NEWS MAGAZINE ISSN 0113-4965 • February 2008
Film Evening
Friday, 15th February, 7.30pm We are showing
“Drømmen” (“The Dream”)
the Danish drama with English subtitles.
Free film plus coffee and cookies for members - donations welcome.
Non-members pay $5
Card Playing starts again on February 20
(the 3rd Wednesday due to Waitangi Day being on the 1st Wednesday)
Fun, competition, friendship, food. Why not come and join in with the cardsharps and others.
1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month – 11am to 3pm
Call Lise Jensen for details 625 8969
Come to the
Open House
Sunday, Feb 3rd from 2pm
Come and meet your friends or get some new ones – Everyone is welcome!
Coffee & cake from $2.50
Fastelavnsfest Sunday,
17th February, 2p.m. Children: dress up and bring your friends along to “slå katten af tønden”
Bring your own picnic Refreshments for the kids, coffee for the adults and the Bar will be open A really fun day for the whole family! Invitation for Neighbours’ Picnic at Leigh 23rd Feb 2008 Our good friend and neighbour at Valhalla, John Courtenay, is organising a neighbour’s picnic on Saturday 23rd February 2008. He has wanted a combined picnic with the Danes, Marae and his family for some time. His thought is that he would hire a tent; we would have games followed by a picnic lunch, which would start around 11am on his property. This would be a fun day for all ages and well worth the effort to go up and participate. The committee would like to support John Courtenay as he has been a valuable friend and neighbour to the Danes for many years and deserves our best effort to participate in this excellent community event. Valhalla is already hired out for the weekend and will not be available for members to use after the picnic. Please call either Richard Logan 480 9883 or Marion Stewart 480 8282 if you would like to put your name forward for this event.
THE DANISH SOCIETY (INC)
P. O. BOX 12 279 - PENROSE 1642 6 Rockridge Ave., Penrose, Auckland Phone 580 3103 www.danishsocietynz.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Member: Senior rate: (65 & over) Youth rate: (18 to 25) Children under 18 Family discount: Less
Contact phone numbers
The Danish House Valhalla, Leigh
580 3103 09 422 6194
Committee
PRESIDENT Karen Yates
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
VICE-PRESIDENT Richard Logan
are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm
480 9883
VALHALLA WORKING BEES
TREASURER Roger Knights
021 858 248
COMMITTEE MEMBERS Mia Barr Antony Barrett Kurt Marquart Finn Nielsen Marion Stewart
528 2469 634 1159 444 0939 476 0244 625 5533 480 8282
EDITOR “NEWS MAGAZINE” Pam Logan 480 9883 9 Puawai Place, Northcote, Auckland E-mail: pam-richardlogan@attglobal.net PRODUCTION John Stewart
480 8282
MAILOUT Helle Scott
521 2844
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Rolf Siggard
528 2469
Working bees are held on the weekend of the second Saturday of the month.
THE TRADE COMMISSION OF DENMARK Harbour View Building, 152 Quay St, 7th Floor P.O. Box 2154, Auckland 1 Fax 307 5207 Phone 379 3119 www.dtcauckland.um.dk THE LUTHERAN CHURCH 1 Harris Rd (P O Box 85-014) Mt Wellington Phone 579 4490
BOOKINGS FOR VALHALLA
RATES Off-peak Adult Child Member $10 $5 Guest $30 $20 Whole house daily rate $120 Peak Member $15 $7.50 Guest $30 $20 Whole house daily rate – excluding Christmas season Flat rate $270 Off-peak = Mid-week only excluding Christmas season & school holidays Peak = All school holidays and all weekends. Christmas season = Christmas Eve to the end of Anniversary weekend. The Whole House is available during the Christmas Season, but will incur an extra $50 a night premium rate, bringing the daily rate to $320. The house can only be hired for 7 days at any one time. Children are 18 and under and under 5 stay free.
