Dear Tom,

Thank you for hosting the 2023 Danish Canadian Conference. The 
delegates enjoyed the Conference as well as Nanaimo, Newcastle Island 
and Cathedral Grove. After four challenging years the members were 
pleased to finally meet in person.

We conducted some important business, a couple of Board Meetings in 
addition to an Annual General Meeting. It was good to meet live and to 
catch up. An essential part of the Conference is socializing and to 
meet and greet. The Viking night with the Museum auction was a lot of 
fun and Det Store Kolde Bord was a big hit, both the Danish food and a 
terrific band which got people out on the dance floor.

A heartfelt thank you to you and your team for all the planning and 
work you put into making it a successful conference, especially you 
for carrying the heavy load. And for being willing to postpone and 
then again postpone the Conference. That is not what we had planned in 
2019 in Winnipeg.

Please pass on our thanks to your volunteers, your Board, your family 
and your Club.

Regards and best wishes,
Rolf

Rolf Buschardt Christensen
President, Federation of Danish Associations in Canada
rouch@ca.inter.net
613 747 9764

Our Club is starting to be a little more active following the long, dry COVID season (years!!) and it’s great to see so many members participating in our events. We started the year with our Annual General Meeting (via ZOOM online) and elected a slate of Directors for the Club as follows:

Tom Hedekar – President
Carsten Krogh – Vice President
Rebecca Taylor – Treasurer
John Jensen – Director
Darlene O’Neill – Director
Louise Krogh – Director
Inge Yost – We welcome our newest Director!

We have not yet assigned the Secretary position.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of Carsten & Louise Krogh, we held another very successful “Pub Lunch” on March 23rd. This was our second Pub Lunch this year and seems to be a very popular, mid-day type of event. It was very well attended so we expect that we might plan more of these in the coming months.

If you have any ideas about future activities or events, please don’t be shy, we’d love to hear from you. The Board has not done any event planning beyond this Spring so we need to hear from you for any Fall/Winter events you’d like to see. Aebelskiver, Pandekager, Andespil, Dances, …?

The big item on the calendar right now is the Federation Conference & AGM and that has taken a good deal of time and effort to put all the plans and arrangements in place. There is another page with some details for our members and we encourage you to attend.

It has been years since we attempted to host a Sankt Hans Mid-Summer Celebration, but this year we will go ahead with it!

It was suggested that we bring a couple of BBQs along this year and try a few different types of sausages, smokies, etc. to add a little variety to the menu (in addition to our traditional European Wieners) so we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday June 20 at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, Picnic Site #S1.

Respectfully, on behalf of the Board, Tom Hedekar, President

Interested in volunteering? Contact Tom Hedekar to explore volunteer opportunities with the club.

A big shout out and Thanks to:

Coombs Wooden Shoe Dutch Import Store for their very generous donation of a whole box full of goodies and merchandise to be used by our Club for raffles and auction items at the upcoming Federation Conference & AGM. When you are in Coombs, look them up and show our gratitude!
Coombs Wooden Shoe Dutch Import Store LTD 2268 Alberni Hwy. Box 168 V0R 1M0 Coombs, BC. Canada phone: 250-954-2336 dutchstore@shaw.ca - www.iloveoma.com

Club Events:
Well, not much has changed for our club since the Newsletter last Fall. Covid restrictions continue to keep us from holding any social events but we are still hopeful that the situation will ease in the months to come and that we will, once again, have some gatherings and events as we used to do. As we reported in the last Newsletter, the Board decided not to plan any social activities until such time as the Provincial Health Officer allows large, indoor group activities. There seems to be a certain level of optimism that we may see some Covid restrictions eased this Spring but the pessimists are suggesting that might not happen until later in the year, if at all (some might also suggest this is optimistic!). We keep hoping that perhaps we might be able to hold some sort of outdoor activity like our St. Hans Celebration in June but, we'll have to wait and see.

Federal AGM & Conference:
As we reported in the last Newsletter the Federation of Danish Associations in Canada held its AGM via Zoom on Saturday, October 2nd last year and officially cancelled the planned Conference & AGM that was was to be hosted by our Club in May of 2022. In its place, our Board has agreed to host their 2023 Conference & AGM on May 26 - 29, 2023. This is now three years running that we have cancelled this event so we remain hopeful that 2023 will bring better times and some sort of "normality".

