In April of 1904, thirty-four men signed a charter to create the Sons of Norway Løven Lodge No. 29 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Løven Lodge is the Eau Claire lodge for District Five of Sons of Norway, also known as The Friendly Fifth. A group of 18 Norwegian men created the Sons of Norway on January 16, 1895, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They sought to create a “mutual assistance society, one built on the moral principles of American fraternalism”. (Sons of Norway Website – About Us, 2013) Over the years, the Sons of Norway expanded to include preservation of Norwegian heritage and culture.

In 1912, Løven Lodge No. 29 achieved their first ambitious project when they sponsored Captain Roald Amundson, a Norwegian explorer that helped discover the South Pole, for an illustrated lecture at Fournier’s Academy on First Avenue. The following year, they hosted the First District Convention at the Opera House on South Barstow Street. Sons of Norway began as a male only organization, but on April 27, 1921, women began to join the lodge. On October 14, 1952, the sister lodge “Dovre” of the former benefit society Daughters of Norway merged with the Eau Claire lodge. Today, women outnumber men in Løven Lodge No. 29.

Løven Lodge No. 29 is the third oldest lodge in the fifth district. They hold the record of having the largest number of insurance members and highest total insurance of any lodge in the fifth district. Løven Lodge hosts and participates in annual events in Eau Claire, including summer picnics with sister lodges Trygvasson 220 of Osseo, Wisconsin, and Viking 625 of Mondovi, Wisconsin, International Fall Festival, the International Folk Fair (now called Culture Fest) hosted at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Syttende Mai. Løven Lodge No. 29 aims to fulfill the goals of Sons of Norway through parades, banquets of authentic Norwegian food, and classes on Norwegian language, chip carving, embroidery, baking, and cooking.