NEWS MAGAZINE ISSN 0113-4965 (Print)
● July 2011 ●
Film Evening Friday July 15th
The Experiment
ISSN 2230-4800 (Online)
Bingo Afternoon! on Sunday, July 17th, 2pm at the Danish House Lots of fun and prizes!
Original title – Eksperimentet (a movie based on a true story in Greenland 1951) 2010 Drama
Come and have a hyggelig winter evening with the 3C’s – coffee, cake and candles
Coming up . . .
2011 Winter Warm-Up
Members $5 (donation) Non-members $7
Come to the
Open House
Sunday, July 3rd from 2pm
Saturday, August 13th
Come and meet your friends or get some new ones – Everyone is welcome!
Join in the fun dances from all parts of Europe and elsewhere
followed by Danish Church Service with pastor Anja Grønne Mathiassen at 4pm.
Coffee & cake from $2.50 (Next Open House – August 7th)
6pm till 10pm approx.
See your Danish Folk Dancers in traditional costume
Admission by donation – Food and drink on sale
Coming up
AGM
Sunday, November 27th, 4pm
Up for election and re-election are the president and several committee members. Send in any remits and/or committee nominations to the Secretary, The Danish Society, PO Box 12 279, Penrose 1642
THE DANISH SOCIETY (INC) P. O. BOX 12 279 - PENROSE 1642 6 Rockridge Ave., Penrose, Auckland Phone 580 3103 www.danishsocietynz.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS (2011 Financial Year – 1st Oct 2010 to 30th Sept 2011) 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
REGULAR EVENTS
Committee
PRESIDENT Inger Mortensen 443 5105 Email: president@danishsocietynz.com VICE-PRESIDENT Marion Stewart 480 8282 Email: vicepresident@danishsocietynz.com TREASURER Roger Knights 021 858 248 Email: treasurer@danishsocietynz.com SECRETARY Pam Logan 480 9883 Email: secretary@danishsocietynz.com COMMITTEE MEMBERS Antony Barrett 444 0939 Kim Basse 473 6455 Kurt Marquart 476 0244 Finn Nielsen 625 5533 Louise Robertson 410 0108 EDITOR “NEWS MAGAZINE” John Stewart 480 8282 88c Coronation Road, Hillcrest, North Shore 0627 E-mail: editor@danishsocietynz.com MAILOUT Helle Scott 521 2844 CHANGE OF ADDRESS Kurt Marquart 476 0244 E-mail: membership@danishsocietynz.com
Other Addresses
ROYAL DANISH CONSULATE GENERAL P.O. Box 619, Auckland 1 Fax 537 3067 Phone 537 3099 www.danishconsulatesnz.org.nz THE TRADE COMMISSION OF DENMARK 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 DANISH CHURCH NEW ZEALAND INC. Pastor Anja Grønne Mathiassen www.danishchurchnz.org Ph 03 464 0218
RATES FOR VALHALLA
Peak Members Guests Adults $18 $30 Children $9 $20 Off-Peak Adults $12 $30 Children $6 $20 Whole house daily rate Off-peak $120 Peak rate $270 Christmas season $320 Functions $320 Off-peak = Mid-week only excluding Christmas season and school holidays Peak = All school holidays, Christmas season and all weekends. Christmas season = Christmas Eve to the end of Anniversary weekend. The house can only be hired for 7 days at any one time. Call the Booking Officer: Marion Stewart, 88c Coronation Road, Hillcrest, NSC P: 480 8282 E: valhalla@danishsocietynz.com 2
$60 per member $50 per member $50 per member Free $30 per couple
DANISH HOUSE
An Open House is held on the first Sunday of each month from 2pm.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
DANISH MOTHERS’ GROUP
meets every 2nd Tuesday. Call Christina on 021 161 3159 for venue.
are held on the second Monday of the month at 7.30pm
FOLKDANCERS
VALHALLA WORKING BEES
meet at 7.30pm on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month.
