Danish Cultural Conference, Menucha Center, Corbett, Oregon, June 26-28, 2009

Oregon and SW Washington Scandinavian Community: Past and Future, Mike O’Bryant, Executive Director, and Aase Beaulieu, Development Director, Scandinavian Heritage Foundation (SHF), Portland, Oregon

Mike said that Scandinavian immigration to the U.S. occurred during 1880 to 1920. Now, reverse immigration is the new trend. The early immigrants formed groups and lodges to keep their cultural traditions and language alive. The 1990 Oregon census shows: 47,000 Danish, 23,000 Finnish, 1200 Icelandic, 124,200 Norwegian, and 124,600 Swedish, with 348,840 total. Similar figures for Washington: 82,000 Danish and 257,000 Swedish. There are ~210,000 Scandinavians in the Portland tri-county area or 270,000 if you include southwest Washington.

In 1920, there were 50 Scandinavian clubs in Portland, now we only have 30 clubs left. The Scandinavian Club is now gone. The SHF has taken on the Club’s Lucia Court and Scandinavian-of-the-Year functions. For an organization to be a success, one needs: (1) Critical mass (i.e., sufficient members to function and self-perpetuate), (2) Lodge (i.e., physical space), (3) National affiliation, (4) Engage the general public, (5) Wide-range of programs. SHF started by supporting Scandinavian language instruction at Portland State University (PSU), then the annual ScanFair event (December), then the annual Mid-Summer Festival. The latest efforts by SHF now include the increasingly popular quarterly Nordic Business Council luncheon & speaker events and the new (as of June 25, 2009) Nordic Business After Hours Reception. SHF’s presence at PSU helped to spur the renovation of the Finnish Room, which, after 50 years, was rededicated in May 2009. The Finnish Room is used by guests of SHF’s popular Friday Night Lecture series and for other Nordic groups and events. The SHF mission is pan-Scandinavian in scope and seeks to preserve, communicate, and celebrate Scandinavian culture and heritage.

Aase said the SHF has an ambitious goal to build a new Scandinavian Cultural and Community Center. The site is located just east of Washington Square Mall, on a nice wooded area of two acres, in southwest Portland. The property is owned by the former Swedish vice-counsel, Ross Fogelquist (also a SHF Board member). In 1992, the Founders Club helped to raise money to purchase part of the property to start the Center. The price back then was $276,000 and is now worth $1,200,000 (a 350% increase). Expansion of SHF office space is limited by lack of space and inefficiency (i.e., holding events all around town at different locations and paying rental fees).

The growth of SHF has been amazing: 75 members in 1997 and now up to 850. SHF programs now include PSU Scandinavian language and literature classes (e.g., Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish), Friday Night lectures (~40-100 attend), Ruth Love Program (outreach to elementary schools), Nordic Business Council lunches, Oregon Lucia Court, ScanFair (largest event of the year, ~5000 attend), Founders Club Reunions, Mid-Summer Festival (~2000 attend), Portland International Film Festival, ScanFest Gala and Auction (biggest fundraiser, ~200-300 attend), Annual Members Meeting and Dinner (to honor all SHF members), Cook-and-Eat classes (~10-30 attend), and other special events and the quarterly SHF newsletter.

A new capital campaign to build the Center was launch in March 2007. The endowment goal is $1,000,000. The Center will have space for classrooms, meeting and office rooms, kitchen, and café and terrace overlooking a pretty marshland. The Center will be 24,000 sq-feet in size, with 16,000 sq-feet upstairs, and 8,000 sq-feet lower-level. For more information: www.scanheritage.org.

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Mærsk and Global Shipping, James Dunn, Key Client Manager, Mærsk, Inc., Portland, Oregon

Mærsk is among the largest global shipping companies with 550 vessels and 1,900,000 containers – operating in 130 countries with its trademark “door-to-door” service. The idea for a shipping company began in Svendborg in 1904. Company was formally established in Copenhagen in 1912 by AP Moller, as the AP Moller-Mærsk Group. In 1962, Mærsk expanded into North Sea oil and natural gas exploration, in a partnership with Shell, Chevron, and Mobil Oil, using new pressurized water injection methods. Mærsk is a major sponsor of the Danish arts and help fund the new Opera House in Copenhagen via the Mærsk Family Foundation (which owns 51% of the company).

