Previous events

"Invandrene: Refugees and Immigration in Norway

Zoom (Email Lakselaget.dc@gmail.com to Register)

“Invandrene: Refugees and Immigration in Norway” is our topic for our March meeting. Our distinguished speakers are Knut Vollebaek, former Ambassador of Norway to the United States (2001-2007) and his wife Ellen Vollebaek. They will share with us their perspective on how Norway has handled an influx of refugees into Norway.

Ambassador Vollebaek has also served on the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and is currently serving on the Board of Commissioners on Missing Persons. He has considerable experience observing how other countries handle refugees, as conduits and as final destinations.

Ellen Vollebaek has been a Senior Advisor to the Research Council of Norway, a government funded national strategic and funding agency for research activities, and a chief source of advice and input into research policy for the Norwegian Government.

Both Vollebaeks are actively involved through their church community to provide services and experience to refugees seeking to immigrate into Norway. This will be a fascinating inside view from diplomats who have influenced public policy, and actually worked with refugees.

We will 30 minutes of their time, followed by questions/answers from the audience for another 10-15 minutes.

Barnacle Biology and the Fouling of Ships Kathryn J. Wahl, Ph.D.

Seasons 52 Fresh Grill, 7863L Tysons Corner Ctr, McLean, VA

The costs of biofouling to seafaring countries and businesses is significant. For example, loss of fuel efficiency and maintenance is estimated at the billion dollar level for the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke class of destroyers over their lifetime. In this presentation, Kathryn will review the history of fouling prevention, and our understanding of the most pernicious hard fouler, the barnacle, over the past two centuries. Dr. Wahl is the Acting Branch Head of the Surface Chemistry Branch, Chemistry Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. She has a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from St. Olaf College, Northfield MN and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston IL. She works in the areas of barnacle biofouling, as well as friction, wear and corrosion processes at scales ranging from laboratory to full scale ship systems.

Members Lunch $35; Guests $40; 2019-20 Dues $40

Lakselaget DC Annual Summer Meeting 2019

Lakselaget DC Annual Summer Meeting 2019, Private event - contact us for more information, VA

We look forward to our Annual Summer Meeting on June 1! We will start with a short business meeting and the election of officers, and then continue on to brunch with a wonderful spread of food, including salmon of course, and great fellowship. Members and/or guests, please contact our convener for the private address and let her know what you will bring for our summer buffet.

 Mimosas will be served!

Syttende Mai Picnic in Carderock Park

Carderock Park on the Potomac, Carderock Recreation Area Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath, Potomac, Maryland

Please join us in celebrating Norway's Constitution Day/Syttende mai with a family-friendly picnic on May 17th! This year’s speaker is Veronica Westhrin, Correspondent for NRK TV/radio. As always, there will be music by the Rockville Brass Band, a parade on the grounds, free hot dogs, soda, and ice-cream, and games for the children. To get your free tickets, please register here: 17 Mai Tickets You may want to arrive a bit early to avoid the rush hour traffic.

Hosted by Royal Norwegian Embassy, Norwegian Society and Church Service in Washington DC, Lakselaget DC, Norwegian Ladies Club, Sons of Norway, Washington Lodge, and Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce Mid-Atlantic Chapter. Directions: From Beltway (I-495) take exit 41 W to Clara Barton Parkway. Take the right exit before overpass for Carderock Park; go to the left on overpass onto short winding road under the canal. Inside the park entrance, you may park on the left or the right. Park only in designated parking areas (you will be ticketed if you park on the grass).  

Register to get your free tickets!

Syttende Mai Celebration Gala

Sequioa, Georgetown Waterfront, 3000 K St NW, Washington, DC

The Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce together with The Royal Norwegian Embassy, Norwegian Society and Church Service in Washington DC, Norwegian Ladies Club, Lakselaget DC, and Sons of Norway Washington DC Lodge Invites you to join the celebration of the 205thanniversary of the THE NORWEGIAN CONSTITUTION –   Syttende Mai Gala    – For this year’s Syttende Mai Celebration Gala Sequioa, Georgetown Waterfront May 16, 2019 6:30pm-11pm   Cocktail Reception & open bar starting at 6:30 pm  followed by 3 course dinner, open bar & entertainment  Members of Norwegian-American Organizations: USD 125 Non Members: USD 185 Young Associates: USD 65   Attire: National Dress, Black Tie Optional, Business Attire Adr: 3000 K St NW, Washington, DC 20007 Parking in building (flat rate USD 13)   Stay tuned for more information on designated speakers and honored guests   REGISTER HERE!

