Hi, Greg:

My Grandmother and Grandfather on my Father's side were born and raised in Denmark and came over here as young adults. They met in a small church in a Danish settlement in Wisconsin. My Grandmother Mara came over as a maid to the Diamonds, who owned the Diamond Match Company... still the biggest match company here, I think. My Grandfather Lars was a tinsmith in Denmark. As the song says,

"Grandpa was a tinsmith, the foreman of the shop
Grandma worked for Diamond's, she started at the top And even though the dreams they had, never quite came true
They passed them on to Daddy, and to me when he was through

My Mother's Father was a Holliday, a descendent of Doc Holliday, sidekick of Wyatt Erp. Her side of the family was of French and Scotch descent.

Neither side of my family carried on any traditions from their heritage, so I might as well be twelfth generation Amurican. I've picked up some Scandinavian music through time, and when my wife and I were married, we had an African/Danish wedding. Plenty of African music, art and clothing to chose from, but very little Danish. Seems like almost all the Scandinavians in this country are Swedish or Norwegian. Maybe Denmark is so great there's no one who wants to leave. ;-)

Jerry