Stanley Berge
I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 5th, 1916,
the first child of a Swedish mother and a Norwegian father. Many
of my early memories are of hearing violin music, much of it
Norwegian in nature coming from the old victrola. At the ripe
old age of four years, I, along with my parents and two younger
brothers, moved north to a piece of wild land on the south shore
of Mille Lacs lake, near Wahkon. I have lived my entire life
within sight of the "Big Lake".
I have had a great interest in
violins all my life, and made a small violin at twelve years
of age. Not being fortunate enough to have a violin teacher in
this northern frontier country at that early date, one had to
learn on his own by doing it himself. I was fortunate to have
a very fine violin, made by my Swedish grandfather which he gave
to us three boys when I was about eight years of age. The violin
has brought a lifetime of enjoyment to me which has never left.
I have collected violins all my life, most of them in
various states of disrepair, and restored them
to playability again. I had about fifty violins at one time,
many of which I have since loaned out or given away, hoping to
encourage violin playing in others. My violins have been a lifetime
of pleasure for me, and are to this day!
beste hilsen, Stanley
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