Membership Dues & Ad Fees:
We are still NOT collecting any membership dues or Newsletter advertising fees so if you know someone that might like to join our club (in hopes of better times), they can sign up for FREE these days. Membership Application forms are available here:

Club Events:  The only event that we hosted this year was our Danish Canadian Club Annual General Meeting. Since then, our Board has had a couple of meetings on-line using Zoom and at both meetings the Board decided not to plan any social activities until such time as the Provincial Health Officer allows large, indoor group activities. Given the current situation with the pandemic, it doesn't look like we will have any social gatherings anytime soon. We are hopeful that the situation will improve as we enter a new year.

Danish Federation AGM & Conference:  The Federation of Danish Associations in Canada held it's AGM via Zoom Saturday, October 2 this year and officially cancelled the planned  conference & AGM
that was to be hosted by our Danish Canadian Club in May of 2022. In its place, our Board has agreed to host their 2023 Conference & AGM on May 26 - 29, 2023. This is now 3 years running that we remain hopeful that 2023 will bring better times and some sort of "normality". 

Membership Dues & Ad Fees:​  The Board decided that we will not collect any Membership Dues and Newsletter ad fees until we are able to offer some of our usual social events. So, you will not be asked to pay until further notice and your status as a "member in good standing" will not be affected.

We hope that you will have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year!

On behalf of the Board,

Tom Hedekar, President

​

​Report From The Board
Here we are in the Spring of 2021 and still in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. As we pointed out in our January report, the Board has decided to cancel all of our usual social events for this Spring. That includes our usual Sankt Hans Mid-summer Celebration that we normally hold in June. At this time, we are not even able to book the picnic site at Rathtrevor so we wouldn’t beable to hold that event even if we wanted to.

Annual General Meeting:  As required by law, we held our AGM on March 7 via ZOOM on the internet. We had a reasonable showing of members and took care of all the necessary business. The Treasurer’s Report indicated that our finances are still in very good condition so we are ready (financially) to carry on with our club events once the Provincial Health Officer suggests that it is safe to socialize once again. Several of our Board members were up for re-election this year. Hakon Philipsen declined to remain of the Board and we thank Hakon for his service. The remaining members accepted the nominations to remain on the Board. John Strandt of Gabriola accepted the nomination to the Board and was elected so we now have a full slate of Board Members.

Board Meeting:  Following the AGM, it is customary for our newly elected Board to meet and decide on who will fill the Officers positions. The meeting was held via ZOOM on the internet and the following is our Board for 2021:

President: Tom Hedekar
Vice-President:  Carsten Krogh
Secretary:  Lena Tsuji
Treasurer:  Rebecca Taylor
Directors:  John Jensen, Darlene O’Neill, Louise Krogh, John Strandt

Federation Conference & AGM:  We have been asked (again) to host the Federation Conference and AGM in Nanaimo at the end of May, 2022. Our Board has agreed to send the Federation an invitation to this event, even though we may have to cancel it (again) if travel restrictions and the rules on social gatherings are not eased in time for us to put arrangements in place for this event. For now, please mark your 2022 calendar for May 27 – 30 and stay tuned!

Events for 2021:  As stated above, the Board has decided to cancel all of our events for the first half of 2021. No decision has been reached yet on our Fall and Winter events but we are hopeful that we might be able to do something by Christmas time. The Board will meet sometime in the early Fall and make a decision based on the current pandemic situation so again, Stay tuned!  Stay Safe! Stay Hopefull!

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Board,  Tom Hedekar, President

Vancouver Island Danish Canadian Club
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
March 8, 2020

Bowen Park Room 1

• The meeting was called to order by Treasurer Tom Hedekar at 1:10 pm
• There were 18 members from the Club and 5 Board Members present.
• It was moved by John Jensen that the members present constitute a quorum.
• The President asked Tom Hedekar to assume the Chair for this meeting.
• It was moved by Jim Gahr that the Agenda be approved as presented.  

          Seconded by Rebecca Taylor.       CARRIED

• It was moved by Henning Pedersen that the AGM Minutes of March 3, 2019 be approved as presented.    Seconded by Tove Gahr.        CARRIED
• It was noted that at this time the Club has 159 members.

The President reported that 2019 was a good year, with good attendance especially for the Christmas Party, noting that many people stayed until 10 pm. The events made money overall, even though some did lose a bit.

