Little Sweden USA

Hello everyone,

Next Wednesday, July 4th, Lindsborg offers an old-fashioned 4th of July celebration. Begin your evening at the north park, where you can chow down on burgers, brats, home-made ice cream and pie, and then enjoy live music provided by a variety of local performers. The food isn’t free, but admission to the park is, so bring your lawn chairs and appetites to the north park on Wednesday, July 4th. Food will be available after 5pm and the musical performances begin at 6.

Then, as the sky starts to turn dark, head on over to Anderson Field for Lindsborg’s annual fireworks display; it’s a wonderful way to cap the celebration of our country’s independence.

Speaking of local musicians, the Lindsborg Community Band is now forming. Under the direction of Doug Talbott the band has performed during the July 4th celebration on an annual basis. Anyone in Lindsborg who enjoys playing in a concert band is encouraged to give Doug a call at 227-3877 or 227-5209.

On Sunday, July 8th, from 2-4pm there will be a special Swedish Genealogy workshop at the Bethany Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall. This free workshop is an excellent opportunity to learn more about researching your Swedish ancestors. You may call 227-3595 for more information.

The Red Barn Studio will be hosting Rodger Gerberding, Council Bluffs, Iowa, as the Artist-in-Residence from July 1st – 21st. Rodger works in diverse media, including sculpture, printmaking, collage, box construction, drawing and painting.

During his residency Rodger will be working in mixed media and recycled material. He will also lead a Box Assemblage Workshop incorporating found or personal items on Saturday, July 14th , 12:15 – 4pm.

For more information about the class call the Red Barn at 227-2217

till next week, this is Mike Rodriquez with the Lindsborg Update.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Update from the 29th of June 2007 simply by clicking the previous link. The Lindsborg Update is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KSAL 1150AM. The Lindsborg Update usually airs on Fridays, a couple of minutes after 12:30 PM. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator.

Another Midsummer’s Festival has come and gone, and from all reports this year’s event was one of the best in recent memory! Hurrah for the Lindsborg Midsummer’s Day Committee; if I do say so myself, we did a great job this year.

From the excellent stylings of the Swedish rock band Tiny Toads through the always excellent performances by the youth and adult Lindsborg Swedish dancers, the weekend was almost perfect. Sunny skies, happy crowds, great selections in the crafts vending area and a wide selection of children’s activities contributed to a wonderful celebration that was capped off with the raising of the Maypole and more dancing! Even the food was more varied than in years past, but fans of Lindsborg’s Viking on a Stick were still able to satisfy their cravings.

I took a few photos, but it may be a while before I get a chance to review and publish them. In the interests of more quickly sharing our wonderful weekend I’m going to link to fellow area artist Julie-Ann, who has posted a great Flickr set of Midsummer’s 2007 photos; enjoy!

Here’s one of the pictures I took:

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re ready! This is the weekend of Lindsborg’s Midsummer’s celebration, and it begins tonight!

From 8 until 10pm Friday, June 15th, everyone is invited to downtown Lindsborg for a street dance to mark the beginning of Midsummer’s. From Sweden, the popular rock band Tiny Toads will be performing, and many downtown businesses will be open until 10pm for your shopping convenience. So, bring a lawn chair for good seating, and come to downtown Lindsborg and enjoy a fine evening with the Tiny Toads. A free will donation is requested, and in the event of rain the dance will be moved to the Lindsborg High School.

And tomorrow, Saturday June 16th, Lindsborg celebrates Midsummer’s! The fun begins at 9am in Swensson Park, continues through the dinner hour with the traditional smorgasbord meal and finishes with the raising of the maypole at Heritage Park near the Old Mill in south Lindsborg.

At Swensson Park you can enjoy the music of the Tiny Toads, watch both the youth and adult Swedish Dancers, shop at our fine arts and crafts fair, and dine at one of the many food vendors who will be on hand.

In addition, there will be a preview of this year’s Broadway RFD production of Damn Yankees, a comedy revue featuring Ole and Sven and a history of Swedish Folk dress.

Oh, and let’s not forget the kids! This year we have more children’s activities than ever before, including crafts, carnival type games, chalk drawing and much more! One of the special kids activities features weaving with an antique loom, hosted by Joyce Peterson at 10am and 1pm.

If you haven’t purchased your smorgasbord tickets yet, not to worry; they may be purchased at the Swedish Dancers Dala Van at Swensson park throughout the day.

Also, be sure to visit downtown merchants where you can enter a drawing for a chance to win a fine piece of artwork made by a local artist.

After dinner, be sure to head to Heritage Park for more music by the Tiny Toads, the traditional raising of the Maypole and more Swedish dancing!

If you’re still in town on Sunday afternoon, join the traditional Swedish Vespers service at the Bethany Lutheran Church, followed by a potluck dinner.

This Fathers Day weekend, why not celebrate with the whole family? Come to Lindsborg for Midsummer’s Day! Admission is $5 for adults, and $3 for kids 10 and under. The celebration continues rain or shine, and will be moved to the Lindsborg High School in case of rain.

Till next week, this is Mike Rodriquez with the Lindsborg update.

Listen to the podcast of the Lindsborg Update from the 15th of June 2007 simply by clicking the previous link. The Lindsborg Update is a podcast of a weekly bit I do on a local radio station, KSAL 1150AM. The Lindsborg Update usually airs on Fridays, a couple of minutes after 12:30 PM. Btw, if you use an RSS aggregator, and iTunes, you can automatically load this podcast into iTunes from within the aggregator.