January President’s Message / Januar BESKJED FRA PRESIDENTEN

Greetings fellow SON Members,

Happy New Year and best wishes for a very healthy 2012. The year is young, but we are off and running for a busy lodge year. We certainly ended our 2011 lodge year on a positive note with the fabulous Jule Fest we had at the San Jose Country Club. The food was wonderful, as usual. Our holiday music provided by Arlene Larson, Norma Christiansen and Tony Cruz was a perfect backdrop to the beautifully decorated room. It was indeed a pleasure to have Jacksonville's Honorary Norwegian Consul George Gabel update members and friends on his role and responsibilities in this position which he has held for nearly 20 years. Thanks to our Santa Lucia participants and to everyone who joined the festivities and Vice President Charlotte who coordinated it. And special thanks to Zone 5 Director Gail Martinsen and her wonderful chauffeur-husband Ron for joining us again from the Clearwater area.

On behalf of the lodge, hats off and thanks to the Sports Committee and other members for their quick action in decorating Helga to participate in the very popular City of Jacksonville Light Parade over the Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks to everyone who helped row the boat. As you may recall, the parade was cancelled and then re-instituted three weeks prior to the event. Helga looked fabulous; all the lights shined brightly including the Sons of Norway sign that was very visible on the St. Johns River. The night was weather perfect. No matter what the judges said, we know we are always a WINNER.

Certainly a highlight to the Light Parade was a visit by Mayor Alvin Brown, his wife Cynthia and two sons, plus a number of other dignitaries who made the Light Parade happen. It was a special privilege for me to say hello to Mayor Brown. When I shook his hand I said, "On behalf of my hometown of Grand Forks, ND thank you for what you did in 1997." He grabbed my hand and said, "Are you from that area?" and then he remarked how resilient the area residents, mostly Scandinavians, were. Mayor Brown was working in the Clinton Administration and had oversight responsibility for federal funding in 1997 when our family's home town of Grand Forks was hit by a 500-year flood of the Red River that almost wiped out the community.

As an essential part of getting our lodge year off to a good start, the retiring board and the new board members will meet Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Fellowship Hall to plan our special events, programs, sports/boat activities, participation in the district convention and discuss other key topics for us to enjoy our lodge experience and grow our membership. This is open to all members so you are welcome to join us. We will conduct a board/business meeting later in the morning to approve our budget and determine the number of delegates/alternates for the District Convention in June.

Our Jan. 13 meeting will be a great start to the year and it is certainly a pleasure to have a long-time member, Karin Parks, as a speaker. I certainly hope you can join us for this unique program and our usual fellowship. It is traditional that our lodge serves lapskaus at our January meeting and Sunshine Director Jay Vogeley has taken the lead to be sure we continue this. Mark your calendar for the Feb. 10 meeting when District 3 President Ralph Peterson will be with us to install our new board and in March we are planning a very special and new event, so watch the newsletter for details.

As SON members we can be proud of our lodge accomplishments. Other lodges are suffering significant membership loss, but we are maintaining our membership. It's because we have varied programs and special events. We have an active sports/boat program that engages many of our members and gives us added visibility. We support our Adopt-a-School, our District 3 Charitable Trust and the Second Harvest Food Bank. We are actively involved with District 3 activities and many of you are actively encouraging your family members to join us as well. Involving our sons, daughters and grandchildren is very essential to the SON well being and survival.

See you Jan. 13. Happy New Year.

Kent Larson

Lodge President