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Newsletter June 2015

American Scandinavian Foundation Awards Annual Scholarships 2015

This year’s scholarship recipients Ben Haslund-Gourley, Ella Stimson and Luke Larsen

In this issue: • Finland’s Achievement • Art Kvass Receives Award • A Christmas Party • Celebrating Scandinavian Scholars! • Why Serve on the ASFSB Board? • What’s in a Name: Hygge • Our Year in Review

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MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of ASFSB is to promote international

understanding by preserving and sharing Scandinavian heritage

and culture with our community.

A Matter of Identity: Who Are We?

What is it about being a S c a n d i n av i a n - A m e r -ican? Does the term simply define what kind

of American we are? Or is there a broader understanding about our identity?

As someone who made that trans-Atlantic journey at age 9, I am one of those hyphenated Americans who values my roots. My trips back to Denmark combine with my memories of that place to form a sense of being Danish.

My most vivid memories are of the farm in Slagelse where I lived during the occupation. I remem-ber every corner of every room, and I have some memory of the apartment where my mother and I lived after her return from Swe-den. Most of all, I remember the sounds and smells of Copenhagen. I remember feeling “hyggelig,” that special sense of being described elsewhere in this newsletter by Lil-li Tragos . It’s a feeling without an accurate translation, but you know it when you feel it!

Shortly after settling in Los Ange-les in 1949 Shortly my mother announced that “from now on, we would be speaking English.” Since I was well on my way to learning that language, and since none of my school chums spoke Danish, that was OK with me. The down-side was that my language skills in Danish began to diminish.

My friend Heidi Bergseteren, who is singularly responsible for the

beautiful layout of this newslet-ter, left Norway when she was 22, hence her experience was differ-ent than mine. When I asked her about her Norwegian roots, she said, “At this point in my life, I still feel mostly Norwegian but I recog-nize that living half my life in the USA has added dimensions. I feel emotionally and socially richer from being so connected to two different worlds.” Her language skills are far better than mine as she continued to use Norwegian with parents and friends.

Language is a reflection of cul-ture, and I think I was inspired to re-learn Danish as I grew to value that culture. I also felt a little silly in not being able to speak with friends and family in Denmark, so electing to relearn it was an obvi-ous choice.

Has my affection for the country of my birth made me less American? Should I be concerned about di-vided loyalties? Some argue that a sense of national identity is a zero-sum game; you are either one thing or another, not both!

What a silly argument. I am both and proud of it! I would even ar-gue that those of us who iden-tify as hyphenated Americans are stronger in both allegiances be-cause of the element of choice. I made the conscious choice to become an American, and I have also chosen to identify as a Dane. Neither identity was imposed on me; I chose them. I also identify as a Scandinavian, largely because of the ASF. And I’ve spent a lot of my professional life in China. Can I claim an Asian identity as well?

Our globalized world is far more of a reality today than it was in 1949, and a singular national citizenship is, for many, a thing of the past. Might we not live in a more peace-ful world if we began to think of ourselves as global citizens? Just a thought.

Peter Haslund, Editor

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Announcements f

Finland’s Achievementby Peter Haslund

Finland’s remarkable achievements in the area of educational reform were shared with our Santa Barbara commu-

nity at the Faulkner Gallery in February. We had invited the Finnish Consul General, Juha P. Markkanen, to talk about Finland and its educational reforms. Finland’s students have ranked at the very highest levels for several years, and we wanted to understand what made this progress possible.

Ambassador Markkanen spoke about his country’s emphasis on teacher training – all teachers must have the equivalent of a five-year (Masters) University degree and entrance to their program is highly competitive. One

outcome of this change is that teachers are highly re-spected in the Finnish society. Curriculum decisions are decentralized, mostly decided by local school boards within broad parameters set by the state.

