Aaberg Family Reunion - 2008 Seattle, WA

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WOW! What a week-end. After two years in the planning and many months in preparation for this reunion, it has sadly come to an end. It was a wonderful week-end and the reunion committee agrees that a good time was had by all. We would like to summarize the highlights, as memory serves us and documentation reveals the attendee statistics, events of the week-end, and a few special moments as shared by the attendees.

Statistics:

There were 48 attendees; 9 from Norway, 1 from Sweden, and 38 from all over the USA. Alphabetically by state, there were 7 from California, 3 from Colorado, 3 from Illinois, 1 from Kansas, 4 from Nebraska, 1 from New Jersey, 3 from New York, 1 from Ohio, 3 from Oregon, 1 from Texas, 10 from Washington, and 1 from Wisconsin.

Of the 48 attendees, 41 were adults, 5 were children, and 2 were infants. The oldest attendee was Marjorie Anderson (2.4 Spouse) at age 89, and the youngest Carlo Flores (5.1.1.4.1) at age 4 months.

Marj Anderson (left) Carlo Flores

From the children of Maria and Anders Olsen Aaberg, attendees included; 9 descendants of Child #2 (Ole Andersen Aaberg); 2 descendants of Child #3 (Mathilde Andersdatter); 29 descendants of Child #5 (Johan Gustav Andersen); 2 descendants of Child #13 (Alma Andersdatter Aaberg); and 6 descendants of Child #16 (Margit Charlotte Andersdatter Aaberg).

We had 10 drivers transporting the attendees to and from the various events. Thanks to each one of them.

There were 3 local host homes, housing 8 attendees, 10 local attendees using their own homes, 27 staying at the Extended Stay Hotel, and 3 staying at the Olympic Hotel. Thanks to Jerry Anderson, Karen & Jerry Curtis, and Sharon Randall for opening their homes to our extended family.

Finally, we find it an interesting statistic that nearly all Norwegians spoke very good English and not many Americans could speak Norwegian. We need to work on this before the next reunion.


Activities:

Thursday July 24th

Welcome Registration/Party

As many as 35 attendees had arrived in Seattle and Kai and Dag Lindberget offered their hotel room for the registration party, that later overflowed into Lisa Sindlinger’s room. The party was hosted by Patsy and Sharon, offering up wine, cheese, crackers, fruit, and chips. This was an exciting time for everyone, greeting those that they haven’t seen for years and in some cases a first time meeting. A bit of business was taken care of during this time, name badges, the Program for the week-end, Attendee List, Invoices, a CD containing family information, and local sightseeing brochures were put into tote bags specially imprinted for the reunion.

Friday July 25th

Nordic Heritage Museum

Comments indicated that this was a very interesting tour of “The Dream of America is the story of immigration told in an exhibit of life-like dioramas.” There were three floors of exhibits to explore which depict the lives of the Norwegian immigrants after arriving in America. The museum set aside a room for us to enjoy coffee (provided by the museum) and treats (provided by Patsy & Sharon).

Ballard Locks

Following the Nordic Museum, we caravanned to the nearby Ballard Locks. This is an interesting sight to watch boats being transferred from Puget Sound sea water, to the higher level of the fresh water Lake Union. There is also a Salmon ladder at the locks where Salmon can be viewed as they come from the saltwater up the Salmon ladder into Lake Union and eventually into the local streams for spawning.

Free Time

After the Ballard Locks there was free time before the banquet and each car decided what they wanted to do from then until the banquet. Some went to Pike’s Market, some to Seattle Center, and some back to the hotel to rest up for the evening activity.

Banquet at Ivar’s Salmon House

We all gathered at Ivar’s Salmon House for the banquet, entertainment, and speakers. Most had a drink before dinner and mingled around visiting with those that may not have been to the day’s earlier activities. Then the party began!

We were entertained by an Elvis Presley impersonator who was very entertaining and interacted with our group. He sang a number of songs and gave out scarves to many of the guests. He also encouraged the guests to get up and dance. Some did and had a very good time. He did a really great performance. We need to thank Ron Baumann for his donation of this entertainment.

A wonderful buffet was provided including: Salad, Mixed Greens with Balsamic vinaigrette, Entrées (all included): Vegetable Lasagna, Mixed vegetables, smoked mozzarella, fresh spinach pasta, béchamel and tomato sauce, Chicken Parmesan, Small cut chicken dusted in flour and sautéed with house made tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, Alder Grilled Sockeye, Salmon Served with agro dolce sauce or salsa verde, Four Cheese Ravioli, Fresh Cucina Fresca pasta tossed with sun dried tomato cream sauce, Sides (all included) Chef Select, Seasonal Vegetables, Italian Herb Roasted Red Potatoes, Seasonal Fresh Fruit, Dessert: Assorted Cookies and Ganache Brownies.After the meal, Annette Bacon had a short slide presentation and then sang for the group.

