Helix Scandinavica History:

Helix Scandinavica was founded during April and May of 1994.  The club came to being by the common desire of the members of the Norwegian corkscrew collectors club (Norsk Korketrekker Klubb) and other Scandinavian corkscrew collectors who were also members of the ICCA.  Membership in the Club is open to corkscrew collectors living in Scandinavia.  The maximum is 15 members, five from each country of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

At the start the club had 8 members, one Dane, five Norwegians and two Swedes.The third Swede entered in 1994 and a second Dane in 1998. The fourth Swede was elected in at the Oslo meeting 1999.  The third Dane was elected as a member in 2000.  The fourth Dane was elected in 2001 in Esbjerg and this year the fifth Norwegian joined (replacing one who left the Club).  He is the son of one of the founding members, but as he was a family member of a full member he did not take the fifth place but is, nevertheless, a full member. This is also the case with our first female member. The wife of a Danish member was elected as a full member but does not count as the fifth Dane. So at the moment the club has 15 members and two vacancies.

At the meeting in Copenhagen 1995, members' significant others participated for the first time. 

Since 1997 the club has also accepted Associate members, mainly from other countries.  Associates are entitled to take part in all activities apart from the AGM itself.  In 2003, we have 13 Associate members from 8 Countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA.

All members are entitled to receive the Newsletter and can purchase pins as well.  At the AGM, food and beverage and good friendship are top priorities for everyone, members as well as their accompanying persons.

The Club's affairs are administered by a slate of executives including a chairman, a treasurer and chief-correspondent plus someone in charge of producing the annual Helix Scandinavica Newsletter.

NEWSLETTER

Since 1997 the club has been publishing an annual Newsletter.  The members contribute all the materials, the first two issues were edited by Helgir Solheim.  The 1999 and 2000 issue was the responsibility of Buster Berntson and Per Ekman. Since 2001 and onwards Martin Jessen and his wife Anne-Lise are the new editors. The Newsletter is intended to cover all news about members and new corkscrew discoveries during the past year concerning Scandinavian made corkscrews.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Annual meeting of members is traditionally held during the first week of May.  The hosting duties rotate between the three countries.

The first meeting was hosted by Buster Berntson in Göteborg, Sweden in 1994.

The 1995 AGM was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Then, the 1996 AGM was hosted in Oslo, Norway.

The 1997 meeting was organized in Falsterbo, Sweden.

At the 1998 Annual Meeting, held in Copenhagen, we invited the German corkscrew collectors club's members.  Nine members journeyed to the meeting and some brought their significant others (go-withs).  The meeting was a great success.

The 1999 Annual Meeting was held in Norway, starting in Larkollen at Björn Bendigtsen's place and then moved to Oslo where we saw two private collections and were treated to a fantastic lunch at the Solheim residence.

The 2000 AGM was held in Göteborg where after lunch at Buster Berntson, the AGM continued whilst the go-withs were invited to spend two hours at the nearby Turkish bath, which was very much appreciated.  The attendees were able to view another collection of a member, Evan Svensson, resident in Göteborg.

The meeting in Esbjerg, Denmark in 2001 was the biggest so far and four Associate Members came to this meeting - Klaus Biermann (Germany), Ferd Peters (The Netherlands), Francis Hutchinson (Great Britain) and Alf-Leif Erikson (USA & Bangkok).  Alf brought one of his hot-air balloons complete with his flight crew and took the attendees for a ride in the balloon one evening. That meeting will be remembered for a very long time.

The 2002 Meeting was held in Oslo again with lunch and AGM at the Solheim residence with Associate member Hutchinson attending. Saturday started with a flea market and a visit to the famous Vigeland Museum.

The 2003 AGM was held in Karlstad, Sweden (first time there) hosted by Reidar Remneson and his wife Birgitta.  

2004 AGM in Helix Scandinavica

For the third time the Helix Scandinavica AGM was held in Copenhagen during the weekend of May 20-23. This time the hosts were Oluf Olsen and Jens Arnbjerg. The meeting started in the beautiful Solröd Strand were Oluf lives. We were treated to a typical Danish “smörrebröd” delightfully prepared by Oluf's wife Christina and her parents. What a terrific start for the meeting. After lunch we saw Oluf's impressive collection with many Scandinavian corkscrews never seen before. After the AGM itself we left for the Arnbjerg residence. We admired Jens' very impressive collection and afterwards we sat around, relaxing and thoroughly enjoying just being together again. The atmosphere in our group is really an asset. This year Klaus Bierman, Francis and Joyce Hutchinson attended the meeting along with new associate members Reinhold and Irene Berndt. One of Liz and Jens Arnbjerg's friend is a chef and she had prepared an absolutely fantastic dinner for us. Jens emptied part of his wine cellar, or I should say, we did. Many of us stayed until late night and enjoyed the warm camaraderie. Next morning we visited the outdoor markets at Israelsplads and Gammelstrand and of course some antique streets. Most members stayed at Hotel Josty in the wonderful Fredriksberg Gardens. In the afternoon we had our auction at the hotel. The meeting ended with a gala dinner at one of the most famous hotel restaurants in Copenhagen. Some of us even had energy left for a “nachspiel” at the apartment of Anders and Ulla Villemoes. Another memorable meeting came to an end.

The meetings also have a fine Buy/Sell/Trade session.

The board of Helix Scandinavica, members and associate members are listed on the sidebar.

2004 -2005 Officers

Chairman:
Buster Berntson, Kaponjärgatan 4F 41302 Göteborg, Sweden.
tel: 46-31133490
e-mail: collecteum@telia.com

Treasurer:
Jens Arnbjerg, Ragnesminde Allé 36 2605 Bröndby, Denmark.
tel: 45-43967126
e-mail:
jarn@image.dk

Chief Correspondent: Björn Bendigtsen, Hollenderstien 29 1560 Larkollen. Norway.
tel: 47-69263253
fax: 47-69263076
e-mail:
bjbendig@online.no