SAFG-Dennis Carlson

<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="65001"%> SAFG-Dennis Carlson

Denmark

Helsinki

Sweden

Norway

Island

Scandinavian American Foundation of Georgia, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the exchange of educational, cultural and amateur athletic endeavors between the countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the State of Georgia.

Dennis M. Carlson - Chairman, Board of Governors, Founder

Dennis Carlson

Dennis M. Carlson was born in Erie, Pennsylvania of swedish parents and was influenced to learn swedish as his “Mormor” lived with them and spoke very little English. He was inundated in the family business which included restaurant and catering operations, and an in-plant feeding contract at the local General Electric Co. He attended North Park College in Chicago and graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. From there he spent several years with Sheraton Hotels and then with Hilton Hotels managing hotels from Hawaii to Florida and North Carolina. Eventually he became Southeastern Regional Supervisor for the Hilton Franchise Division and later did extensive work for them in development. Earlier in his career he also worked for the Swedish America Line and eventually became Asst. V. P. for the Marine Hotel Department of Holland America Line. In addition, he and his wife served on the Hospitality Committee at the United Nations. Most recently he retired from Emory University where he served as the Director of University Hospitality.

It was in 1983 that Dennis, together with Berno Trost, then Swedish Consul and Trade Commissioner to Georgia, came up with the idea of the Scandinavian American Foundation of Georgia. Berno enlisted the help of Phil Nethercut, Honorary Consul of Finland to Georgia, and together with Maurice Horowitz, Consul General of Iceland to the Southeast, met in the offices of John Portman, Honorary Consul of Denmark to Georgia. There the concept of the foundation was discussed and the framework was established. Phil Nethercut introduced Margareta Martin, the President of the Atlanta Suomi Finland Society, to the group and on March 2, 1983 a grand reception was held at the Atlanta Hilton and Towers where approximately 300 guests were told of the plans for the foundation and encouraged to make a financial contribution to get things started.

The Board of Governors and Officers were elected and Committee Chairs were appointed covering the five countries and the areas of interest. Things got off to a great start and in a short time there were exhibitions, performances, lectures, films, athletic events, demonstrations and student scholarships presented. Through the years the foundation has maintained relationships with the various colleges and universities in the area and there have been many discussions about establishing a formal link with schools in Scandinavia as well as here. Another highlight has been the Scandinavian Weekends which blend a program of cultural / educational interest and a social time introducing the local Scandinavian cultures to each other. SAFG has held these weekends in Savannah, Macon, Columbus, Chateau Elan, Chattanooga, Asheville and several times in Atlanta. SAFG looks forward to the continuing efforts of the dedicated members who make all this possible.