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About Us
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About Skål Club of Washington DC
About Skål International
Shortly after the inauguration of the first joint Swedish and French air service between Stockholm and Paris in 1932, a group of travel people from the French capital were invited to make an exploratory flight over the new route. The welcome they received in Stockholm led to many pleasant friendships. Realizing the importance of closer relationships among those who strive to develop and promote both national and international travel, the men who made the flight to Stockholm determined to found a permanent organization whose primary aim would be the creation of goodwill and friendship in travel and transportation circles throughout the world. The Paris Skål Club was formed on December 16, 1932, with Rene Genestie as President. In 1934, twelve other clubs had been formed and Florimond Volckaert conceived the idea of uniting them into an international organization. The Association International des Skål Clubs (A.I.S.C.) was created on April 28, 1934, and Voickaert became its Founder President. From that modest beginning, Skål now has more than 12842 members in over 324 Clubs, spread throughout 102 countries. On April 1, 1938, the Skål Club of North America (Skål Club of New York, No. 28) was founded. As the first Skål Club established in North America, the New York Club assisted and guided in the formation of other Skål Clubs on this continent. Skal USA has 45 clubs and over 1,500 members and growing. "The North American Chapter Committee" in which all Skål Clubs in North America were represented, was formed on March 31, 1949, and was followed by the North American Skål Council on August 9, 1950, and that organization was superseded by the National Skål Committee, U.S.A. as National Committees were formed in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.A. Our Washington DC Club was formed in 1955. To join Skål Washington DC please visit https://www.skal.org/MembershipForm Coincident with the formation of the three separate National Committees, its North American Skål Council was continued to help in all matters of joint and common interest between Canada, Mexico and the U.S.A., as well as offering membership to Skål Clubs affiliated with the Area Committee under its new name of "North American Area Skål Committee." Experts differ as to the origin of the word "Skål" (pronounced Skoal) which occurs in the three Scandinavian languages. It is the basis for the universal Skål.
To fellow Skålleagues everywhere, The Skål movement in the North American area has grown to the extent that we now have 5435 Skållegues in 123 Clubs in Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Curacao, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, St. Maarten and the United States. To join Skål visit https://www.skal.org/MembershipForm A note on one of the Charities that Skål DC supports: Florimond Volckaert Fund
What is the Florimond Volckaert Fund? The fund was set up in 1954, in the name of the acknowledged founder of Skål, to provide assistance to Skålleagues and their immediate families who are in serious need of assistance. How does it work? If a Skålleague is in need of help, an application should be sent by the President of the Club or the International Councilors to the three Trustees. They will assess the request and quickly come to a decision. Under what circumstances can help be requested? There are innumerable reasons why help is requested, for example:
These are just a very few examples of the forms of personal (not business) assistance that the Trustees have approved over the years. How does one apply for assistance? Either through your Club President or International Councilor. There is an approved Application Form that can be accessed via the Skål website at https://www.skal.org/MembershipForm Where does the money come from? Donations from individual Skålleagues, Clubs, National and Area Committees. These are voluntary contributions, but, as one recipient of help said: In all the years that I was soliciting donations for the FVF, I never dreamed that I would, one day, be asking for help from it. This is your Fund. Remember, you never know when you might need help from it. Any assistance given is completely confidential. Unless the recipients want to tell anyone about the help they have received, only the recipients, the sponsors and the Trustees will know. | Past DC Club PresidentsSKÅL DC wishes to gratefully acknowledge the service of our Club Presidents through the years:
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Florimond Volckaert was born on 23 February 1898 and died on 17 January 1968. Discussions commenced on the setting up of a benevolent fund in 1949 and the Florimond Volckaert Fund was approved by the General Assembly of Clubs during the Congress held in Mallorca, Spain in October 1953.