week of  2/20/02
 
 
 

Kiwanis film looks at Sweden
SMN
The Waynesville Kiwanis Travelog series continues Friday, Feb. 22, with a first-person description of Sweden — and with surprises for the travelog’s producer. Dale Johnson’s story starts not in Sweden, but at the graves of his great grandparents in the old Swedonia Colony in Texas. Pieces of his own family history emerge later in his travels.

The program begins at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Tickets will be available at the door and are $6 for adults, $2 for high school students and $1 for younger children. As usual, refreshments will be served during the intermission.

Johnson’s great grandparents remain on his mind as he crisscrosses the Swedish countryside to produce his film. On his journey he takes his audience to cities rich in history, across spectacular landscapes, and to modern factories. In Goteborg, he films Volvo cars on the assembly line, then picks one up to use for the summer. Heading north, he passes farms and visits tradition-minded wood crafters. He joins a reindeer roundup and records the midnight sun as it sinks to the horizon and rises again without ever setting.

Heading south, he takes a ferry to Gotland and stops at historic ruins and remnants of Viking times. He visits an outdoor museum and marvels at “rokar,” towering stone formations carved by grinding waves.

Back in the southern regions, he pauses at Uppsala University, “where everyone seems to ride a bicycle,” then rolls into Stockholm for a close-up look at the city and its attractions. Finally he reaches the region of Smaland and the village of his ancestors. He locates the original farm, finds distant relatives, and ends his journey walking fields and woods that his great grandfather roamed.

Johnson began working in commercial films while earning a degree from the University of Texas. By then he already had served in the Army Security agency and afterward traveled in the jungles of Central America. He writes that while working in Texas, he “filmed commercials, documentaries, and two theatrical features.”

He directed and filmed the outdoor television series “The Lone Star Sportsman” for two years, then joined the film unit attached to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. From there his film career took him to Alaska as founder of his own company. Two of his films earned him the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle award. Johnson and his wife, fellow travelog artist Sandy Mortimer, now live in Shelbyville, Ken.

All proceeds from the Waynesville Kiwanis travelog series go to support the club’s community service fund. The next feature, “The Misty Isles of Scotland,” will be March 15.