CARDPLAYERS
WEDNESDAY MORNING GROUP
Working bees are usually held on the weekend of the second Saturday of the month. 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 July Sun 3rd Sat 9th Mon 11th Fri 15th Sun 17th
Open house & Danish Church Service Valhalla working bee Committee meeting Film evening Bingo
August Sun 7th Mon 8th Sat 13th Sat 13th
Open House Committee Meeting Valhalla Working Bee Winter-Warm-Up, Folkdancers
Sun 14th Mothers’ Group Mid-Winter Xmas Sat 27th Dinner-Party (not smœrrebrœd) September Sun 4th Open House Sat 10th Valhalla Working Bee Mon 12th Committee Meeting Sun 25th Young Over 60’s Lunch October Sun 2nd Open House Sat 8th Valhalla Working Bee Mon 10th Committee Meeting
Danish House Hall Hire Rates Danish Classes Members rates for hiring the hall for the whole day at Wednesdays
Beginners 6.30-7.30pm Intermediate 7.30-8.30pm Private lessons are available on Saturday mornings.
For more information call
Connie Kristensen
0274 757 565
the Danish House, Penrose. Sunday to Friday inclusive $110 Saturday: $165 Half a day is $27 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: Antony Barrett, Phone 444 0939
Committee Contacts & Convenors for Working Groups Committee Contact Working Group Cultural Card Players Danish lessons Danish Mothers’ group Films Folk dancing Library / Videos Society history Welfare (Cards & Flowers) Danish House Bookings Maintenance Members Membership Communication Editor Webmaster Socials Bar Socials Valhalla Bookings & Maintenance Working Bees
Convenor Phone Oluf Basse 534 2798 0274 757 565 Connie Kristensen Christina Bengtson 021 161 3159 Kurt Marquart 476 0244 Finn Nielsen 625 5533 Helle Gilderdale 478 7016 Karen Yates 524 6016 Vibeke Courtney 576 3150 Antony Barrett 444 0939 Kim Basse 473 6455 Kurt Marquart 476 0244 email: membership@danishsocietynz.com John Stewart 480 8282 Gitte Abildgaard Nielsen 360 1110 email: webmaster@danishsocietynz.com Finn Nielsen, 625 5533 Annette Jorna 630 8722 email: socials@danishsocietynz.com Marion Stewart 480 8282 Palle Olsen 09 426 6840 Danish Society News Magazine ● July 2011
From the President’s Desk - June 2011 AGM reminder Dear members, Danish Society AGM is on 27 November. Please start thinking now already about whether you would like to help your club by standing for committee – or would like to nominate someone who you think would be suitable. Up for election or re-election are president and several committee members. We are also still hoping to set up a sub-committee of people who would like to be responsible to organising
socials. Please feel free to contact any of the members of the committee if you would like more information. We also welcome you to come along to a committee meeting to see what we do, or to have a chat with us. We meet at 7.30pm on the second Monday of every month in the library. Med kærlig hilsen, Inger Mortensen
Mid-Winter Smørrebrøds Party a success!
