September 15th to October 15th marks Hispanic Heritage Month, a month of reflection and appreciation of the Latino Community in America. In recognition of this month, the EDC, Mid-Minnesota Development Commission, the City of Willmar, and Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) of Willmar have partnered to create a video that defines what it means to be Latino in Kandiyohi County. We asked simple questions, including ‘Where were you born?’ and ‘What does being Latino in Kandiyohi
The town of Tromsǿ, Norway, may not mean much to us, but for generations of families and now neighbors in Lake Lillian, Minnesota, it is a string that binds them together. It is the root of their lineage. This includes Gregg Hanson, the 6th generation of original homesteaders. Gregg’s grandparents, Gjertina Johnson, and Emil Hanson Junior, immigrated from the Tormsǿ area in 1900 and homesteaded on the Lake Lillian prairie. “They traveled all that way on the boat, they all got scurvy. . .
Looking around at the green plant wall and flowers, Pen explains ‘I chose these [decorations] because it reminds me of the fresh fruit and green of Thailand. I was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. We ate a lot of sweet potatoes and sugar cane. Nature is very pretty and healthy.” Her inspiration for the interior design of her tea house, like her product of healthy, flavorful milky tea served with tapioca pearls, has the same optimism as her overall outlook on life.
Her mother had