The Treasurer reported that the financial report showed an overall profit of $2118.36. Tom also presented the financial report for 2019 for the Newsletter which showed an overall profit of $36.87. Tom went through the financial statements and explained items, including a loss of $26.88 that is unaccounted for. It was moved by Inge Yost to approve the financial reports be accepted as presented.  Seconded by Vibeke Sandberg.         CARRIED

There was no report from the Newsletter Editor except to ask if there are suggestions for items in the Newsletter to please let her know.

Nomination and Election of Board Members

• Tom Hedekar, Carsten Krogh and Louise Krogh agreed to continue as Board Members.
• Sophia Sorensen declined to be on the Board again.
• Lena Tsuji nominated Rebecca Taylor, nomination accepted.
• Lynn Hedekar nominated Diana Musgreave, nomination declined.
• There were no other nominations from the floor and it was moved by Tom Hedekar that nominations cease.         CARRIED
• Tom Hedekar, Carsten Krogh, Louise Krogh, and Rebecca Taylor are elected to the Board of Directors.

Discussion of 2019 Activities

• Henning Pedersen commented that all the events were well-attended and costs were reasonable.
• Bingo combined with either Pandekager or Æbleskiver is reasonable at $15, but perhaps bakers should be compensated more as ingredient costs have increased.
• There was a comment that Ticket Prices for our Dinner/Dances are reasonable and appreciated.
• Tom commented that raffle donations are very much appreciated as this can mean either making a profit or losing money on the big events.

Discussion of the 2020 Federation Conference

• The Agenda and Registration Package was finalized and we already received some registrations. There is a Registration Form for our Club Members available at reduced prices. 
• Transportation to and from the Hotel to the Bowen Centre for the Saturday Dinner/Dance are still being worked on.
• Tom spoke of some of the plans we have made for the Conference and encouraged members to attend some of them.
• We applied for and received a $1000 grant from the Danish Community Centre and $3000 grant from the City of Nanaimo.

New Ideas for 2020

• Vibeke Sandberg asked if our Club could be more involved with the Church Services. She stated that this used to be part of our Club and was separated for some reason in the past. Could someone be an official liaison between the Church and our Club? Also, could the Church services be listed as part of the Club’s activities on the Web Page and Facebook?
• We are still looking for Family Stories (Biographies) for the Heritage Book.

Tom said Thank You to: Lynn Hedekar for keeping our Facebook page up to date;  Lena Rasmussen for being our Web Master;  Grethe Andersen for being the Advertiser Relations person and keeping our Membership List ( she has now retired from this position);   Vibeke Sandberg  for looking after our Membership Dues and sending receipts;  Henny Andersen for her work as our Federation Representative and Catering Rep on our Host Committee;  Sophia Sorensen for her work on our Board, now retiring from that position; Our Host Committee for the 2020 Conference; and the Board Members for all the work they do all year. 
 
It was moved by Inge Yost that the meeting adjourn at 2:22 pm.  Seconded by Ingeborg Kristiansen.                                                                                                             CARRIED
 
Respectfully submitted by Lena Tsuji

Our Christmas Party was a great party with a fabulous, traditional Danish Christmas dinner. We had a good turnout and the weather cooperated nicely with dry roads for a safe drive home. Many thanks to everyone for helping to make this party a success and a special thanks to those that brought those great raffle prizes.

I have finished the preliminary accounts for 2019 and I am very pleased to report our club accounts are in even better condition going into 2020 than they were a year ago. A couple of our events went into the "red" (as predicted) but overall we came out at the end of the year with more than we started with. That fact really speaks to the dedication of our members in attending and supporting club events and activities. Many thanks also have to go out to our Board for their continued dedication and all the work they do behind the scenes to make our events work so well!

As you know, our club is hosting the 2020 Conference & AGM of the Federation of Danish Associations in Canada this coming May 21 - 24, 2020. The host hotel is the Coast Bastion and we will be doing a Welcome Reception at the Nanaimo Museum along with field tours to Newcastle  (Saysutshun) Island  and another to Cathedral Grove. 

We have a separate Host Committee looking after all the special arrangements and we now have a final agenda, budget and registration form in place for this special event. We will also be working on a special "Members Only Registration" for our Danish Club Members to attend as many events as possible at a special price. Stay tuned for that information.

