Touring the township lakes yesterday, we talked to the llamas and then stopped at the Village Latvia (Ciema Latvija) Park. A few of the 40,000 Latvians who immigrated to the US after WWII came to Three Rivers and the park is in the subdivision they built in the 1950's and later. See more of the park from the Three Rivers Daily Photo, a Latvian Garage Sale.
Just a block away is Long Lake and the Latvian Center Garezers which was founded 45 years ago on the site of a former Chicago Girl Scouts camp. The driving force behind establishing this cultural center for Latvians were representatives from Latvian Lutheran churches in Michigan and Illinois with V. Treimanis from the Christ Congregation in Detroit becoming the leader for obtaining the necessary funds. (I am now guessing that the park, Ciema "Latvija" Treimana Parks, is named in his honor.)
In summer children from 3 to 17 come for immersion in the Latvian language and culture, and the lake, too! Adults can rent cabins or space for their own trailer. Learn more at the Center's website: Garezers.org
For more about Latvian-Americans, visit Every Culture.com.
Great way to link the new generations with their ancestors
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