Members $125, Non-Members/Guests $185, Young Associates (under 30) $65

Lakselaget DC April Luncheon 2019

Mikko Nordic Fine Foods, 1636 R St NW, Washington, DC

Please join us for lunch on Saturday, April 6 at Chef Mikko's Cafe in Washington, DC!

A three-course meal especially prepared for Lakselaget DC will be await us, salmon included, and one of of Chef Mikko's associates will tell us a little bit about the cafe, the food, the concept, and the history behind it. (Alcholic beverages on your own bill). Chef Mikko Kosonen hails from Finland and worked as the Chef for the Finnish Ambassador for many years. Authentic Nordic food with a local twist is served in his cafe which was opened about a year ago. Here is what you will find on the regular menu: House-smoked salmon piled on thinly sliced home-made rye bread; herring made a plethora of ways; buckwheat blinis piled with fresh sour cream, onions, and caviar; homemade soups filled with hearty root vegetables from local sources; and mushroom and beet-root  salads just like you would find in food halls and farmers markets in Stockholm and Helsinki. Chef Mikko started cooking at the age of 13 at his family’s restaurant “Cassi” in Stockholm, Sweden.  He trained at the prestigious Helsinki Culinary School and honed his skills at the Havis Amanda restaurant in Helsinki, which enjoys a reputation as one of the finest fish and seafood restaurants in all of Finland and at the Belvedere Hotel In Annecy, France, also famous for its fish and seafood. In other words, you are in for a treat! Please RSVP no later than April 3. Limited spots.

$35 for members/$40 for guests

Lakselaget DC March Luncheon 2019

Seasons 52 Fresh Grill, 7863L Tysons Corner Ctr, McLean, VA

Please join us for our monthly Lakselaget DC Luncheon on March 2 with a very engaging speaker, Ms. Pamela Banks. "Mission to Norway and the Race for the Atomic Bomb"

Pamela Banks’ family members served in the United States Army during World War II and their lives were profoundly impacted by the race to build an atomic bomb. One life was lost and another life was saved by President Roosevelt’s decision to develop experimental nuclear weapons and by President Truman’s decision to deploy them on Japan ending the war in the Pacific. The full story of their military service was discovered in 2010 when Pamela began clearing out the attic of her family home to move to Leesburg, Virginia. She opened a wooden box containing pictures, letters, and documents that had been hidden for more than five decades and eventually learned why her uncle’s remains rest in Norway. Prior to moving to Virginia, Pamela lived in both New York and New Jersey. She is currently a volunteer at the George C. Marshall International Center in Leesburg.  Following an extensive corporate career in human resources and organizational change, she became a career transitions coach and an independent consultant. Pamela graduated from Columbia University with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Psychology and was trained as a business negotiations coach at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Please RSVP by February 27!

St. Olaf Orchestra to perform in Virgina

Center for the Arts, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

The St. Olaf Orchestra, conducted by Steven Amundson, will perform in Arlington, Charlottesville, and Fairfax during their 2019 tour of the East Coast. The orchestra will be coming off of their premiere at Carnegie Hall with violinist Sarah Chang on February 2, and the program will feature Barber's Overture to the School for Scandal, Missy Mazzoli's These Worlds in Us, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, and more.  Concerts Near You: Sunday, February 3, 7:30 p.m. Wakefield High School Arlington, VA $10 adults, free for students   Monday, February 4, 7:30 p.m. The Paramount Theater With the Youth Orchestra of Central Virginia Charlottesville, VA $10 adults, free for students   Tuesday, February 5, 8 p.m. Center for the Arts, George Mason University With the Lake Braddock Symphony Orchestra Fairfax, VA $10 adults, free students Tickets and information

Lakselaget DC February Luncheon 2019

Seasons 52, 7863L Tysons Corner Ctr, McLean, VA

Please join us for our monthly luncheon on February 2 at Seasons 52 at 11:30 AM and hear our own Christine Spangler talk about her artwork! Please RSVP no later than January 30! Here is a sample of one of her recent woodblock prints entitled Bergen.

Norwegian-American print and textile artist, Christine Spangler is the creator of the Numbered Original Woodblock Print of Kjerringøy, Nordland, Norway, No. 2 of 18 (2017).  Christine will be our speaker at Lakselaget DC’s February 2nd luncheon meeting to talk about her Norwegian woodblock print work and the techniques and processes she uses to create them. In addition to woodblock prints, Christine Spangler has designed textiles of all types for commissions, exhibitions, and industrial use since 1972 including: the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament; and Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC She trained in Oslo, Norway at the State College for Art Teachers and The School of Art and Design, where she majored in woven textile design. She has designed for the home furnishings industry, woven private and institutional commissions, and taught textiles and interior design at the university level. More information about her work is at http://spanglertextile.com.   

