If you have volunteered at the Centre during the past year or two, let us THANK YOU!

Come enjoy a wonderful lunch at the Centre at the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon hosted by Leena and Eva and the Houses!

Date: Sunday March 7th, 2010
Time: 12pm
Place: Scandinavian Community Centre

RSVP by email to the House you belong to:

Danish House: Peter Praegel at praegel@shaw.ca
Finland House: Kristiina Morrison at kristiina.morrison@gmail.com
Norwegian House: Elizabeth Norris at elizabethnorris@gmail.com
Sweden House: Astrid Switzer at switzer9160@shaw.ca

And if in doubt, contact info@scandinaviancentre.org or phone the office at (604) 294‑2777

You must book and order your open-faced sandwiches by the Tuesday of same week. This popular event books up quickly so call early! Ask Ebba to add you to her email list to notify you of the sandwich selections the week before. Remember no KroAften in December.

Meet around 6pm to get your meal tickets and table number and enjoy a drink. Smorrebrod is served at 7pm.

NOTE: YOU MUST BOOK & ORDER YOUR OPEN-FACED SANDWICHES BY TUESDAY SAME WEEK

By reservation only — to reserve: Ebba Grey — Ph: (604) 990‑3550 or Email: ebba@shaw.ca

At 90 years of age, DHS Member Peder Madsen was the oldest ever Competitor in the May 3rd 2009 Vancouver International Marathon. Peder did better than many competitors half his age by walking the 21km half-marathon in just under four hours. His accomplishment was featured in local newspapers and national TV.

Denmark’s Ambassador to Canada, Poul Erik Dam Kristensen, made a farewell visit to British Columbia when he attended the April 18th Royal Birthday Celebration honouring Queen Margarethe of Denmark. He is leaving Canada to become the Danish Ambassador to France.

North American Treaty Organization’s new Secretary General is Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is resigning as Denmark’s Prime Minister. He will take over at NATO on August 1, 2009.

Parksville native, Justin Sorensen, first pick in the 2008 Canadian college football draft signed up for three years with the B.C. Lions on May 13th. Being of Danish descent, the 6’7, 319 pound offensive lineman says he’s looking for some canine companionship. He told his introductory press conference that a Great Dane might be just his type ­ something huge just like him!

On April 18th, everyone enjoyed Queen Margrethe’s birthday celebration that was sponsored along with the Royal Danish Guard organization. It was an evening of fine entertainment from Denmark and a wonderful menu served.

We are fast approaching our Midsummer Festival where the Danish House will have a tent to display our Danish culture. This year’s festival theme is “Sunshine & Song”. I encourage everyone to come and participate in this fun and exciting weekend. You will be able to enjoy our traditional open-faced sandwiches, BBQ salmon, and so much more. This year’s raffle prize is a Cruise for Two. Please see one of the board members or visit the Danish tent to help support the selling of the tickets.

On July 4th, we will be hosting the “FlikFlak Circus” in the beer garden area. This is a Danish circus that is great family fun. It will start at 1pm, and you will be able to buy polse and potato salad, cotton candy and beverages.

On August 23, the Danish house is hosting the Family BBQ. The cost is $22 and you will have a choice between salmon or steak. This is a very nice family event for all to participate in.

Our very popular KroAften will continue through the summer. This is a great even and I want to thank both Carol and Ebba for a great job.

See you soon at the Centre!

Peter Praegel

We find an example of this special connection with his parent’s background when we meet and get to know Dave Buchmann. He is one of our hard working members of the Board of Directors of Danish House Society.

Dave was born in Timmins, Ontario and his father hailed from Falster and his mother came from Aalborg. The father, Karl Emil, had left Denmark in 1914 and in 1928 married Astrid Horning. Karl Emil became a mining engineer and ended up in Timmins, Ontario. In 1943 Astrid and Karl Emil had a son, whom they called David Ronald. He grew up to be a strong boy and a great athlete. His interests were hockey, football, swimming and hunting ­ well it was Northern Ontario! He graduated from high school in Timmins and then went on to Malvern Collegiate in Toronto, where he graduated with a diploma in 1961.