Call the Booking Officer: Marion Stewart, 88c Coronation Road, Hillcrest P: 480 8282 E: valhalla@danishsocietynz.com
DANISH MOTHERS’ GROUP
meets every 2nd Tuesday. Call Christina on 360 4389 for venue.
FOLKDANCERS
DANISH HOUSE
meet at 7.30pm on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month.
CARDPLAYERS
WEDNESDAY MORNING GROUP
An Open House is held on the first Sunday of each month from 2pm. meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month - 11am to 3pm
Meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 10.30am.
QUICK CHECK CALENDAR February Sun 3 Fri 15 Sat 16 Wed 20 Sun 24
Open House Film Evening Fastelavn Card Players first day BBQ
Other Addresses
ROYAL DANISH CONSULATE GENERAL P.O. Box 619, Auckland 1 Fax 537 3067 Phone 537 3099 www.danishconsulatesnz.org.nz
$60 per member $50 per member $50 per member Free $10 per couple
REGULAR EVENTS
524 6016
SECRETARY Rolf Siggard
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(2008 Financial Year – 1st Oct 2007 to 30th Sept 2008)
Danish Classes Thursdays Beginner class 6 - 7.15pm Intermediate class 7.30 - 9pm Private lessons are available on Saturday mornings. For more information call Connie Kristensen Phone 483 8078
March Sun 2 Wed 5 Sat 8 Fri 14 Wed 19 Sat 29
Open House Card Players Valhalla Working Bee Film Evening Card Players Easter Lunch
Danish House Hall Hire Rates
Members rates for hiring the hall for the whole day at the Danish House, Penrose. Sunday to Friday inclusive $100 Saturday: $150 Half a day is $25 less. Funerals – no charge. The bond is $150.00 per booking. The booking/holding fee of $50.00 is deducted from the total cost.
Call the Booking Officer: Lorraine Nielsen, Phone 625 5533
Committee Contacts & Convenors for Working Groups Committee Contact Working Group Cultural Card Players Karen Yates Danish lessons Danish Mothers’ group Folk dancing Library / Videos Society history Welfare (Cards & Flowers) Danish House Bookings Maintenance Members Membership Roger Knights Communication Editor Webmaster Other Clubs Presidents/contacts Karen Yates Marketing Socials Bar Lena Burlon Socials Valhalla Bookings & Maintenance Richard Logan Development
Convenor Phone Lise Jensen 625 8969 Connie Kristensen 478 5175 Christina Bengtson 360 4389 Finn Nielsen 625 5533 Helle Gilderdale 478 7016 Karen Yates 524 6016 Vibeke Courtney 576 3150 Lorraine Nielsen 625 5533 Carsten Dansted 524 2047 Rolf Siggard email: secretary@danishsocietynz.com Pam Logan 480 9883 Lena Burlon 528 1116 Karen Yates 524 6016 Finn Nielsen, Keld Burlon 625 5533 Mia Barr 634 1159 Marion Stewart 480 8282 Richard Logan 480 9883
Danish Society News Magazine February 2008
Karen’s Corner
From the President – January 2008 Dear Members, Kære Medlemmer,
Velkommen til 2008. Vi står foran et nyt år med nye chancer og muligheder til at gøre nodet helt nydt i Foreningen, mens vi stadig holder på det der gør os trygt og glad. Welcome to the new year of 2008. We stand before a new year with new possibilities and opportunities, while at the same time we hold on to what is known and gives us pleasure. Very Busy December 2007- Jul i det Danske Hus The past year is now well behind us. In retrospect I can only say “What a year!!” It was full on with a steady stream of activities and especially in December. Starting with Jule Frokosten, some 60 people, members and friends enjoyed a typical leisurely Danish Christmas lunch. The next day we held Jule Gudstjenesten (the Danish Christmas Service) which was attended again by 60 members and guest and was a wonderful experience, ably assisted by Hilary Star our pianist who helped us to sing the old carols, while Anja Grønne Mathiassen, our pastor, conducted a very straight forward, traditional and enjoyable service. The event was followed by Christmas cheer. Valhalla’s 30th anniversary was celebrated the next weekend at Leigh, again some over 60 members,( not the same group) who had a very interesting and “hyggelig “ day looking back at the beginning of this magnificent property that members have developed. The following day, in Danish House there were 60 children and many parents and grandparents who came to celebrate the traditional Children’s Juletræs fest. It was wonderful to see the children excited by Santa and their pleasure dancing around the Christmas Tree. Where else can they do that?