$35 for members/$40 for guests

Lakselaget DC January Luncheon 2019

Seasons 52 Fresh Grill, 7863 Tysons Corner, lower level near Barnes & Noble, McLean, VA

The speaker for the Lakselaget DC luncheon in January is Robin Kent, a professional photographer who specializes in nature and the great outdoors - especially the Arctic, Antarctica, Iceland, and the (formerly called) Northwest Passage.

Mr. Kent is a fine arts photographer known for his dramatic images of Washington, D.C. as well as for his landscape work in more remote locations. His landscape subjects include  photographing the Milky Way in back country areas of Yosemite National Park, the frozen landscapes of the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as the northern latitudes of Iceland, Greenland, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.  Most recently he traveled to the mountains of central Mexico to the overwintering sites of the monarch butterfly and in March 2018 returned to Iceland for the third time .   Robin’s photographs are in the collections of major corporations, local business organizations, and individual collectors.  His training has included landscape photography from the late Galen Rowell, founder of Mountain Light Photography and advanced printing techniques from Mac Holbert, a co-founder of Nash Editions.  He is former President and a current member of Great Falls Studios, a consortium of 100 plus artists in Great Falls, Virginia.  He is represented by Art Matters in Glen Echo, Maryland.  More examples of his work can be seen at his website, www.photographybykent.com.  Please RSVP no later than January 2! We look forward to seeing you there and wish you all God jul and Godt nyttår!

$35 for members/$40 for guests

Lakselaget DC Annual Norwegian Christmas Luncheon/Julefest

Seasons 52, 7863 Tysons Corner, McLean, VA

On Saturday, December 1, we will have our Annual Norwegian Christmas Luncheon (Julefest), and we look forward to seeing everyone there! Feel free to bring your family and friends and join us at Season's 52, at Tyson's Corner.  We will meet at 11:30 AM, for our delightful celebration of the Norwegian Christmas season.  LIVE Musical Guests will be there to help us celebrate, followed by a delicious lunch with Norwegian Kransekake for dessert, as well as fellowship and fun as the holiday season begins.

Please RSVP your attendance soonest so that we can be sure to have room for everyone.

Our Musical Guests:   Santa Lucia Celebration from the House of Sweden

“FOR 20-25 years we have arranged the traditional Lucia procession in Washington,” says Kerstin Hendrickson, who was one of the initiator of this Swedish tradition in the nation’s capital, and is now the coordinator and leader of the group. She works together with Steven Brodd. Mr. Brodd is the organist in Augustana Lutheran Church on New Hampshire Avenue in Northwest D.C., the church where the Swedish community gathers for monthly services. THE SANTA LUCIA tradition, which originated in Italy, has become a venerated Swedish Christmas holiday tradition and is celebrated everywhere in Sweden on Dec. 13. A young girl is selected to play the role of Lucia, and she leads a procession wearing a long white robe with a red ribbon, and a crown of lighted candles in her hair. In Norway, people celebrate Santa Lucia in the same manner.

We look forward to seeing you all on December 1 and wish you all God jul!

$50

Docent-led Tour of Nordic Impressions for Lakselaget DC

The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW, Washington, DC

For our November 3 meeting of Lakselaget, we have arranged a very special treat:  a docent-led tour of the art exhibition, "Nordic Impressions" at the Phillips Collection which Urd Milbury of the Norwegian Embassy spoke about at our October meeting.   “ Nordic Impressions” is a curator-selected exploration of Scandinavian art from 1821 to 2018.

Nils Dardel The Dying Dandy (1918) Oil on canvas, 55 1/8 x 70 7/8 in., Moderna Museet, Stockholm Please plan to meet inside the main entrance to the Phillips Collection by 11:15 AM for our tour to begin at 11:30. Please RSVP your attendance by Wednesday October 31st !  The Phillips is located at 1600 21st Street NW, Washington DC 2009. It is walkable from the DuPont Circle Metro stop.  Parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood for two hours.  Admission tickets are $15 for the docent led tour. Please bring a check made out to Lakselaget DC in that amount to reimburse LakselagetDC for the price of your admission to our group tour.   After the exhibition, we will walk a few blocks up Connecticut Avenue to Bistrot du Coin for lunch, at 1:00, where we will order from the menu at our own expense.   The restaurant is located at: 1738 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 20009. We look forward to seeing everyone!

