May 5 - 7 2005
Meeting onboard M/S Mariella to Borgå - Finland
With visit to Alprint, printers of Fantomen, Fantomet & Mustanaamio
Twenty-second Event
Onboard M/S Mariella to Borgå - Finland
5 – 7 May 2005
Onboard M/S Mariella to Borgå - Finland
5 – 7 May 2005
Attending Members: Brian Jensen, Torbjörn Onegård, Bo Engberg, Magnus Eriksson,
Lars-Olof Hansson, Mikael Lyck, Per-Åke Sjögren, Rolf Gustafsson.
Honorary guests: Kari Renholm, Antti Vauramo & Staff at Alprint in Borgå Finland
Guest: Tone Berggren
Day 1
In the afternoon shortly before 5 pm on the 5th of May 2005 a group of Bengali explorer’s gathered just inside the Viking ferry terminal in Stockholm all prepared for a great adventure and anxious to get away on their expedition to Finland. Bo Engberg took care of us and soon we were all onboard and settled in our cabins. After a short break we met in a conference room and held the meeting opened and led by our Founder Brian.
After a discussion about new definitions of our rules for newcomers (and old-timers), we did some exchanges of items, mainly underwear from Kappahl and notebooks from Gallerix.
Then as usual “slobber objects” were presented, such as a phantom original painting by Sy Barry, a self portrait by Ingebjörg Berg Holm, a genuine printing block for the phantom strip, a ring of gold with the “Good Mark”. The ring came from West Africa and was engraved in Sweden.
Also an old print from a school in which it was stated that the Phantom not only drinks milk but also wine at rare occasions with Diana, another funny item was a dish-tool formed as the skull.
Last but not least a very cool item, a tattoo of the Phantom (McCoy style) on the right shoulder of a member. Very impressive.
The meeting ended and it was time to join the dinner table.
We now had a couple of hours in front of us to enjoy a fantastic buffet while the ferry in a slow smooth pace cruised out of the beautiful Swedish archipelago. “As the Phantom we did not only drink milk with our meal”…
Later in the evening we gathered at the Nightclub for some chat and to watch a small show.
A drink called Flash Gordon with a flashing “ice cube” in an illuminating way caught some of the explorer’s attention to the rest of the member’s amusement but as with everything it has an end so also this evening and day 1.
Day 2
Not too early in the morning we gathered at the breakfast table accompanied by a bright sunshine while the ferry slowly cruised in towards the harbour of Helsingfors.
After we disembarked we were met by Kari Renholm who greeted us welcome to Finland and swiftly arranged for transport in a comfortable taxi-van accompanied by his car.
Our trip to Borgå and Alprint took about one hour, when we arrived we were joined by our Finnish member from Borgå Rolf Gustavsson.
At the same time a press team from BORGÅBLADET also appeared. They followed us through out our visit and interviewed all of us. Another journalist from a local radio station also interviewed Brian and Torbjörn.
From the first moment we were also led by another member of the management at Alprint, Antti Vauramo, who took excellent care of us and gave us a big round-tour at the print.
We were guided by Antti throughout the tour who explained everything from the first to the last step in the process of printing a Phantom magazine.
They showed us everything and left no questions unanswered , the tour took about 2 hour.
Luckily for us they just printed a coming number of the Swedish Phantom magazine (Fantomen nr 12) of which we all had the opportunity to get a first hand glimpse of (a great moment).
All attendees will get a copy of this magazine with a special cover! Only 30 of these covers where printed, 22 for Egmont and the rest was for us.
After the round trip we got a cup of coffee and had a chat, then we where invited to lunch and they took us to a very nice restaurant in town called Sevilla.
After that the time had come to say goodbye to our friends at Alprint and Rolf our Finnish member.
The taxi-van took us back to Helsingfors, we were all very grateful for what we had been given the opportunity to experience.
The warm and friendly way in which our Finnish friends, especially Kari and Antti, took care of us will always be remembered.
After a walk around in Helsingfors city we embarked the ferry once again and took a short rest before we joined the dinner table.
This time we had a’ la carte dinner, also very good.
Later on we once again met in a conference room. This time we had a look at some material made by inactive Finnish SC member Nils Kajander brought fore our viewing pleasure by Magnus Eriksson from the Egmont Stockholm office, containing proposals to attachments for the Phantom magazine, calendars and so on.
Nisse where unable to attend but had sent a list describing these proposals so we could get as informed as possible about this possibly upcoming project.
We also continued to discuss various matters summarizing our trip.
Then time had come to once again meet at the nightclub for a “Flash Gordon” drink and some relaxing chat before the end of day 2.
Day 3
Once again we met for breakfast and to watch the ferry cruising in to Stockholm harbour, after disembarking we gathered outside the terminal and said goodbye to 2 of our explorers who could not participate in the attendance of our SC Patron Ulf Granbergs 60th:s anniversary due to other commitments.
The rest of the Bengali explorers Finnish expedition members took a taxi-van to the residence of Ulf Granberg where we met with Ulf and his wife and were invited into their home.
Brian as the spokesman presented Ulf with an original drawing made by Hans Lindahl especially done for this moment in which The Phantom and his relatives, friends and animals were present all with Scandinavian Chapter Caps.
Hans Lindahl had made the drawing from the idea and request of Brian, a very nice piece of art.
Ulf and his wife gave us a warm welcome and a tour in the house and his study where we could se some fantastic originals and items, we were invited to taste his own creation of a sandwichcake with the “Good Mark” on (i.e smörgåstårta) which he had made especially for us.
We had a nice hour or so together in which Ulf told us anecdotes from his years with the Phantom. All to soon the time came to leave the Granberg family and all of us parted with a lot of things on our minds after a great adventure.
Lars-Olof Hansson
Scandinavian Chapter
member #26