Dalesburg-Made Yellow and Blue Tie Quilts – Two quilts available.

$150 / quilt + postage & handling.

UPDATE: QUILTS ARE SOLD

Quilt 1

Quilt 2

If interested please email Ron at Ron@dalesburg.org

Payments will be sent to

Friends of Midsummer

30595 University Road

Vermillion, SD 57069-6507

Welcome to the 152nd Annual Midsummer – Friday, June 24, 2022

Spring 2022!

Dear Friends of Midsummer,

Midsummer is Friday, June 24

and the Church Service is Sunday, June 26

the band Jaerv from Gothenburg, Sweden

will be our featured performers on June 24. 

www.jaerv.com

We are sending the renewal notices for the Friends of Midsummer in the same envelope as the Dalesburg Scandinavian Association membership notices, as many of you belong to both organizations.  We would appreciate if you would write two separate checks as the organizations have two separate checking accounts.  Thank You!

Midsummer was not held in 2020 although the fundraising letters went out before the Pandemic.  Midsummer was held in 2021 and we used the funds raised in 2020.

Please visit our website:  www.dalesburg.org for information about Midsummer 2022.  Check out:  www.facebook.com/Dalesburgmidsommar. 

Thank You to the American Scandinavian Foundation in New York City for funding the performances of Jaerv in South Dakota in June.

We appreciate your continuing support of the Dalesburg Midsummer Festival.  We look forward to hearing from you – our faithful supporters!

… and we hope to get back to normal!

THANK YOU!

Welcome to Midsummer 2022! 

Ron Johnson for the Friends of Midsummer

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

NAME _______________________________________________

ADDRESS _______________________________________________

             _______________________________________________

Membership Classification:

  ___  Husband & Wife ($35.00/year)

___  Individual ($20.00/year)     ___  Organization or Business ($50.00/year)

Please make check payable to:  FRIENDS OF MIDSUMMER, and mail to:  Friends of Midsummer, c/o Dalesburg Midsummer Festival, 30595 University Road, Vermillion SD 57069.  (You may also enclose it in your envelope to Dalesburg Scandinavian Association.)  Thank You.   

It seems like a long time…  That is an expression that I find myself using quite often these days.  As we begin to think about events and activities in 2022, we are reminded of the lack of events and activities these last two years.  We have been required to change our way of doing things – some good and some not so good.  We hope for normalcy in 2022!

Midsummer is scheduled for Friday, June 24, 2022.  We will be hosting the band Jaerv from Gothenburg, Sweden.  Please visit their website at:  www.jaerv.com/

We have not celebrated Lucia in our usual fashion for two years.  In the spirit of optimism I’m scheduling Lucia for Sunday, December 11, 2022!

During these last two years we have used some of the Arneson-Hoglund funds to place signs in the area of the unmarked graves at Dalesburg Lutheran Church and at the Clay Point Cemetery.  Family history inquiries have still been received.   

We are still in the midst of celebrating the 150^th Anniversary of many things in Clay County, Dakota Territory / South Dakota.  There’s still time to check your family histories and August Peterson’s “Swede Book” to see if your family filed a homestead claim in Clay County 150 years ago.  These years have seen and will see the 150th Anniversaries of many of the homestead claims in Prairie Center, Garfield, Glenwood, Pleasant Valley and Riverside Townships, Clay County.  The summer of 2018 marked the 150th Anniversary of the first Swedish homesteaders to come to Clay County, Dakota Territory.  In 2019 we celebrated the 150^th Anniversary of the Celebration of Midsummer.  We celebrated the 151^st Midsummer in Dalesburg on Friday, June 25 and Sunday, June 27, 2021.  Dalesburg Baptist Church celebrated its 150^th Anniversary in July, 2021.  These years will also see the 150th Anniversary of the country schools that educated and help assimilate the immigrant children of our community.  The schools that taught our ancestors to speak English!

Dalesburg Lutheran Church was 150 years old in 2021.  The present towers and basement were 100 years old in 2020.  There will be a “Cemetery Walk” at the Dalesburg Lutheran Cemetery on Sunday, May 22, 2022 at 4:00 p.m.  Welcome!

It’s time to renew / join Dalesburg Scandinavian Association!  We appreciate the support your memberships (both active and inactive) give to our organization.  To join or renew your membership in Dalesburg Scandinavian Association, please complete the enclosed form and return it with your membership dues of $3.00 / person / year.  Please check that your name and address are correct on the label.  Please make necessary changes.  It would be helpful and an act of kindness to the officers if you would respond before April 1, 2022!  Financial information furnished upon request. 

Please consider a membership in the Friends of Midsummer.  If you would like information, please contact me.  Thank You for your consideration.                                                         

Thank You for joining or renewing your membership!  Thank You to those of you who make additional financial contributions!  Thank You to those of you who give of your time, effort and talents to Dalesburg Scandinavian Association here in our community throughout the year!  Thank You to those of you from a far who support Dalesburg Scandinavian Association!  Your support is appreciated and needed.