A televised interview with Ambassador Markkanen can be seen on YouTube using the following link:

https://youtu.be/_xq4vEFdkJI

Art Kvass Receives Award

On the recommendation of previous recipients, Art was presented with the Marie A Jendresen award, who has served many years on the board and has served on and chaired almost every com-

mittee. Congratulations to Art on receiving much deserved recognition for his continued service.

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The first Sunday in December was a night to remember. Lily Talkin greeted all the young children

as our Santa Lucia. She was dressed in a long white gown wearing a crown of candles holding a basket of homemade cookies. She walked through a gathering of over 100 people followed by fifteen young children wearing white gowns and carrying candles. The Swedes in the grand hall at The Montecito County Club sang at the piano while their fami-lies and friends sang along. The Glogg made by Heidi Poley put everyone in the holiday spirit.

Lilly Tragos helped the chef plan the meal. Delicious Scandinavian food in-cluded Swedish meat balls, turkey, salm-on, red cabbage, veggies, potatoes and rice pudding. The children enjoyed do-ing arts and crafts and then they watched the movie Frozen. Santa Clause arrived ( Benjamin Haslund Gurley) and every-one received treats.

The rooms were elegantly decorated and if you were looking for just the right gift you were sure to find it with one of the beautiful baskets put together by Ellen Zissler and her team.

A Christmas Partyby Evelyne Houdek

Lily Talkin, Santa Lucia 2015

Peter Haslund entertained the crowd introducing the Silent Auction and members left the party with gifts. What a festive night and a delightful way to begin the holidays.

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ASF SB WEBSITEDid you know that we have a fabulous website? You can find it at:

http://asfsb.net/What will you find there? We have a calendar section that keeps you up to date on our activities. There is a membership form. There are photos. There is even a video link showing how Swedish craftsmen made those wonderful wooden shoes!

You really should check it out!

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Celebrating Scandinavian Scholars!

We gathered again on May 3 at the SBCC Gourmet Dining Room to celebrate the achievement of three young Scandinavian Scholars, recipients of our annual award. Scholarship Chair Art Kvaas in-troduced Raissa Smorol of the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation, which manages our fund and

generously contributes to it.

A departure from past practice, Art asked the parents of our awardees to introduce the recipients, a chore they were most happy to do!

Our three Awardees were:

BEN HASLUND-GOURLEY is preparing to begin his sophomore year at UCSB in the fall where he is pursu-ing a degree in biochemistry. Intent on a future career as a doctor, he has immersed himself in his educational plan and is branching out in areas he never imagined he would explore. He has been accepted into UCSB’s Col-lege of Creative Studies and has been encouraged to explore many subjects outside of his major. This experience has broadened his scope and increased his enthusiasm for learning. Ben has earned the honor of being the young-est ever senior lab technician in the bio-Medical marth Lab on campus. He is hopeful that his work in hematol-ogy with diabetic mouse samples will lead to his being published prior to applying to medical school. In an essay Ben writes, “Over-all my university experience has been amazing and I continue to make progress towards my goal of becoming a doctor and relish every step of the way.” Ben is the son of American Scandinavian Foundation Member Melitta Haslund

LUKE LARSEN will graduate San Marcos High School in June as an AP Scholar with Distinction. Enrolled in the Accelerated Academic Program for Leadership and Enrichment (AAPLE) Academy, he has earned a 4.58 GPA while enrolled in rigorous college level courses. He is also a member of the San Marcos High School Boys’ Bas-ketball team; participated in Kids Helping Kids, a campus-based non-profit organization; a volunteer for the Au-tism Awareness Club, a tutor assisting fellow students in an AP Environmental Science class. Luke’s father, Dana Larsen, is of Scandinavian heritage. Luke earned high praise from his English teacher who writes, “I am confident

ELLA STIMSON BEN HASLUND-GOURLEY LUKE LARSEN

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that Luke Larsen will thrive in the college envi-ronment for he is committed, determined, and he has an excellent work ethic. Moreover, he dem-onstrates leadership qualities that are unparalleled by his peers as evidenced by his participation in the AAPLE Academy and his several extracurricu-lar commitments and community service hours. ”Luke has applied to Boston College where he hopes to further his studies with an emphasis on environmental studies and law.

