I'll start with some trivia and facts from history. America declared its Independence from Great Britain in 1776, although Hibbing didn't exist until 1893. I had forgotten that we were at war with the British Empire in 1776, not free. We "declared" our independence in 1776, but we were still fighting our "War of Independence" for another six years. We didn't have our freedom from Britain until 1783.
In comparison, Croatia's quest for independence went on for almost a thousand years. As Americans we were lucky to have freed ourselves as a young country. We were able to move on quickly and eventually forged a great friendship with our former ruler.
Croatia fought for some version of independence for a thousand years before getting it, as have many countries of the world. It wasn't until 1991 that they made their final declaration for independence - from the Republic of Yugoslavia.
In a way, Croatia was seceding from Serbia, not Yugoslavia. Serbia was in control of the Yugoslavian armed forces, so military power was not fairly distributed. It made the other countries that made up Yugoslavia feeling, as always, subjugated members. Many of these countries also declared their Independence from Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Declaring independence meant they still had to fight for their independence, and Croatia did so until 1995. They called their war, the "Homeland" war. America was involved as part of NATO's forces, participating in Operation Flash and Operation Storm, which helped to end the war in Croatia's favor. Only Kossovo's independence from Serbia is not yet resolved in 2011.
We have a cousin's son who was involved in this war, as part of America's intervention. Perhaps, in the future, Travis can tell us something about his experience.
Today, Croatia celebrates, "Statehood Day" every year on June 25th, a paid holiday. They have an Independence Day on October 8, which is when all ties were cut with Yugoslavia. Their sovereignty is so new!
I am also sidestepping the topic of the Croatian Military Frontier today, and reminiscing July 4th times in Hibbing. While looking through pictures, I ran across this photo of a band marching in Hibbing, about 1910 or 1911. I had plucked it off the Internet ten years ago?
This is what downtown Hibbing looked like in my grandfather's first year in Hibbing. Maybe they were practicing for the Fourth's celebration in Hibbing? Marching bands, parades, traditional foods, and ice cream made up the festivities in those days. Shooting canons was also part of the July 4th celebrations if there was a military armory in town, where such arms and ammunition were stored. Today, our traditions also include fireworks, corn-on-the-cob, and grilled meats. I'm not sure if cannons are fired off anymore anywhere.I remember childhood visits to Hibbing, staying at Aunt Kate's or Rose's homes. The Hibbing High School band marched past Aunt Kate's home, practicing for the 4th of July celebrations. Hibbing High was just a few blocks away. A high school band marches past my home, practicing for the Fourth, as our high school is also close. Marching bands are still a tradition in some communities.
I wonder if the Hibbing area mining companies provided some festivities for the miners' families on the Fourth? The miners, mostly made up of immigrants, lived near to the mines, and the concept of celebrating freedom would have been important to immigrants. I might be wishing for too much. It wasn't until 1938 that Independence Day became a federally paid holiday, so I doubt that the mining companies gave workers time off, let alone with pay! Does someone know the answer to this or of other such facts?
My father was born and lived in Hibbing for the first part of his life. What he liked about the Fourth, as a child, was having ice cream. It was the only day of the year the family would have ice cream...a special treat... so his family must have participated in July 4th celebrations.
A trivia bit...The first ice cream parlor in America opened in 1776, in New York City. American colonists were the first to use the term ice cream, from "iced cream", similar to "iced tea".
As part of the Fourth's celebration, Uncle Tony and Aunt Rose invited their extended family to their cabin about 25 miles from Hibbing, on Big Sturgeon Lake. It was a fun time for everyone to be together, although some didn't always enjoy the lake experience - the sand in everything, the lack of indoor bathrooms, and the creepy crawling things of the outdoors! Later in our family history, I'll cover a bit more about the cabin and the lake - the outhouse and sauna too.
