By Unsie Zuege

Although Randy Maluchnik’s official title is Carver County commissioner, he’ll unofficially be Carver County’s ambassador when he visits the county of Ydre in Sweden next week.

Maluchnik plans a five-day stay in Ydre, where Swedish immigrant Andrew Peterson was born and raised before coming to the United States in 1850 and settling in what became Carver County’s Laketown Township.

Peterson is noted for a diary that he kept his entire life. His diary has enabled historians to learn about an immigrant’s life in rural Minnesota. His diaries, now kept at the Minnesota Historical Society, inspired the work of Vilhelm Moberg, a Swedish writer who used Peterson’s diaries as a source and inspiration for a four-volume book series called “The Emigrants.” Moberg’s series was later selected as the best Swedish novel of the 20th century.

Although Peterson’s story and his history in Carver County are not well known among Americans, he is a cultural hero in Sweden. The Andrew Peterson Society was established in Sweden in 2003, and since then it has worked with the Friends of the Historic Andrew Peterson Homestead, based in Carver County, to repair and restore the original granary and barn on the property.

In 2006, a group of Swedish volunteers visited the farm and did carpentry and repairs on the granary. In 2007, a Swedish tour group came to the Twin Cities; its visit to the Peterson farm was the highlight of its U.S. trip.

Invitation accepted

Jo Mihelich, of Victoria, was captivated by the Andrew Peterson story when she and her husband moved to Waconia in the early 1970s. Her interest in telling the Andrew Peterson story began when she learned that Chisago County claimed ownership to immigrant Peterson. She knew better — that Peterson settled in Laketown Township in an area once called “Scandia.” After seven years of research, she published “Andrew Peterson and the Story of Scandia” in 1984.

As an expert in Andrew Peterson history, she came to the attention of the Swedish Andrew Peterson Society and to Jan Hermelin, who owns the original Peterson farm land in Sweden. Hermelin is an active member of the society.

On both visits to Carver County, the Swedish visitors stayed with local families. Over time, friendships have developed and e-mails continue to go back and forth between Minnesota and Sweden.

Hermelin has invited his American counterparts to come visit Sweden many times. But this time would be for the premiere of his musical, based on the Andrew Peterson story. Hermelin composed and wrote the music. After finally completing it last year, he again invited his Minnesota friends to visit during American Week, which recognizes and honors the Swedish and American ties.

“Everyone was invited,” Mihelich said. “But there’s no way I could, health-wise, take the trip.”

She was happy then to hear that Maluchnik would go.

Maluchnik and his wife, Suzette, leave the United States on June 17; after arriving on June 18, that evening they’ll attend the premier of the English version of musical.

“I offered to audition for a part,” he said, “but when they heard me sing on the phone...”

Minnesota gifts

Maluchnik will present his Swedish hosts with two bottles of wine with custom printed labels. One label has an illustration of the original Andrew Peterson shanty; the other depicts the original barn that no longer stands.

Officials and members of the Andrew Peterson Society will receive custom calendars with photographs that were taken when the Swedish volunteers came to repair the granary. Maluchnik will deliver a proclamation from Carver County recognizing the county of Ydre, and that Carver County will continue to honor and promote the story of Andrew Peterson’s immigration to Carver County.

“We’ll be staying with some of the folks who stayed here last year,” Maluchnik said. “We’ll tour the area, meet with county and local officials there, tour businesses, attend cultural events and see the significant sights.”

After five days in Sweden, the Maluchniks will continue to Copenhagen, where they’ll spend two days, then travel by high-speed train to Olso, Norway. They return to Minnesota on June 30.

When asked who’s footing Maluchnik’s travel bill, he laughed.

“Only one taxpayer is paying for this, and it is my wife, Suzette,” Maluchnik said. “And if you think the taxpayers are tough, you try spending her money.”