Midsommar 2012 June 22, 23, 24

Midsommarstång (Midsummer pole) preparations at New Sweden, ME

Midsommar is almost here! Here’s hoping that the weather will be practically perfect here in Maine Swedish Colony (after the past few years rainy events) and that the official start of summer will have folks  in a happy mood for the Fest.

The whole thing starts on Friday morning with the gathering of wild flowers up on Carlstrom Hill just north of Madawaska Lake. The view is incredible and it is an experience everyone should participate in at least once in a lifetime! Bring a pair of clippers or scissors to cut lupines. After the flower gathering, head back to the New Sweden museum grounds and pitch in to help put up the tents to get things ready for Saturday’s festivities. Helping hands are very needed and you will meet some new friends!

Friday evening features a supper and Swedish dance at the Stockholm American Legion. Proceeds support our veterans and you will have a great time with the very special Orust folk dancers and musicians who are making their second visit from Sweden.

There is a full day planned for Saturday. Head to the New Sweden museum grounds around 10 am Saturday and browse around. Make a hair wreath to wear out of  wildflowers (at the table near the Lindsten Stuga out in back of the museum) and then choose lupines from the buckets to pass to the Swedes who’ll tie them onto the big Midsommarstång (Midsummer Pole). Follow the Pole out to the front of the museum and see the little folk dancers perform. Perhaps have a homemade ice cream from the Lutherans and a red hotdog from Ralph Ostlund (nearly 90 and charming!) or coffee with a homemade sandwich and sweet under the shade of the birches. There are local crafts to browse, Swedish gifts in the restored one-room Capitol School, and the various musuem buildings to go inside, including a tour of the Ostlund log house and the blacksmith shop (down the road past Thomas Park.)

A brand-new Midsommar event is a Chicken Barbeque at the New Sweden School from 4-6 PM on Saturday evening for supper. Proceeds benefit programming for the local kids. There is also a Swedish supper with continuous seating put on by the folks at the Lutheran church in New Sweden with homemade dishes made by talented cooks.

Direct from Sweden, the Orust folk dancers and musicians perform throughout the weekend, including up at the New Sweden school Saturday night at 7 PM. [also performing: Friday evening 6 PM supper and Swedish dancing at the Stockholm American Legion; Saturday 11 AM Midsommarstång (Midsummer pole) and 1 PM Swedish dance lessons on the grounds of the New Sweden Museum, and 7 PM Swedish dance and lessons at the New Sweden School; and Sunday 1 PM at Thomas Park.]

Enjoy the Sunday afternoon program in the “music bowl” at Thomas Park (starts 12:45 with the arrival of the Midsommarstång) which includes the Orust folk dancers/musicians, the New Sweden Little Folk Dancers, and ends with the Långdans where all are invited to join hands to form a long chain to march around the park for the closing dance .

Catch the latest news by following Maine Swedish Colony on Facebook.

There are lots of other events. Too many to list them all here! You can get your own schedule with a download of the pdf at http://maineswedishcolony.info/

Midsommar is a wonderful family experience. Don’t forget your camera!

Kick-Sled

Here’s something that would be fun to have a chance to try out someday soon. Certainly it would be great exercise, unless you are the passenger! Here is the link to the blog with some photos.  Kick-sleds are still used in Sweden in the rural areas of the country. If memory serves me, I think there may be an old one in the basement of the New Sweden museum, but it will be spring until the museum is open again to check it out!

 

Artists to Show New Work at First Friday Event

Two Swedish Colony artists are featured in downtown Presque Isle, ME at First Friday Downtown Art Walks tonight, Friday evening Jan. 7, 2011. Richard Clark of Perham, owner of Wood’s Edge Gallery, will show his landscapes at Morning Star Art & Framing from 6-8 PM. Alan and Brenda Nasberg Jepson of Crown of Maine Productions are showing their video work across the street at Stew’s Sight and Sound. Refreshments will be served! Several other artists within walking distance will also show new work. FMI on the event see the Facebook page for First Friday Downtown Art Walk

FMI on Jepson’s work see Crown of Maine Productions

Lovely Lucia

Here’s a beautiful video of a lovely Lucia celebration.

Swedes in American Cities

“In the census of 1900 the number of Swedish born citizens in Chicago exceeded the population of Gothenburg. In other words, Chicago was the second city of Sweden!”

Swedes in American Cities has a link for History where there are several short essays including one on city life in the USA.

The Stockholm Story

Here’s a promising website, The Stockholm Story-Our Cultural Heritage on the Web.

If you are familiar with the Maine Memory Net project, then this appears to be its counterpart, only its in Sweden. Here in Maine, various historical societies,  schools, and libraries have collaborated to make archival materials come to life on the web. Narratives have been written to accompany photographs from historical collections. New Sweden and Stockholm here in Aroostook County (along with other County towns and cities) have placed a large collection of their holdings online through the Maine Memory Net, a project of the Maine Historical Society.

So if you are interested in seeing what our Swedish counterparts have to share with us on the other side of the Atlantic, check it out. Click on the little British flag for the English translation. Thanks to Erik Alm in Sweden for sharing.

Watch “Tater Raisin’ Folk” on MPBN Tv

“Tater Raisin’ Folk” will appear on MPBN TV Nov. 16 Monday at 10 pm and again on Nov. 21 Saturday at 11 pm. It tells the story of potato farming in Aroostook County today.

Also, read about it in the Portland’s Maine Sunday Telegram.

Maine PBS TV Screening “The Coming Of The Swedes”

Maine PBS is once again screening “The Coming Of The Swedes,” a film made by Brenda Nasberg Jepson and her students at Caribou Tech Center. It goes out on Saturday, the 26th of September at 11am. It tells the story of how Maine’s Swedish Colony, where we live, was settled and how it has evolved to this day. Hope friends in Maine have the chance to tune in!

Volunteers needed

“On this Wednesday, and maybe Thursday and Friday, too (July 8, 9, 10) we’ll be doing some cleaning at the Clase House in New Sweden.  If you don’t mind getting dirty, stop by – we’ll be starting at 8.00am.  Things need to be done both outside and inside.  For outside jobs (bring your own tools), there’s pruning, trimming, hauling brush, picking up debris, etc.  For indoor jobs, there’s a lot of stuff (shredded paper, soggy ceiling tiles, wall coverings, etc. on the first floor; raccoon poop and paper on the second floor) that needs to be shoveled into trash bags and put into the trash truck (Scott Landeen will be renting us his truck and we need to fill it!  The truck will be there by 11.00am on Wednesday).  Please bring a shovel (I’ll supply some heavy trash bags) or other tools you might find useful.  If you’re going to be working inside on the first floor you’ll need a dust mask (I’ll bring a few) and clothing that you don’t mind getting filthy.  If you’re going to work upstairs you’ll want a respirator and protective clothing (need to supply your own).”

Message from New Sweden Historical Society President Deb

Strangers in the Box

Mary B. posted this piece at AncestorTracking.

Strangers in the Box

Thanks to Robert Ragan of the Treasure Maps newsletter for including this piece:

Strangers in the Box

Come, look with me inside this drawer,
In this box I’ve often seen,
At the pictures, black and white,
Faces proud, still, serene.

I wish I knew the people,
These strangers in the box,
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among my socks.

I wonder what their lives were like.
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I’ll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time
To tell who, what, where, when,
These faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate
Of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be tossed away?

Make time to save your pictures,
Seize the opportunity when it knocks,
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.

Copyright 1997 by Pamela A. Harazim. All Rights Reserved.
May be used in unchanged form for non-commercial
purposes if accompanied by this copyright message.