Folklore Symposium set for August 1

Literature and music are key elements in German-Russian folklore, and they’ll be in abundance August 1st during a symposium that is part of the International Germans from Russia Convention in Casper, Wyoming. The convention opens July 28th and will run through August 3rd at the Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Center.

The Folklore Symposium: Storytelling, Youth Essays, and Music will get underway at 8:30 Friday morning, August 1st, with announcement of the winners of the AHSGR Storytelling Contest and the GRHS Youth Essay Contest. Top winners will read their award-winning stories and essays – or they’ll be read by others.

The symposium will be moderated by Ken Koehler of Arvada, Colorado, Chairman of the AHSGR Folklore & Linguistics Committee, and Del Beck, a retired educator from Rapid City, South Dakota, a long-time and well-known song leader and emcee for GRHS events.

Cyndi Lesser Babish will share insights into the “Music Legacy of Adolph Lesser,” honoring her father’s memory as an esteemed German from Russia accordionist known around the world.-

This is a special joint convention for members of both the Germans from Russia Heritage Society based in Bismarck, North Dakota, and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, which has headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska. As many as one thousand attendees are expected.