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In connection with the international Youth Games – which were held in Aalborg during the first week of August – the City Council of Aalborg asked the Christian The Fourth´s Guild to initiate into the Guild 40 young team-leaders, chosen among the 1.100 teen-agers, who took part in the Games.
After the initiation the new members of the Guild were taken on a sight-seeing tour in Aalborg’s old town.
Former Lord Mayor of Aalborg, Marius Andersen, founded in 1975 the Youth Games for 13 -15 years old girls and boys from Aalborg’s twin towns, and the Games were held for the first time the same year - of course in Aalborg – and with help from the City Council and from SIFA (the union of sports-clubs in Aalborg).
Since then there have been Youth Games every fourth year, by turn in four different cities of which one has always been Aalborg. Today Aalborg has 33 twin towns, and the 1.100 participants in the Games were this year from 23 of these cities. Most of the cities represented were European, but China and Israel had too sent delegates.
The sport activities take place in Aalborg’s different sport facilities, while other arrangements for the participants and their followers take place in the new cultural center “Nordkraft” or on Aalborg´s newly developed waterfront.
Photo:: Jens Morten
Among the many traditions in connection with the celebration of the 4th of July in Rebild and Aalborg is the initiation of new members into the Christian The Fourth´s Guild.
16 Danish-Americans, Americans and Danes were initiated this year. Among them were the American main speaker Steny Hoyer, congressman and House Democratic Majority Leader - who has Danish ancestors – the American attaché of defense Chris McDonald and his wife, the Danish youth speaker and TV-hostess Ida Wohlert and her husband.
After the initiation ceremony the whole party proceeded to the traditional tent-luncheon in Rebild Bakker, where members of the Guild’s Board contributed to the entertainment.
On Monday the 9th of May 126 Norwegians – all of them members of the Guild in Oslo – visited Aalborg, Duus’ Wine cellar, Jens Bangs Stenhus and the board of the Guild.
The occasion was the celebration of the 20th anniversary for the sanctioning of the Norwegian branch of the Guild in Oslo by the original Christian The Fourth’s Guild in Aalborg. That was the result of several years of close cooperating between the Guild here in Aalborg and a group of citizens from Oslo.
Still, only the C4 Guild in Aalborg can initiate new members, and therefore every spring the Guild from Oslo brings to Aalborg new members to be initiated here by the Aalborg Guild, and every fall the Aalborg Guild travels to Oslo to initiate new members there. Thus – on Monday the 9th - 18 Norwegians were initiated here.
Acting on an invitation from the Oslo Guild chief bencher Niels Voss Hansen, vice chief bencher Kaj Hanberg and the Guilds secretary Henrik Jensen on Sunday the 8th went by boat from Frederikshavn to Oslo, where the Oslo Guild with vice chief bencher Trygve Sødring met them at the boat, and then the 3 Danes accompanied the 126 Norwegians back to Denmark (Frederikshavn) by night-boat.
At 10.30 a.m. on Monday 9th the initiation took place – and as usual with many happy Norwegians present and with lots of Norwegian songs and music (there are several musicians among the members of the Oslo Guild).
After the initiation the members of the board of the two Guilds and their ladies walked to the new restaurant “Fusion” on the waterfront, where lunch was served. To celebrate the 20th anniversary the board of Christian The Fourth’s Guild had this year invited the Norwegian consul in Aalborg, Jens Chr. Schmidt, to lunch, and on the waterfront the Cannon Guild of Aalborg saluted the Norwegian-Danish party.
Foto: Jens Morten
Christian The Fourth´s Guild participated in the arrangements in connection with AirFranceKLM´s opening of a new daily route between Aalborg and Amsterdam.
The route will be flown with a Fokker 70 plane with seats for 7o passengers, and it was just such a plane that landed in Aalborg Airport at noon Sunday 27th of March.
On board were representatives for the merged airlines, agents and travel organizers as well as travel journalists.
During the stay VisitAalborg had arranged a visit to Lindholm Høje and the Utzon Center, guided tours in Aalborg, initiations of 40-50 of the guests in Christian The Fourth's Guild and a dinner on the former Dutch training ship, now restaurant ship, “Prinses Juliana” in Aalborg Harbour.
Aalborg Airport has great expectations of the new route out of Aalborg. The blue Fokker planes will make two daily tours seven days a week between Aalborg and Amsterdam, from where there are connecting flights to all over the world.
Foto: Jens Morten
Many new members in the old Guild.
558 persons from 17 different countries. That’s the number of new members initiated by Christian The Fourth´s Guild in 2010. This was announced by Chief Bencher Niels Voss Hansen at the Guild´s traditional, annual Guild Meeting on Wednesday 23rd of February in Aalborg.
The new members come from countries like Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina, but also many Norwegians and of course many Danes are among the newly admitted members.
On the 7th of June the Oslo branch visited the Guild, and the same day the new dress uniforms were presented in the old City Hall. In connection with the 4th of July festivities USA´s ambassador Laurie S. Fulton, CEO Ditlev Engel from Vestas and the youth speaker Marianne Lubanski were taken up as new members.
October 19th the Guild travelled to Oslo where an initiation was performed in Oslo Military Society.
2010 also presented a rare anniversary when Karen Wøhlk - a long-time member of the Guild - celebrated her 100 years birthday. A delegation from the Guild visited her on her big day and presented her with a bottle of Guild bitter to the tune of a trumpet solo.
The Chief Bencher told the assembly that the Guild in the last year - due to the financial crisis - had lost some of its sponsors and the economy was furthermore negatively affected by an increase in the rent and by a renewal of the Guild´s website.
The Guild Meeting in Duus´ Wine Cellar in Jens Bangs Stonehouse was attended by 200 members and following the Chief Benchers statement a number of prizes and economical “pats on the shoulder” were distributed.
Kathrine Størup Thomsen and Helge W. Larsen from the 4th of May College got such a pat on the shoulder. The prize for “Soldier of the Year” went to sergeant Kim Næsager Dalum from the Medical Company of the 1. Logistic Battalion - mainly because he as instructor and leader is “extremely committed and motivating”.
The 2010 Fanfare Prize went to the chief coach for Aalborg Boldklub´s men´s hand-ball team, Peter Bredsgaard-Larsen, who led the team to victory in the Danish National Championship in 2010 and made Aalborg known world-wide through his job as assistant coach for the Danish National Team at the World Hand-Ball Games.
The Prize of Honour was donated to the author Ib Skovfoged Laursen who among other things are known and highly praised for his books based on local historical themes.