December 2020
Thank You for your support during the pandemic. Thank You for your financial support and patience during these last ten months.
We decide to postpone the Annual Meeting of Dalesburg Scandinavian Association and to cancel the Lucia Celebration in December.
Midsummer 2021 is scheduled for Friday, June 25 and Sunday, June 27, 2021, but stay tuned for more information.
Midsummer 2021 received a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation’s Scandinavian Folk Arts & Cultural Traditions: Public Programs. The band Jaerv (www.jaerv.com) from Gothenburg, Sweden has penciled Midsummer 2021 into their 2021 United States tour. But… we will have to watch the course of the pandemic. Again… stay tuned.
You can follow up on Midsummer 2021 and other things, by contacting me at ron@dalesburg.org or 605-253-2575. You can also visit: www.dalesburg.org
Pandemic or not, we are still in the midst of celebrating the 100th or 150th Anniversary of a number of things. 2018 saw the 150th Anniversary of the coming of the Swedes to Clay County, Dakota Territory. In 2019 we celebrated the 150th Anniversary of celebrating Midsummer in Dalesburg. This year Dalesburg Lutheran celebrates the 100th Anniversary of its basement and two towers. Next year Dalesburg Lutheran Church and Dalesburg Baptist Church celebrate the 150th Anniversary of their founding. In the coming years, many former country schools in Clay County will also see the 150th Anniversaries of their founding. The pandemic cannot stop us from observing these anniversaries in some way!
These years also mark the 100th Anniversary of the Spanish Flu in our community, state, nation and world. The effect of the Spanish Flu is found in the records of Dalesburg Lutheran Church and is found in the stories of those affected by the disease – stories passed on to future generations. Just recently I learned how the flu of that period may affected my own family.
We have purchased a sign for the Clay Point Cemetery and a sign for the unmarked graves in the churchyard of Dalesburg Lutheran Church. The signs were purchases with funds given by Karin & Winfield Arneson and Virginia Hoglund of Michigan in memory of C.R. Hoglund.
Thank You for donations to Dalesburg Scandinavian Association and Thank You for donations to the Friends of Midsummer last winter or spring.
Have A Good Holiday Season however you celebrate it! Think… and Stay Well!
God Jul och Gott Nytt År! / Good Yuletid and Good New Year!
Ron Johnson, Dalesburg Heritage
Books for Sale!
HISTORY OF THE SWEDES WHO SETTLED IN CLAY COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA AND THEIR BIOGRAPHIES by August Peterson (1947) $25.00 / book plus postage, handling etc. Available from Ron Johnson (ron@dalesburg.org or 605-253-2575)
Here’s something to do during the pandemic! Check out these websites!
Dalesburg Heritage Website: www.dalesburg.org
(and www.angelfire.com/sd/dalesburg99/ is still in cyperspace).
Dalesburg Midsummer Festival on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dalesburgmidsommar
“Welcome to Peterson Farm:” www.petersonfarmsd.com/
Clay County Historical Society: www.cchssd.org/
Clay County Historic Preservation Commission: www.cchpc.org
Clay County Country Schools Project Website: www.flickr.com/photos/46877599@N08
Dalesburg Lutheran Church Website: www.dalesburglutheran.org
Komstad Covenant Church Website: www.komstadchurch.org
Dalesburg Baptist Church Website: www.dalesburgbaptist.org
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center: www.augustana.edu/swenson/
Swedish-American Historical Society: www.swedishamericanhist.org
American-Swedish Institute: www.americanswedishinst.org
National Music Museum: www.usd.edu/smm/
The image on the back page is used with permission from Jana Johnson Schnoor, Scandinavian Greetings, Iowa City IA. Please visit: www.janajohnsonschnoor.com/index.html