The Albert Lea Sons of Norway Lodge is planning an event members hope will not only save their lodge, but will give back to the community as well.

The first Sweetheart Dance and silent auction will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Feb. 13, at Wedgewood Cove Golf Club. Proceeds will benefit the Sons of Norway lodge and provide scholarships for local high school graduates.

Tickets are available for $15 per person ($30 per couple) at the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce or Leuthold’s. Tickets are also available at the door.

There will also be music by Mega Force, door prizes, hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

People are welcome to wear festive attire. That doesn’t mean people need to wear tuxedos, but if they want to, Leuthold’s will donate $20 for every tuxedo rented for the event to the scholarship fund.

According to Wayne Olson, vice president of the lodge, the membership decided to put its lodge — the converted barn near City Arena — up for sale back in April.

“We don’t want to sell the place,” Olson said. “We want to make it a vibrant part of the community again.”

So a number of members decided to organize an event to help save the lodge and give back to the community at the same time.

They came up with the idea of a valentine’s dance.

“It’s a place for husbands to take their wives,” said Cheryl Herold, one of the event’s organizers. She added that in her years in Albert Lea, she doesn’t recall any other event like this around Valentine’s Day.

Organizers said they hope to raise $6,000.

“We don’t want to just save the lodge, we want to be an important part of Albert Lea,” Olson said. “It’s nice when an organization can reach out to other groups.”

The lodge already does that in a number of ways. It sponsors summer camps, softball and baseball teams for kids. Members provide lunch for Red Cross blood drive workers. They assist with bingo at the Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea. They raise funds and collect food for the food shelf. They grant an annual college scholarship. They take baskets to shut-in members at Thanksgiving time. They have also raised money for the Arc of Freeborn County.

Lodge rentals are available for events.

The Sons of Norway have sponsored a student to a Concordia Language Village and has offered Norwegian lessons. The lodge also offers a cultural skills program to encourage participation in Nordic-American pursuits, to enrich members’ lives and to provide the basis for special interest groups within the lodge.

Anyone interested in donating an item for the silent auction may drop it at Power 96 or the Breeze. Cash donations are also being accepted at Wells Fargo Bank.

Some of the items on the silent auction are Chanhassen Dinner Theatres tickets, Timberwolves tickets, Gopher basketball tickets, restaurant gift certificates, tanning certificates, health club memberships, handmade jewelry, passes to the Big Island Rendezvous & Festival, hardanger, rosemaling and golf rounds from Green Lea Golf Club and Wedgewood Cove Golf Club. Brekke Travel from Grand Forks, N.D., whose owner comes from Norway, is offering gift certificates for $500 off travel for one person or $1,000 off travel for two people for a Norwegian tour.

The silent auction runs from 8 to 10 p.m.

“People have been so generous,” Herold said.

Foto Factory will be on hand to take sweetheart photos from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Four Seasons Travel of Albert Lea will also donate part of the travel fee from a September tour of Norway, Lapland and Iceland to the lodge. Information on that, as well as membership, will be available at the dance. Members receive regular newsletters and magazines.

“You don’t have to be Norwegian to join the Sons of Norway,” she said.

Herold said she hopes people will come out and have a good time. “I want people to leave the event and say, “That was a wonderful night. I want to do it again next year.”