Swedish Festival

I mentioned that we went up to Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania, this past weekend for their annual Swedish Festival. Back in the day, there were a lot of Swedes that settled in Mt. Jewett, thus the annual Swedish Festival. My grandfather was actually a founding father of the festival and this year, my grandmother was named Senior Queen. She said it meant a lot for her to have all of us there to celebrate with her and of course we were happy to oblige.

Here she is, the Senior Queen ...

Me and the Senior Queen ...

After we got there on Friday, we walked around to see everything. There is a new park, called Heritage Park. In order to raise money to build the park, they sold bricks to bear the names of people who live in Mt. Jewett. My grandmother got a brick for herself and one in memory of my grandfather ...

Mason and Tristyn {second cousins}

Natalia {my cousin} and Payton ...

There was a face painting tent that we found out was being run by a long lost second cousin, David Mollander, of my grandmother. This man's father {who was my grandmother's cousin} had committed suicide when he was young and as a result, this man really didn't know much about his heritage. It is such a sad story and it was cool to see him and my grandmother get to talk.

L-R: Grandma, David, Bonnie {my aunt} and my mom

Mason, showing off his flames ...Payton {eating her all time favorite ... french fries}

The dunk tank ... aren't these always so fun? The kids {including Kyle and Casey} took their turns ... in fact, I think everyone but Kyle and Casey dunked the guy!

Mason taking his aim ...

Later on there was a parade ...

the Senior Queen riding in her throne ...

L-R: Tristyn, Ethan, Mason and Payton {second cousins}

L-R: Marcus {Tammy's husband}, Tammy {my cousin}, Sherry {my aunt}, Bonnie {my aunt} and Lee {Bonnie's boyfriend}

Payton trying to motion for the firetruck to honk its horn ...L-R: Lindsay {Nathan's fiance}, Nathan {my cousin} and Kristie {my sister}L-R: Shirley, Alice and Betty {my great aunts - they are all sisters of my grandfather}

My cousin Natalia's husband, Larry, has a motorcycle. Mason is pretty much obsessed with motorcycles, so I asked him if he would give him a ride. Apparently they don't believe in helmets, so I told him he could go if he just went up the street and back ... slowly ...


After I found out that Larry didn't have a helmet for Mason to wear, I went searching for one in my Grandma's garage. I came up with my grandfather's old hard hat, but didn't have Mason wear it because I figured it would be more of a hinder than a help. Here is Ms. Payton modeling the hard hat ...

Payton and Tom {my uncle}

Tammy {my cousin} and the Senior Queen ...

On Sunday, we went to church at Nebo. Every year during the Swedish Festival, church is held there and parts of it are spoken in Swedish. It's pretty cool, especially when that is my heritage.

Nebo sits in the middle of the cemetery that most of my ancestors on my mom's side are buried at, including my grandfather. It always is an emotional visit ...
All in all, it was a great weekend. I love going to visit Mt. Jewett, I just wish I had the time to do so more often. Thanks for a great weekend everyone!