Mærsk has 110,000 employees today. In 2008, Mærsk was ranked 131^st place in the Fortune-500 list. AP Moller once said, “No loss should hit us which can be avoided with constant care. This must be a watchword through the entire organization.” In 2006, Mærsk has 11,000 containers (TEUs).

Retail business is very important to Denmark. It is true that culture from a company’s home country can be transmitted through trade.

More specifics tell that the “Container Revolution” helped all shipping companies. The average annual growth has been 8.7% since 1980. The Mærsk S-class vessel is 1205 feet long – as the Empire State Building. The Container operation has logistics, shipping, trucking, vessel ownership, and management aspects. The Customer operation has retail and industrial clients. The Distribution operation has loading and distribution aspects with 40 terminals (part of the Bridge Terminal Transport), 110,000 chassis, and 6000 gensets. Mærsk is a publically traded stock on the Danish stock exchange.

Mærsk-USA is based out of Madison NJ with 15,000 employees, 100 offices, and 50 vessels. Ships are flown with the U.S. flag and comply with U.S. trade laws – assist the U.S. Government with food aid operations and military and government equipment.

Pirate attacks are an old problem with a new face starting in 2007. The Mærsk-Alabama was attacked and taken by Somoli pirates. The Mærsk-Phoenix was attached on June 22. The Arabian Sea has 20,000 ships each year, a very important shipping area but too vast (2.5 million sq-miles) to patrol and protect. Maritime Defense rules say a vessel can arm itself but jurisdiction issues are murky and unresolved when capturing pirates.

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What Makes Danish Cooking Unique?, Stig Hansen, “Viking Chef”, Author (and former Portland DBIA #167 President), Utah

Stig is fond of saying, “Danes Live to Eat.” Food has a connection to history, in our case, from the Viking Era to the present. Danish food has traditionally been high in carbohydrates and fat in order to survive the cold harsh winters. In the early 1800s, the working class ate rye bread and the nobility ate white bread. During a strike of Danish bakers, Austrian bakers came to Copenhagen and brought “Vienna Bread” which became quickly popular and was later called wienerbrød. The now famous kringle was invented in 1860. Danish bakers refined kransekage (Danish wedding cake).

Meat was a luxury in the past. Now, Denmark is the largest meat-eater in the world – with 200 pounds per person per year. Herring runs declined by the early 1800s. Hot dogs are popular. Rølpolse suffered in sales with the red-dye scare. A safer substitute was found and used instead. Preserved meats were salted, smoked, or pickled.

The smørrebrød (i.e., open-face sandwich) is very popular and unique. The Ida Davidson Restaurant in Copenhagen is one of the most popular places for smørrebrød with a menu of 200 selections. A book was written on the favorite smørrebrød choices of famous movie stars, which has also helped the food’s popularity. The smørrebrød is thought to have originated in the Middle-Ages. The smørrebrød is bread, covered from edge-to-edge with butter, then layered with toppings of meats, cheeses, and vegetables.

The Danish kolde bord, or “cold table,” offers a buffet of pickled herring, meats, cheeses, then warm fish and a warm meat (e.g., liver pâté, frikadeller), then havarti cheese and sliced radish atop white bread – all accompanied by beer or ice-cold akavit (snaps) with shot-glasses.

There are ~450 inns in Denmark. Some date back to the 17^th Century. Each inn offers its own “hygge” or feelings of home warmth and coziness, especially shared with family and friends.

Danish cooking is basic and simple – not fancy. Ironically, it is getting harder to find Danish cooking in Denmark with the influx and growth of international food infusing into Denmark in recent years. Ground pork is still a common meat. Potatoes came to Denmark in the 1700s, through Germany.

Stig’s book, Cooking Danish: A Taste of Denmark, was made by compiling family recipes – namely for his adult children. The photographers for his book spent eight days working with Stig and his cooking demonstrations. Go to: http://www.cookingdanish.com.

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Danish Porcelain, Sonja Kromann, Librarian, NOAA National Marine Mammal Lab, Seattle, Washington

Christmas plates are the most iconic items of porcelain. A brief history of porcelain can be traced back to China with the blue-and-white pattern, adopted in Europe – Germany (1710), then to Denmark in 1775 by Franz Heinrich Muller. Danish porcelain uses kaolinite, feldspar, and quartz as base material. In 1849, Danish porcelain went private.

The porcelain process consists of (1) manufacturer’s artist concept, (2) throwing and molding of the clay, (3) first firing, (4) painting (under-glaze), (5) second firing and glaze, (6) over-glaze decorations, (7) final firing. The white clay is fired at high temperatures, 400 degF, and then 1100 degF.

