By Roz Weis,
Joan (Soland) Landenberger will lead a viewing of a 1917 panoramic photograph of the celebration of Washington Prairie residents Embret Clement and Kari Egge’s 50th anniversary for a Decorah Genealogy Association (DGA) program at 7 p.m., June 26, at VFW Post 1977, 104 State St., Decorah.
The photo was taken at the Clement farm just north of the Washington Prairie Lutheran Church. Landenberger donated a copy of the picture to the DGA. She also had the picture blown up into sections and pieced together into a 6-foot-long photo, so the individuals are easier to identify. So far, she has identified about 50 of the 250-300 people photographed at the anniversary gathering.
Program attendees are asked to bring their own family pictures from the early 1900s to help identify the area guests and Washington Prairie Lutheran Church members. Some of the people identified are from the following families: Clement, Egge, Viste, Ode, Hegg, Gullickson, Tovson, Guttebo, Soland, Arness, Landsrud, Bakke and Weflen. Landenberger will also present a short presentation on the Clement and Egge families.
Landenberger has been working on genealogy projects since 2010. She works on Power Point photo albums and scans and identifies the individuals in the pictures (if possible) and then shares with interested relatives or friends. She was researching her parents’ genealogy when she had the opportunity to work on a Norwegian diary that had to be translated, typed and researched. She and Don L. Berg completed the Tollef Svennungsen Journal, Sept. 4, 1844 – Oct. 14, 1925, in 2020. Tollef Svennungsen is buried at the Washington Prairie Lutheran Cemetery in rural Winneshiek County.
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