Congratulations to long-time members Knud and Sheila Hasberg on the recent celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary.

The Over 50s Christmas Lunch will be held on 27 November at Nordic House at 12 noon. It will again be Bring a Plate format. You also need to bring a small Christmas present to the value of $10. Cost for lunch will be $12 if you bring a plate and $25 if you don’t. Please book with Annette Leite on 9331 2425. Any donations for the raffle will be greatly appreciated.

There will be a traditional Christmas Service at St John`s Lutheran Church, Aberdeen Street Northbridge on 17 December commencing at 7pm. The Danish priest to Australia, Bente Holdgaard, will deliver the service which will be followed by coffee and cake in the church hall. There will also be a sale of lollies and food in the hall.

The Association continues to fundraise through its sales of the non-stick barbecue liner. This idea is the most economical and cleanest alternative available wherever a non stick cooking surface is required.

The liner is non toxic, odourless and will not absorb any flavour. It always provides a clean surface to cook on. Simply place the liner on your barbecue when you start cooking and remove it when you have finished. After use, remove any residue with a paper towel or a damp cloth if necessary. And then use the liner again and again. For orders, contact Marianne on 0401 169 853. For more product details, http://simplydelightful.com.au

 

IMAGE: Finnskogen – åpen hytte i Varaldskogen by Torkel Skudland, from Statskog SF. Licence: CC-BY-NC-2.0.

The annual Christmas Party and Lucia Parade will be held at Centenary Pavilion, Centenary Avenue, Wilson on 13 December commencing at 5.00 pm.

Please be there on time, as Father Christmas will arrive at around 5.30pm. Parents are reminded to bring a gift for each child to the value of $10. Gifts should be placed in the sack near the front door. We will sing Christmas carols, dance around a real Christmas tree, the kids will open their presents and we will enjoy delicious hot dogs. This will be followed by the Lucia Parade and the crowning of the Lucia Bride at approximately 7 pm.

Entry price for members (adults and children) is $6 each and for non- members (adults and children) is $10 each. This price includes a hot dog, soft drink and a bag of crisps for the kids and tea and coffee and cookies for the adults. Additional hot dogs with the lot will be for sale for $5 each and soft drinks $1 each.

Lucia rehearsal and for children to receive their costumes and go over the proceedings for the Lucia Parade will be held at Nordic House on 5 December between 2pm and 3pm. Please contact the Lucia coordinator, Jane Constantine on 0412 563 273 of an evening for further information regarding this year’s Parade.

 

IMAGE: Lucia Celebration by Blondinrikard Fröberg. Licence: CC-BY-2.0

The Association’s annual AGM was held at Nordic House on 12 September with 18 people attending. At the 2014 AGM, the future of Nordic House was discussed and a decision was made to create a sub-committee to examine the issue and to send out a survey to members. The results have been collated and a position paper including the survey published. The paper was due to be presented at the AGM, but unfortunately all three members of the sub-committee were overseas at the time. The result of the survey was handed out to members present at the AGM. Copies are now available at Nordic House. If anyone has questions to the survey, please send an email to anyone on the committee and we will pass it on to the sub-committee.

The Association has been lucky to have had Hella Hackett as our treasurer for eight years and she stood down from this role at the AGM. We would like to sincerely thank Hella for all her work over this time. We hope and know that she will still continue to support the Association, in the coming years. Nina Herrero has offered to take on the role of treasurer and we welcome Nina to the committee.

On 20 September, Niels and Lyn Dahl organised a car rally through the Perth Hills. Five cars took part, enjoying the sights and the wildflowers, and finishing with a picnic. Thank you to Lyn and Niels for their work in organising the rally and congratulations to Lisa and Allan, and Lis and Leif for coming in first and second.

We hope this event can become an annual spring event in the coming years.

Our latest Busy Bee was held on 18 October. Eleven people attended and all worked pretty hard to reduce the list of jobs. The sprinklers were fixed, the front rail repaired and painted, and the garden and house spruced up ready for our next social function. Thank you to Gunnar and helpers for a great job.

We are now moving into the festive season and this will start with a social barbecue on 7 November at Nordic House. This is always a popular event so please book early to attend. The Over 50s Christmas Lunch is scheduled for 27 November; another event that attracts a large turn-out. The Association will also have a table selling Christmas decorations and sweets at the Swedish Association’s Christmas Bazaar. This event is to be held on 29 November in Shenton Park and again is a very popular outing in the lead-up to Christmas for Nordic people. Anyone willing to help out at the table, please contact Marianne. Details of all these event are found elsewhere in SCANPOST.

The Children`s Christmas Party and Lucia Parade will be on 13 December, this year at a new venue. The Latvian Centre is no longer available and we will instead hold this event at the Centenary Pavilion in Wilson and there is plenty of parking in front of the hall. All the usual Christmas specials will be there; a real Christmas tree, singing with Father Christmas around the tree. The celebration will end with delicious hot dogs and the traditional Lucia Parade.

Our Christmas celebrations will finish with the Christmas Church service on 17 December at St John’s Lutheran Church in Northbridge where the Danish priest to Australia, Bente Holdgaard, will celebrate with a traditional service. Tea, coffee and sweets will be available afterwards in the church’s new hall.

As always, it has been a busy year for the Association and its members. We hope that you can join in some of the social events leading up to Christmas and we wish you and your families all good wishes for the festive season and for a healthy and happy 2016.

With best regards
The Committee

 

It seems that many members have headed north for at least part of the southern winter and, as a result, there has been little activity at Nordic House.  Saturday afternoons have been increasingly well attended, but still the roster for host for
the afternoon remains surprisingly empty.

So many people indicated in their survey returns that each member or member family unit should do one roster per year, but still, few people are  putting their name down.   It requires little effort – open and lock the House, boil the urn and provide a cake for afternoon tea.  Other than that, enjoy the company and talk with old friends.  The Committee awaits the day when we see just one month with a full roster!!

We encourage all members to be at Nordic House on 12 September for the Association’s annual general meeting.  This year’s meeting will hold greater interest than normal when the results of the survey, seeking member feedback on the future of Nordic House, will be discussed.  Please attend to hear the results and contribute your opinion to the House’s future.

Another topic for discussion and decision will centre on the planning of the Association’s golden (50th) anniversary celebrations in 2016.  The Committee hopes to hold several celebratory events to mark this important milestone and values the  contributions and ideas from  our members.  Of course, there will be the need for  members to also contribute to make these events happen, but the efforts of groups of  members will make the load on individuals considerably less.  If you are unable to  attend, please complete the proxy voting form that accompanies this edition of  SCANPOST  and forward to a committee member for actioning.

We look forward to you joining us at the AGM next month.

With best regards
The Committee 

The Annual General Meeting of our Association will be held on Saturday 12 September at Nordic House commencing at 3.00 pm.  The meeting should last about 1½ hours.

Several members of the current Committee have indicated that, due to personal commitments, they may not be available for re-election in 2015/2016.

Nominations from other members for these positions will be vital if the Association is  to continue to function and provide services to its members.

The following documents relating to this year’s AGM will be either posted or emailed to members shortly:

• the minutes from the 2014 AGM (Please bring these along on the day)
• the agenda and proxy form for the 2015 AGM

A membership application/renewal form is included in your copy of SCANPOST.

To have voting rights, please ensure that your annual membership subscription is paid beforehand.  Payments can be accepted on the day, but please arrive a little earlier if you wish to do this.

Please come along to the meeting to discuss the results of the 2014 members’ survey,  catch up with friends and offer your help in the running of your Association in the coming year.