On Saturday 25th June 111 members and guests enjoyed a wonderful evening at the Danish House. None of this could have been achieved without the energy and dedication of Annette Jorna as the organiser of this event and Dorte Soelmark taking on the mammoth task of putting together the food for the evening. Both of these women are to be commended for their contribution to the evening. Annette and Dorte had many helpers step forward to help with food and room preparation. The two males in amongst 10 women in the kitchen coped well and the six hours just flew past. Over 500 sandwiches were made which is quite an achievement. Meanwhile Finn was busy in the bar chilling the next most important ingredient for the evening. Going by the number of skals throughout the night there was plenty of snaps to go around. Thank you to the members who volunteered to stay after the event and clean up – this is a thankless task after a fun evening but has to be done. From the committee we would like to express a huge thank you for all who helped – we really appreciate it. The next morning we received some lovely comments none that stands out more than the one below from one of our members: “I would like to record my appreciation of the Smorrebrods Fest last evening. I must say it was a most professional presentation of typical Danish open sandwiches also but perhaps more importantly it was enjoyed extremely well by club members and visitors. The construction of the whole evening lived up to the highest standards that have in my opinion been presented at any Danish Society function. The food, music, camaraderie was noticeably enjoyed by all.” July 2011 ● Danish Society News Magazine
Another was from an Icelandic guest whose eyes watered up when he saw the sild, he savoured every moment of the evening and is now considering joining the Danish Society. As well as the favourites we were treated to some new flavours one of which was smoked Eel, which was thoroughly enjoyed by many. The musician catered to the audience and we were kept entertained as he wondered around the tables while singing and inviting some of our members and guests to join in – it appears we have some hidden talent amongst us. He also tried some snaps that did cause his voice to waver for a second or two but he recovered well. Our members certainly seemed to enjoy catching up with each other once again as there was much laughter and conversation all night long. We look forward to seeing you all again at our next function. Venlig hilsen, Marion Stewart, vice-President
3
Skt Hans
Sunday, 19th June, at the Danish House On Sunday 19th June, we held our Skt Hans celebration. Most of the day, it had been pouring with rain, but magically (possibly pure witchery) the rain stopped at about 5pm. The witch went off on her usual journey to Bloksbjerg, and we hope she could find her way all the way from Penrose – I wonder if witches’ brooms come with GPS these days? Sara Jaeger held a fine båltale (fireside speech) in which she explained a bit more about the traditions behind Skt Hans. Afterwards, we had Danish style hotdogs – as the saying goes, the Americans may have invented the hotdogs, but the Danes perfected them! The children cooked snobrød and marshmallows over the embers of the fire, and everyone had a lovely evening. Med kaerlig hilsen Inger Mortensen
4
Danish Society News Magazine ● July 2011
Ambassador visit The Royal Danish Government’s Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Her Excellency Susanne Shine has accepted our invitation to come from Canberra to launch the Monrad commemorative book on the evening of Wednesday the 21st of September. The launch will be held 5.30 for 6 pm at St Pauls Lutheran Church, King Street (off Adelaide Road) in Wellington. The Exhibition of Selected Etchings from the Monrad Collection opens next morning, Thursday the 22nd, at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and that evening a concert titled: ‘The Gospel according to...’ is planned. Included in the programme will be works by Martin Luther and by Bishop Monrad.
Denmark and the North Pole Denmark plans to lay claim to the North Pole and other areas in the Arctic, where melting ice is creating new shipping routes, fishing grounds and drilling opportunities for oil and gas, according to a leaked government document. To be successful, the Danes will have to present evidence proving that the North Pole is geologically linked to Greenland - which has been part of Denmark for more than 600 years Other countries such as Russia, Norway, Canada and the US also have claims. The region is believed to have as much as 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas. (Source: The Telegraph 26 June 2011. Sent in by Pam Logan.)
Greetings from a former member Viggo Andersen, who now resides in Denmark, sends greetings to his friends in the Danish Club. His children and 10 grandchildren live in Australia (Byron Bay and Perth) and he plans to make another trip there in October. He is still reading the Danish Society magazine.