Danish Society News Magazine February 2008
To finish the year, the traditional Carols and Candles was attended by nearly 40 members for a great time of singing and Christmas story telling. If there is one thread that runs through all these celebrations it is members’ willingness to get involved and work together and as a result we have a very “hyggelig” and pleasurable time together. Working together has made these events so worth while. I want to thank all of you who have participated. I know you have enjoyed being involved and found great satisfaction. For those members that have not been at a Danish Society functions recently, and I would estimate that it would be a third of our membership (well over 100 people) I would challenge you to come along and be involved. Be willing to participate and you will find friendship and enjoyment. Now for 2008 The committee meets very early in February for a planning afternoon, where we will consider the issues facing the Society and the Programme for the year. If you have any ideas or things you would like to see happen, do be in contact with us. We seek to listen to members. The Valhalla 30 year Celebratory plaque, now hanging at the Leigh property was a member’s idea. It was to members’ response that we held the Christmas Service last year. These are just two examples of many. The committee has accepted some basic responsibilities to keep the Society administered but we can only do that working alongside members. The Danish Society belongs to the members. I look forward to another year in the Danish Society and to what we can accomplish together in 2008. Welcome to 2008. Med venlig hilsen, Karen 3
From the Valhalla Booking Officer Bookings on the Danish Society Web site.
I know from all the enquiries I have had over the past month that many of you have been looking up the Valhalla bookings on the Web site before contacting me. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons the bookings page had not been updated for several months, which gave many of you false hopes in booking what you thought was available dates. My apologies to all those members who used this method only to be disappointed. I am happy to advise that I have updated the January to December 08 bookings for the web site and I am just waiting confirmation it can be loaded on.
Security
I had an incident where occupants arrived at Valhalla on a Friday night to find the back door, the one leading from the Car Park, unlocked. This was rather frightening for occupants arriving in the dark, as they were terrified entering the dark house not knowing if anyone was hiding inside. It seems the door had been unlocked for two nights so we are lucky there wasn’t any vandalism during that time. Please be vigilant and check that all doors and windows are definitely shut and locked before you leave. Due to birds occasionally getting into the Foyer please shut the door between the Kitchen and Foyer when you leave as it will prevent the birds getting in the house and being unable to find a way
out. We have had several instances where occupants have arrived to find a dead bird in the house leaving it’s calling card right though out the house before it died.
Contact
As of 4th February I am starting a new job and will no longer be self-employed based at home. It will mean I will be harder to contact during the day for booking enquiries. If you can please call at night or even better email me on the Valhalla email address with your request and I can call or email you back in the evening. Email address is valhalla@danishsocietynz.com
Valhalla Neighbours Picnic
Please look for the article in this newsletter with regards to this picnic, it is a great idea that we would love to support if we can get the numbers.
30yr Anniversary
I thoroughly enjoyed attending the 30yr Valhalla anniversary in December; it was wonderful to hear about the stories being brought back to life, I was sorry we had to leave early to attend another event. Congratulations to those that participated and made it such a lovely day. Marion Stewart
Marion Stewart – New Committee member Married to John Stewart, previous committee member, with two children Hannah and Grace. Many of you will already know me due to looking after the Valhalla bookings over the past 4 years and as co-chair in the Valhalla Futures Development Working Group last year. I have been self-employed for the past 12 years but this year I am back in the salaried world working for Pearson Education as a Sales Consultant; it will be an exciting year for me with many changes. When nominated I agreed to be on the committee for two reasons, the first is that I already do the Valhalla bookings and report to the committee each month so the next obvious step was to attend and participate in the monthly meetings. The second reason is that being on the committee can mean a lot of work for a few people and I wanted to support this group of hard working members in any way I can. My Danish background is rather diluted after 3 generations spread over 140 years in New Zealand so my knowledge of the language, culture of Denmark is minimal but my interest and passion is 100% behind this society.
