Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 12 : Spring 2012 | Page 44

a Midsommar Frukost (breakfast 7-9 a.m.) in Thomas
Park, followed (10 a.m.) by Dala Horse painting, making
of hair wreaths, Kubb Viking lawn bowling, fiddle music,
decorating the Midsommarstang (11 a.m.), art exhibits,
singing, dancing and eating homemade ice cream at the
New Sweden Museum. Afternoon dance lessons and visiting
the Ostlund House, Noak Blacksmith Shop, Lindsten
Stuga, Laden (barn) and New Sweden Museum are often
followed by visitors attending a Swedish smorgasbord and
a community dance (at the New Sweden School) featuring
musicians and Swedish dancers. This year, the Orust folk
dancers will lead the evening’s entertainment, encouraging
those who are interested in joining them to dance and
celebrate the colony’s Swedish heritage.
Sunday morning, as the sun peeks through the trees
at Thomas Park, a colony worship service begins the day
at 10 a.m.. Members and friends of the Maine Swedish
colony gather to sing praise and give thanks to God, just
as the colony’s first settlers did 142 years ago. Following
the service, there is lunch available in the park dining hall.
44 SPRING 2012

At 1:00 p.m., as fiddlers play traditional Swedish walking
music, the Midsommarstang is carried up Station Road
from the museum accompanied by the New Sweden Little
Folk Dancers. The pole is set in the ground in front of
the music bowl and the festivities of the afternoon begin.
Both the U. S. and Swedish national anthems are sung by
those attending, led by the master of ceremonies who then
gives a formal greeting to all. Guest musicians and Swedish
singers and dancers share their talents, as those of us who
watch remember the years gone by. We think about the
hardy Swedes who left their homes, friends and families
in search of a new beginning and a bright future for their
descendants. Perhaps, we think about the hardships they
faced and the work that was never ending. We think of the
courage, hope, industry and the perseverance each settler
had, as noted by W.W. Thomas Jr. at the 10th anniversary
celebration in 1880 of the founding of his colony of New
Sweden.

Mr. Thomas referred to the settlers as his, “Children
In The Woods” as he described how “the primeval forest