Royal Chartered Porcelain was manufactured under the patronage of the Danish Royal Family. Trademark – three wavy lines. The dinner plates by Danica have blue flutes as a trademark. Bing and Grøndahl (1853) started the Christmas plate series in 1895. Dinner plates are made by Seagull, Hevon, and Julrose (book and art dealers). Dahl-Jensen (1925) worked for Bing and Grøndahl, as a small artist-family run business, making figurines with denser colors, as did 17 other companies. Aluminia (1863) makes Christmas plates. Other companies include Lyngby Porcelain and Rosenthal. Royal Copenhagen and Bing and Grøndahl merged together in 1987.

Most porcelain products include dinnerware, vases, figurines and animals, Christmas plates, holiday plates, commemorative plates, pipes, ash trays, and specialty items. Royal Copenhagen Musselmalet Blue-lace is very delicate and intricate. Floria Danica is the top of the line – with $800 to $8000 pieces. The commemorate plate themes include: Mothers Day, Liberation in World War II, Danish history (Dannebrog 1219-1969, or 750 year anniversary of the Danish flag), Childs Day, Aviation History, etc.

Even the Christmas plates are distinctive. Bing and Grøndahl (1895) uses a Heavenly Star and no border. Royal Copenhagen started its series in 1908. Han Henrik Hansen is another series. The tradition started in the house of nobles with a plate of cookies given to the servants during the Christmas season. Those servants would proudly show off their plates to others and that’s how the tradition got started.

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Danish Art of the 19^th Century, Uno Langmann, Gallery Owner & Art Appraiser, Vancouver, BC

Uno left Denmark in 1955 and came to Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1967, he opened his first gallery, with mostly English and Scottish art and antiques. An 1876 painting by artist Karl Rasmussen of a Greenland landscape became the first work of art in his Danish collection. There was little Danish art in North America at that time, so Uno began to import paintings by 19^th Century artists from Denmark. Now, he has ~2000 paintings and ~1000 are Danish.

The early 1800s saw Denmark in decline – loss of their Navy (British attack by Admiral Nelson), the two Schleswig-Holstein wars, and loss of Norway to Sweden took its toll. Denmark was an agricultural producer for most of the 19^th Century when the Industrial Revolution slowly started in the 1850s (unlike England). Danish roots were strong and the nationalistic revival in the arts proved this point.

Danish artists, such as Eckersberg, traveled to Italy where they were encouraged by Berthel Thorvaldsen (famous neoclassical sculptor). Eventually, many Danish artists did the grand tour (including France and Holland) and then returned to Denmark with fresh inspiration to start their new art works. Art subjects included countryside, folklore, and coastal areas. In 1837, photography was invented and came to Copenhagen in 1840. Han Smith was known for his Jutland landscapes.

In the late 1800s, an artist community colony was established at Skagen (far northern Jutland), which included Peter Kroyer and Michael Ancher, and did much to bring the new art form of “impressionism” and “plein aire” to Denmark. The clean air and natural beauty of the area inspired very realistic portraits of working class people and real-life scenes.

Many of the wealthy industrialists of the day were strong supporters of the young Danish artists. One famous example is Jacobsen Carlsberg (from the Carlsberg beer company), as seen in the Glypotek Collection, in Copenhagen.

When Uno discovered contemporary art through the purchase of an abstract painting in 1962 by Canadian Jack Shadbolt, and later meeting him, Uno realized that art expresses the true soul and feelings of the artist. Uno has stayed with 19^th Century art, as this is the era he prefers, but he emphasized it is important for everyone to collect the type of art that they enjoy.

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From Senior Residence in Canada to School in Denmark, Dorothea Larsen, Victoria, BC

Grundtvig Højskole is located near Copenhagen. Students came from 18 other countries, and 12 Americans, but Danish was the common language. Most students were 18-24 years old, with Dorothea being the only 83 year-old in the class. She was the only student not sick or miss any class. The class was organized into five study groups. She took Media classes, Danish language and culture, Middle-East culture, U.S. politics and culture. She earned a $2000 scholarship to attend the school.

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From the Farm to the Laboratory – A 1962 Immigrant’s Story, Sven Erik Pedersen, DBIA #167 member, Portland, Oregon

Erik was born in 1944 in Skive, in northern Jutland, on a small farm (10 acres) with no running water or electricity. Food was adequate but simple. No refrigeration existed, so meats were preserved by salt. They had a fruit and vegetable garden. He attended a two-room school and studied history, writing, geography, and mathematics. They all spoke the “Jysk” dialect, which is hard to understand for other Danes. The mother died when Erik was nine years old and had two brothers and two sisters.

