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Books About Life on a Farm Written Especially for People Who Like to Read! "Highly recommended reading." The Midwest Book Review Reviews & Readers' Comments |
LeAnn R. Ralph Rural Route 2 Author E6689 970th Ave. Colfax, WI 54730 (715) 308-6336 |
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by LeAnn R. Ralph COLFAX, WISCONSIN -- What does Norway's Independence Day have to do with Wisconsin residents? Plenty -- if you happen to be of Norwegian descent or live in an area where there were a number of Norwegian settlers in the 1800s. During the 1800s, about 30,000 Norwegians settled in Wisconsin, and today, nearly a half million of the state's residents can claim Norwegian heritage. Although three-quarters of a million Norwegians came to the United States all together in the 1800s, during the 30-year period from the 1830s to the 1860s, the Norwegian immigrants favored Wisconsin as a place to settle. Norway's Independence Day -- or Constitution Day, more accurately -- on May 17 is more commonly known as Syttende Mai (soot-en-da-my) ("17th of May" or May 17 in Norwegian). Norway gained independence from Denmark on May 17, 1814, by officially adopting a constitution on that date, thereby ending a 500-year association with the Danes. "When I was a kid growing up on our dairy farm in west central Wisconsin, every year, my mother would take note of May 17. Mom was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants, and the farm where I grew up had been homesteaded by my Norwegian great-grandfather in the late 1800s," said LeAnn R. Ralph, author of the books, Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm) and Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing Oral Histories). "Like all 'good' Norwegians, my mother remembered her ethnic roots, but she also knew it was important to focus her attention on being a 'good American,'" Ralph said. A number of communities around Wisconsin still hold Syttende Mai celebrations, including Stoughton, Westby and Woodville. For more information on Syttende Mai celebrations, visit www.stoughtonwi.com or www.westbywi.com or Woodville Settende Mai |
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