Hvad er nyt?
(What's new?)
When this reaches publication, 2019 will be in full swing and so “Godt Nytår” to each and everyone of our DSS sisters, brothers and your loved ones.
As I sit here, wondering where to begin this chapter of Ellen Lodge #21 updates, I have in front of me three pictures of Sisters our Lodge lost in 2018. Winnie J. passed away on August 21, Cheryl S. on August 26 and Grethe J. in November. All longtime members of Ellen Lodge, with beautiful smiles, a “glimt i øjet” (glint in the eye) and an ability to instill life into whatever they had their hands in. We have celebrated them and given tribute to all they have given to us. They contributed so much to our Lodge through the years. Their spirits will linger for a long, long time. In July, our Board held their semi-annual meeting and based on the two pages of resulting minutes with review of 2018 accomplishments, 2019 Lodge goals, current and future projects, plans and committee activities, I would say they are serving us well! There is always something happening for everyone. In August, Dorthe B. and Theresa S. hosted our general meeting and there was a lot on the agenda, but if you want to have fun, sometimes you must buckle down and take care of business first – framework and cornerstones – we keep that sturdy and we can do whatever we put our minds to. Some of the major agenda items were the upcoming Nebraska/Colorado District meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska and items we wanted our delegates to focus on; a planned review of the DSS National Constitution in preparation for the 2019 National Convention; updated Ellen Lodge membership books and multiple suggestions from Christine H. for “field trips” throughout the year. Sisters were rewarded with a beautiful lunch of ham and cheese croissants and cake with fresh fruit for dessert. Of course, social time and catching up with everyone is always an integral part of getting together. August 24-25, Delegate Theresa S. and Alternate Christine H. took the eight-hour road trip to Lincoln, Nebraska to represent us at the Nebraska-Colorado District meeting. Theresa wrote up the best and most thorough District report I have ever seen – so well done! Wow, we are so lucky, to be very well represented by both our delegates who are not afraid to dive in and get the jobs done. Sounds like it was a very well organized and interesting convention with a productive business meeting, multiple thought-provoking and pertinent speakers, great social time, fun raffles, a silent auction and did I hear whisperings of Ellen Lodge hosting the next District Convention? The news in September was that our Sister Alicia S. was moving to Iowa! The only consolation is knowing that our Sisters in Davenport will be lucky to have her around. We will miss her so much and we hope she will be happy where she is now growing new roots. The other big news was that Linda B. was elected as our Delegate to the 2019 DSS National Convention in Omaha and Theresa S. our Alternate. Thanks to both for stepping up. It is a very important, time consuming and involved undertaking to keep that “framework and cornerstone” in place for all of us. Sisters Chris H. and Malinda R. have taken on updating our Heritage Book which contains individual biographies of Ellen Lodge Sisters, Ellen Lodge history and member records as well as Colorado and Danish history – no minor undertaking and we are thankful and looking forward to it! Kathy H. and Glenda H. hosted a wonderful September lunch. October Luncheon – our annual birthday celebration for Ellen Lodge 2018 was the 126th. This year it was hosted by Joanna C. and Inge N. at a small bistro at the bottom of the Rocky Mountain foothills. Great company, good conversation – lots of opportunity to catch up - great food and a beautiful table with Danish flags, heart vases with flowers and berries – enough for everyone to take one home – what more could we ask for? It was a terrific gathering. Afterwards, a couple of us stopped by to visit with Judy M. who is in a care center close by. She enjoyed table favors we brought her, hearing about the luncheon and getting updates on her Sisters. We surely enjoyed spending time with her as well. The first weekend in November was the annual Norwegian Trollheim Craft Fair – a three-day long affair of pricing and packing the crafts we have made; hauling them from here to there and back again; setting them up on display; sales; repairs; more sales. In her August 2018 DSN article, Chris H. mentioned our yearlong craft project. It started as an annual Christmas crafts get together years ago and has since bloomed into a major production of Christmas crafts we sell. It has become our biggest source of income for the Lodge and 2018 saw the biggest profit ever! The entire