July 2011 ● Danish Society News Magazine
Film Review Friday, July 15th at 7.30pm We will be showing
The Experiment Original title: Eksperimentet (a movie based on a true story in Greenland 1951)
Synopsis (2010 drama):
It’s the story of the nurse Gert, who is appointed as headmistress of a special children’s home, owned by the Danish state in Greenland, 1951. The children’s home is intended to accommodate 16 carefully selected Greenlandic children, who have just come home after a year of civilization in Denmark. Now they are to be introduced into the Greenlandic community as role models. Gert is idealistic and ambitious and feels passionate about saving Greenland from destitution. Her goal is to educate and civilize the 16 children in the Danish language and culture, so they can spearhead Greenland’s transformation from being a poor hunter society to being an equal part of Denmark. Due to her blind faith in the experiment, Gert underestimates the obvious personal costs to the children. Director; Louise Friedberg
5
Valhalla and Recreation When I got involved again in Valhalla in 2003 we were on the threshold of change. Back in 1977 when we bought the property I had been involved in a bit of tree planting and was on the roster for mowing the lawns which members took turns to come up and do so the place looked tidy. Nevertheless, back in the beginning, it was no more than a house in a paddock. Members worked hard and over the years Valhalla facilities became better and better. In 2003 there was a desire amongst members to drive forward once again with a bit of a surge. After much organizing, three diggers, a bobcat and a tractor arrived along with manpower and materials. Valhalla was taken from a house on a 18 acre farm to a house in a park. I had an interesting discussion back then with a farmer friend, Dick Lancaster, over how many paddocks we might need to run our cattle through to successfully manage the pasture. Richard Logan had already suggested that maybe we shouldn’t have any stock on the property but we would be faced with a funding issue as the cattle earned $2,000 per year and mowing the new lawn areas would cost $4,000 per year a deficit of $6,000! During my cattle conversation with Dick he asked one simple question “What is the primary purpose of the property?” to which I answered “recreation”. Dick then stated that all our decisions should reflect the primary purpose, recreation. The cattle decision became simple. Open lawns that our members could use reflected our primary purpose far better than muddy paddocks that
were sending sediment into Leigh Harbour at the rate of knots during winter rains. It soon became evident that, as we were providing what the users wanted, occupancy went up and therefore funding the decision was no longer an issue. Since then anything we have done at working bees is to make the members recreational use of Valhalla as good an experience as possible. We are constantly trying to improve the place for our users, both members and their friends. At the June working bee we can thank Birgitte, Steve, Dylan, Mia, Tove, Neil, Graham, Antony and John for their efforts. The July working bee is fully booked out, not only with members but also their friends who have enjoyed the facilities and want to give something back for the many wonderful times they have had at Valhalla. In this way we will be able to spread the working bee load and still keep Valhalla properly maintained and also have manpower to improve facilities for future enjoyment. If you are a user of Valhalla and haven’t as yet booked into either the August, September or October working bee please send me an email or give me a call. There is no doubt you will have a great time working with others on Valhalla. Palle Olsen Phone: 09 426 6840 Email: palle@olsens.co.nz
Mothers’ Group children enjoying snobrøds-making at Valhalla during autumn school holidays.
6
Danish Society News Magazine ● July 2011
We need your help! at the next Valhalla Working Bees 8th-10th July 12th-14th August
We are seeking your support to carry out a whole range of jobs, both indoors and outdoors. There is always house-cleaning to do as well as weeding etc. Any help is welcome. Lunch is supplied by the society, therefore we need to know the number of participants by Wednesday 6th July.
If you are able to help in any way, please contact Palle Olsen on 09 426 6840, 021 255 0911 or palle@olsens.co.nz
Valhalla Sub-Committee Report New Arrival and Departure form
Thank you to all occupants who have filled out the Arrival and Departure sheet, this is already proving invaluable to the Sub-committee for planning maintenance work and informing occupants of relevant matters relating to the house.
Fireplace
I received a complaint that the fireplace was smoking badly and filling the house up with smoke. I did book the Chimney sweep surmising that could be the problem only to discover that the grate had been pulled towards the front of the fireplace. In order for it to draw properly it must be pushed right to the back before lighting the fire. When the grate is at the back of the fireplace no smoke what-so-ever will blow back into the house. It seems many of our occupants do not know how to reset a fire correctly in order that it will ignite easily. A pile of newspaper and two big logs will not create a good fire. Please ensure you have sufficient kindling/ small twigs/branches on the paper. Do not put large logs on the setting; leave them in a pile on the side. Please ensure you restack the wood in the house so those arriving after dark do not have to try to get wood from the tank outside in the pitch dark.
