Minnesotans know that with the coming of bitter cold, something else is knocking on the door. The holiday season is a time of tales, readings, song, and reflection. Get your fill of lutefisk; hear the church bells rung “the old fashioned way;” take a tour of Hmong New Year; feel the melancholy of the farm; experience foreign students first encounters with turkeys and pumpkin pies; and learn the history of fruitcake. These are some of the wide-ranging stories of Minnesota holiday life that await your senses.
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December 19, 1992 - Thorunn Bjarnadottir shares her fondest Christmas memory from Minnesota. Back in 1989, Bjarnadottir and her friend Remy, both foreign students, hunted the cold northern landscape for a Christmas tree.
December 19, 1992 - Minnesota writer Lawrence Sutin reflects on the winter solstice and on humanity in the darkest days of year.
December 23, 1992 - Nothando Zulu, a renowned master storyteller and local educator, tells a story about the cat and the dog. This particular story talks about the principle of Imani, which is faith and the principle of cooperative economics.
December 24, 1992 - On this Midmorning segment, MPR’s Cathy Wurzer gets a quick lesson on how to make different types of lefse from Bergliot "Bitten" Norvoll and Gary Legwold. There is also a discussion relating to stories of how lefse helped feed people in occupied Norway during World War II.
December 24, 1992 - Duluth writer Michael Fedo shares his family memory of holiday slideshow presentations and how it became a powerful time-marker.
December 25, 1992 - On this Voices from the Heartland segment, Minnesota writer Laurie Allmann reads her Northwoods essay, ‘Twas the Week Before Solstice.
January 2, 1993 - At the beginning of 1993, author and commentator Lawrence Sutin shares his new year’s resolutions, with five resolutions in no order of importance whatsoever.
January 8, 1993 - In this segment of Voices from the Heartland, Minnesota Barton Sutter reads his essay, A Christmas Card. Sutter thinks back on a particular card from his grandmother.
November 24, 1993 - MPR’s John Rabe talks with two Native Americans on their thoughts regarding a celebration of “giving of thanks” and their concept of joining for a mass service of various religious denominations.
November 26, 1993 - MPR’s Karen Boothe looks at how the Hmong New Year in Minnesota has practical differences to that of previous celebrations in Laos. Boothe talks with Chong Bee Vang, chairman of event, on how gathering is now an experience of the best of both new and old culture, as the Hmong community adapts to environment in the United States.