Sons of Norway, Kong Sverre Lodge 1-482, Story City, Iowa

06/07/2026

Today, June 6th, our lodge was heavily involved in Story City’s Scandinavian Days celebration. I drove in the parade pulling the boat member Don Todd built that had him playing his trumpet as well as Matthew Reierson who was our Viking in costume in the boat with Don. My brother Ron road with me in today’s parade. And the weather was perfect! No rain!!
After the parade, my brother and I stopped by the lodge where several of our members were providing Norwegian goodies via a “free will offering” as well as making Vaflers (waffles). Another member made and sold home made Norwegian bread plus many other items!
My brother and I later walked to the Story City museum and found out lots of interesting information including relatives that had a clothing business on Broad Street in Story City. Plus, we viewed a one-room school house as well as get details on the log cabin that was built in 1859 that was discovered on a farm discovered inside the farmhouse! It was later moved to Story City and is now part of the Story City Historical Society.
We also visited the antique carousel as well as the Norsemen Statue dedicated on June 6, 2025. Our lodge provided a significant donation to this statue project that is part of the Roland Story School stadium.

I am very proud of our lodge members for their help with providing Norwegian food today as well as the wonderful Story City staff organizing another successful Scandinavian Days!!

05/17/2026

A message from His Majesty King Harold V on this Syttende Mai:

Happy Constitution Day (Gratulerer med dagen) 🇳🇴

To make this Syttende Mai even more special, we are honored to share a greeting from His Majesty King Harald V, who reminds us of our lasting bonds of friendship:

“I thank you for the kind greeting to the Royal Family on the occasion of May 17th. I send my best wishes for this National Day and the future – to the staff at the Embassy and their families, resident Norwegians, and the entire Norwegian-American community, as well as all friends of Norway in the United States.”

05/16/2026

Our lodge celebrated Syttende Mai (May 17-Norway’s Constitution Day), on May 11th. And Norway’s Constitution day is right around the corner on May 17! Someday, I would like to attend their celebration but you can watch it on NRK TV. They do have an app that I have on my AppleTV and iPad.
And for our Kong Sverre Lodge celebration of this day, we had our Zone 10 Director Sandy Vail present about her trip last year that included seeing the replica of the sloop that set sail on July 4th. The original voyage that had 52 emigrants on board set sail on July 4th, 1825 to America. This crossing had 45 passengers , 19 of whom were children. During this voyage, a baby was born so when the ship arrived in New York on October 9th, there were 53 people on board!
Sandy also gave much detail about her relatives that live in Norway.
Many of our members prepared some delicious Norwegian desserts plus we had some great hor d’oeuvres that included Brunost (Norwegian brown cheese).

05/08/2026

Our lodge is on the sponsor list for the upcoming Scandinavian Days celebration in June!

There’s something special about a tradition that stands the test of time and for 61 years, Scandinavian Days has done just that!

Today, we’re sending a heartfelt THANK YOU to our Lutefisk Sponsors, those who invested $125–$249 to help keep this beloved celebration going strong. Your support helps preserve our Scandinavian heritage, bring our community together, and ensure the traditions we cherish continue for generations to come.

A special thank you to:
• Kiwanis Club of Roland-Story
• PEO FZ
• Sons of Norway
• Story City Historical Society
• Story Theater / Grand Opera House
• Trees Forever of Story City
• Wolfe Family Vision Center

From lefse to laughter, parades to people this festival thrives because of you.
Tusen takk for being part of what makes Story City so special!

05/08/2026

Today is marks a historic day for 🇳🇴 Norway!

Today, Norway marks Liberation Day 🇳🇴
On May 8, 1945, after five years of German occupation during World War II, Norway became free again. Every year, Norwegians honor the courage, resistance, and sacrifices made for freedom and peace.
Today is also Veterans Day in Norway - a day to remember and thank those who served for the country, both past and present. ❤️ 🇳🇴

05/08/2026

Hei Hei!

Our menu for this coming Monday’s (May 11) Festive Syttende Mai meeting was sent to me today from our chef:

Baked Chicken Tenders
Cheesy Hashbrown Potato Casserole
Chopped Salad
Dinner Roll

05/03/2026

Hello All,
I am pleased to announce that the Kong Sverre Lodge will be holding our festive Syttende Mai meeting on May11th at 6:00 p.m. at the:
Story City Community Center
503 Elm Avenue

6:00 p.m. Social visiting time with hors d’oeuvres and wine
6:30 p.m. Catered Dinner
7:15 p.m. Business Meeting
7:30 p.m. Program by our Zone 10 Director, Sandy Vail, titled: “From Fjords to the Sea: Retracing the Legacy of Family, Land and Migration”

Cost for the meal: $10.00 for both members and guests

In celebration of Syttende Mai, if you are planning on attending, please bring your favorite Norwegian dessert to share with lodge members and guests.

Reservations are *Required* and due by Friday noon, May 8th
Please RSVP to John Olson at [email protected].

Other Reminders:
!. If you have any canceled stamps, please bring that to the meeting so that we can send them with Vincent Tomlinson to the District 1 Convention
2. Remember that the Convention is requesting lodge and individual members to donate any type of Scandinavian items for the Convention's planned Silent Auction.
Proceeds will fund fraternal activities, such as providing grants for lodges. If any of you (this is voluntary) have something that you would like to donate,
please bring the item(s) to the meeting to send with Vincent to the Convention.

04/26/2026

For our April 2026 meeting, we decided to do something completely different! We decided to a “show & tell” type presentation where our own members would bring something of value to share with all in attendance. And we had a good turnout with several of our members sharing something of Nordic value! Many in the audience were invited to come up after all the presentations were given to take a closer look at the items brought. A fun and entertaining meeting!!
Including photos that I took as well as many that member Jim Fosse took (thanks Jim!!) are below:

04/04/2026

I am pleased to announce that the Kong Sverre Lodge will be holding our meeting on April 13th starting at 6:00 p.m. at the:

Story City Community Center
503 Elm Avenue

6:00 p.m. Social visiting time
6:30 p.m. Catered dinner
7:15 p.m. Business Meeting
7:30 p.m. Program is called "Show & Tell". The Board thought it would be interesting to know what lodge members have at home that are of Norwegian/Scandivanian significance to you.
We are asking you to bring that item to the lodge meeting that will be displayed and then you can give a short explanation of the item to the other members.

Cost for the meal:
$10.00 for both lodge members and guests

Reservations are *Required* and due by Friday noon, April 10th
Please RSVP to John Olson at [email protected].

If you know of anyone without email access but who is interested in this gathering, please give them a call and inform them of our lodge meeting. I hope all of you will attend and have a great time seeing and visiting with other lodge members!

03/09/2026

Here is the menu for tonight’s March 9th Sons of Norway get-together:

Baked ham
cheesy potatoes
seasoned green beans
Watergate salad
dinner roll