SACHF News November 2017
60 W. Olsen Road,  Thousand Oaks, CA 91360        805-241-0391   
A genealogy mystery  that began when SACHF genealogist Marilyn Peterson (left) found intriguing notes on a Bible cover donated to the ScanCenter. As she tracked information from the notes, she recruited regional genealogists to help with the analysis. That led to an Oct. 25 BrownBag presentation by Don and Carley Worth (at right as pointed out by SACHF President Anita Londgren).
Erikson/Ericsson event   held Sunday, Oct. 8 (the day before the national Leif Erikson Day Oct. 9) honored Swedish-American inventor/engineer JOHN ERICSSON for his creation of the Civil War ironclad warship the MONITOR that was vital to the Union cause. A statue in New York shows him holding a model of the MONITOR (beside the photo of another model of the MONITOR). The program included the showing of a documentary about the battle of the Civil War ironclads, and that DVD now can be borrowed from the ScanCenter. Recognition of John Ericsson concluded with his induction into the SACHF Hall of Fame by Howard Rockstad. Later endorsed by Agneta Nilsson.
The flag of Greenland  is displayed by Fred Tonsing during a BrownBag Lunch about Greenland, which is associated with Denmark. So the colors of the flag are red and white like that of Denmark-- but in a distinctively different arrangement. 
SACHF Historian Glenn Gustafson donated the flag, which will now be available for other SACHF events.

Carousel  (no, not the musicale by that name) got attention during an old-fashioned show with 35mm slides in an actual Carousel projector (in circle).  In this BrownBag Lunch, Dick and Anita Londgren shared a basic presentation they had prepared many years ago for the Scandinavian Cultural Center at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. But the remote control for their Carousel was missing, so Marilyn Molinari came to the rescue with the donation of a remote control.  Thus the "antique" Carousel worked like new. And the first picture in the slide show featured the statue of Leif Erikson in Seattle.

Speaking of Leif Erikson,  this recent newspaper comic strip relates to another SACHF coming event. The NORDIC SPIRIT SYMPOSIUM will occur Feb. 9-10 of next year at Cal Lutheran. It will feature archeological research in the part of Newfoundland where Leif Erikson and others from Greenland established a village in the year 1000.  But, in contrast to this cartoon, the current research does feature state-of-the-art techniques, as well as the necessary primitive types of digging. Look for more information from Howard Rockstad of SACHF, who heads the Symposium committee. Others on the committee are Jane Sandler, Ava Schleder, Fred Tonsing and Nancy Truex.
Speaking of Vikings, these "Little Vikings" from the Sons of Norway meet weekly at the Scandinavian Center for crafts like these plus stories, music and other learning activities.
The Finland centennial got a boost from SACHF Board member Dennis Mattson and guest presenter Dr. Tiina Itkonen of California State University, Channel Islands during the Nov. 1 BrownBag Lunch gathering. Both have roots in Finland. She is an associate professor of education and political science. Besides describing successful methods of early education in Finland, she invited the group to the Nov. 14 event to celebrate Finland's 100 years of independence at CSU from 4:30-7:00 p.m. in Malibu Hall 100.
From the Horse's mouth: As this photo in front of the Scandinavian Center reminds us, SACHF has been "hitched" to California Lutheran University from the "giddy-up". The predecessor organization of SACHF began almost with the opening of the college in 1959 as a Cal Lutheran outreach to the surrounding Scandinavian community. From that start with a collection of books and some artifacts, SACHF expanded as a cultural center in the CLU library. 
 
Many years later, CLU offered housing in the present multi-purpose Scandinavian Center at 26 Faculty Road on the campus. 
 
From early on, SACHF has focused on our mission to "preserve and promote Scandinavian Heritage and Culture in the Southwestern United States for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations."
 
As a recent step of putting that into action, SACHF helped establish the CLU Scandinavian Student Club and continues to provide support. The current club president, Anna Liljas, succeeded past-president Katherine Reaves as a member of our SACHF Board of Directors.

From SACHF President
 
Anita  HILLESLAND  Londgren
 
P.S.: Thanks for the E-News support from the SACHF Communications Team--Board members Richard Londgren and Eric Renn, and Fred Tonsing for the photos.
Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation