Seattle

SEATTLE gets its name from Chief Sealth, a Duwamish Indian who died in 1866. While most of the Indians fled at the arrival of Captain George Vancouver in 1792, the 7-year old Sealth paddled out with his father to greet the first white man they had ever seen. By the time he was 22, Sealth had united the six tribes of the Puget Sound, and he was later responsible for a final conciliation between the Indians and the settlers. The latter paid him 16 000 dollars for the use of his name. The earliest settlers came from Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Russia. One of the first Swedish settlers in Seattle was the Count and painter, Johan Gustaf Kalling who stayed from the late 1870s to 1900 taking with him paintings of Snoqualmie Falls and Mount Baker when he returned to Sweden. His View of Port Angeles can be seen in the Clallam County Museum. He would have been absolutely chocked if he had seen the present Seattle skyline

SWEDISH SEATTLE is a delightful photographic history of the Swedish community by Paul Norlen (in the Images of America series, ISBN 13978-0-7385-4808-1 á $19.99 from Amazon.com or arcadiapublish ing.com). The book contains more than 200 vintage images (some of which you see with this article) of the Swedish community in all its endeavors. Paul Norlen, who is the grandson of Swedish immigrants, hopes that "readers will be surprised, and pleased, at what they learn. What I found most surprising, as I worked on this project, was the number of organizations founded by Swedish immigrants".

LARS JONSSON is the Honorary Consul of Sweden (Cosulate of Sweden, 520 Pike Street, Suite 2200, Seattle, WA 98101, 206-622-5640) and a very successful Swedish-American businessman. While he was CEO of the Axelson Johnson Group's shipping and engineering and repair arm, he was summoned to the American Northwest when the Sundance cruise ship sank off the coast of Vancouver Island in 1984. There was not much he could do about the ship, but in the meantime he fell in love and married the cruise ship owner's daughter. He sold his Swedish real estate holdings at top prices and took advantage of discounted US prices through his Stellar International Holdings that has successfully achieved in excess of 20% annual growth in equity since it was founded in 1989. Presently Lars and Laurie have extended their annual month in Sweden to a year, while Lars works through his company Bygg Vesta AB with apartment developments in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö as well as a first on-campus student housing development in Linköping. Laurie, with a distinguished past in the travel industry is a powerhouse in her own right with a long list of merits and awards and posts on several boards. Both Lars and Laurie are involved in philantrophical projects, for example, funding and connecting diabetes research in Linköping and Seattle and organizing a Diabetes Awareness Day in Seattle each year. Whenever they can, they take off with their children Jonas, Jenny and Markus on their 85 feet Golden Eagle yacht, where Lars does all the cooking, favouring mostly fish dishes.

THE MILLIONAIR CLUB first opened its doors on a wet winter day in 1921. The young businessman Martin Johanson believed that the solution to chronic homelessness was work. With the help of a few friends, he set up shop in a borrowed basement on Pioneer Square. Here, he began providing jobs for the unemployed, and meals for homeless men and women who were willing to work. He called his organization The Millionair Club because helping others made him feel like a millionaire, but dropped the “e” so supporters did not need to be wealthy. To date the Millionair Club Charity (206-728-JOBS, millionairclub.org, for hiring or making donations) has served more than 9.5 million meals and dispatched some 730 000 men and women to jobs.

ÄNDRA is an unusual name for what House Beautiful described as "may be Seattle's most stylish hotel". Centrally located in the Belltown area, this is the old Clarion Hotel that Craig Scheffer purchased with a view of changing it to a "New York loft design". However as he was returning to New York from Seattle with designer Andrea Dawson Sheehan he had second thoughts. With his Swedish mother as inspiration, Craig settled for a Scandinavian look for his hotel to capture "Seattle's urban, progressive attitude". Andrea, who also has a Scandinavian heritage, specializes in boutique hotels and is proud of the award-winning Hotel Ändra (2000 Fourth Avenue, ph. 206-877-448-8600, hotelandra.com). Guests love the comfort of the rooms (with 315 thread count Egyptian cotton bed sheets) and the welcoming lobby and "living room" with the obligatory Arne Jacobsen swan chairs.

INTIMAN was the name of August Strindberg's theatre in Stockholm. Margaret Booker set up the Seattle namesake in 1972 when she returned from Sweden after having worked with Ingmar Bergman. She had a background in Scandinavian literature and theatre so Intiman (201 Mercer Street near the Space Needle, 206-269-1900, intiman.org) initially staged a lot of plays by Ibsen and Strindberg. Now the theatre specializes in "new masters and classic work" and you can see The Diary of Anne Frank (until May 17), Tennessee Williams A Street Car Named Desire (July 3-August 2) and the topical All The King's Men (September 26-November 28) about American politics.

SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER is the largest, most comprehensive nonprofit health provider in the Greater Seattle area. "Swedish" (swedish.org) is comprised of three hospital campuses, a freestanding emergency department and a network of about 40 primary-care and specialty clinics known for treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatrics, organ transplantation and clinical research.

Doctor Nils Johansson got the idea for the hospital at the Swedish Hospital in Denver and with the help of ten local Swedish businessmen he founded what became the largest health care facility in the Pacific Northwest in 1910. His daughter Katherine “Kitty” married one of the Nordstrom boys, so that is why the retail family is represented on the Swedish Medical Center board. Until 40 years ago you had to be Swedish to sit on the board.

