Hei, hei, fellow Vikings!
Let the snow fall, it's late February now. Temperatures are creeping above freezing and we have our Kane County Cougar tickets for July!
Our February meeting was, shall we say, under appreciated. we failed to make a quorum although we had a fine fish fry and plenty of cold Old Style. Brother Williams had a comprehensive Financial Report for the Lodge and the Vice Chief and I were able to finalize our Committee assignments. The March meeting looms as a possible "Smelt (pronounced schmeltts) Fry" for our Lenten observance so keep your eyes here for developments as they happen! It is, after all, a quiet time at our Lodge, and the Viking Brothers will all be rested and refreshed when the time for serious plundering is upon us.
Our far flung influence extends east to Philadelphia, where our benefactor, Brian Blair, watches diligently to the east for any threat to our Lodge. Like Muggin and Gubbin, Brian scans the horizon with news from far off worlds. Is there a chance for an in person report at the March meeting? Brian might be traveling west next month. Stay tuned!
Brewing activities have remained active at the Lodge. Both myself and Brother Rodenbostel just brewed yesterday. Brother Scott continues to brew regularly in his unique "Bubba Pubba" despite the winter weather. Brother Reed is planning his second brew now that young Eli has re-prioritized the home routines of his parents. Brewing beer requires traits not always attributed to your "normal" Viking such as cleanliness, timeliness and patience yet we are producing beers that taste fresh and flavorful. We are planning a spring meeting that will feature three different brews. That will be fifteen gallons of fresh Viking beer, made the Mimer #33 way. (whatever THAT means!) Stay tuned!
And, finally, Mrs Chief, who has been a bit "moody" lately, was pleased with my recent gift to her. That's right, I gave her a beautiful mood ring. It's great. Whenever she's in a good mood it glows green and all's well. It seems, however, that whenever she's in a bad mood it leaves a BIG RED MARK on my forehead! Maybe I ought to replace it with a diamond?
Be kind to each other.
Chief
Hei, Hei, Vikings!
The Super Bowl is over and we Mimer #33 guys are already looking
towards the first games of September. That's because of the annual
conflict with Vasa Park's big festival, at which we fry hundreds of
pounds of herring, and the Chicago Bears' opening game. Four of us
dance between our fraternal duties and our Soldier Field seats. We
have been fortunate recently, with the Bears opening on the road and
rumors are rushing through the Lodge that the Bears will open the new
football stadium in New York this autumn. That is early good news for
us and our Vasa Park efforts.
As mentioned earlier, the 2010 Officers were elected last month and
our upcoming meeting this Friday will reveal the Committee
memberships. Together we hope to address specific areas of the Lodge
for growth and for "ownership/responsibility" for various activities.
Our new Grounds Committee, chaired by Brother Dan Kohorst, will be
repsonsible for maintaining the brand new gazebo erected near City
Hall by the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition. This is a high profile
site, at Illinois Highways 31 and 38, where the Lincoln Highway
resumes it westbound track after following the west bank of the Fox
River from down south. Additionally, we will help the American Legion
maintain their grounds, conveniently, two blocks away. Our intentions
are to have a weekly crew meet each Saturday morning to keep the areas
clean and trimmed. We are thrilled to partner with the Coalition, the
City of Geneva and the American Legion in this volunteer action. There
ought to be a spike in the Little Owl's Saturday Old Style beer sales!
Our Vasa Park herring shack has its own committee now, headed by
Brother Cary Zaras. We hope to take advantage of Vasa Park's offer for
materials with us furnishing "sweat equity" to improve the venerable
herring shack. Brother Cary and Brothers Charlie Geske and Bud Meisner
bring remarkable technical skills to this effort. We hope to spend the
spring and summer making the shack more secure and functional. We will
keep a photo collection of this year long project so come back often
and watch our progress.
Other committees include our now annual Kane County Cougars outing,
chaired by Brother Carl Tornberg and set for this July. Our new Media
Committee includes Brother Justin Rodenbostel and new Recording
Secretary Matt Reed. They will not only maintain our handsome website
but also reach out to other Lodges and local civic entities, enhancing
our position here in the community. Financial Secretary Scott Williams
will head up our new Membership Committee and he will have the
youthful enthusiasm and energy of our two oldest Junior Members, the
Erik Hansens, to direct towards Lodge growth. Our new Christmas '10
Committee, myself and Brother Reed, have already pinned our Christmas
party to Friday, 10 December at our favorite Christmas venue, Old Town
Pub. Finally, a possible Brewing Committee will be discussed at the
February meeting, as we try to position the Lodge 's appeal on a
broader (and popular) footing. As always, more exciting Committee news
will fill this space all year long!
I had the pleasure of hearing from our great Pennsylvania Benefactor,
Brian Blair. Brian awaits a statement from Scott Williams so he might
continue his wonderful support of the Lodge and our activities. We are
so fortunate to have such a prescient and giving gentleman from the
east. We might have him to our March meeting as a special guest of
honor. As Johnny Carson used to say, "More to come"
Look for us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. But most of all, come
join us for a meeting and dinner. There WILL BE beer!
We missed Winterfest in Muskegon again this year. The economy, the
cost of travel and the dearth of time seems to have a negative impact
on our participation with Linne Lodge. That's our loss and I hope to
fix it by next winter!
And finally, Old Ole is a farmer in here in Geneva. He is in need of
a new milk cow and hears about a nice one for sale over in
Nordakota.... that would be North Dakota for you non-Scandahoovians
out there.
So, he drives to Nordakota, finds the farm and looks at the cow. He
reached under to see if the cow gave milk... He grabs a teat and pulls
and the cow farts!
Surprised, Ole looks at the farmer selling the cow and pulls another
teat... Once again, the cow farts. However, the cow gave milk and the
price was reasonable.... so Ole, he buys the cow.
When he gets back to Geneva, he calls his neighbor, Sven, and says,
'Hey, Sven, come and look at dis ere new cow I yust bought. Just pull
her teat, and see vat happens.' Sven reaches under, pulls the
teat... and the cow farts.
Sven looks at Ole and says, You bought dis here cow over in
Nordakota, didn't yah?'
Ole is very surprised since he hadn't told Sven about his trip.
Ole replies, 'Yah, dats right.... but how did yah know?'
Sven says, 'My vife is from Nordakota....'
Be kind to each other.
Chief Hansen
