VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – Members of Syracuse’s Sons of Norway Oslo Lodge No. 438 gathered at the Fayetteville Senior Center this month for their traditional celebration of Juletrefest.
Annually serving as the last circled date on the calendar the lodge convenes, that annual Nordic Christmas-themed party included Norwegian caroling, a spread of cultural cuisine, and a surprise visit from none other than the gift-bearing Santa Claus equivalent Julenisse, who rang his bells and shouted “ho, ho, ho” just the same before wishing a good holiday to all in the senior center’s Parnell Hall.
When everyone in the room was singing, some stomped around as they danced and belted out songs, while decades-long member from Binghamton Helen Conklin joined in on piano.
During the event, another member who was born in “the city of roses,” Molde, Norway, recounted memories of going into the forest as a child and trudging through several feet of snow with his father before coming out with a Christmas tree for the family.
“He actually cut down two trees, because my mom was never satisfied with the first tree,” he said. “Every year it was the same thing, so he would always cut down two trees just to be sure.”
Telling also of the pitch darkness that lasted from mid-November to mid-February, a span during which his city surrounded by mountain peaks never saw the sun, the man recalled how all the kids would become antsy to open presents after Christmas dinner, with cross-country skis being a common gift for Norwegian children of a certain age.
Karin McCadam, the president of Oslo Lodge No. 438 who learned Norwegian as her first language, then talked about taking a weeklong boat trip to Norway at the age of six with her mother.
McCadam said that in addition to going down a hill on a wooden kicksled called a spark, she learned amid that visit that whether it’s a holiday, an anniversary or a birthday, if someone gives someone a present, it’s customary for the recipient to first look the other person in the face, extend their right hand and say “thank you” before they even reach out to accept the gift.
The Dec.. 14 celebration also consisted of a gift exchange where the premise was that every lodge member would pick a number and go up one at a time to select a gift off the table, but the catch was that each person could swipe another’s chosen gift once. The gifts that day included a book of Nordic folk tales, scratch-offs, and coffee mugs.
The food brought in for the Juletrefest ranged from the fluffy rice pudding riskrem to bread with raisins called julekake and the almond-filled pastry known as kringle.
Those in attendance said they enjoy being part of the Sons of Norway lodge because it gives them a chance to congregate with friends, explore interests in their Scandinavian ancestry, and learn about the culture of that section of the world.
The celebration also put attention on Sankta Lucia, the feast day observed on Dec. 13 every year for the Roman Christian martyr Saint Lucy, who happened to be referred to as Lucia of Syracuse, Sicilia.
Saint Lucy was martyred around the year 300 after refusing a Roman ruler’s order for her to cease her Christian beliefs and not marrying a gentleman of high standing interested in her wealth who spurned her generosity to the poor.
For the Sankta Lucia portion of this month’s Sons of Norway gathering, children dressed in white nightclothes to symbolize purity and donned crowns of electric candles as they went around offering Lucia buns in that saint’s honor.
Jenny Hammond, a local lodge member originally from Norway, said that in her day she and other girls would wear wreaths with live candles during the Sankta Lucia procession after wetting their heads with soaking towels, that practice signifying illumination of the longest, darkest winter night.
Usually once a month at least over the course of the year, Oslo Lodge No. 438 will bring together its members mostly of Scandinavian descent and other welcomed guests, with the Fayetteville Senior Center at 584 E. Genesee St. as their regular meeting place.
Other events include the lodge’s yearly March screening of a Nordic-themed movie and a parade in May to celebrate the Constitution Day for Norway Syttende Mai.
The Syracuse lodge was chartered in 1949, making 2024 its 75th year in existence. Assigned to Zone 4 incorporating New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the local lodge belongs to the Eastern Seaboard-covering third district of the fraternal benefit organization Sons of Norway, which was founded in 1895 in Minnesota as a way to recognize and preserve Norwegian culture.