This was the days of TV, with no cable connections and Dave began installing antennas for the good folks in Timmins and the neighbouring towns.

Dave was not completely happy with his education and thus in 1964 decided to enter the Northern College of Arts and Technology in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The plan did not go full speed due to a young girl that Dave had met, they soon decided to marry and they “tied the knot” in August 1965. His new bride was a schoolteacher and they both loved to travel and of course Dave wanted Karen to see the country of the birth of his parents. In the summer 1967 they toured Europe and spent lots of time in Denmark seeking out the places his parents had told him about as a child. In 1968 Dave graduated as a Civil Engineer Technologist from the Northern College.

Now many positions were open for Dave and he felt that British Columbia was the place to be with his education. He accepted a position with Cattermole, Trethewey Contractors and now was part of the team, which was responsible for building the new highway between Hope and Agassiz.

The couple thrived in B.C. and in 1970 their first son, Brent, was born, then in 1973 another son, Trevor; in 1975 son Blair was born and finally Neil was born in 1977. Sadly Brent later died at an early age and caused a lot of stress for the mourning couple. In 1986 they decided to divorce and Karen went back to Ontario. Their three other sons have excellent careers and are married with children of their own. Dave is a grandfather to four children all living in Ontario and he stays in close contact with all his sons and their families.

Early on in the seventies Dave had joined Dawson Construction and this time was part of the men that gave us the “Upper Levels” and “Cypress Bowl” Highways, without which would be a nightmare to go from Vancouver to Squamish or Whistler. Imagine driving from North Vancouver along Marine Drive to get to Horseshoe Bay?!

Two other well-known companies, Progressive Construction and Jack Cewe Ltd., also benefited over the years from Dave’s vast experience in development and road construction.

After his divorce Dave decided on a life altering career move and joined Royal LePage and studied for the Real Estate License, which he received later that year.

He has sold homes and businesses for more than 20 years in Burnaby and the Tri-City communities as well as Maple Ridge and Surrey, in fact he will go anywhere in Metro Vancouver for a good listing! Dave is now with Sutton West Coast Realty and enjoys his work and does not feel a need to retire.

Our popular member re-married in July 2002 to Hui Ling Zhu from Guang Zhou, China. We know her as Julie who with her son, Ryan joined Dave, They now live in the Edmonds area of Burnaby and Julie teaches Mandarin and Cantonese to children of second and third generation Chinese Canadians.

Their son Ryan is now married to Yan (no further grandchildren yet).

Dave and Julie love to travel and they have gone to China many times. Dave especially enjoys visiting Julie’s relatives in Mainland China and finds the family ties and the atmosphere in their homes fascinating.

The Buchmann family have been Danish House members for almost ten years and Dave has always been eager to contribute and help at outdoor events. He has now been a Board member for five years and enjoys the different challenges facing the Board and take pleasure in being part of the many cultural events. Dave looks forward to each “Kroaften” and feels that his diet must include some Danish food and “snaps” to keep him in shape!!!

Dave’s forte is food preparation and he is in charge again of this year’s “Family BBQ” (August 23rd). Julie and Ryan always join him in doing all the chores required at this annual event. Dave is also a Danish House representative on the committee, which runs the annual “Eurofest” (May 30th). This year looks to be bigger and better than last year’s event. Dave will also be an active participant at the Annual Midsummer Festival (June 19th, 20th and 21st) where you will find him cooking salmon steaks.

One of Dave’s immediate wishes for the Centre is the completion of the storage building (annex). He would like to see something more permanent and sturdy for the “Beer Tent and Garden”.

He is hoping that we will all put greater efforts into bringing more young people to the Centre and instil in them an appreciation of Danish and Nordic culture. He is very much in favour of DHS going forward with a plan to offer scholarships to young students interested in Nordic culture.

Interview by Niels Andersen