Well, at least the weather was very Swedish. Like always, Manhem Club in the Bronx pulled out all the stops for Sweden Day – too bad it had to be in a constant downpour. Luckily the man they honored as "2009 Man of the Year", Brian G. Andersson, Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Records and Information, didn’t seem to care.
“I’m very honored,” Andersson said.
Surrounded by his wife Marianne and his three children Emma, Conor and Luke, Andersson celebrated his Swedish side with food, singing and dancing. One of the two co-presidents of Sweden Day, Jeanne Eriksson Widman Andersen, tried to force the sun to come out over the Bronx and the beautiful midsommarstång: “It’s just a drizzle. It’s not raining anymore! And besides we’re Vikings aren’t we?” Eva Engman sang the Swedish and the American anthems while most people took cover under tents and umbrellas. Barnklubben Elsa Rix #1 entertained, as did the Swedish Folkdancers of New York. Sweden Day has been an annual event celebrated in the New York metropolitan area for over half a century. It takes place at the “Scandinavian Secret on the Sound” – Manhem Club, the only Scandinavian beach club. The food ranged from Swedish meatballs to herring, burgers and franks, there was Swedish folk music, children’s games and raffles for young and old, scholarship awards and the popular Miss Sweden Day Contest with 2 round-trip tickets to Sweden via SAS for the winner.
For more info, see www.swedenday.com