Follow our blog to follow our story as we report on exciting developments as the Cultural Center grows.
Polarn O. Pyret, the leading brand in Sweden for kids, is holding a Sample Sale at the SCC on Sunday October 1st from 10am to 4pm in the Nordic Hall.
Come scoop up bargains in sizes newborn to age 12 years. All season and styles will be represented.
The brand’s famous and functional Nordic outerwear will also be available in all sizes. Savings up to 75% off original retail and a bunch of Grab ‘em Now Deals! Cash or credit and please. bring you own bag!
Join us for a book talk with author Anne Gass for her book We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip, a historical fiction novel based on the true story of a 1915 road trip for the suffrage cause.
On holiday in San Francisco in 1915, Swedish immigrants Ingeborg Kindstedt and Maria Kindberg get swept up in a daring plan to promote women’s demand for voting rights. They must race by car across the country to deliver an ultimatum to Congress and President Woodrow Wilson. The roads are bad, and winter is fast approaching. Can they possibly arrive at the appointed day and time? Based on a true story.
Saturday, October 28th, 2023 | 1pm | FREE with registration
Anne will have books on hand for purchase
ABOUT ANNE Anne B. Gass is the author of a nonfiction book about her great-grandmother, Voting Down the Rose: Florence Brooks Whitehouse and Maine’s Fight for Woman Suffrage, published in 2014. In 2021 she published We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip, a novel based on the true story of an epic cross-country road trip for suffrage that took place in 1915. Gass is a frequent speaker on women’s rights history.
Gass is the Maine Coordinator for the National Votes for Women Trail and under their auspices recently completed a project to install seven roadside markers honoring suffragists around Maine. Since 2019 she has served as an appointed member of Maine’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, where she leads their Program Committee. Her writing is inspired and informed by her activism.
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND:
Iceland Northern Lights & Ring Road Tour
Information Session: Monday, June 26, 2023 | 7-8:30pm
Zoom option available
ABOUT THE TOUR:
Tour Dates: October 10-17, 2023
Join your fellow community members for a rave-reviewed Northern Lights & Ring Road trip to Iceland this October 10-17! This adventure will cover a full circuit of the Icelandic Ring Road and will feature stunning natural sights like:
Want to hear more? Register for an information session or request a brochure, and read on for a sampling of what Iceland alumni had to say!
Iceland Northern Lights & Ring Road Trip Information Session Options:
Newton Session: Monday, June 26, 7-8:30pm, Scandinavian Cultural Center in Newton, zoom link available to registrants
Any questions? Reach out to organizer Samantha Mandel at (617) 564-1003 or samantha.a.mandel@gmail.com.
Register for an information session or request a brochure!
ABOUT SAMANTHA MANDEL: Samantha is an experienced tour leader based in Newton, MA who has planned and guided local groups abroad to destinations on almost every continent. She has a dedicated local fan base due to her meticulous trip planning, knowledgeable guiding, and boundless enthusiasm! She is the founder and CEO of Samantha Trips, LLC, a boutique tour operator that focuses on bringing community members together through educational travel and giving each traveler a tailored experience. Samantha speaks 5 languages and studied Icelandic sagas in college. She can’t wait to share her enthusiasm for this special country with you.
WHAT DO ICELAND ALUMNI SAY ABOUT THE TRIP?
Could not imagine a better tour leader out there!! Samantha’s meticulous attention to detail and continuous planning, enthusiasm, care and compassion, and eagerness to share knowledge were all above and beyond!
-Joan H.
Samantha is a phenomenal guide; just GREAT! The whole trip was a blast! Sorry but I don’t think it can improve; it was perfect.
-Lisa F.
Excellent itinerary and pre-trip information was invaluable. Samantha attempted to meet everyone’s needs beyond what I have ever experienced.
-Barbara K.
Amazing itinerary, extremely thoroughly and well-planned as well as real-time adjustments to accommodate changing customer needs and interests, weather, etc. Incredibly informative guides, wonderful trip leader and great group chemistry and camaraderie … a mix that will be hard to beat! In fact, one measure of how phenomenal the trip was is that 10 days later we are STILL talking about it.
-Joe H.
SOOOOO organized. Nothing was left to chance. Samantha’s footwork in preparation showed through. The miles flew by.
-Mark K.
This was the first time I have traveled with a tour group. Great selection of activities for all levels to participate, and excellent local tour guide was appreciated. Planning was outstanding. A very positive experience!
-Desiree F.
This was a first group trip for us. It set a high bar for any future trips we might do!
-Bridgida K. and David F.