As part of the Conference & AGM the Danish Federation of Associations publishes an annual Heritage Book. The 2019 Winnipeg edition contains stories of local Danish families, pictures of local attractions, obituaries, and histories of the area. We are asking our Members to try their hand at writing about their family, heritage, etc. and adding a few photos. So far, we have a few volunteers, but we need more. Please let us know and we can assist you with the actual writing if needed. It's no secret that our Danish Club has lots of "senior" members with a story to tell about how they ended up in Nanaimo and all the interesting happenings along the way. The book is largely funded by advertisers, so if you have a business or service that you would like highlighted in the 2020 edition of the Heritage Book, please let us know and we will forward the rate sheet to you. Any help we can get in this regard will be very much appreciated. See you at the AGM on Sunday, March 8th at 1pm!

 - On behalf of the Board, Tom Hedekar, Treasurer

We trust you have had a great summer. Our Sankt Hans Celebration was once again a very big success! We had great weather and a great turn-out and we made sure there was enough food so nobody went home hungry! Everyone had a wonderful evening around the bonfire and it was encouraging to see so many youngsters at this event because they are the future of our Club. As Rathtrevor seems to be an ideal setting, we have booked it again for next year.

The Board met recently to organize our upcoming Fall Events, so mark your calendars for the Harvest Party Event on Sunday October 20th and our Æblerskiver and Andespil Afternoon on Sunday, November 17th. Details are available on our homepage. 

As you know, our Club will be hosting the 2020 Danish Federation AGM & Conference next May, and we have been asked to provide some stories (biographies) about Danes in the Nanaimo area to be published in the Heritage Book. Everyone has an interesting story to tell, so please get your pencils (computers) out and write a brief history about your family immigration story. Please include photos that can be scanned if possible. We will be happy to try to work with you to write it up. I will have a few copies of the 2019 Heritage Book ($15 each), so if you would like a copy, let me know. The Heritage Book is funded in part by advertisers, so if you are interested in placing an ad, or have a suggestion for someone we should contact in this regard, please give me a call or drop me an email. 

See you at the Harvest Party on October 20th! Be sure to bring your friends for a wonderful Danish meal.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Board,
- Tom Hedekar, Treasurer

Contact me: (250) 390-2388
email: th2388@telus.net

We held our Birthday Party on April 14th, serving our fabulous Danish Kroplatte and a delicious cake for dessert. The members who attended seemed to enjoy the evening and many danced until the Band had to pack up.

The table of raffle prizes was groaning under the weight of all the donations, and there were many happy winners! We would call this event a great success! Next year, as we are hosting the 2020 Danish Federation Conference in May, we will be having our Birthday Party then and not in April offering the "Stor Kolde Bord" (The Big Cold Table) with all the delicious foods that will bring. We hope that many of you will wish to attend and meet some of the delegates from across the country.

​On May 27th, we held our annual ​Spring Pandekager and Andespil Afternoon with a very good turnout. We feasted on Pandekager with all the fixings and then played fourteen games of Andespil with wonderful prizes won for each game as well as sideways prizes (if you were sitting next to a big winner). Join us November 17th when we hold our Danish Æbleskiver  & Andespil Afternoon.

Here is some more information about the upcoming annual Federation of Danish Associations in Canada - The Annual General Meeting and Conference. The Danish Canadian Club in Winnipeg is hosting the conference this year because it is the 400th anniversary since Jens Munk, the Danish explorer, was sent by the king of Denmark to find the Northwest Passage. Munk overwintered in what is now Churchill, Manitoba. Please note that next year, in May of 2020, the Vancouver Island Danish Canadian Club will be hosting this event in Nanaimo. We are currently forming a Host Committee for this event so please give me a call or drop me a note if you have any ideas or would like to help out in any way.

Cheers, Tom Hedekar
Treasurer​

If you are unfamiliar with the Danish explorer Jens Munk, you have a great opportunity in 2019. It is 400 years since he came to Canada - before it was known as Canada. He called the land Nova Dania (Latin for New Denmark) - the name didn't stick. Today, Jens Munk's name is almost forgotten. However, he is arguably one of the great personalities of history, who never received the recognition he deserved. Munk was Danish, an Emissary of King Christian IV, soldier, merchant, naval hero, linguist, storyteller, navigator, nurse, friend, father-figure, wise and well-liked, inspiring and idealistic. His story has so many aspects it's hard to know which angle to use. As Canadians with Danish roots, it is our story as well; and we can tell it with pride and humility. It's the story of a man who was more noble than any nobleman of the time. He showed compassion and goodwill, but never got any himself. He was an amazing navigator, he was a person with perseverance and loyalty like few. Yet he never received official recognition as one of Denmark's famous sea captains/admirals. In Denmark, there is only a cairn erected by Dansk Canadisk Selskab in Strandgaard Dyrehave, near Faxe.