There was a presentation of flowers of thanks to the Reunion Committee, Sharon Randall, Sylvi Borge, Jerry Anderson, Karen Curtis, Jerry Curtis, and Patsy Flores, followed by speakers telling of their memories of our ancestors. Among these were Sharon Randall, Sylvi Borge, Karen Curtis, Dolores Dilley, Patsy Flores, Laila Woitzik Åslie, Kai Lindberget, Wenche Åslie, and Jerry Anderson.

Saturday July 26th


Duck Tour with Capt. Rocky Bottom

Yes, that is his real name, so he says. This was a fun time for the group. This tour usually originates at the Seattle Center but parking is so difficult there. Because we filled the Duck, we could have it begin and end at Gasworks Park where there is ample free parking. I hear Rocky had them laughing the whole trip. The tour included a tour of downtown Seattle and then into Lake Union to see the sights on the water front. The Duck is an amphibian vehicle which can travel both on land and as a boat.

The Bonus for this event was the ‘Dell Computer Vendor”. An employee from Dell was in the park giving away promotional beach towels. They were about twice the size of an ordinary beach towel. I think everyone on the tour got at least one. Some (I heard) got more than one.

Picnic at Carkeek Park

Upon arriving at the park, the first committee member (Jerry Curtis) to get there was to put the ‘RESERVED’ signs on the seven (7) tables that we had reserved. It seems that two of the seven were already occupied and the occupants refused to move. Jerry says they formed a circle around him and got right in his face. Knut was with Jerry but took off as soon as the confrontation began – the chicken. Security was called, only to get a voice message which was never returned, nor did anyone ever show up. When Sharon and Sylvi arrived, Sylvi got right back in their face. (Hear that Knut?). To make a long story short, One of the groups, given a little time, gave us our table back, The other spent the day with us. It turned out that six tables were more than enough anyway. We forgave Knut after he helped carry most of the supplies from the truck to the picnic area.

We had a great time at the picnic. The menu was just old fashion picnic fare, hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, chips, and drinks (sodas). Ove cranked up the BBQs (2 of them) with charcoal and Jerry Anderson and Adam Parks did the cooking. The weather was great, no rain. It did get a little too warm but after awhile, the sun got below the tree line and gave us some shade.

The picnic broke up about 6:00pm and each one went their separate ways. I heard that some got together later that evening to party maybe?

Sunday July 27th

Farwell Get Together in Tacoma

There was talk of a Farewell Brunch on Sunday but we couldn’t decide just where or when so it was dismissed. Many of the reunion attendees had begun to leave for either home or their next vacation destination. Jorg, Laila, and Mia, who were staying with Jerry Anderson, were to go to the Curtis’ in Tacoma to stay for a couple days. Karen thought that it be fun to have Bjorn & Sylvi come down for lunch, Sharon & Patsy would bring them, then Karen invited Jon and Brent and asked if they would bring Ove, Wenche, Knut, Kai, and Dag. Jerry, Karen, Dolores, Marge and Adam were already at the Curtis’. Jerry had brought the leftovers from the picnic home Saturday evening and stowed them in his fridge. With all those leftovers and 20 family and friends – it was party time again. Visiting continued from about noon until about 6 or 7 pm. Wenche distributed CDs to the families containing a Norway video along with family documents and photos of the Åslie family. A good time was had by all.

Special Moments:

Sad Moment for Sylvi

Sylvi’s grandmother, who was 99 years old, passed away on July 19th. It was thought that Bjorn & Sylvi may have to cut their trip short to attend her funeral. Arrangements in Norway were made such that they would be able to complete the trip and attend the funeral a day after arriving home in Norway. Our hearts go out to Sylvi knowing that she and her grandmother were very close. This must have put a bit of a damper on the remainder of their first visit to the US.

Traveling Report

Many of our reunion attendees have traveled long distances to get to Seattle for the reunion. We will not attempt to list the itinerary of our travelers because it would take several pages. It only makes sense that the Norwegians would take extended vacations to explore the US. Of those we talked to, the most common comment was “It’s BIG”. Many of the Americans also chose to drive and visit friends and relatives along the way. Fortunately we didn’t hear of anyone having any serious problems traveling to Seattle.

Although not all attendees have returned home, we have gotten one report on Sylvi and Bjorn and their ‘adventure’ back to Norway. They were plagued with cancellations and then their plane was struck by lightning (no damage done). We hope that this is not typical of other attendees. All ended well with them. Although exhausted, they did arrive home in time for the funeral of Sylvi’s grandmother the next day.

We also heard from Marge Anderson and Dolores Dilley and they have arrived home safely and on schedule. It is our hope that the remaining travelers will have this same luck in returning to their homes.