“It was the best group trip that I have been a part of. Samantha was our smiling leader, always on top of the details for each participant and the group, making sure things happened smoothly.
-Jane D.
NORSKKURS IS BACK!
Norumbega Lodge #3-506, Sons of Norway, will be offering an advanced level Norwegian language class on Wednesdays, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., at the ScandinavianLibrary in the Scandinavian Cultural Center, 206 Waltham St., West Newton, beginning on February 8th and running through April 19th. The focus will be on reading and discussing excerpts from Norwegian literature, history, language history, current events, etc.
The course will be taught by Luana Marie Jøsvold, M.A., Scandinavian Languages and Literature. Please let Luana know if you plan to attend. The size of the room will dictate the number of students we’ll be able to accommodate.
Velkommen!
In the late 19th century, a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, his mission and morality.
Presented as part of the Scandinavian Library’s film series.
In Danish and Icelandic with English subtitles | 143 minutes
Saturday, November 18th | 1pm | $10; $5 for SCC and Scandinavian Library members | tickets
Join us for an evening of fiddle music from Norway and Scandinavia with Vidar Skrede. Vidar is a performer, composer, producer, and teacher of Nordic folk music. He is originally from western Norway and has been a US resident since 2016, currently living in Milwaukee, WI. On September 7th he will present both traditional music from Norway and his own original tunes, on fiddle, Hardanger fiddle, guitar, and mandolin, and through the stories behind it all.
Thursday, September 7th, 2023 | 7pm | $15; $7 for members | tickets
Join us for a screening of the winner of the Best Norwegian Doc Award at the Bergen Film Festival, Hidden Letters.
For thousands of years, women in China, who were often forced into oppressive marriages and forbidden to read or write, shared a secret language among themselves called Nushu. Written with delicate strokes made from sharpened bamboo sticks dipped in ink, Nushu bonded generations of Chinese women in a clandestine support system of sisterhood and survival. Fast forward to contemporary China, where two modern women are connected by their fascination with Nushu. In Jiangyong, Hu Xin works as a Nushu museum guide and aspires to master the ancient script following the breakup of her marriage. In Shanghai, Simu is passionate about music and Nushu, but archaic expectations threaten to end her pursuit of both. Influenced by Nushu’s legacy of female solidarity, the two women struggle to find balance as they forge their own paths in a culture steeped in female subservience to men.
Saturday, June 3rd, 2023 | 1pm | $10; $5 for SCC members | tickets
17. MAI CELEBRATION
sponsored by
Norumbega Lodge #3-506, Sons of Norway
Saturday, May 20th
17. mai family picnic
Scandinavian Cultural Center – 206 Waltham Street – West Newton, MA 02465
Schedule of Events:
12:30 – Gather for 17. mai parade at the entrance to the SCC
12:45 – Step-off time for the parade
1:00 – Welcome and tale for dagen
1:30 – Lunch
2:15 – Games for the children
Music by UUSF Protest Band
Tickets for lunch will be sold as people arrive.
Adults: $15 (smørbrød, beverage, and dessert)
(Additional smørbrød may be purchased for $10 each.)
Children: $5 (pølser m/lompe, beverage, and dessert)
www.norumbegasofn.org
The Nordic Hall will once again host the Newton Art Association‘s New Member Show during the month of May/June. Come on out to view the show any day during business hours!
One display through June 24th. Please email kerry@scandicenter.org to schedule a viewing time
Refreshments will be available and the artists will be in attendance to discuss their work.
Join Alyssa in the Nordic Hall as she performs traditional and modern Scandinavian music on her beautiful handmade nyckelharpa made in Sweden, which is Sweden’s national instrument. This beautiful and haunting music will have your toes tapping and heart singing!
Saturday, June 17th, 2023 | 1pm | $15; $7 for SCC members | tickets
ABOUT Alyssa: Alyssa Rodriguez is one of the few and finest players of the nyckelharpa, Sweden’s national “keyed fiddle” instrument, in New York. In 2021, she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright grant to study in Helsinki, Finland. During her 2021-2022 grant year, she studied nyckelharpa at The Sibelius Academy where she researched Nordic folk music and folk music improvisation. Alyssa has studied with several riksspellmän (master Swedish folk musicians) and studied in Sweden at the all nyckelharpa summer festival at Ekebyholm Castle founded by Eric Sahlström. She has headlined festivals at the American Swedish Institute and at the Jamestown Scandinavian Festival, and given lecture recitals at St. Olaf College and University of Madison, Wisconsin. Her music has been featured on WXXI and WRUR in Rochester, New York, KXCI-FM in Arizona, and she has appeared in Nordstjernan magazine and Nyckelharpan in Sweden.
