|
|
 |
Born in 1953, to Darrel and Shirley (Carlson) Skree, Jim grew up on his family's farm in Badger Valley, about five miles south of Houston, in the S.E. corner of Minnesota. The farm had been settled a century earlier when, in June of 1853, three families of Norwegian immigrants from Vrådal in West Telemark, arrived from Koshkonong, Wisconsin.
Since very early childhood he has been fascinated by local and family history and the stories the old people told. He considered it a real treat to hear his father, Darrel, and his Grandpa Anton conversing in Norwegian as they went about the various tasks around the farm in the summertime. While still in grade school Jim persuaded his Grandma Alice to teach him phrases, rhymes and how to count to 100 in Norwegian. Unfortunately, he wasn't exposed to it enough to learn Norwegian as a second language.
As a boy, Jim was always curious about the odds and ends he found around the farm, dust covered reminders of a time long past and a different way of life. His favorite place on the farm was the log blacksmith shop, complete with bellows, forge, anvil and tools, that was built by his great, great, great uncle, Mikkel Mikkelson Sennes (Sinnes), and his wife Helge, a few years after settling in Badger Valley. Little did Jim know what an impact his connection to that very special place would have on his life.
In 1970 and 1971 a team from Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum led by their newly hired curator, Darrell Henning, came to the farm to dismantle the Blacksmith Shop and its contents and move it down to the museum grounds in Decorah, Iowa to be reconstructed and restored. This was a very bittersweet experience for Jim because while he hated to see the precious building leave the farm, he was very intrigued by the process of removal and restoration and wanted very much to be a part of it. He got his wish when just after graduation from Houston High School in 1971, he was hired by Vesterheim and a whole new world opened up to him.
It is very difficult to imagine my life without Vesterheim and the influence it's had on me. My interest in my ethnic heritage was now fully piqued and I was exposed to the broad spectrum of Norwegian and Norwegian-American culture. I began my research into Family History and Norwegian Immigration to the area around Houston in earnest. While working at the museum Jim enrolled at Luther College and later transferred to Winona State University, majoring in history.
After ten years of traveling around the U.S. and living in Florida, Cape Cod, California, Australia and Arizona, Jim returned to the family farm in 1986 and has increased his involvement with various historical organizations. That same year he organized an archives at the Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Houston and in 1991 he was instrumental in the planning and execution of the 125th Anniversary Celebration of the building of the Stone Church, the congregation's pioneer church in the country south of Houston. The majority of its early members were from West Telemark. He does volunteer work for the Houston County Historical Society and Vesterheim and also belongs to N.A.H.A., the Vesterheim Genealogical Center, Minnesota Territorial Pioneers, etc.
After using the old Telesogas in his research for over 15 years Jim was delighted to find that the Telelag was alive and well and in search of new members. I doubt very much that I'll ever forget the first meeting of the Telelag that I attended in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in 1987. The meeting was very interesting and the people were all very nice and friendly, but it was my first glimpse of the magnificent Telefane that I remember most. It was as if all the feelings that I've ever had for the "old country"--that cradle of my heritage called Telemark I'd heard about all of my life--came rushing to the surface. I had definitely found a place in the Lag.
Since then I have been fortunate enough to be able to attend almost all of the Telelaget stevnes, including many of the one-day stevnes. At the meeting in Wahpeton in 1990 I felt very honored to be elected to the Board and have served as Vice-President, Historian, Co-Editor, and Director at Large of Telelaget at various times since then. Little did I realize when I first read the early Telesogas at the Luther Library that I would be actively involved in the publication of the Telesoga at some time in the future, an effort which has been an incomparable learning experience.
While I also have roots in Sweden, Numedal and Aust-Agder, most of them are in Telemark, which has always been extra special to me, and participating in the Telelag Heritage Tour of Telemark during July of 1992 was a 25-year-old dream come true. All of Telemark is exceptionally beautiful and interesting, but upper West Telemark is my home. To see first hand the valleys of my ancestors--Vrådal, Fyresdal, Skafså and Nissedal--was absolutely unbelievable!