I wonder if the Hibbing area mining companies provided some festivities for the miners' families on the Fourth? The miners, mostly made up of immigrants, lived near to the mines, and the concept of celebrating freedom would have been important to immigrants. I might be wishing for too much. It wasn't until 1938 that Independence Day became a federally paid holiday, so I doubt that the mining companies gave workers time off, let alone with pay! Does someone know the answer to this or of other such facts?
My father was born and lived in Hibbing for the first part of his life. What he liked about the Fourth, as a child, was having ice cream. It was the only day of the year the family would have ice cream...a special treat... so his family must have participated in July 4th celebrations.
A trivia bit...The first ice cream parlor in America opened in 1776, in New York City. American colonists were the first to use the term ice cream, from "iced cream", similar to "iced tea".
As part of the Fourth's celebration, Uncle Tony and Aunt Rose invited their extended family to their cabin about 25 miles from Hibbing, on Big Sturgeon Lake. It was a fun time for everyone to be together, although some didn't always enjoy the lake experience - the sand in everything, the lack of indoor bathrooms, and the creepy crawling things of the outdoors! Later in our family history, I'll cover a bit more about the cabin and the lake - the outhouse and sauna too.
The photo below is probably a July 4th get together, as many cousins are in the photo. My dad brought his family to Hibbing during the holiday week, to visit with his side of the family.
My brother has his birthday in June, but when we were toddlers, my parents often waited until July to have a birthday party with cousins, aunts and uncles. Brian would have been two years old in this photo. Some of the cousins were not yet born. We're loving our soda, or as in Hibbing, it was called "pop".
(Click on any of the photos to enlarge)
Once we were older we played volleyball - uncles, aunts, cousins, and now and then, priests from Blessed Sacrament Church. I have not noted the names in some of the pics - you're on your own to see if you were in the pics. The hairstyles are of the times, and the beachwear was practical. None of us look like fashionistas! Below is a photo of the cabin.
In the 1961 photo below, are we spectators? watching others play volleyball? I'm not sure what we're watching. I am the 9-year-old girl with permed hair and a camera. In the background is Aunt Rose, carrying her niece, Gail.
Cousins are all together for this photo, with our grandmother, Ann Crnkovich. Only one cousin, Patrick, was not born at this time. Permed or roller curls seem to be popular in 1961 for the girls!
And while there isn't a photo of the uncle and aunts together, here are two uncles (brothers) that did make it into a photo. "Hunky" uncles, Tony and Mike, below!
Teen and pre-teen boy cousins...Each has their own unique expression in the photo below! Dale may be camera shy, or is he is looking at a bug on the cabin wall? The boy cousins, including Greg, who is not pictured, fooled around on the Fourth with fire crackers. I had the first hand experience to see them blow up frogs with fireworks! Awful!
Time was set aside to play tamburitza music. Uncle Tony inherited his dad's love for Croatian music traditions. His children are the other musicians entertaining the rest of us.
The last photo is when we are older, and the cabin property had been sold by the time of this photo. We're on Hibbing's First Avenue, waiting for a Fourth of July parade to pass by. I don't know what year this was, but will guess it was 1994 or 1995. In the front row, from left to right - Uncle Frank (kneeling), cousins Betty Kay, Karen, and Marianne. In the back row, left to right - Uncle Tony and Aunt Rose, Rick (Marianne's husband), and Aunt Kate. Aunt Elaine might be taking the photo, but a few relatives are not in their chairs. It's a small group of relatives at this parade.
I couldn't find that Hibbing is still having parades, and nothing is mentioned on their website about town festivities for this year, such as fireworks. My own Texas suburb and Austin, TX is not having evening firework displays this year. Much of Texas is in a severe drought and fireworks would be too dangerous.
It is strange not to hear any firework noise this weekend in my neighborhood. I will miss watching the fireworks from my back porch with neighbors. What is the Fourth without fireworks, friends or relatives? The national TV stations usually broadcast firework displays from Washington, D.C. and New York, so that might be a good option for watching celebratory fireworks this year.
Happy Fourth of July to everyone!
* NATO is North Atlantic Treaty Organization
