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July 5, 1999
Cambria carries on holiday traditionCommunity celebration has 128-year historyBy SARA SYVERSON Journal Staff Writer CAMBRIA -- "What can you give me for this one? Do I hear a $20?" With the simple nod of a head, the price got higher... a good number of patriotic cakes and pies were sold for prices up to and exceeding $30 at the fancy cake auction at the 128th Annual Fourth of July Patriotic Program Sunday. The day-long event was held in Cambria's Town Hall and the money raised during the celebration will be used to support next year's celebration and other community development projects. Sunday in Cambria was filled with an early afternoon parade, patriotic program, cake auction, children's games in the park, a family softball game that evening and a firework's display at dusk. "The celebration has really grown in the past three years," said Cambria Town Historian, Viva Bowen, "I really owe it to the Cambria Community Fund for keeping things going all day long." A Cambria woman who went to the patriotic program said, "Isn't this a unique thing? It's something you don't want to miss." Bowen grew up on a farm near Cambria and now makes her home in New Ulm. She has worked as the town historian for Cambria for the past five years. According to Bowen, the early beginnings of the town were in 1899 when farmland was sold to the railroad company and trains started coming through the area. A depot was built in Cambria, followed by the first building in 1900. The town eventually grew with more stores, a creamery, stockyards, and a telephone company. "The town's population stays the same at about 100 people," said Bowen, "In the late 1930's when the passenger trains stopped coming through the town there really wasn't a need for all the buildings in town." Cambria's celebration started out being held in Wagner's grove where local residents would haul a piano out to the woods for their celebratory music, according to lifelong Cambria area resident Betty Thorson. "It's important for such a small community to have a celebration like this," said Thorson, "You'd be amazed at how many people have roots in Cambria and come back to celebrate. It's an old-fashioned celebration, and not so commercialized." Thorson was raised on a farm near Cambria and now lives in Cambria. She officially retired this July from 32 years of service as a nurse at the New Ulm Medical Center. "I think this is my favorite day of the year," said Thorson, "These are the kids that my kids grew up with...and they are the kids that come back every year." John Cselovszki, high school principal in Nicollet, gave a patriotic speech at the patriotic program in which he talked about the basic human rights that we as Americans have and do not think about. "We need to think about those things and to reflect on them," said Cselovszki, "When you are commuting to work you can think about them. You may lose those freedoms." Cselovszki, is originally from Hungary and he and his family haved moved to the community of Cambria this past year. "It's such a nice community...such a nice, strong community," said Cselovszki.
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