The Federation of Danish Associations in Canada has established a Jens Munk Steering Committee to share his story, in Danish-Canadian circles, and with all Canadians & anyone who cares about history and the human spirit. It is a story that really goes to the core of what it means to be human. 

- Otto Christensen, Gimli, Member, Jens Munk Steering Committee

Ways to get involved:

• follow his story on Facebook - Jens Munk 400th Anniversary
• Follow a 36-week biography of Jens Munk. From May 2019 read Jens Munk's epic journey - day by day
• Attend the Winnipeg Conference of the Danish Federation, May 23-26, 2019
• Read 'Navigatio Septentrionalis' Munk's Report to King Christian IV
• Travel to Churchill, Manitoba where Jens Munk wintered in 1619-1620
• Be adventurous and compassionate like Jens Munk!

Tom and Lynn Hedekar would love to have the company of some of our Club Members at the Winnipeg Conference!

This year's Danish Heritage Seminar promises to be an educational, inspiring and fun-filled course which explores various aspects of life in Copenhagen and abroad in the 19th century, and the phenomenon of trolls, as well as Jens Munk's expedition to find the Northwest Passage, north of Canada to China.

The Seminar is modeled on the Folk Schools in Denmark. It is being held right after the Danish Canadian Conference in Winnipeg. An important aspect of the Seminar is in English. 

​For more information, contact Tom Hedekar, he has brochures about the Seminar.

We had a very good year in 2018 and our accounts are in great shape going into 2019. Most of our events made a small profit with a couple of exceptions, mainly the Harvest Party. We lost a few dollars there as it was a "Member Appreciation" event with a discount for members in good standing.

As Treasurer, I'm delighted with our current financial situation and as members, I think you should also be quite pleased that our club is doing so well. The Board would like to thank all of our members for supporting the Danish Club Events by bringing your friends and relatives, which has made them so successful.

As you probably know, our club is one of about 40 clubs across Canada that belong to the Federation of Danish Associations. Each year, the Federation holds an Annual General Meeting and Conference in a different location, and this year it will be in Winnipeg, hosted by the Danish Canadian Club of Manitoba. This year marks the 400th Anniversary of the Jens Munk Expedition from Denmark to find the Northwest Passage.

As he overwintered in what is now Churchill in Manitoba, it was a "natural" for the Manitoba Danish Club to be hosts this year.

Next year, we, the Nanaimo Danish Canadian Club, will host  the Conference here in Nanaimo. We are currently forming a Host Committee to manage the Conference. We have some great people on board, but we still need a few more, so please give some thought to joining us.

My wife Lynn and I will be attending the Winnipeg Conference and we'd love to have some other members join us this May. We have the registration package now, so think about showing Winnipeg how great the Nanaimo Danish Canadian Club is!

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Board,
- Tommy Anders Hedekar, Treasurer

If you are interested in attending the 39th Danish Canadian Conference in Winnipeg this May 23rd to 26th, please contact Tom Hedekar for the Registration forms and hotel information. You could also get in touch with Barb Nault, the Registrar for this Conference. See below.

• The meeting was called to order by Treasurer Tom Hedekar at 1:35 pm.
• There were 25 Members of the Club and 4 Board Members present.
• A minute of silence was observed for the 10 members who had passed away in the year since our last AGM.
• It was moved by Tom Hedekar that the members present constitute a quorum.
• Tom Hedekar assumed the Chair for this meeting.
• It was moved by Shelagh Boggs that the Agenda be approved as presented.     CARRIED
• It was moved by Henning Pedersen that the AGM Minutes of March 4, 2018 be approved as presented.                                                                                                                    CARRIED
• It was noted that the Club has 179 Members as of February 28, 2019.

The President John Jensen reported that all events were pretty good last year, especially the Birthday Party.

