(Lakefield, Mn.)– A unique storytelling event is coming up Wednesday, May 6th in Lakefield. It’s titled “What is Your Family’s Immigration Story?” Lakefield Police Chief Roger Pohlman is one of the organizers. He says it will be taking place that day from 1:00 until 4:00 pm at the Multi-Purpose Center in Lakefield…
“What we’re doing is we have four presenters and they’re going to share their stories and the stories are influenced by faith, war, marriage, laws, homeland, economic circumstances. There’s a number of reasons why people come to the United States to start a new life, we all wanted that better opportunity. The speakers will talk about narratives rooted in their memories, family history, and reflections that are passed down from one generation to the next. They’ll share their favorite song from their home country and also some food from their home country.”
Pohlman says they’ll also feature some history on the former Sioux Valley School…
“We’ll have a copy of the article from Country Gentleman back in about, I think it was around the 1920’s, they did a story on the Sioux Valley school, and they called it “Good Country Schools”. The whole story based around the United States flag, World War I, how most of the children were getting called to service, and at that time most of the language spoken in homes in Sioux Valley was German. The families realized that they now were under the United States flag and not the German flag and they had sworn allegiance to this new nation of there’s and they decided that the best way to bring their children together, teach them English and the American values was to build a new school and that became the Sioux Valley school. It’s an interesting story and we’ll make sure we have copies available and such there.”
The event is free, but pre-registration is required. You can sign up by calling the Lakefield Police Department at 507-662-5353.
The event is being made possible through a grant from the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging and the Southwest Initiative Foundation.
You can hear the complete interview with Lakefield PD Chief Roger Pohlman here:
