Svensk Hyllningsfest Parade
I must admit, I wasn’t quite ready for the taste of winter as we planned for the Svensk Hyllningsfest Parade in Lindsborg, cleverly themed “Dala Daze and Viking Knights.” However, several layers of clothing and a good pair of gloves transformed the cold into a brisk fall morning. I walked the parade and Carl handed out candy as he filtered around and through the parade entrees on the 3-wheeled Trizzard. Granddaughter Aubrey couldn’t miss a good parade, but she rode in the car driven my Stuart Johnson and accompanied by his nieces Lakin and Lynn.
We had attempted to get tickets for the Friday night traditional Smorgasbord, a Swedish dining extravaganza that is beyond compare, but the limited reservations were quickly procured by others. I will have to act more quickly when the celebration returns in 2011.
As a young girl growing up in nearby Roxbury, we often attended the Hyllningsfest activities. Several childhood friends had relatives in Lindsborg and our small contingency often grew as we moved through the main street of the town. Earlier this summer, my mother, grandson, and I spent some quality time at the Old Mill Museum and the restored buildings across the street.
Lindsborg was settled in 1869 and has become a tribute to the early farmers and merchants who carried their native heritage with them. From the “Valkommen” signs to the Dala horses, the local architecture, art, churches of the area, and Bethany College, Little Sweden USA has become a community of national note and notoriety.
Lindsborg is only 14 miles from the farm, so the parade and festivities felt like going home again.
Homestead Trail Celebration
We left Lindsborg heading south on 81 Highway, picked up my mother Betty Holloway in McPherson, and continued to Moundridge. Mom is a Krehbiel originally from the Moundridge area and several of her siblings and their families still reside in the vicinity.
The sixth annual Homestead Trail Celebration, sponsored by the Moundridge Historical Association, took place on the grounds of the historical museum and the historic Cole House.
Cousins Greg and Glenda Krehbiel are active volunteers for the event. Dressed in frontier garb and cowboy leather, complete with slicker, Glenda and Greg would have made a perfect Old West image for a daguerreotype. Of course, Greg had promised granddaughter Aubrey a ride on the horse if she came with us. And ride she did. I think she monopolized Greg and the horse named Zip for much of the afternoon.
The Mountain Men were also in attendance. They had braved the cold and spent the night on the grounds in tents that offered little protection from the elements – freezing temperatures for 2 or 3 nights.. A good friend and McPherson College classmate, turned Mountain Man, Dean Holloway (you might know the family through the many newspaper accounts of his basketball stars – sons and daughters), entertained us with his stories, anecdotes, and great conversation. It was great to be re-united with an old friend.
Music and dancing graced the stage surrounded by makeshift benches made of straw bales. As the day grew colder and windier, the participants and on-lookers just bundled a little tighter and enjoyed the day immensely. The crowd thinned a little earlier than planned, but the event was a grand success.
My grandmother Lydia Krehbiel lived in Moundridge on the corner of Church and Christian streets and walked to the small cafe where she worked as a dishwasher most of the years that I knew her. When the 10 siblings and all the cousins got together at Grandma’s, the small house was filled with much love and laughter - wonderful memories of the main street of Moundridge.
Moundridge was settled in 1887, primarily by the German Mennonites who had emigrated from southern Russia, bringing with them the dry land farming techniques and the Turkey Red Wheat that turned Kansas into the “breadbasket of the world.”
Another day filled with family, friends, and fun. Kansas traditions remain the source of strength of her people.