His first job was that of a farm-hand at 11 years old during the six-week summer break. Formal education ended at the 7^th Grade (14 years old). Erik continued to work as a farm-hand for 4 ½ years. Hobbies included reading and listening to the radio. TV was not commonplace yet.

Two uncles in Seattle sent “care packages” after World War II. Erik came to the United States in 1962, at the age of 18. Uncle Gunnar sponsored his trip. Erik spoke very little English but soon found a dairy job at Eatonville (60 miles south of Seattle) soon after his arrival.

A bookkeeper became his mentor who encouraged him to go back to school. Erik enrolled in Eatonville High School, at age 19, as a freshman. In 1966, he completed the four-year program in just three years.

Erik’s interest in education and higher learning prompted him to enroll in Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma) as a Chemistry major. He also worked part-time. Erik met his first wife Cathy in 1970, as he was finishing at PLU. In 1974, their son Kenneth was born. Erik moved the new family to Purdue University, Indiana, where Erik worked hard to earn his Ph.D. in Chemistry. Erik moved the family to Princeton University, New Jersey, for a one-year post-doctoral research job.

In 1975, the first professional job came with the oil company, ARCO, as a researcher, in Philadelphia. That work lasted for 2 ½ years. Erik then moved to Ohio to work for Standard Oil, which was a much better workplace. In 1982, their daughter Laura was born.

In 1987, a company merger and takeover changed the work environment. After being laid off in 1993, Erik went to work for Union-Carbide, West Virginia, in 1994. Life seemed good for awhile.

In 2001, Union-Carbide was taken over by Dow-Chemical. The workplace worsened. In 2002, Cathy died. By 2006, Erik decided to retire. He had lived the American dream.

Erik moved out to Portland in 2007 and sold his West Virginia home. He became a member of the Portland Danish Brotherhood, Lodge #167, in December 2007. Erik was fortunate to have met Toni, who became his second wife in 2008.

Erik stressed that the United States of America is still the Land of Opportunity. His brothers and sisters still live in Denmark. He has traveled back there 11 times for visits.

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DAHS – October Conference, Egon Bodtker, DAHS Board member, Salem, Oregon

The Danish-American Historical Society was started in 1977. The DAHS publishes two academic journals per year. Their third international conference will be October 1^st – 3^rd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The theme will be “Innovation – The Danish Way.” The DAHS started in Junction City, by Egon’s father. The DAHS has 12 board members and 750 current members nationwide. For more info on the Conference and DAHS: http://www.danishamericanheritagesociety.org.

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Danish Cartoons – Reflections on Political Caricature, Marianne Stecher-Hansen, Ph.D., Professor of Danish Studies, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

The publications of the 12 controversial cartoons, “Mohammed’s Angst”, occurred on September 31, 2005 in the Jyllands-Posten (JP). Some say that the decision to publish this piece was not prudent. The background history leading to that decision is in order.

The JP invited other Danish newspaper cartoonists to submit 40 political cartoons, as caricatures. The 12 top cartoons would be published. A caricature is defined as an amusing, satirical, charged, and loaded news illustration. No major controversy erupted when the July 21, 2008 issue of the New Yorker had their cover piece with the Obamas dressed as terrorists. Why the differences in the U.S. vs. Denmark?

In March 2006, the Danish Public Prosecutor decided not to prosecute the Cultural Editor of the JP, Flemming Rose, as the JP was not in violation of Danish criminal code section 140 and 266 (freedom of speech). These codes protect religious feelings (140) and religious groups (266) from scorn and mockery. The Prosecutor warned that there was not sufficient evidence to violate the code but warned of the limits of free expression. Mr. Rose specialized in Soviet studies and saw a clear link between totalitarian regimes and Islamic fascism. Danish Muslims reject modern secular society and democracy and want their own special rights. The following is what the JP Editor decided to publish.