Fury of the Northmen: the Viking Era
Are you wanting to learn more about the Viking era? Why not attend a University of Auckland Continuing Education series of lectures.
5 sessions from Thursday March 6th to April 3rd, 10.30am to 12.30pm. Cost $108. Class 57778.
Phone 373 7545.
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Danish Society News Magazine February 2008
Photos from the Christmas Season
Valhalla 30th Anniversary scenes A photo from the early years
Danish Society News Magazine February 2008
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Convenor’s Speech from the 30th Valhalla Anniversary Hi, I am Richard Logan, for those who don’t know me; I am the current Valhalla Convenor and Vice President of the Society. Due to being on the committee I have had a high interest and involvement in Valhalla for the last 8 very interesting years. I have therefore encountered a wonderfully rich group of strong and interesting personalities. I am delighted to see so many members today as we celebrate 30 years of Valhalla. The story of Valhalla is a journey, and applying Shakespeare’s quote, we are all merely actors in this drama, some, as you can read in the History, only started the journey, others have always been involved and some of us joined along the way. It is an exciting journey, as Valhalla has had many phases of activity and development, many different convenors, many different booking officers, many different working bee teams and many different points of view at any particular time. This all adds to the richness of the human experience. And it is the human experience set in a wonderful setting, which happens to be communal, that makes Valhalla very different from other holiday experiences. And of course, at each phase of development, the Society does its best with the resources it has got, whether large or small. Each generation works hard to ensure that the Valhalla experience will continue to attract new generations of members. It is great to be able to say, that so far, we have been successful in this. I therefore wish to remember and pay my respects to the key people who have come before me. I want to thank and acknowledge in turn the past convenors and booking officers who are listed in the ‘History’, those who helped in working bees, and those who have stayed and used Valhalla. All were important in their
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different ways. A special acknowledgement needs to go to our good neighbours from the Outpost and the Te Kiri Marae, especially John Courtenay who has been our neighbour for the whole of the 30 years and to Lally Haddon the Ngati Wai rangatira or chief. Both are very good neighbours. Lally said publicly at the DIY Mitre Ten opening of the Marae last Easter, something like, ‘The Danes are bloody good neighbours’. Unfortunately for us, Lally is very sick and John Courtenay has had a few issues involving the workings of his heart, but he is now resting and of good cheer. As a society we have been through a number of joint journeys with these valuable neighbours. Unfortunately neither can be with us today. One of the most interesting experiences of my Valhalla involvement has been the revegetation project of recent years. Along with fellow committee members of the time, Tove Treadaway and Torben Sorenson, we are the architects of this programme. With the help of Bjarne and later Palle, we were able to achieve a transformation both the physical environment of turning a farmlet into a park, but more importantly because it involved over 80 members who due to Palle’s great energy and drive, made it happen. For our combined efforts, we won a merit environmental award in 2005 from the ARC. This project continues to develop and have different phases and continues to provide lots of interesting challenges to those involved. So finally, I again thank those who have gone before me and created this wonderful place. Thank you. Tak. Richard Logan 8 December 2007
Danish Society News Magazine February 2008
We need your help!
at the next Valhalla Working Bees
9-10 February 2008 (2nd weekend of the month), 8-9 March 2008 (2nd weekend of the month) 11-12 April 2008 (2nd weekend of the month)
We are seeking your support to carry out a whole range of jobs (inside and outside). Any help is welcome. Some volunteers come for the day whilst others stay the weekend.