NORDSTROM experienced slowing holiday sales (down 4%) and plunging stock prices, problems likely to deepen among fears of a recession. But the nation's leading fashion specialty retailer with 156 stores in 28 states has ridden out worse problems than that through its more than hundred years in business. When 16-year old John Nordström arrived in the United States in 1887 he had five dollars in his pocket and did not know a word of English. Fourteen years later he had made $13 000 dollars in the Alaskan gold rush and was ready to start a shoe store at Fourth and Pike in Seattle with fellow Swede and shoemaker Carl Wallin. The partner's business philosophy was based on exceptional service, selection, quality and value. In 1928 with two successful stores under their belt, the two partners sold their shares to John's young sons who grew the company to become the largest independent shoe chain with eight stores. In 1963 the three brothers bought a women's clothing store and soon added men's clothing and children's wear to their range of products. In 1968 the three Nordstrom brothers retired and handed over the company to a third generation that eventually took the company public in 1971. Just two years later, Nordstrom sales passed the $100 million mark and the company was recognized as the largest-volume West Coast fashion specialty store. You will find a store near you (shop.nordstrom.com).

BALLARD was originally an independent, primarily Scandinavian township that was incorporated with Seattle in 1907. If you visit on the Norwegian National Day May 17, you realize how Scandinavian the township really is. Within a few blocks you find The Viking Bank, Olsen's Scandinavian Foods (2248 NW Market St., 206-789-5707) and Scandinavian Specialties (6710 15th Ave., 206-784-7020, scanselect.com) where you can also get a hot lunch. The Nordic Heritage Museum (free first Tuesday of the month, 3014 NW 67th St., 206-789-5707) is the only museum on the continent devoted to the cultures of the Nordic countries. Start by walking through The Dream of America exhibit where you see, smell, hear and experience much of what the immigrants did - so that even your children will enjoy the experience. There are always current exhibits, a cafeteria and a very well-stocked book store. The just retired Swedish museum director Marianne Forssblad initiated the purchase of land at the nearby Hiram M Chrittenden Locks, that is one of Seattle's most popular tourist attractions in the summer, where a new purpose-built Nordic Heritage Museum will eventually be located.

SWEDISH CULTURAL CENTER started as the Swedish Club at the corner of Eight Avenue and Olive Way in 1902, with the help of a loan from Nels B Nelson who founded the Frederick and Nelson department store chain. In time for the World's Fair in 1962, the Swedish Club moved into a new large "Scandinavian Modern" building, overlooking Union Lake, with casual and elegant facilities for meetings for 20 to 300 people. Today the Swedish Cultural Center (1920 Dexter Avenue N, 206-283-1090, swedishculturalcenter.org) is home to Svenska Kulturförbundet (kulturforbundet. blogspot.com), the Swedish School (skolfo reningen.org) and other groups and draws a capacity crowd for the popular monthly pancake breakfast. The manager R. W. Clay and President Brandon Benson are working hard to get a new generation to discover and take advantage of the fantastic building. SWEA Swedish Womens Educational Association (chapters-swea.org/seattle) and other organizations meet all over town.

IKEA in Renton (601 SW 41st St., 800-570-4532, ikea-usa.com) has been a success since it opened in 1994 and is a veritable life-saver for many Swedes. If you are looking for something a bit more special visit Kiki Alvord at Swedish Heirlooms (2911 East Madison St., 206-621-1002, swedish heirlooms.com) that imports Swedish antique furniture and Gustavian reproductions. If you are looking for Swedish crafts you will have to get hold of Desiree of Sweden (425-881-1544) or catch her at a local Scandinavian fair.

IVAR HAGLUND is probably the best-known Swede in Seattle through the times. He not only managed to build up a successful business bearing his own name, that today consists of three waterfront restaurants and 25 seafood bars, but also became quite a legend through his un-orthodox ways. He staged a wrestling match between a giant octopus and a colourful boxing celebrity of the 40s. The octopus was dead but that’s another story. When a community group failed in its effort to get a fireworks display together, Ivar, the self-styled “fireworks junkie” stepped into the breach and financed the show which has grown into a “Fourth of J-Ivar” fireworks extravaganza viewed by hundreds of thousands of Puget Sound residents every year. Ivar bought the historic landmark building, Smith Tower, and immediately got into a controversy with the city over a salmon windsock that he wanted to fly from the top of the tower. An outrageous punster, he coined the phrase “Keep Clam” that has become a keeper in the Seattle waterfront lexicon. For many years Ivar performed as a folk guitarist on a Seattle radio station, appearing with such legendary folk singers as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Today Ivar continues to have a presence through his restaurants, the flagship being the original “Acres of Clams” at Pier 54.

THE DEPARTMENT of Scandina-vian Studies at the University of Washing-ton was started in 1908 by three Swedish students, with the help of a Swedish professor of Electrical Engineering and the Swedish Consul, Andrew Chilberg. The Consul was also President of Seattle's first world's fair in 1909 that was held on the grounds of what subsequently became the University of Washington campus. Today students can earn a Bachelors degree (BA) with a major in Danish, Norwegian or Swedish and Scandinavian Area Studies (emphasis on folklore, history, politics, and/or Baltic Studies). Next year the Department (depts.washington. edu/scand), will celebrate its centennial and mark Judge Gustav Bonde's addition to the state constitution that required a program in Swedish to be part of the University's offering.