January Blog

Ever since I took over as Editor of Swedish Press I have wanted to make a trip through Swedish America. There are so many places where Swedes settled and left markers of all kinds, from the base camp where the Viking's first landed at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland to Ann-Margret's handprints outside the Mann Chinese Theatre in West Hollywood. There are virtually thousands of Swedish landmarks worth visiting.

I have managed to visit quite a few of these through the years (and you can read about many of them at "Places" on our NordicWay.com web site). But during a jubilee year like 2009, when Swedish Press celebrates 80 years of publishing, it would have been great to actually get on the road and travel to many more Swedish landmarks. The idea was to get input from local experts and then drive across the continent in a car with a "Honk if you are Swedish" bumper sticker and try to meet with as many subscribers and locals as possible. I had even talked to Volvo about transportation and to local Swedophiles who had promised to guide and house me.

Then I had a reality check. I simply do not have the time to carry out this fun project, it will have to wait until I am retired.

So now we are on to the next best thing. Thanks to modern technology we are going to do a virtual "Around Swedish America in 365 Days" tour.

On January 1st the trip starts in the little town of Lund on the West Coast of Canada and then you

can follow it on our map across this great continent. Each day we will post a new dispatch about a place with something of Swedish interest at NordicWay.com. So I do hope you have access to a computer! This is going to be a trip of a lifetime and I invite all readers to point out places we simply must visit. Please write or email anders@nordicway.com and help us document Swedish America in a way nobody has ever done before. I think that this will be a great legacy of the only Swedish monthly in North America!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Anders

PS. There have been thousands of Swedish papers in North America through the years but only two are still publishing. So the 80th anniversary of Swedish Press is really worth celebrating. We are planning a Jubilee issue and several historic features. We are going to have a banquet in May and a subscriber draw for a trip to Sweden later in the year as well as other special offers. It is going to be an exciting year starting with the kick-off of our trip Around Swedish America in 365 Days on January 1st at NordicWay.com. Be there!