Lodge History Bondelandet 3-612
Bondelandet Lodge 3-612
Monthly meetings on the third Friday of the month
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
St. Thomas Road
Lancaster, PA
7:30 pm
Bondelandet Lodge 3-612 was instituted as a new Sons of Norway Lodge on May 11, 1990,. We were sponsored by Restauration Lodge 3-555. On the evening of our institutional dinner, Richard Tonnesen, the Third District President, welcomed the new members of Bondelandet and officiated at the initiation of many of those present. Thirty people became new members of the Sons of Norway that evening. Twelve members transferred their membership to our new lodge. We choose the name Bondelandet (which in Norwegian means farm land) because we are, indeed, in the heart of some of the most beautiful “farm land” in the United States.
The small, but enthusiastic, group that worked so hard to bring about the initiation met back on December 15, 1989, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Lancaster, PA, for a pre-organizational meeting. Richard Tonnesen and Orlyn Kringstad, Chief Fraternal Officer of Sons of Norway from Minneapolis, provided information about the Sons of Norway Zones (we are in Zone 6), Districts (we are in Zone 6 of District 3), and explained the procedure for starting a new lodge. Many of those present had seen a newspaper article the previous summer with a picture of Wally Post, from Honeybrook, dressed as a Viking. In the news article, Wally told of his desire to have a Sons of Norway lodge in Lancaster and invited anyone interested to contact him.
Many responded with great interest and were present for the pre-organizational meeting, including the following: Gene and Nalda Olson, Arne and Molly Solbak and their daughters Martha and Johanna, Paul Rostad, Larry and Margaret Skromme, Ray and Carol Dennis, and Benedicta Shaffer. This group is responsible for telling others about the newly formed group. In May 2010, we will celebrate our 20th anniversary.
We are fortunate to have good attendance at our meetings and summer picnics. In December we join hands and enjoy singing around the Christmas tree for the Juletrefest. Bondelandet Lodge meets on the third Friday of each month at St. Thomas Church, in Lancaster, PA from September through May. Norwegian lessons are being held before our regular monthly meetings. During the summer months we have picnics at members’ homes. A warm coffee pot, good food and friendly greetings are present at every meeting.
Each of the officers would agree that it is because of the enthusiastic participation of the whole lodge that the meetings are both interesting and fun.
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