WELCOME to the District Board Communication Portion of the

Sons of Norway District 7

International Convention 2008 – San Diego, CA

Report by delegate Gloria Benazic

The International Convention 2008 has come to a close.  Thank you for letting me represent District 7 – The Scenic Seventh – at this event.  It is always a growing experience to take part in and have input in the governance of Sons of Norway.  As the Vice President of District 7, Zone Director for the northern 2/3 of BC, and President of Rondane 7-071, I will share this knowledge with my fraternal sisters and brothers.  If there are points within this report that you would like further information, please contact me directly.

I would like to thank International President Ted Forsberg for inviting me to sit on the Fraternal Committee.  Our committee began meeting on Monday morning and were given the task to look at several areas of the Reports Book as well as review the goals set at the Convention 2006 in Vancouver.  It was truly an international group with one member from Norway, one member from Canada and three members from across the USA.  We were able to discuss how the by-laws and goals of Sons of Norway affect different areas and different countries in significantly different ways but that our primary objectives are the same.

• In our review of the Foundation Director, Cindy Olson’s, and Fraternal Director, Eivind Heiberg’s reports, their enthusiasm for Sons of Norway was clear.  Head Office is coming up with some great innovative tools to help the local Lodges and we strongly encourage you to use these people and resources.  A new publication, “Lodge Programming Resources Guide”, lists publications, cultural resources, lodge resources and financial/foundation resources.  Please get a copy and use it – you will be surprised at how much information is available to you and your Lodge.  For ‘grant’ information from Head Office, contact Cindy at foundation@sofn.com to confirm what is available for Canadian Lodges.  Applications for the grants can be downloaded from www.sonsofnorway.com and click on ‘foundation’ then ‘grants’.  Deadlines for grant applications vary but the first one is January 15^th so start checking this out now.

• Reviewing the Sons of Norway Foundation in Canada, it seems to be doing a fine job attracting funds from our Canadian members – assets exceed $400,000.  Most of the grants are directed to student awards so make sure you are getting your applications in for worthy candidates from your Lodge.  We recommended that the Foundation in Canada use the “Pass the Piggy” concept that Cindy Olson implemented for the International Foundation.  Each Lodge in the USA will receive a pink pig bank and will challenge each member in their Lodge to contribute over the year with the money going to the Foundation.  I brought a “Piggy” back from the International Board meeting in the spring and at the May and June Lodge meetings, challenged our members to give $20 a year or a toonie a meeting.  Several members have been regular donors as “Miss Piggy” sits on the officer’s table each meeting as a reminder.  We also recommended that our Foundation look at producing a gift envelope that Lodges could have available at events, memorials, etc.  If you make it easy, people will usually make a gift.

• The Growth Chart of Members indicated that Districts 3 and 7 (congratulations but keep working!) showed an increase in the adult members since 2006.  There were increases in all eight Districts in Heritage members so keep up the good work on enrolling your children and/or grandchildren.  The growth of members must continue to be a priority for Sons of Norway to survive.  Many of our members are aging and we must make an effort to bring new people in and provide the programs that will keep them.

• Another goal from 2006 was to establish Membership Committees in each Lodge.  District 7 did not achieve 100% so effort must continue to establish these committees.  Although the Vice President is primarily charged with membership, it takes the entire membership to assist with recruitment and a committee can often be the think tank that will help members recruit.

• Leadership training for Phase II was completed by 76% of the Lodges.  Unfortunately, no training was done in District 7 and must be part of the goals for our District.  Most Lodges are beginning Phase III so we are getting behind.

• Goal #4 was to increase the members between the ages of 40 to 55.  This is another area that continues to require more effort.  ASK your children, ASK your colleagues, ASK your friends.  If they have an interest in Sons of Norway, you won’t know until you ASK.  Look at people who are involved in other volunteer organizations that you belong to.  They might not know that Sons of Norway is open to anyone with an interest – not just those with Norwegian heritage.  When you  have new members join, encourage them to become part of the group by asking their opinions, asking them to help out with an event, cultivate them into a future leadership role within the organization by asking them to be an “Assistant Director” and work with that Director.  If they don’t feel useful or feel that they are getting something out of their membership, they will lose interest and you have lost a potential life-long member.  Remember that members in the 40 to 55 range usually have growing families.  Their time commitments are numerous so look at events where they can bring their children and teens – family parties rather than couples parties, sporting and cultural events where everyone can participate.  Communication is part of success – ask these members what works for them and their families.  If the entire family becomes involved in Sons of Norway, you now have laid the groundwork for future generations of adult members.

On Thursday morning, the delegate assembly began the business portion of the convention.  The assigned committees for Reports, Fraternal Programs, Finance/Investments, Resolutions, and Laws reported on their reviews.  All the committees were also charged by Ted Forsberg to bring forth suggestions to make Sons of Norway “the best it can be”.  Some suggestions were:  communication is often an obstacle for Lodges when the right person is not getting the right information; where do we find enthusiastic, energetic and effective leaders for our Lodges; look at ways to get all Lodges working toward the goals and objectives of the organization; Lodges and Districts should not submit resolutions that attempt to micro-manage the Home Office staff and some resolutions could have been solved by calling the Home Office and asking for help and advice; part of the leadership training should include how our District and International Conventions work and how to draft Resolution and By-Law proposals.

Laws and Resolutions:

The new Reordered Constitution (law change #1) was approved by the delegates.  Additional work will be required to look at wording and possible realignment but at least it is now a working document. Our own District 7’s Tore Pettersen was acknowledged and thanked for all the work he did on this document.  Well done, Tore.  Law changes submitted by District 7 were dealt with as follows:  #9, references to “Nordic Countries” in the Constitution and By-Laws should be deleted to fit with Mission statement was defeated as Mission statement was changed.  #10, members can sign up by sending application to Head Office or by Sons of Norway website was approved.  #11, to change the term of the Local Lodge (not necessarily calendar or fiscal year) to suit the Lodge’s timetable for changing officers was defeated.  Resolution #13 and #17 was to change the Mission Statement again and it was approved to read

“The mission of Sons of Norway to promote and to preserve the heritage and culture of Norway, to celebrate our relationship with other Nordic Countries, and provide quality insurance and financial products to its members.” 

District 7 submitted the following resolutions:  #20 Dues billing – to have invoice indicate where each part of the money is distributed between International, District and Lodge was defeated.  #21 Electronic Communication – to have emails send under bcc was defeated.  #22 Greeting Cards – produced by Head Office was defeated.  If you are interested in Clipart to make your own cards, check out April 2008 Viking Resource as they give you some sites (and remember District 7 has cards for sale!).

The Breakout Sessions on Thursday were informative.  I have some information from the Lodge Fundraising and Lodge Programming sessions.  If you are interested, contact me and I will share the materials.

Elections were held with the following officers:

President Dan Rude

Vice President Marit Kirstiansen

Secretary Audun Gythfeldt

Treasurer Gene Brandvold

District 7 will continue to be represented by Erik Brochmann with his alternate Ron Stubbings.