Turning the Pages in History | Video

Amy Fox | 9/27/2012

"You don`t understand people unless you can step into their footsteps and experience the life they do," said Kelly Oellien, mother.

At Hostfest, Scandinavian or not, people like Kelly Oellien are exposing their children to Scandinavian history, helping them to see the world from a different perspective.

"We`ve a strong Scandinavian family,” said Oellien. “So, for her to see the Norwegian and Swedish side, we really enjoy submerging her in that."

It`s people like folk tale author Marjory Johnson Wood who are bringing their unique experiences to life through books.

"My fathers parents came over from Sweden and my mother`s parents from Norway."

"We try to angle towards all of the Scandinavian countries, trying to represent each of them author wise and book wise," said Scandinavian Heritage Book Store chairwoman LaVon Slind.

It doesn`t matter what your background is, as Slind explains, there`s a message for everyone.

"It goes to show that deep strong roots we should be proud of those."

In order for these traditions to be passed down, we must start educating our children.

"We need to as some of the older generation to make our children more aware of it and what their heritage is,” said Slind.

As we begin a new chapter in our history books, we can only hope the next generation will continue to read and learn more about the culture and keep the traditions alive.

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