The town of Geneva, Illinois is putting the final touches on its biggest yearly event — Swedish Days, starting tomorrow and running through next Sunday. The festival, celebrating Swedish heritage, will offer food, a parade, special activities for children, crafts, and a carnival. It will also feature displays of just about everything Swedish, including Rosemaling, a Scandinavian art form of decorating wood. A quarter of a million people are expected to enjoy the various attractions. In the U.S. today, there are more than 4.3 million people of Swedish heritage, mostly in the Midwest and West. Profile America is produced by the U.S. Census Bureau: Measuring America–People, Places, and Our Economy.
The above is the message for today, and here are the messages for Saturday and Sunday:
With summer here, we all tend to become more active, and pull out sports and recreational equipment that we haven’t used for months. That’s why this is National Safety Month. Each week will concentrate on a different area — driving, the workplace, emergency preparedness, and home and community. Emergency rooms around the country report many Americans are hurt by their sporting and recreation equipment — over 144,000 on skateboards alone. However, since most every child has one — the most accidents occur on bicycles — more than 544,000 a year. In addition, another 86,000 people are injured annually by their lawnmowers. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.
his is one of the nation’s favorite days — Father’s Day. However you celebrate the day — with a funny card, perhaps a tool he’s always wanted or dinner at his favorite restaurant, it’s a day to say thanks to the dads, stepfathers, grandfathers, and other father figures for all they’ve done for each of us. The observance goes back to 1910, when Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington wanted to honor her father, who raised six children by himself after his wife died. The idea caught on and spread across the country but didn’t become official until 1966. Across the country, there are just over 70 million men who are fathers. Just under 25 million of them are part of married couple families with children younger than 18. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Discuss and more on the Open Lines!