project is however so much more than a money maker. The monthly, and as the year moves on bi-weekly, craft sessions provide us an opportunity to be together and really “connect” AND we learn something. We usually are about eight sisters but this year, as it became crunch time and things needed to be done, 13 showed up. Talk about buckling down. Not only that, many sisters have taken “work” home throughout the year and we are grateful for the dedication. Our creative “motor” and hostess for those sessions is our President, Birgitte R., who has the talent, the energy and not to mention the patience to keep us all moving and stitches on point! For that reason, we recognized her with a tribute during our November meeting. Thank you, Gitte. Speaking of the November meeting – well it was pretty much a “slip and slide” trek to get there but several of us made it both there and back home safely. It was worth it, our hostesses Chris H. and Malinda R. had fixed a wonderful lunch and we had a great business meeting with election of officers – the entire 2018 Board was unchallenged and agreed to stay on for 2019, there was a bit of reshuffling of positions and Joanna C. stepped up to become 3rd Trustee. Thanks to everyone! We also decided which charities to support, we usually decide this on an annual basis: Season to Share, the Danish Windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa, and the DSS National Disaster Relief Fund. Two to three times a year we also collect $ and much needed items for the Mountain Peace Shelter – it was decided to collect again in December. On November 28th President Birgitte invited us all to “Julestue” (Christmas hygge) to finally nail down the art of making that elusive three-dimensional Christmas star as well as paper hearts. Ten brave sisters showed up. Birgitte, with the patience of a saint, guided us through the process. After much mumbling, grumbling and one “flying” star, most produced a star, a few like myself let Gitte apply the final touches to the worn-out paper strips which had been folded without success again and again and again. Despite the frustration and with a little help from some æbleskiver, homemade cookies and gløg, we had a wonderful time. So, then it was time for our Christmas party, this year hosted by Birgitte R. and yours truly. We had quite the crowd of Sisters young, old and in between. We had a beautiful table with a table “runner” of greens intermixed with the largest paper stars ever seen I believe and candle table decorations which were later offered up as door prizes. Our hostess cooked a pork roast and gravy and everyone else brought the trimmings including ris-a-la-mande with TWO almond prizes to be had. Christmas hymns were sung, in Danish as well as English. Gifts were handed out by a couple of our younger “nisser”. Then, Sister Jeralyn W. had offered to read us a funny Christmas story – little did I know I should have pre-screened this salacious tale of the life size blow-up doll – do I need to say any more except for the fact that it had us all in stitches! It was a wonderful Christmas party. We capped the events for the year with an outing arranged by Chris H. to see “A Christmas Carol” at the Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden, Colorado. We started with lunch at Jolynn’s and then on to the play. Once again, another good laugh was had by all as this was not a traditional production of the play but had a comedic twist while still honoring the original version. Excellent play and we thank Chris for taking the initiative. While busy with meetings, crafting and outings, we try to keep our shut-ins and out-of-state Sisters in mind. We miss having them around on a regular basis. On that note, Ellen Lodge has a new and much improved website/blog, thanks to Sister Emily E.: https://danishsisterhoodcolorado.weebly.com. Please check it out – there are photo montages of both Winnie, Cheryl and Grethe and you will see for yourself what I have attempted to put into words. You can also check out pictures from most of our meetings as well as the craft production and sale. This website, by the way, is an excellent tool for keeping in touch with our shut-ins who have told us that they particularly appreciate the pictures. Going above and beyond – we have so many Lodge Sisters who do just that - thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you all at National Convention in Omaha! In Sisterhood Spirit, Pia Edgar Past President, Ellen Lodge #21, Denver, Colorado
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No. 21This is a collection of articles written and compiled by members of DSS Ellen Lodge #21. Check in to find anything Lodge related or to find important Danish news! Archives
November 2023
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