Vice-President
Jarl Lars Walker
Secretary
Armardr Sherrie Anderson
Treasurer
Byria Helen Anderson
Event Coordinator
(612) 789-2272
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The Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway!
The Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway was formed to study the history of the Vikings and to lecture to the public about the true facts of this era. The Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway is a non-profit educational organization based out of Sons of Norway Lodge #1-517. There are no paid employees of any kind; we are an all volunteer labor force making or buying the items that the club owns. Today the club is made up of people from all walks of life with memberships all over the United States and Canada.
The list of of people that use the Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway as a resource of answers is a long one. (We hate to brag but it is true!) Here are some of the people/groups that we have been able to assist.
The American Swedish Institute
The American Danish Fellowship Minnesota
The Science Museum of Minnesota
The Stiklestad Museum (Norway)
Many school systems across the United States
Over the years the club has lectured to tens of thousands of people. Some of our members were used as lecturers and demonstrators at the 1994 Olympics in Lilihammer, Norway and the Minnesota Science Museums' Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga by demonstrating and lecturing to the general public in all aspects of the Viking age culture.
The Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway was started by Gary Anderson and Dennis Rusinko, both of who have a great love of history. They used to sit around a lounge (now gone) in the Sons of Norway headquarters called 'Erik the Red Room'. The lounge was filled with Viking age motifs such as a horned helmet, a sword and an axe. This general lack of knowledge of Viking history, by people of Viking blood, was what finally did it for Gary and Dennis. Gary had been a member of several historical re-enactment groups before, and Dennis had studied the American Civil War for many (and I do mean many) years. So in 1985 the two went looking for other people with a similar interest in Viking history. The object of that search was to form a club based on an accurate recreation of the Viking Age. The group was small in the beginning but had the right balance of 'History Nuts', and recreationists.
The membership is made up of people of all ages with a wide and varied interest in the history of the Viking Age. Some want only the academic part of the club. Others want to recreate this period as accurately as possible, yet still live normal lives. The club utilizes a full encampment that is set up for different types of events. The members have lectured and demonstrated crafts all over the United States. We have also lectured and provided demonstrations in Canada and Norway. All work and no play makes Olav - well you understand, don't you. Parties do take place; get-a-way weekends for education and fun are also part of this club.
For more information on the Viking Age Club &
Society - Sons of Norway
write, call or e-mail:
Viking Age Club & Society - Sons of Norway
617 24th Avenue NE
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55418
(612) 789-2272
E-Mails
Gary Anderson: ragnar@skypoint.com
Dennis Rusinko: dennisrusinko@aol.com
Eric Anderson: eirik_farwanderer@yahoo.com
