About Us

Some of the many local Norwegian and Scandinavian cultural events that Sonja Henie Lodge participates in include: Nevada Day parade and Snowshoe Thompson in Genoa, Nevada. In addition to these events, Sonja Henie lodge hosts a Scandinavian Smorgasbord each year in the spring and open the doors to our local guests. We also offer a cooking class, which will be in October. Please take a look at our Events page and remember to return to this website in the future for updates on these fun-filled events.

The Sonja Henie lodge #29 is a non-profit organization that will continue to keep our community and those less-fortunate in mind. Each year, we donate to local charities, such as, the Adopt-a-Family and The Family Resource Center and continue to keep many others in mind as well.

The Sonja Henie Lodge #29 actively supports the Daughters of Norway Scholarship Fund.

History

Pride in Norway and support for Norway as an independent country was strong in the Norwegian-American and Norwegian-Canadian communities around the turn of the 20th Century. On June 5, 1905 Norway terminated its union with Sweden. During the summer of 1905, the interim Norwegian government invited the second son of the Danish monarch to take the throne of Norway, as a part of a constitutional monarchy. He would only accept the invitation by referendum of the Norwegian people, which passed in late summer 1905. On 22 June 1906 King Haakon VII and his wife, Queen Maud, were consecrated at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway.

 

On October 19, 1905, Valkyrien Lodge, Daughters of Norway of the Pacific Coast, was chartered by the Leif Eriksen Lodge #1, Sons of Norway of the Pacific Coast (now Lodge #1, District 2 of the Sons of Norway). The men had offered to make the new lodge subordinate to their organization, but this was soundly rejected by those pioneer women.

 

On April 24, 1907, Embla Lodge, Daughters of Norway of the Pacific Coast, was chartered in Tacoma, Washington by Lodge #2, Sons of the Pacific Coast (now Lodge #2, District 2 of the Sons of Norway). Later in 1907, Freya Lodge was chartered by the Sons lodge in Spokane.