
St., Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55402-4507. MSP's phone number
is 612-339-7571. Periodicals postage paid at Minneapolis, MN, and at
additional offi ces. Viking has a circulation of 51,000. Of the annual membership
dues, $4 is allocated to Viking magazine subscription. Canada
Post International Publications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales
Agreement No. 40015655. Station A, P.O. Box 54, Windsor, Ontario
N9A 6J5. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.
Advertising solicitations are accepted at Sons of Norway. Send
address-change information, seasonal and permanent, to the Sons of
Norway Viking magazine, 1455 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408.
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to the Sons of Norway
Viking magazine, 1455 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408. © 2009,
Sons of Norway. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.
Editor's Note: The September cover
feature generated many passionate
responses. Here's one reader's take.
Is Our Future In Jeopardy?
In a word, Ja. Hope you'll take the
following as constructive suggestions
from someone who loves his Norwegian
heritage, spends a substantial
amount of time researching it, and enjoys
associating with Sons of Norway,
but who has never been to a lodge
meeting. I don't think that exhorting
our elderly lodge
members to go out and
recruit more people is
going to make the difference
you need. Sons
of Norway has a couple
of powerful things
working against it.
One is math. The
further we get from
our immigrant ancestors,
the less Norwegian
we become. I'm
the grandson of four
Scandinavian immiMA
GAZINE FOR THE MEMBERS OF SONS OF NOR W A Y
Second is that most people aren't
really joiners any more-social interaction
of the in-person kind is declining.
This was described pretty well in Robert
Putnam's book, " Bowling Alone, "
about a decade back. People are leading
busy lives, are swamped with media,
and for whatever reason aren't connecting
with each other like they once did.
Invest in connecting people in North
America and Norway with each other. I
don't know how many times I've talked
with people who know they're Norwegian
but haven't a
clue where in Norway
is their anchor
point. Also, I've talked
with many people
in Norway who
haven't a clue what
happened to a greataunt
or great-uncle
who emigrated. Some
of the most satisfying
reactions I've had to
my hobby genealogy
work is from people
who've finally conSEPTEMBER
2009
www.sonsofnorway.com
A special
report starts
on page 10
grants, but am only half Norwegian.
My two youngest children are onequarter
Norwegian and my oldest
daughter gets another one-eighth from
her mother. My towheaded grandkids
are only 3/16ths Norwegian. You get
the picture.
nected, visited, discovered people just
like them, and made lifetime friendships
with long-lost families. This appeals
to people of all ages.
Dennis Haarsager
Falls Church, VA
We Want to Hear from You!
S
end your feedback and opinions to Viking, Letters to the Editor,
1455 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408 or krogers@mspmag.
com. Letters may be edited for clarity and length. Unsolicited
story queries, manuscripts and other materials will not be returned.
Because of the high volume of unsolicited manuscripts and other
materials Viking receives, Viking cannot respond to all such queries.
Novemb er 2009 V I K I N G 7

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Viking Magazine - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - November 2009