SHREWSBURY – The Scandinavian Athletic Club (SAC) is saying “tack så mycket” for an eventful 100 years.
The SAC calls 438 Lake St. in Shrewsbury home, and for the last century, the group has offered an important common space for the Central Mass. Scandinavian community.
On Sept. 28, SAC members celebrated the milestone with entertainment, music, food and plenty more.
In 1923, a group of soccer-minded Swedish immigrants gathered in Worcester to form a sports club. The group was officially chartered in 1924, and in 1928, it purchased a cottage and seven acres of land in Shrewsbury.
The club’s 200 members built soccer fields and running tracks. The barn on the property was transformed into locker rooms, and women sold pickled herring sandwiches to raise funds.
Soccer is still key to the club, according to SAC President Roy Pedersen, who has lived on the property since he was an infant. Pedersen has been on the board since about 1984 and has made a concerted effort to continue the SAC’s sporting legacy. The park’s soccer field gets used frequently – the SAC sponsors youth teams, and Shrewsbury High School’s athletic squads have used it for practices over the summer.
“Soccer is first and foremost the reason for the place, and Roy’s continuing that legacy,” said SAC Treasurer Hans Berg.
The club expanded into dancing, and in 1929, its iconic wood-domed clubhouse was constructed. The event space has been enjoyed by the broader Shrewsbury community – even those outside Scandinavian circles. The SAC offers the space as a function hall to help with maintenance costs.
“In the 1920s there were tons of Scandinavian clubs, but this one was formed around soccer. At the same time, in 1929, they built this timber-frame domed dance pavilion. So dance became a big part of it over the years. We hear about people whose parents met here at dances,” said Berg.
“It’s not necessarily a full-out business. We do enough to cover expenses and last another 100 years,” said Pedersen.
The club has roughly 80 active members, and it continues to serve as an important cultural space.
“The cultural thing is very important to keep going because a lot of clubs can’t afford to keep it going. When clubs close, that ethnic group doesn’t have a space anymore. We have a space,” said Pedersen.
A Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is held at the park every year, and the SAC is inviting the community to Lucia Fest on Dec. 8 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. It’s a celebration of holiday cheer filled with singing, dancing, Swedish food, and more.
“We’re like the Alamo for the Scandinavian-Americans of Worcester,” said Berg. “We’re like the last outpost.”