             Tack så mycket!  Thanks so much!              

Ronald Johnson, President & Membership Officer

E-Mail:  ron@dalesburg.org       Tel:  605-253-2575

Dalesburg Heritage Website:  www.dalesburg.org  

Dalesburg in Cyperspace.  If you can’t visit us in person, visit us in Cyperspace!

Midsummer

Lucia 2019

Christmas Eve 2019 at Dalesburg Lutheran Church

             The Dalesburg Heritage Website has new items!

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 

Dalesburg Lutheran Church Website:  www.dlc-pvlc.org

Komstad Covenant Church Website:  www.komstadchurch.org

Dalesburg Baptist Church Website:  www.dalesburgbaptist.org

“Welcome to Peterson Farm:”  www.petersonfarmsd.com/

Nora Store:  www.norachristmas.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  

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/‎

South Dakota State Historical Society:  www.history.sd.gov/

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)

The Dalesburg WELCA group has been busy making quilts this year to give away to several charities. Since we have a surplus of quilts we have decided to sell some on Lord’s Acre Sunday, November 21. The quilts will be on display on the pews starting November 7. The profit from the quilt sales will go to the local charities we support. This is a great idea for your early Christmas shopping!

June 2021

Yes!  We will celebrate Midsummer in Dalesburg!  Yes!  We will celebrate Scandinavian and Rural Heritage!  Yes! We will celebrate Summertime!  We will celebrate on Friday, June 25 and Sunday, June 27, 2021, but it will be different.  It will be different from Midsummer 2019.  You should have received a Midsummer flier with information.  I am including some additional information in this letter. 

“Dalesburg Spelmän” is a fiddling group from Southeast South Dakota. They play traditional Swedish, Danish and Norwegian dance music on fiddle, nyckelharpa and guitar. The group is led by Bill Peterson and members include Tom Carlson, Tom Weisbecker, Carol Skallerud and Ken Duda; and they welcome other musicians interested in traditional Scandinavian music.  For information about “Dakota Road Music,” visit:  www.dakotaroad.com. 

Dalesburg Scandinavian Association did not have any activities in 2020.  We did not collect membership dues in January-February of this year.  We will hold over the membership renewals until 2022.  Financial information furnished upon request.  Thank You if you did donate in 2021.  Please contact me.  We did purchase two signs with money from the Arneson-Hoglund Fund.  A sign has been place on the grounds of Dalesburg Lutheran Church, telling the story of the unmarked graves in the churchyard.  Another sign was placed at the Clay Point Cemetery in Prairie Center Township, Clay County. 

We did not collect Friends of Midsummer membership dues in January-February.  The Friends of Midsummer memberships will also be held over until 2022.  Financial information furnished upon request.  Thank You if you did donate for 2021.  Please contact me.

Glad Sommar!  Happy Summer!

Ron Johnson
605-253-2575
ron@dalesburg.org
www.dalesburg.org
www.facebook.com/Dalesburgmidsommar/

Midsummer Food Updates – Key Changes for 2021

WELCA is sponsoring a catered Swedish Meatball meal at a cost of $12 per plate. The meal will include meatballs, potatoes, two salads, a bun, and water or lemonade. Meals will be served – no buffet line – from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

The DLC Youth will again host a food stand, which will include pie, fruit soup, and some additional food items to be determined.

Food will be served out of the narthex, and outdoor seating will be available under tents. No indoor seating will be utilized this year. All hospitality items (e.g., ticket sales, restrooms) will also be outdoors.

On Memorial Day Sunday 2021 at Dalesburg Lutheran Church, we had the “unveiling” of the sign, next to the wooden cross, southwest of the church.  Here is the text of the sign:

During the 1870’s and 1880’s burials of members of Dalesburg Lutheran Church, were made in this area of the churchyard.  The ages ranged from the young to the old – men, women and children.  The exact number of burials is unknown, and there is no cemetery map for this area.  The monuments still existing were removed in the 1940’s with the final monument removed and a wooden cross placed here in about 1960.  Blessed Be the Memory of These Early Members of the Congregation.

The funds for this sign are from Karin & Winfield Arneson and Virginia Hoglund of Michigan in memory of C.R. Hoglund.  The sign is placed here by Dalesburg Scandinavian Association in 2020.

This spring another sign was placed at the Clay Point Cemetery, an abandoned cemetery, between here and Vermillion in Prairie Center Township.  Here is that text:

Clay Point Cemetery
Cemetery of the
Clay Point Free Church
also called
Swedefield Mission Church
also called
Ansgarii House
also called
Cast Iron Church
1874-1924

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) 

If interested in ordering please contact Rachel Olemann at 605-321-7262 or via email droelmann@gmail.com

Coffee Mug – $15

T-Shirts – $20

Polar Tumblers – $25

Lefse Sticks – $20

(Lefse Sticks are sold out but if there is enough interest we can reorder)