$15 for tour/lunch on your own/RSVPs only

Lakselaget DC October Luncheon 2018

Seasons 52, 7868 Tysons Corner Center Mall, McLean, VA

We're having our first meeting of the season and hope you will join us for an interesting talk and a delicious lunch on Saturday, October 6! Our speaker will be Urd Berge Milbury, the cultural officer at the Norwegian Embassy, who will be speaking about an exciting new exhibit, Nordic Impressions, opening at the Phillips Collection on October 13.  Nordic Impressions spans nearing 200 years of Nordic art and presents 53 artists from Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Sweden as well as the self-governing islands of Aland, Faroe and Greenland.  The art in the exhibition focuses on themes that have held a special place in Nordic culture:  light and darkness, inner life and exterior space, the coalescence of nature and folklore, and women’s rights and social liberalism.

Nils Dardel The Dying Dandy (1918) Oil on canvas, 55 1/8 x 70 7/8 in., Moderna Museet, Stockholm   

Lakselaget is planning an TBD docent-led tour of the exhibit which runs until January 13. We look forward to seeing you on October 6 and as always, your guest(s) are welcome!

 

$35 for members/$40 for guests

Lakselaget DC Annual Summer Meeting

Lakselaget DC Annual Summer Meeting, Private event - contact us for more information, VA

We look forward to our Annual Summer Meeting on June 2! Election of officers, a spread of wonderful food, including salmon of course, and great fellowship. Members and/or guests, please contact our convener for the private address and let her know what you will bring to our summer buffet.

The picture is from Oslofjorden in all its summer glory.

Syttende Mai Celebration Gala

Capitol View at 400, 444 North Capitol St. NW, Washington, DC

The Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce Mid-Atlantic Chapter together with The Royal Norwegian Embassy, The Norwegian Church Service in Washington DC, Norwegian Ladies Club, Lakselaget DC, Sons of Norway, Washington DC Lodge, and Norwegian Society of Washington DC Invites you to join the celebration of the 204th anniversary of the THE NORWEGIAN CONSTITUTION.

REGISTER HERE For this year's Syttende Mai Celebration Gala Capitol View at 400 May 17, 2018 6.30pm-10.30pm Cocktail Reception & open bar starting at 6.30pm followed by 3 course dinner, and entertainment at 7:30pm   We are honored to confirm the participation of Parliamentary leader of the Norwegian Conservative Party Trond Helleland and Minister of Children & Equality Linda Hofstad Helleland   Attire: National Dress, Black Tie Optional, Business Attire Address: 444 North Capitol St NW, Washington, DC 20001, Parking in building (flat rate USD 12)

Lakselaget DC April Luncheon 2018

Seasons 52 Grill, 7863L Tysons Corner Ctr, McLean, VA

Please join us for our monthly Lakselaget DC Luncheon on April 7th! RSVP by April 4th! Our speaker Ms Inger Dreng will be providing a presentation on "Studying Norwegian in the US for Fun and Profit."  Drawing on her experience as a language instructor in the Washington DC area since 2004, Ms. Dreng will address why people elect to study Norwegian. In addition, Ms. Dreng will provide an overview of how and where people may study Norwegian in the US and DC area. Since many of our members have studied Norwegian and/or feel passionate about the language, there will also be a discussion of our own experiences with the Norwegian language.

This picture is taken at Kyststien, a coastal path in the Larvik area,where our speaker likes to hike when visiting her hometown.

Ms. Dreng has worked as a language instructor since 2004, teaching government employees slated for overseas positions requiring a knowledge of Norwegian language and culture.  Ms. Dreng has a BA in German studies from American University in Washington D.C.,and a translation degree in Norwegian and English from the University of Agder in Kristiansand.  She is Norwegian by birth and lives in Sterling, VA, with her husband and daughter, and a very energetic black lab mix named Holly.

$35 for members/$40 for guests

Lakselaget DC Chapter Email News

Join our email list!

Lakselaget DC Chapter Email News

Lakselaget DC Chapter Events

Previous events

"Invandrene: Refugees and Immigration in Norway

Zoom (Email Lakselaget.dc@gmail.com to Register)

“Invandrene: Refugees and Immigration in Norway” is our topic for our March meeting. Our distinguished speakers are Knut Vollebaek, former Ambassador of Norway to the United States (2001-2007) and his wife Ellen Vollebaek. They will share with us their perspective on how Norway has handled an influx of refugees into Norway.

Ambassador Vollebaek has also served on the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and is currently serving on the Board of Commissioners on Missing Persons. He has considerable experience observing how other countries handle refugees, as conduits and as final destinations.

Ellen Vollebaek has been a Senior Advisor to the Research Council of Norway, a government funded national strategic and funding agency for research activities, and a chief source of advice and input into research policy for the Norwegian Government.

Both Vollebaeks are actively involved through their church community to provide services and experience to refugees seeking to immigrate into Norway. This will be a fascinating inside view from diplomats who have influenced public policy, and actually worked with refugees.

We will 30 minutes of their time, followed by questions/answers from the audience for another 10-15 minutes.