On July 10, 2021, I participated in the International Festival Faribault as an educator and author, as I have done over the years. One of my most memorable experiences was visiting the booth of the Czech Heritage Club. In our conversation, I expressed my interest in the folklore and cultures of the world, and they told me that there was an exhibition of the Czech heritage at the Heritage Center in Montgomery. This is a town in southeastern Minnesota, which I had visited some years ago. I was excited to hear about this exhibition and promised to go see it.
On July 17, I went to Montgomery and saw the exhibition. It was rich and enlightening, covering the history of Czechoslovakia and various aspects of Czech culture in its homeland and in the Czech diaspora here in Midwest USA. It was quite a delight to see books of Czech folktales--that is the folklorist in me speaking--and a display on the famous composer Antonin Dvorak, about whom I knew during my youth in Tanzania. I took many photos and hope to share some of them in the days ahead. My immediate plan is to incorporate Czech folklore in my Folklore course at St. Olaf College, so inspired am I by all these experiences, made possible by the Faribault Diversity Coalition and the Czech Heritage Club. I convey my deep gratitude to them.http://
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