The Treasurer Tom Hedekar reported that the financial report showed an overall profit of $2,294.42. Tom also presented the financial report for 2018 for the Newsletter Account which showed an overall profit of $130.37. The complete financial report is attached. Tom added that our Club was not going broke any time soon. It was moved by Per Aagaard that the financial reports be accepted as presented, seconded by Jim Gahr.                                                                                                                                   CARRIED

Election of Board Members

• John Jensen, Darlene O’Neill and Lena Tsuji all agreed to continue as Board Members.
• Hakon Philipsen put his name forward to be on the Board.                                            ACCEPTED
• There were no other nominations from the floor.
• John Jensen, Darlene O’Neill, Lena Tsuji and Hakon Philipsen were elected to the Board of Directors.

Discussion of 2018 Activities

• Borge Pedersen praised the band (Dan & The Seniors) that we have at our dinner/dances. He said many members are happy with the mix of music they present. Tom mentioned that this band has already been booked for the three 2019 functions.
• The Club thanked Henny Andersen and Brad Walker for their great service all year.
• It was agreed that the amalgamation of either pandekager or æbleskiver with Andespil has worked very well.  It was mentioned that the pandekager event will not be on Mother’s Day this year, as some members were not happy with that.
• Last June, our Sankt Hans Celebration was combined with the Sons of Norway Club. It was suggested that the group became too big to enjoy the bonfire, and the members felt  it was better to keep this only for our Club in 2019.
• Henning Pedersen praised Sophia Sorensen for doing a great job emceeing the Christmas Party.
• Tom thanked some people for their work all year and hopes he did not leave any out:

Vibeke Sandberg for keeping Membership payments in hand.
Grethe Andersen for looking after the Membership List and Advertiser relations.
Henny Andersen for being our Federation Representative.
Lynn Hedekar for looking after our Facebook page.
Lena Rasmussen for being our Webmaster.
Lena Tsuji for doing the Newsletter.

Discussion of the Proposal to host the 2020 Federation Conference

Tom Hedekar has agreed to be Chair, Inge Yost has agreed to be Treasurer, Lena Tsuji has agreed to be Registrar and Henny Andersen has agreed to be our Catering Contact. Vibeke Sandberg, Lynn Hedekar and Joan Sorensen have agreed to be on the Welcoming Group.
Tom asked the members to please come forward to help out with ideas for Speakers, Programs, Outings, gift bag contents, etc.

A question was raised about the Seminar that follows the Conference. These are two separate entities and Tom will check with Rolf Christensen with regard to what we need to do for the Seminar, if anything.

New Business
The Danish Museum in Dickson, Alberta has asked if we wish to become a member at $100 per year.  The will be discussed at the next Board meeting.
 
It was moved by Joan Sorensen that the meeting be adjourned at 2:33 pm. Seconded by Ingeborg Kristiansen.                                                                                                                                                 CARRIED
 
Respectfully submitted by Lena Tsuji

On Sunday, December 9th, our club members, along with family and friends, celebrated a wonderful beginning to the season by filling our room at Bowen Park Auditorium to the brim with over 135 party-goers! A perfect holiday atmosphere was created by a volunteer decorating party earlier that day. With the lights dimmed that night, the room was aglow in seasonal colors, gorgeous decorations, all highlighted by a beautiful centerpiece created by member Anne-Lise Frederiksen. 

Happy Hour kicked off the celebrations, followed by two door prize draws. Then a continual flow of guests were treated to fantastic food prepared by Big Apple Catering.

After a very successful sales initiative, Carsten and John drew tickets for over 25 raffle prizes: including wine, Christmas baskets, gift certificates, salmon and a beautiful wooden jewelry box. All the lucky winners were very happy!

The musical aspect of the evening was kicked off by singing and dancing around the Christmas Tree accompanied by Dan and the Seniors, who continued to play to great response for the rest of the evening.

The wonderful turnout to our wintertime event, Julefest Christmas Party, has confirmed a strong interest in our  Danish culture and a desire to enjoy these unique traditions at this time of year.

Thanks to everyone who helped set up prior to the event, donated terrific prizes, orchestrated the decorating, cleaning up, sold tickets and promoted the event in our community.