Please ensure when you have cleaned the BBQ that you re-oil the plates, as they are sure to rust if this is not done. The name plaques for the steps are still not completed however we have now found a member who is willing to complete this project that Erik Nissen started a few years ago. Unfortunately we need power to the site to operate a router and that means we are weather dependant of when it can be done. Over many working bees the job was deferred due to wet weather, which is why it is taking so long. Some of the names already need replacing and cleaning, which we will address at the same time to get this project completed once and for all. Thank you Marion Stewart and the Valhalla sub-committee
Maintenance
Our projects for the year are now complete with general maintenance and planning for 2012 now being our focus for the next four working bees. Currently our focus for 2012 is the foyer and courtyard upgrade.
July 2011 â—? Danish Society News Magazine
7
Thank You Letters To the Danish Society: Thank you for the lovely flowers you sent to me. Kind regards, Lillian Thomsen Thank you to the Danish Society Inc. for the beautiful flowers on the occasion of my 60th birthday. Best regards, Penny Jorgensen Til den danske forening: Tak for blomsterne til min fødselsdag – de er meget meget smukke og dejlige!! Venlig hilsen fra, Sys Hansen Til den danske forening: Tusinde tak for de flotte blomster jeg fik på min 65 års fødselsdag. Efter 25 års medlemskab og nu næsten ved at tage afsked fra arbejde, håber jeg at involvere mig lidt mere med Foreningen! Venlig hilsen, Annelie Suckling To The Danish Society: Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers I received for my birthday, what a lovely surprise. They are very much appreciated. Best wishes, Asta Kraack To the Committee and members of The Danish Society: Thank you very much for the lovely floral arrangement that I received for my 65th birthday. It is lasting very well and still looks good. Kind regards, Neil Treadaway Tak for venlig opmærksomhed ved Benjamins påbegyndte cancer-behandling. Vi glæder os til han får det bedre. Med kærlig hilsen, Susanne Fisher og familie
The next magazine deadline is July 18
All contributions welcome – in English or Danish (with a short summary in English). 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. John Stewart (Editor) editor@danishsocietynz.com 8
To The Danish Society: Thank you for the lovely surprise of beautiful flowers which arrived for my 65 birthday, and consequently exactly 60 years after arriving in NZ with my parents Svend and Betty Nielsen and brother Freddie, who has continued the building tradition after our father, who built many houses on the North Shore and Auckland. Regards, Annie Andrewes, Warkworth To the Danish Society: THANK YOU – Your donation in memory of Erik Gabriel Nissen is a very positive and lasting way of honouring his life. Your support will help ensure that Mercy Hospice Auckland can continue to deliver care and support to patients and their families with compassion, dignity and respect and to build on our service to others who will face the positive hospice experience. We thank you for your gift in memory of Erik. Yours sincerely, Jan Nichols, CEO, Mercy Hospice Auckland Thank you for the beautiful flowers for Niels’ birthday. He enjoyed his birthday at Valhalla with his family. Mary & Niels Gade
Foreningsnyt Congratulations to all the members who have birthdays in July especially Bente Winter som fylder 75 år d. 1.7.2011 Lynette Bentley som fylder 93 år d. 8.7.2011 Folmer Laustsen som fylder 75 år d. 13.7.2011 Carlo Emil Mikkelsen som fylder 70 år d. 27.7.2011 Mary Christiansen som fylder 70 år d. 28.7.2011
Aalborg Akvavit Snaps
Scenic Cellars in Taupo have the Aalborg Akvavit in stock now and will import as required. Contact is:
Floris Heijdenrijk, Sales Manager Scenic Cellars, 32 Roberts St, Taupo 3330
Phone: 07 378 5704
Email: floris@sceniccellars.co.nz Danish Society News Magazine ● July 2011