ELLA STIMSON hopes to attend UC Davis this fall after she has graduated from Dos Pueb-los High School. An accomplished musician, she earned the Santa Barbara Symphony Music Direc-tor’s Award this past fall playing the viola, but also enjoys playing in a “garage band” she organized with friends in which they play classic and modern rock of their choice. She is a four year member of the National Honor Society; a member of the Cross County and Track teams, and volunteers her time at the Dream Foundation and for other school and community-based organizations. A participant in the Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy, Ella has earned accolades from her Mechatronics teacher who writes, “Her love of learning, along with her exceptional intelligence, discipline, and determi-nation will enable her to accomplish anything that she chooses to pursue.” Ella’s mother, Veronica Stimson, was born in Stockholm, Sweden.

Art Kvass and Luke Larsen

Daisy Ritter

Lilli Tragos and Peder Estrup enjoy the Scholarship dinner.

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Our Members

Cindy Holland serves on our board “to learn more about the homelands of my Scandinavian friends and to en-courage my two daughters to em-brace their Norwe-gian heritage from their father’s side of the family.”

Our Treasurer, Heidi Poley, is half German and half Swedish and is especially proud of re-maining connected to her Swedish relatives. “My mom has made it her life’s mission to keep in touch with all our relatives in Sweden and keeping the bridge between us open.” This became even more important with the arrival of her daughter Jessica. “I felt it was my turn to be a proud Swede and give back to our heritage the way my mom has.”

Brooke Van Der Kar, our President, follows in the footsteps of her parents Evangeline and Franklin who were long-term members of our Founda-tion. She remembers that her fam-ily always en-joyed “Santa Lucia and the Scandi-navian tradi-tions. Both of my children have received scholarships from ASF and have traveled to through-out Scandinavia.”

First to respond was Lilli Tragos. She was born in Denmark and spent years working at the United Nations before coming to Califor-nia. For many, like Lilli, there is a sense of pride about immigrating the the US and sharing some of the values she brought with her. She says, “I feel that I am able to better share my heritage and culture with our community”

Why Serve on the ASFSB Board?By Peter Haslund

Ever wonder why people serve on Boards? It takes time, commitment and you don’t get paid. Why on earth would people dedicate time to meet with others and decide about organizing activities which will take even more time? Why do we do this?

My curiosity got the better of me so I asked members of our board to jot down at least one reason for their dedi-cation and service.

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Our Members

Daisy Ritter serves as our Membership Chair. “I grew up listening to my Norwegian mother and Icelandic father debate the mer-its of their ancestral countries. They often teased each other about whether the Vikings left Norway voluntarily or were banished. My Icelandic cousins have taken us to the interior of Iceland, fording streams in Jeeps and vis-iting spouting geysers and roaring waterfalls.

My own feeling is that Scandinavia has a rich culture, well worth sharing and preserving. We work hard to build and maintain a genu-ine Scandinavian community in the Santa

Barbara area that allows us to share that culture, and once in a while, to raise those five Nordic flags!

Melitta Haslund’s roots are in Denmark where she first visited as a child at the age of 8. She says, “It felt as though I were coming home and has remained an en-chanted country ever since!”

What’s in a Name: HYGGEBy Lilli Tragos

The meaning of the Danish word "Hygge".

"Hygge" comes from the Norwegian word meaning "well-being".

Now the Norwegians more often use the word "koselig" to describe the same thing.

It first appeared in Danish writing in the 18th Cen-tury and has been embraced by the Danes ever since.

Hygge is a good word to use/understand when in Denmark. It is hard to explain and even harder to pronounce. It roughly translates to coziness but there is way more to the unique Danish concept of "hygge" than that. In essence "hygge" means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good peo-ple. The warm glow of candlelight is "hygge", friends and family is "hygge". There is nothing more "hyggeligt" than sitting around a table, discussing the big and small things of life.

