- I think it's really important for us as Americans to maintain our connection with our immigrant stories you know.

Unless you're an Indigenous person in this country, you came from a different part of the world.

And I think so many times people kind of lose track of that and how it impacts, you know, how our communities are the way they are, how people are the way they are and why the world is how it is today.

So I think the, you know, connection with these kind of stories is so important to help people understand the world around them and that's certainly been impactful for me.

And, you know, I think there is a certain amount of value in that.

(melodic music) The Norway Lake Lutheran Historical Association is here to preserve immigrant stories for their descendants of those Scandinavian immigrants today and we do that through celebrating kind of the church history and history and stories of families from the area, and then we, you know, share those stories with people who have moved to this part of the world more recently.

And I think it's so important to keep that connection for people whose families have been here for several generations to maintain those connections to those immigrant stories to help them kind of see commonalities between people who are coming to this country just now.

(violin music) My family's been involved with this project pretty much since the beginning.

Both my dad and grandfather were involved with the construction of the church replica and they've been attending events here since I was very young.

- This church was built here in 1868 by some Norwegian Lutherans who decided they wanted to have a church.

This is not the original building, this is a replica of the original building.

The replica was built by our organization and we've been holding annual meetings here ever since in August.

And it looks like today may be one of our biggest turnouts ever.

So we are very happy with that.

The play that we're doing today is based on a book that I wrote about my ancestors, the Henjum family.

And I've had very positive reactions from people who have read the book and like it, and it's about this family that settled out here, typical family.

- First, it's gonna cost you at least $200 for the voyage and that just gets you to America.

And then once the ship lands, it's gonna cost you another hundred dollars to get here to Norway Lake.

You're gonna need to have at least three chests, large chests like this one right behind me with your name written on the side and where you're going.

- There's been so many hours of work and research and dedication been put into this project.

It's really cool to just continue to participate in the collection of these stories and the history and the culture.

- Hi, my name is Jeff Johnson.

I'm the Vice President here of the Norway Lake Lutheran Historical Association.

Our organization has been here for a number of years since the late 1990s, there was folks that had a dream of recreating the original log church back on this site.

The church had been gone for low these many years.

It had been used as the floor of a stable and a barn on the Hetlested farm located to the east of here.

And their decisions were made by some of the elders in the community that it was important to have something that the community could revolve around.

And originally, when it was originally built, the logs were from the neighbors.

And when it was recreated, this example of it, it was from the neighbors.

They donated their logs out of their own trees and groves and built it.

(upbeat music) - Oh, it's just a great, wonderful group of people.

You know, the main objective is to share the story of the pioneers who established the church here many generations ago and just to keep it going and to inform people about the importance of recognizing our forefathers.

- The play that will be performed today was written by a fellow named Norm Handy and he's a descendant of the woman that the play is about.

The basis for the play was in a book written by this fellow Marlin Henjum, also a descendant of Kari Eiriksdatter.

We want people to know the richness of the history and not simple stories, but the complexity of the story.

But history is like that.

It's a complicated story and there are still plenty of things for all of us to learn about it.

In this little story, we've tried to feature voices that aren't heard enough, the voices of women.

We thank you for listening.

We hope that these stories inspire you to find the stories in your family.

(upbeat music) - What a wonderful day that was, some 50 years ago.

Mama died a few years later.

She was only 50 years old.

During her 50 years, she gave birth, three children.

She buried her husband.

She said farewell to her family and friends in Norway.

She survived a long ocean voyage.

She established a homestead at Henjum Lake and she earned her American citizenship.

May God bless you, mama.

(clapping) (upbeat music) - When we took the Knutsen cabin down and then when it was put back together again, the logs all fit back where they were before.

And it's just amazing and we're trying to do it with modern hand tools and it's really hard to replicate what Oleg Knutsen and his neighbors did at that time in 1862 which is now what, somewhere near 130 years ago.

And if you ever come here, if you go put your hand on those logs, you can hear those logs speak to you about the history and the things that have gone on in these cabins.

And it's pretty much a nice experience.

(melodic music) - [Narrator] Postcards is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

On the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

The Lake Region Arts Council's Arts calendar, an arts and cultural heritage funded digital calendar showcasing upcoming art events and opportunities for artists in West Central Minnesota.

On the web at lrac4calendar.org.

Playing today's new music plus your favorite hits, 96.7kram.

Online at 967kram.com.

(peaceful rhythmic music)