If you are able to help in any way, please contact Richard Logan, 480 9883 (Home)
Valhalla Working Bee - December 8-9, 2007 Although Saturday was the 30 year celebration of buying Valhalla, the working bee team had been arriving from the previous Wednesday to prepare for that event and to do the necessary cleaning, preparation and property maintenance. For example, the painting of the beams in the foyer was just completed on the Friday night. On the Sunday more jobs were done around the property by the 14 people present. My thanks go to all those who helped prepare for the 30 year celebrations. It was a wonderful event and the weather was good. 2008 will be a busy period for building improvements. With good health, good will and resources, we hope to achieve the following: • Feb 2008 – Upgrading the wooden steps to Pa (Ocean) Beach • May 2008 – Upgrade the Jylland toilets • Oct 2008 – Upgrade the kitchen • After Oct 2008 – Upgrade the wastewater system Richard Logan, Valhalla Convenor (Development) 12 December 2007
Danish Society News Magazine February 2008
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Thank You Letters To The Danish Club Mange tak for the lovely flowers I received for my birthday. 1937 was a vintage year!! My children made this a day to remember by taking me on a wonderful helicopter ride around Auckland. Best wishes, Les Bury To the Danish Society Mange tak for de smukke blomster jeg modtog i anledning af min 70års fødselsdag. Det var en ualmindelig skøn buket, som jeg blev meget glad for. Fanny Wright. To the Danish Society Thank you very much for the beautiful flowers we received on our Golden Wedding Anniversary. What a ;ovely surprise arriving at our home early in the morning. Atruly golden display and giving us much pleasure. Tusing tak, Pat & Oluf Basse To the Danish Society We would like to thank the Danish Society for putting on such a fantastic Christmas l unch. Full marks to Mia, Lena and the team; it was a credit to you all. We wish you all the best in the future. Kindest regards Bjarne & Lise Elowsson To the Danish Society Thank you very much for the beautiful flowers you sent for my 70th birthday. Fritz Friis Til den Danske Forening Mange tak for den fine, friske buket jeg modtog til min 80 års fødselsdag. Også mange tak til alle som glædede mig på dagun. Venlig hilsen, Lise Jensen
Welcome to New Members
Velkommen til nye medlemmer: Laurence King Henrik & Rikke Riedl (& Alexander, Christopher & Victoria) Maria Phillipsen Sara Jaeger & Peter Hendry (& Anna) Philip & Jill Barlow (& Hugh & Scott)
SILD Order now for Winter by March 1st
Buckets: Red or White or White with Dill $50 each (about 1.5 kg net) Send order & cheque payable to Danish Society
c/- Ruth Ungemuth 36 Gerard Way, Remuera, Auckland 1072. Ph 528 4401
You can get
Snaps
aka Aalborg/Akavit
at King Dick’s liquor store at 3044 Great North Road, New Lynn. It costs $34.99 per bottle.
14th Scandinavian Gathering Friday 27 to Sunday 29 March, 2009
To the Danish Society Thank you very much for the beautiful flowers you sent for our Golden Wedding Anniversary. We had an unforgettable day together with family and friends. regards, Asta & Søren Kraack
Alexandra Park, Greenlane, Auckland The Festival of Scandinavia and The Scandinavian Gathering Web site: Preliminary information can be found at www.scandinaviangathering.org.nz Register your intention to come and your particular interest as below. Either register through the website sec@scandinaviangathering,org.nz or write to: The Secretary Scandinavian Gathering 2009, PO Box 12 279 Penrose, 1642, Auckland.
Foreningsnyt
The next magazine deadline is Feb 11.
Hjertelig til lykke til: Congratulations to the 19 members who have birthdays & the 13 couples who have an anniversary in February especially Robert Grundy som fylder 40 år d. 19.2.2008 8
All contributions welcome – in Danish or English. (Arial Narrow font, size 12)
The magazine can also be read (in full colour) online at www.danishsocietynz.com. Note: ads for events must be in a calendar month before the event. Pam Logan (Editor) Danish Society News Magazine February 2008