     - Sophia Sorensen, Vice-President

Our Club had a busy - but successful Fall event season. Our Harvest Party was well supported and we thank the many members that came out to help with the set-up and the clean-up after the event. We want to say a very big thank you to all that donated those great raffle prizes! As Treasurer of Danish Club Nanaimo, I can tell you that the income from those raffles makes a huge difference in our bottom line.​

We had our combined Pandekager and Andespil on May 13th with approximately 40 people in attendance. Several of our Board members were away for this event so some new faces picked up the fallen torch and carried on to make this event very successful. Thanks to all our pandekager bakers for a delicious lunch and a special thanks to Tommy Johansen for interrupting his weekend plans to call the Bingo numbers.

Our Sankt Hans Celebration was held at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park on June 23rd and was very well attended. This year, we teamed up with the local lodge of the Sons of Norway to host the event jointly, with a total of 112 people attending (about 50% from each club). It was a huge crowd to gather around one bonfire, and the weather turned out great. In previous years, we have had about 35 to 65 attendees, so this year's crowd was almost overwhelming! It is a great event because it attracts a lot of younger members and youngsters that don't typically attend our other functions. The venue worked out so well (again) that we have booked the site for next year on the same date.

Our next two events are the Harvest Party on Sunday, October 14th and Æbleskiver & Andespil Afternoon on Sunday, November 4th. See you there! Mark your calendar and plan now to bring your friends and family and make this event a big success! Thanks to Lena and Vibeke for their delicious baked goods!

We are very saddened to report that three of our members have passed away. Lars Christensen, Alf Hansen and Karl Sorensen.

On behalf of the Board - Tom Hedekar, Treasurer

It sounds like everybody had a great time at our Danish Club's Sankt Hans Midsummer Celebration of the 'Burning the witch' held at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park in Parksville, BC. The weather was wonderful again this year and we had a lot of people show up. Some of our members shared their photos from this event with our club. Thank you very much!

Louise Krogh has sent us a link that will show you 63 more photos! Thank you Louise!​ Just click on the red bar below to enjoy more photos!

Our Club's 29th Birthday Party was a resounding success, with over 90 members and guests attending a fabulous evening of food, fun and dancing. We presented a "Kroplatte" that had everything from mørbradbøf, shrimp, lox and roast  beef to cheeses. We started with two kinds of herring and curried egg salad and finished with a delicious Trifle as well as cookies and cakes served with coffee and tea. 

​

The Board Members heard nothing but compliments and we are already planning for next year. This event has the potential for becoming our premier dinner & dance of the year, so keep the Sundays in April open next year, and when we have the schedule in place, circle the date and book your tickets early to avoid disappointment!

The Board is deeply indebted to all the ladies who cooked and prepared the Kroplattes for this party. A huge thank you to Henny Andersen and to all of our volunteers!

On Saturday, June 23, we will be having our annual Sankt Hans Midsummer Celebration at Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, Group Picnic Site #1 starting at 6 pm, so mark your calendar and come out to help us send 'the witch' back to Bloksbjerg! 

On behalf of the Board, 
- Tom Hedekar, Treasurer

We had a very good year until mid-November when our good friend and President of our Danish Club Nanaimo, Niels John Nielsen passed away. His passing has left a huge void on our Board. While the rest of our Board has pitched in,  it will still be a very big pair of shoes to fill. We miss Niels and will continue to do so for a very long time.

Our Fall/Winter 2017 Events have been a great success. The Harvest and Christmas Parties were both well attended and financially, we are pleased that we did not lose money and are confident that our Club can continue to host more great events in 2018.

We combined the Æbleskiver Afternoon with the November Andespil and were pleased with a good turnout and delighted that so many youngsters attended.

For 2018, due to a shortage of Board members in January/February, we will be combining Andespil with the Pandekage Afternoon in May, so there will be no Andespil in February.

Therefore, our first event for 2018 will be our Annual General Meeting on March 4th. Ingeborg and Svend Kristiansen have offered to cook a lovely lunch for us so we hope to have a good turn-out for the meeting.

With the loss of Niels we need more Board members to help out with our activities and the few of us left cannot continue to manage the affairs of the Club without a little more help. We hope you will consider joining us and helping in some way so please step forward and don't wait to be called.

We take great pleasure in welcoming new members. If you know of someone that could benefit by joining our club, encourage them to join or consider giving them a gift membership to get them into the fold! You will find an application form on our website at https://danishclubnanaimo.weebly.com/membership-benefits.html or call Vibeke or any Board member to get a copy of the form.

