“Old Maine’s Swedish Farms,” produced by Crown of Maine Productions, features six residents of Maine’s Swedish Colony telling their tales of growing up on farms in the area while they are left to tell their tales. The home-grown documentary will air this week on Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
One of the Swedish speakers in the film, this photo taken in 1922 shows Floyd Jepson, at age 6, gathering oats with his Swedish mother, Hilma, and sister, Carola, on the farm where he grew up and farmed in New Sweden. Floyd only spoke Swedish when he started school. Today, Swedish is heard less and less in the Swedish Colony where only about 25 residents still speak the language.
In 1870, Swedish settlers flocked to far northern Maine to farm — creating a unique colony where the Swedish language is still spoken in the 21st century. But the few who speak Swedish are dwindling and the language likely will die out with the 30 or so, mostly older residents, who still speak Swedish today.
From the April Fool’s Day jokes they played to the sadness they express over the disappearance of their farms, this film captures the lives of the Colony’s Swedish speakers during this fascinating chapter of Maine history.
Introduced in English, the interviews are conducted in Swedish by Maine Swedish Colony’s Scandinavian scholar, Dan Olson. Subtitles for the interviews are provided in English, while the beauty of the numerous dialects spoken by the last of the Swedish speakers are featured on the sound track.
A treasure trove of historic photos, provided by storytellers from the farms where they grew up, brings the old days and old ways of the Maine Swedish farms back to life in this half hour show.
“I enjoyed listening to the past and current generations speaking Swedish and keeping the language alive,” said Robbie Grant from Falmouth, who bought a copy of the DVD online. “I know it is an eloquence soon to be lost, but it is heart-warming to hear people speak the language so fluently in the 21st century from northern Maine.”
The film, produced by Crown of Maine Productions’ Brenda Nasberg Jepson and her husband Alan, will air on Thursday, April 26 at 10:30 p.m. and again on Saturday, April 28 at 11:30 a.m.. Sponsors for the showing on MPBN include Monica’s Scandinavian Imports and Aroostook Savings and Loan – both of Caribou. For more information on the filmmakers, go to crownofmaineproductions.com.
