group of people sitting in a circle with books in front of themWant to feel more connected to your heritage while having fun? Members who participate in the Sons of Norway Cultural Skills Program tell us that they feel engaged and energized. Here are a few ideas to get you going:

Team Up

  • Host a baking or cooking day to prepare for a lodge dinner or bazaar
  • Form a reading/Hardanger/knitting/carving club to learn from each other
  • Have a listening party before or after your lodge meeting to fulfill the music unit

Special Events

  • Bring in an expert to teach a workshop, or arrange a group outing to take a class
  • Attend a concert with music by a Norwegian composer or musician
  • Watch a play — Ibsen’s dramas remain among the most popular plays to this day
  • Visit a genealogy library or local archive to research your family tree

Go Solo

  • Write a book review for your lodge newsletter
  • Watch a Norwegian movie and journal your thoughts about it

Skills on Display

  • Track and celebrate lodge members’ achievements — print names in your lodge newsletter and tally the number of reports earned each year
  • Demonstrate Norwegian crafting skills at the county fair, with a lodge table displaying textile, rosemaling and woodworking prowess

Note: Many of the above activities fulfill requirements toward earning Cultural Skills pins.

As a lodge, you can get more members involved by declaring a theme like these lodges have done:

  • Year of Cultural Skills
    Capital Viking Lodge 3-428 in Washington, DC has declared 2019 the “Year of Cultural Skills” and has programmed several of the above activities to facilitate group learning and participation
  • Book Flood
    Polar Star Lodge 5-472 of Aurora, IL has started a year-round tradition that encourages lodge members to earn pins while exchanging favorite Norwegian literature. Drawing on the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflód, (“flooding” each other with books and chocolate at Christmas), members are encouraged to bring a favorite book by a Norwegian author and chocolate to share.
  • Friendly Competition
    Edmonds Lodge 2-130 and Bothell Lodge 2-106 engage in an annual competition to see which lodge can earn the most Cultural Skills pins in a year. In the Spring, they get together for the grand reveal.