On behalf of the Board, we wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

- Tom Hedekar, Treasurer

Dear Members and Friends,
 
I am writing to you with a heavy heart to advise you that our Danish Club President, Niels John Nielsen passed away in the early hours Thursday, November 16th, Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with his wife Johanna and his family at this time. We are advised that there will be no service "by request".
 
Sincerely, Tom Hedekar
Treasurer

Niels was very proud of his Danish heritage and we were very lucky to have him as President of our Vancouver Island Danish Canadian Club for seven years. We will all miss the hard work he put into making the Danish Club events successful.  WE MISS HIM!!

                                     Niels J. Nielsen   
                 August 21, 1940 – November 16, 2017
                              Ære være hans minde

Our Harvest Party was a resounding success. Many members suggested the meal prepared by Nanaimo's Big Apple Catering was the "best ever" and the new, two-piece band played great music and was enjoyed by all. These dinner & dances are costly to host, so it is encouraging for the Board to see a good turnout that makes the event financially viable. As Treasurer, I want to encourage members to continue their support and to bring your friends to these functions. Our most recent event was the November Æbleskiver & Andespil which was combined because of their closeness on the calendar. Judging by the turnout, I think it was a popular decision. We filled the room and were delighted to see so many wonderful youngsters at this event. In the future, we will try to "enhance" our prizes and provide more "youngster-oriented" items on the menu. Congratulations to the young lady that won the "Enamelled Cast Iron Æbleskiver Pan" door prize! We are trying to encourage our members to get their sons, daughters and friends to join our Club. If we do not enlist younger members now, the future of our club is doomed. So, if you have a friend (with or without Danish heritage) or family member that "should" join our Club, please encourage them to do so. There is a Membership Application Form on our website or you can get a copy from any Board member either by email, give us a call or pick up a form at any of our events. If you have an email address and you're not receiving any periodic messages from me, it is because we do not have your email address, so please call me at 250-390-2388 or email me and I will add you to our distribution list. I will also add any "non-members" that would like to receive Club Event notices. Our next event will be the Christmas Party on Sunday, December 10th. Please mark your calendars now and enlist some friends and relatives to come along and fill up a table. See you there!
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Board, 
- Tom Hedekar, Treasurer.

I hope you all had a good summer. We had our first board meeting for the winter season and here is a brief report on what is happening. 

First was the report from the Sankt Hans Fest and as all who attended know, it was a great success with 84 members! We have decided to hold it next year at the same place.

Next, we have been asked to host the National Federation Conference in Nanaimo May 23rd to May 26th, 2019. Tom Hedekar has taken on this project and will do some work to see if we want to tackle this project. In order to pull this off we will need some help from our members. If you can help getting this organized or help at the event, please let Tom or myself know.

We were asked for some input for the Jens Munk 400th Anniversary for his work on finding the NW Passage to the Far East. We decided to decline this offer. If you are interested in this subject, you can google "Jens Munk" to get all the history. There's a lot of good reading.

Plans for the Harvest Party and Andespil & ​Æbleskiver was finalized as advertised in our Autumn 2017 Newsletter. If you can help make æbleskiver, please let Shelagh Boggs know. 

Please attend our functions and bring your friends.

Yours truly,
Niels John Nielsen

Ingredients:

1 kilogram Lean Ground Pork or 1/2 Veal or ground Beef

1 large Onion, grated
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 cup Flour (*use cornstarch instead of flour for gluten free)
1/2 cup fine Oatmeal
150ml Milk
150 Club Soda
3 - 4 tbsp Margerine or Butter for frying
Directions:

Mix well together, the meat, onion, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add flour and fine oatmeal (or use cornstarch for the flour) and add milk/club soda a little at a time and mix well. Mixture should be light and airy. Let rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Brown margerine/butter in frying pan. Shape the frikadeller with a table spoon against the inside of the bowl. Dip the spoon in the melted margerine/butter and shape the frikadeller and drop into frying pan (bowl tipped slightly and spoon into frying pan) Form into oblong balls about 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 cm). Brown both sides for 2 to 3 minutes, reduce heat and fry 10 to 15 minutes more, turning once in a while.

Serve with vegetables, potatoes, and the pan drippings.

Enjoy! - Inga Andersen

Our Skt Hans was a great success. Over 70 adults and children were there to enjoy the food and bonfire.  The witch was the only unhappy participant.