Ben & Karen Freudenreich

♫Getting to know you,

Getting to know all about you. . . .♫

 

 Pictures of people in Vietnam and Buddhist temples were not the only things that caught Karen's eye that night in 1969 when Ben showed slides at the Cambridge Club.  Then, when the Club met at Camp Akita, he took her on a canoe ride on the lake.  The canoe was leaking awfully, but fortunately he managed to save Karen from a terrible fate.  Romance was not dampened by the wet experience, though.

 

 On one of their early dates, Karen took Ben to the Scandi Club Midsommar picnic.  To Karen's dismay, several of the ladies cornered Ben and subjected him to the third degree.  (Ben still remembers how he enjoyed talking with Edna Schuman and her sister Frida Sjolie, who were visiting from Norway).   Ben was not deterred, and soon he and Karen were engaged.  On October 11, 1969, he married into the Scandinavian Club.

 

 His interrogators didn't uncover everything, however, and standing at the altar ready to exchange vows, Karen heard the minister say, ìDo you, Karen, take Leo to be . . .î  ìWho is Leo?î she wondered.  She knew him only as Ben.  Nevertheless, her answer was ìYes,î and she was wed to Leo.  They have a son Karl and a daughter Kristin.

 

Ben grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1961 from Carnegie Tech., a.k.a. Carnegie- Melon, with a B.S. in physics.  Upon graduation, he accepted a position in one of Battelle's information analysis centers.  In 1965, Battelle sent him to Vietnam where he collected and compiled information about native fishing boats and their normal operations.  Each region built their fishing boats in a distinct way.  So, if a boat strayed too far from its origin, it became suspect of smuggling arms.

 

 Karen's early life was spent like a gypsy.  Her father's pursuit of an engineering career kept the family on the move as he worked in many different jobs while studying to obtain his Professional Engineer certificate.  This moving around gave Karen the skill of easily adapting to any situation, honing her keen observational skills and curiosity.  She naturally found herself conducting experimental researches wherever there was a gathering of people, uncovering interesting details about group behavior.  Ask her about them next time you see her.  She has some funny observations to share.

 

 Karen's academic experience was also unique.  She and her mother attended both high school and college together. Her mother needed no cell phone to get a message to Karen in high school.  Just giving the message to any girl would deliver it to Karen by the next class change.

 

Following college Karen worked as a cartographer for the U.S. Geological Survey and the Geology Department of Ohio State University.  She constructed maps for a publication of ground water in the Ohio River Basin for USGS. 

 

Karen's father was Norwegian-Swedish, qualifying the family for membership in the Scandi Club when the family moved to Columbus in 1958.  Karen was Sankta Lucia twice.  The first was a Christmas meeting and the second was at an Anniversary Dinner of the Club at Berwick Manor Party House.  Both times she wore live candles in her crown, and all the little children in the procession carried live candles in their hands, as well!  For many years, Karen gathered the children each year to practice the singing of Sankta Lucia and walking in the procession.  She also took care of all the gowns and hats used at the Sankta Lucia Fest.

 

 Both Ben and Karen have served on the Board.  Karen served twice.  She held the positions of Calling Chair, Dinner Chair, Secretary, and Vice President.  Ben served as Calling Chair and Editor.

 

 Ben and Karen are retired, but both have come down with the same affliction and no hope for a cure is yet available.  Nor do they want one.  They have a really bad case of Habititis!  Ben, now a former board president, has served two, three-year terms on the Board of Greater Columbus Habitat for Humanity, and Karen works with Habitat's Religious Resources Committee.

 

 Another passion of the Freudenreichs is ballroom dancing; they take dancing lessons every Sunday afternoon.

 

 Returning to the scene of Ben's interrogation and introduction to the Club, Ben and Karen are the Dinner Captains for the June Midsommar Fest this year.  They have been Dinner Captains many times before, and some of the most memorable have been when they were in charge of the elaborate Sm–rgÂs Table.

 

Karen, Ben, and stuffed, black cat.

Upcoming Events

       Mark your calendars now, so you don't end up with conflicts.

     September Breakfast 9/19/04

     Swedish Evening 10/16/04

     American/Thanksgiving Evening 11/20/04

     Sankta Lucia Fest  12/11/05? 

     Icelandic Evening 1/15/05

     ScandiClub Birthday 2/19/05

     Finnish Evening 3/19/05

     Danish Evening 4/16/05

     Norwegian Evening 5/21/05

     Midsommar Fest 6/18/05

     Scandi-Kaffe will continue meeting the fourth Thursday of the month.  Come join us. . .a very nice way to turn an ordinary Thursday into a special day.

     International Festival takes place on November 6-7, 2004.

 

Member News (Good News!)

 

Bryan Stover, the son-in-law of Sandy and Warren Powell, has safely returned home, along with his whole unit, from Iraq.

 

 

 

Smoking ban starts in Norway June 1^st

     OSLO (Reuters) - Smokers have stubbed out cigarettes across Norway at midnight as the Nordic nation followed Ireland to become the second in the world to outlaw smoking in all bars and restaurants.

     "This new law is a terrible idea," said Siv Eriksen, 25, pretending to sob as she put out a cigarette in an ashtray as midnight struck on Monday night. "I like to smoke everywhere, all the time."

     In return, a waiter in the Smuget nightclub handed out red lollipops and placed a sign on a table beside her saying "thanks for a smoke free workplace". The club auctioned off ashtrays as mementoes, fetching up to 350 crowns (28 pounds) apiece.

     Like Ireland, Norway is seeking to protect waiters and other restaurant and bar staff from second-hand smoke blamed for causing cancer, respiratory and heart diseases. Smoking is already outlawed in other workplaces, from offices to airports.

     Some U.S. states and cities, like California and New York, have similar anti-smoking laws but Ireland was the first to impose a nationwide ban, on March 29, with Norway second. Ireland says its law is being almost universally respected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says tobacco kills 4.9 million people worldwide every year, or one every 6.5 seconds.

     Norway put off the planned launch of its ban from January 1, reckoning it would be unfair to force smokers into bone-chilling temperatures at the start of a new law. Smokers in Oslo spilled out into the streets on a warm summer night.

"We hope that business won't be hit," Smuget manager Tom Sandstad said. "It'll take a few months to find out. But the biggest uncertainty is how the law will be applied.   Will we lose our license if someone has a cigarette and we can't persuade them to stop?" he asked.

    Under the Irish law, both smokers and pub or restaurant owners are liable to fines of up to 3,000 euros (2,000 pounds). In Norway, the sole responsibility lies with the owners, who risk fines of thousands of crowns for letting smokers keep puffing.

     Norway hopes the ban will have the spin-off of getting people to quit. About 26 percent of adults smoke in Norway, far above a WHO goal of a maximum 20 percent.

     Norwegian health authorities will hand out 40,000 flowers on Monday and distribute booklets with one-liner jokes to encourage smokers to stop, like: "his smokers' cough followed him through life like a faithful barking dog."

     And at Oslo airport, visitors will be met by a poster of two men standing by a river and proudly showing off a fish. "The only thing we smoke here is salmon," the caption reads.

-Alister Doyle