Cartoon #1: “The Line-up” shows several prominent politicians – all wearing a turban – and the victim is looking for a suspicious character, Mohammed. Cartoon #2 is the least controversial. Cartoon #3: “Crescent Moon” shows the face of a Muslim in the crescent moon, with a star as one eye. Cartoon #4: “Bomb-in-the-Turban” is the most famous, created by Kurt Westgaard (who has received many death threats). He says that the cartoon’s meaning was that not all Muslims are terrorists and criticized Muslims who do terrorists acts in the name of Islam. Cartoon #5: “Horned Mohammed” which also shows a halo superimposed near the horns. This one was even more controversial than the Bomb-in-the-Turban (and similar intent). Cartoon #6: “Islamic Crescent and Head-Scarf” shows the oppression of Muslim women. Cartoon #7: “Sheppard and Donkey.” Cartoon #8: “Nervous Cartoonist” draws his Mohammed cartoon with the shades down and looking nervously over his shoulder, depicting self-censorship and fear. Cartoon #9: “Arab Nights” is a type-cast of “cartoons by Infidels in Jylland” published separately. Cartoon #10: “Blackboard” shows a new (ethnic) Dane (and school boy in the form of Mohammed and as a second-generation emigrant) who is writing on the blackboard, in Farsi and Arabic letters, a message that is critical of JP journalists (poorly received by the Danish Muslims). Cartoon #11: “Mohammed and Two Veiled Women” shows Mohammed with a raised sword and eyes blindfolded and two women staring wide-eyed out of their burkas (who can’t speak out), highlights the hypocrisy of a blinded world-view of Islam. Cartoon #12: “Mohammed in Heaven” shows Mohammed telling the now-killed suicide bombers “that heavenly virgins await you but stop the suicide bombings, because we’ve run out of virgins.”

A Wikipedia search on “Danish cartoons” reveals much has been written. The Danish Muslim reaction has been muted and non-violent. Danes have since moved on from the issue and don’t see it as controversial anymore, unless you’re a member of the Danish People’s Party. Kurt Westgaard is seen as the vanguard of Free Speech in Denmark.

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Danish Energy and Climate Policy and the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, December 2009, Christian Stenberg, First Secretary, Royal Danish Embassy, Washington DC

(views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Danish Embassy)

The Danish Embassy has 15 diplomats. Sectors – politics, economic, and cultural. Goal is to promote Danish interests in the U.S. and the world. The Embassy learns about political developments and sends in reports to the government in Copenhagen. They work with the U.S. Congress and Federal agencies on the Danish perspective plus educate the American public via conferences, public relations work with the U.S. media and journalists. One example is the “Climate-Ride” from New York to Washington DC this summer.

The Embassy also plays host to visiting government officials from Denmark and helps them while in the U.S. For example, Prince Frederik and Princess Mary visited the U.S. in March 2009 for a week.

Denmark’s highest priorities are energy and climate change. The global Climate Change Conference will convene in Copenhagen this December. They’ll discuss how to best fight climate change for the next 40 years and what best agreements can be made. Denmark will showcase its energy and climate change technologies during the Conference.

The evidence for climate change seems human-driven with dramatic increases in world temperatures, which raised +1.4 degF during 1930-2005. Greenland is 3x the size of Texas and has two mile thick glaciers covering the island. If all that ice were to melt, then world sea level would rise ~23 feet. The Embassy has facilitated tours of U.S. politicians to Greenland in recent years. Greenland glaciers are melting 30 feet per day. The IPCC (Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change – a consensus of over 1000 scientists world-wide) gives a good summary of the dominant world scientific view on climate change. The IPCC says that we’re +0.7 degC above historic values. A +2 degC increase could lead to irreversible climate change. Need to reduce global emissions from 30 to 15 gigatons of carbon per year. The scientific proof for climate change seems to be accelerating each year and is already worse than the IPCC 2007 assessment.

The Kyoto Protocol (which the U.S. refused to sign) of 1997, formed to begin fighting climate change, is set to expire in 2012. If a successful agreement can be reached this December, then it will be known as the “Copenhagen Protocol.” Time Magazine called Denmark a leader on climate change issues, with their wind turbines and green-job market: “No country is better prepared to host the Climate Change Summit.”

Historical emissions (1850-2000) came from: U.S. 30%, Europe 27%, Russia 8%, Germany 7%, China 7%, and UK 6%. The per-capita carbon emissions give another view: U.S. 19 tons, Europe 9 tons, Japan 9.5 tons, China/India 4 tons. Developing country emissions could increase 100x this century.

The negotiations will be bogged down by historical vs. future emissions and developed vs. developing countries. The key topics will be mitigation work, short-and-long term targets of 2020 and 2050, financing (for developing countries), and adaptation strategies.

