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Sons of Norway - Viking September 2004
September 2004
   

About the Cover: Phil Olson, a Sons of Norway member from Van Nuys, Calif., swings back to his hometown of Minneapolis to show his play "Don't Hug Me: A Minnesota Love Story with Singin' and Stuff."
Columns & Departments

Velkommen: Membership: It's all about family
Letters from Readers
Nordic Lites

Your Money: Evaluating your life--insurance, that is
Lost Branch
Members Only: A Dickinson, N.D., lodge is crazy for Cultural Skills
District Happenings
Loving Memory
Connections

Q & A: Norwegian Film Director Bent Hamer

Membership: It's all about family

Sons of Norway is focusing its efforts on recruitment and retention of
members. For the first time in many years, we understand why people join
Sons of Norway and why people stay in Sons of Norway. Instituting good
programming and friendly lodge settings is key to making this happen.

In this past biennium, one of the initiatives of the International Board of Directors was the Second Century for Growth Committee. One of its subcommittees studied the issue of the family-friendly lodge; it concluded
that if a lodge wishes to have younger members and young families, it has a responsibility to send a message of inclusiveness to families. One of the ideas was to have a younger member or family serve as a "family friendly" ambassador to other young families or members. Another program idea was to institute an honorary bestemor and bestefar program. Honorary
grandparents can play as large a role as they like in
this program.

Getting families in the door is just the beginning. It's important for the lodge to have an inventory of supplies to create a family-friendly atmosphere. Do you have highchairs, booster chairs, bibs, children's books and a VCR? The International Board has instituted a new program called "Family Lodge of the Year" to commence in 2005. Starting this fall, we'll have resource materials for you to make your lodge more family-friendly. The International Board is recommending to the International Lodge that Sons of Norway adopt a family dues structure for the first time in the history of Sons of Norway.
This should also help to recruit families, particularly those with younger children.

Fraternally,

Jim Olson
International President

 

Medlemskap: Det handler om familien

S ons of Norway satser tid og krefter på rekruttering og bevaring av sine medlemmer. For første gang på mange år forstår vi nå hvorfor folk blir medlem av Sons of Norway og hvorfor de fortsetter som medlemmer. Nøkkelen er
å skape gode programtilbud og trivelige lodgemiljøer.

Et av initiativene til det internasjonale styret i den siste toårsperioden var en komite som heter Second Century for Growth. En av underkomiteene studerte spørsmålet om familie-vennlige lodger og konkluderte at dersom en
lodge ønsker å ha yngre medlemmer og familier må den ha som ansvar å sende ut klare meldinger til familier om inklusivitet. En av ideene var å ha et yngre medlem eller en familie som en "familie-vennlig" ambassadør for andre unge familier eller medlemmer. En annet mulighet var å utpeke bestemor eller bestefar som æresmedlemmer. Besteforeldre med dette tillitsvervet kan velge å være så aktive som de selv ønsker.

Men å få familier gjennom døren er bare begynnelsen. For å opprette en familie-vennlig atmosfære er det viktig for lodgene å ha et stort forråd av ulike typer utstyr. Har de barnestoler, smekker, barnebøker og videospiller?
Det internasjonale styret har opprettet et nytt program som heter "Family Lodge of the Year" som skal startes opp i 2005. Til høsten vil vi ha ressursmateriell tilgjengelig for å skape mer familie-vennlige lodger. Med
anbefaling til den internasjonale lodgen har det internasjonale styret foreslått at Sons of Norway iverksetter et medlemsavgiftssystem for familier for første gang i Sons of Norways historie. Dette kan også hjelpe med rekruttering av familier, og spesielt småbarnsfamilier.

Med broderlig hilsen,

Jim Olson
Internasjonal president

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