September 16th, 2023 - NEWSLETTER

Danish Federation Conference

This spring, May 24‐27, our own Vancouver Island Danish‐Canadian Club hosted representatives from Danish clubs across Canada to attend the Federation of Danish Associations in Canada Conference, right here in Nanaimo. The conference was many years in the making, with planning interrupted by the pandemic.

Nevertheless, we held a wonderful conference for local members and out of town delegates.
We started with a reception at the Nanaimo Museum on Thursday. Friday meetings were followed by a lunch at the Lighthouse Bistro. After lunch delegates took the ferry to Saysutshun (Newcastle) Island and a few even ventured to the Dingy Dock Pub for dinner. On Saturday delegates held morning meetings while our local members worked hard to prepare a wonderful dinner and dance at Bowen Hall – a huge success as we danced the night away to the music of Doctors of Rock ‘n Roll.

On Sunday, Tom took the group to Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove for a forest tour. Afterwards, many delegates stayed on the island to attend the Federation Heritage seminar, visit relatives and friends, or travel as a tourist to other island communities. We can be very proud of our club for the efforts that were put in to ensure a successful conference and visit to our beautiful island.

Many thanks – Mange Tak – go out to the following persons and businesses for their incredible support:

Henny Andersen and her group of Danish Canadian Club knitters who made a Viking toque for every delegate, plus some extras to sell at the dance.
Tom Hedekar who planned and coordinated the conference schedule and led the forest tour on Sunday.
Rebecca Taylor who was the registrar and answered all the delegate’s queries.
Inge Yost who helped with the registration and banking.
Jim and Tove Gahr, Peter and Kathy Koch, Sophia Sorensen, Rita Sorensen, and Linda Verhoeven, who helped collect and donated items to put together conference bags for the delegates. 
Simon Proctor and the Badnotti Group, who donated the conference bags. 
Five Star Embroidery for making our conference bags.
The Coombs Wooden Shoe Dutch Import Store in Coombs, who donated items for the conference bags and for the silent auction.
Pia Pedersen, who organized the wine & cheese and bar refreshments for all.
Eva Manley and Ane Street, who welcomed guests to the Nanaimo Museum.
Sophia Sorensen and Bill Merrilees, for the wonderful talk about Saysutshun (Newcastle)
Island.
Vibeke Sandberg, Randi Turner, and Inge Hornby, who judged the Viking costume contest on Friday. Winners: Flemming and Laura Kristiansen
Carsten and Louise Krogh, Lynn Hedekar, John Jensen, Darlene O’Neill, Henning Pedersen, and Deanna Malteson, Walter Binder, Anne‐Lise Frederiksen, Rita Sorensen, and many others for set up and clean up for the Saturday dinner and dance and all our other events.
Per and Vivian Maltesen from Big Apple Catering, who cooked a wonderful smorgasbord dinner on Saturday.
Knuline Transportation bus company, for delivering delegates safely to Cathedral Grove and back.
Tourism Nanaimo, City of Nanaimo, Nanaimo Museum, Lighthouse Bistro, Coast Bastion Hotel, Saysutshun ferry, and the Dingy dock pub, for their support.

Also, many thanks to other members who showed up for the museum reception, silent auction and Viking costume night, dinner and dance and our many lunches.

As always with our club, many hands make for light work, and we were blessed with many helpers.  Sincere apologies if we missed anyone in this list apologies if we missed anyone in this list.

The conference was a huge success.  
Thank‐you all!

Interested in volunteering? We’re looking for aebleskiver cooks and bingo callers for October.

Contact Tom Hedekar to volunteer

Club Membership:
Membership fees for the club have been waived through to the end of 2023. Consider inviting friends and family to be part of the Vancouver Island Danish Club - No Danish language skills or heritage needed.

Membership fees for 2024 will be $10 per person down from the previous dues of $20 per year. Contact Vibeke Sandberg for membership inquiries.

Volunteer Opportunities:

There are many volunteer opportunities available with our club, large and small. Do you have a passion for event planning or and idea for a new club activity? Are you interested in editing our newsletter or taking meeting minutes? We still have a vacant space for a Secretary.

Do you have an aebelskiver pan and an interest in joining us for an andespil in October?

Contact Tom Hedekar to volunteer with our club.

Future Activities:

We are currently hard at work planning an Andespil (Bingo) this fall, and a club Christmas party.

We also have some fun activities planned for 2024. Some of what we have to look forward to:

Winter: Pub Lunch
Spring: AGM and Pandekager
Summer: Sankt Hans (Save the date: June 23, 2024)