When the U.S. should have cut its emissions by 6% instead it gained 15% during the Kyoto Protocol. Canada ignored the Kyoto Protocol, even though it signed.

How would you enforce such an international treaty? It is hard to – maybe fines?

Denmark is targeting a 20% reduction (high goal) by 2012 to 1999 levels. The U.S. House Bill on Climate Change passed June 26, but what about the U.S. Senate? China now has new efficient fuel economy standards for its vehicles. India and Russia will be difficult players in this arena.

Solutions include a gasoline tax, build appliances with higher efficiency standards, and grow the economy with clean-energy (i.e., “green”) jobs. This was the plan that Denmark set forth, after the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973: new regulations, pricing, and a new grid structure of transportation and energy. Denmark’s economy has grown by 200% but the energy usage has only slightly increased. Denmark has the highest energy efficiency of any country in the European Union and will try to increase energy efficiency by 1.4% per year during 2010-2025. Denmark reduced its carbon emissions by 14%. “NIMBY” will continue to be a problem, so incentives must be used to help.

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Role of Scan| Design by Inger & Jens Bruun Foundation, Mark Schleck, President & Director of the Board, Seattle, Washington

The Scan|Design Foundation (SDF), started in 2002, plays a role with the American public. The Bruuns moved from Denmark to the U.S. in 1961. Their legacy are the furniture stores that opened in Belleville in 1963 and expanded to eight other stores in Washington, Oregon (Medford, Eugene, Beaverton), and Hawaii. Linnwood is the “flagship” store. The Bellevue store is the last remaining store. The source of money for the SDF was profits from the stores.

The SDF mission: pain research (33%) and promote Danish-American relations (67%). The SDF is a non-profit that conducts or funds charitable works and pays no income tax. It gives away at least 5% of its assets as grants. The focus of the Danish-American relations includes: art, education, civic and cultural issues. The Board of Directors includes a Chairman (Bob Thompson), Rob Harris, Tage Kristensen, and Mark Schleck. They have two full-time staff.

Examples of grants include: UW Department of Scandinavian Studies (largest in the U.S.), UW Fellowship Program, UW College of Architecture and Urban Design, and UW Henry Art Gallery. The Copenhagen Classroom Project was devised by Prof. Marianne Hansen. Supplemental grants include: UW-Denmark studies, 12 UW students for a fellowship-exchange program with a Danish university (e.g., U-Copenhagen, U-Aarhus, Royal Copenhagen Business College) and slots for Danish students at the UW. In 2008, the intern program brought over Danish artists to the U.S. Other grants: Portland State University Foreign Language and Literature (Scandinavian subset), Rebild National Park Society, University of Wisconsin Department of Scandinavian Studies (oldest in the U.S.), Northwest Danish Foundation, International Sustainable Solutions, Pacific Northwest Ballet-Royal Danish Ballet, Danish Immigrant Museum, Nordic Heritage Museum, and the American Scandinavian Foundation.

The Pain-Research grants include: International Association for the Study of Pain, UW School of Medicine, and UW Human Interface Technical Lab. Early or promising research has seen some funds. For more info: www.scandesignfoundation.org.

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The Northwest Danish Foundation: A Turn-Around Story, Edith Christensen, Ph.D., NWDF President, Seattle, Washington

The NWDF started in 1923. The Meridian Office Building (MOB) was bought and leased out to other businesses. As the new President, Edith broke with many traditions to order to save the NWDF. Business-as-usual would not work. She made tough decisions on finances and operations, how to reduce expenses and enhance revenue. The NWDF challenged their property tax bill and got a refund. The Goal is to live within our means. All paid staff were eliminated and now rely entirely on volunteers. Administrative procedures were modernized. The website was re-designed.

The future includes not selling the MOB (some have said “sell the MOB”). This is their biggest most stable asset. Three businesses that had leases with the MOB went bankrupt, so now office space is being leased in smaller areas with an 80% occupancy rate.

The NWDF Bylaws were changed. The Board of Directors of 24 members is reduced to 18. The Board meets monthly instead of quarterly (except summer). The Board members collectively serve as the Executive Director.

There have been over 300 NWDF scholarship recipients over the years. The NWDF needs to tap into that pool and entice younger people to join. Need to increase public relation efforts to attract younger members. Maybe a Menucha-style event but with camping with families could be a winning event. However, there will always be competing interests from soccer and other social clubs.

Note-taker: Kyle Dittmer, Master of Ceremonies, DCC-2009, NWDF member