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Our Year in ReviewBy Heidi Poley

GLØGG AFTERNOON: On a beautiful sunny afternoon in December, ASF members and a few non-members gathered at the house of Heidi Poley to taste a variety of different gløggs.

One was too sweet, one was very citrusy, and one was just right. The per-fect one, in my opinion, was the recipe that is used for the ASF Christ-mas party every year. On December 7th Heidi made 5 gallons of gløgg for the party. There was a half-gallon left over and this was one of the gløggs tasted for this event.

After some tasting, good conversations and snacks (for those hungry folks) we gathered and settled into the living room to hear three Norse mythology stories from David Atkins. He chose his favorite three to read for our group.

A WALK IN CARPINTERIA’S SALT MARSH: Saturday, March 28, 2015 was a lovely day for the ASF group and friends to meet with Conservation Manager, Bruce Reitherman at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh for a docent lead tour. While we strolled along the well maintained path Bruce told us about the flora and fauna, how the salt marsh works and about the Santa Barbara Land Trust. We stopped along the bridge for questions and answers while looking at the fish below. After strolling back to the entrance, some folks stayed to eat their picnic while others enjoyed the lo-cal establishments in down-town Carpinteria. A warm thank you to Scott Van Der Kar, a board member of the Land Trust, for helping to organize this event.

PADARO FAMILY PICNIC: On April 19, 2015 we had our family gathering and, once again, enjoyed the com-pany of our ASF members at Padaro Grill. We were lucky to find a nice long table with shade for the pleasant breezy afternoon. It was a lovely day to sit and enjoy some good conversation and lunch. While most of us order our lunch from the grill we always bring dessert to share. Who can pass up homemade goodies of brownies and chocolate chip cookies?

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Around the CornerSeptember 20 Our first annual ASF fundraiser tea at the house of

Martha Schleck.

TBA Sig Wathne will tell his story of immigrating to the US as a young man.

TBA Gingerbread House demonstrations by Susan O’Halme..

December Our Annual Christmas/Santa Lucia Celebration at the Montecito County Club

January Annual Meeting and election of Board members and officers.

Next Spring Scandinavian Movie Night at Liv Anna Beltran’s home, and the annual Scholarship Award event.

More updated information will be listed on our website: http://asfsb.net

SANTA BARBARA SYMPHONY: I would like to give a big thank you to Art Kvaas for helping to schedule the “New World Symphony” event on April 11th at the Granada Theater. We were able to enjoy Orchestra seating for half the price which included a drink ticket. But that’s not all. Art scheduled a personal tour for our group of 19 before anyone arrived of the back stage, dressing rooms and stage area. The stage was already set up for the nights’ performance so we were able to see what it felt like to be a performer. Since we were in the theater we were invited to stay and enjoy the talk the conductor gave prior to the perfor-mance.

What a lovely evening!

PresidentBrooke Van Der Kar

Vice-PresidentEllen Zissler

TreasurerHeidi Poley

Secretary Melitta Haslund

Board MemberLilli Tragos

Board MemberPeter Haslund

Board MemberGlen Neikirk

Board MemberCindy Holland

Board MemberDaisy Ritter

Board MemberArt Kvass

ASFSB Board & Officers

ASFSBP.O. Box 41502, Santa Barbara, CA 93140

THE PROGRAM COMMITTEEHeidi Poley, Chair

Lilli TragosCindy HollandVibeke Einhorn

Ellen ZisslerHazel Oetjen

June Morrison

SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEEArt Kvaas, Chair

Brooke Van Der Kar

OUTREACH COMMITTEESMembership

Lilli Tragos, ChairEvelyne Houdek

NewsletterPeter Haslund & Heidi Bergseteren

PublicityEvelyne Houdek, Chair

Ellen Zissler

WebsiteSusanne Nagy