PEORIA MAGAZINE October 2023

sidewalks, and young girls dressed as St. Lucia serve treats during the Lucia Nights Festival of Lights in early December. Visitors will find artisans demon strating weaving and broom making at the Prairie Arts Center. Likewise, the Bishop Hill Creative Commons offers regional artists, traditional crafts and storytelling. For dining experiences, baked goods, coffee, and authentic Swedish goods, the Old Colony Store, H. Wyatt, Entwined Boutique and Krans Kafe should be on the agenda. There is locally made pottery at Prairie Dog Pot tery, J. Goard Pottery, Hantverk Galleri and others. Accommodations are available at Twinflower Inn in the former Colony Hospital, Lilla Vita Guesthouse, and just a few miles away in Galva and Kewanee. Funke said there is no need for a chamber of commerce. “They promote each other because what’s good for one usually benefits all,” he said. Historians still debate whether the Bishop Hill colony was a success or failure. “How could you call it a failure?” Dow ell said. “They came to a new country and farmed the best soil in the world. That alone is a success.” The fact that Bishop Hill is still here after 177 years speaks for itself. EXPLORE BISHOP HILL Bishop Hill Arts Council: visitbishophill.com Bishop Hill Heritage Association: bishophillheritage.org Bishop Hill Old Settlers’ Association: bholdsettlers.org Bishop Hill State Historic Site: facebook.com/BishopHillSHS

Joella Krause, a fifth-generation descendant of the early settlers of Bishop Hill, stands outside of The Potter’s House, where she has some of her photography for sale. Krause is president of the Bishop Hill Old Settler’s Association

In a town of only a few hundred, “we had to entertain ourselves,” she said. She recalls roller skating on the second floor of the Bjorklund Hotel, which still stands, and using portraits by now-famous folk artist and one-time resident Olof Krans to play “school” in the church. (The portraits were make-believe students.) Krans’ paintings are now safely housed at the Bishop Hill Museum on the south end of town. Even for those without deep roots, the affinity for the village is strong. “I consider everyone who comes in here to be part of my family,” said Ann Stodgel, who with her husband has owned the P. L. Johnson Dining Room, known for its Swedish meatballs and bright yellow exterior, since 1984. Stodgel gets emotional when talking about customers who drove from the Quad Cities and Peoria to get take-out meals during the pandemic. “They were here for us,” she said. “They didn’t want us to go away like so many others did. It was a humbling experience.” Joella Krause also brags ties to the founders. “To me, Bishop Hill is a little micro cosm of Swedish heritage,” Krause said.

“You can’t go to very many places where you can see this concentration … the buildings and the descendants who still live here.” Krause, as current president of the Old Settlers’ Association, said the Col ony Church is a must-see. “To me, the church represents why people came here …because they weren’t accepted in Sweden,” she said. “It is still a very important piece of the town.” LUCIA NIGHTS AND MORE Village Park is center stage for many of the events that fill the calendar. With plenty of shade trees, a gazebo, Civ il War statue, an 1896 monument to the original settlers and a white picket fence surrounding it, it’s not unusual to see the space filled with visitors for everything from a book fair or quilt show to the Midsommar Music Festival, Old Settlers’ Day and Jordbruksdagarna (Swedish for “earth work days”), a fall harvest festival. Christmas is a special time in Bishop Hill. The annual Julmarknad Christmas Market features traditionally decorated shops, music, Swedish foods, and a Christmas Cookie Walk. Candles twinkle in every window, luminaries line the

Scott Fishel is a senior communications executive at WTVP

34 OCTOBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE