The Swedish Crafts program at Bethany College has breathed new life into a lost art in Lindsborg: broom making. Area farmer Vince Rocco teamed up with Bethany to plant and harvest the broomcorn crop, helping students touch the past.

Rocco grew up in New York and made Kansas his home after graduating from Kansas State University. The Johnstown Farm south of Lindsborg has been in his wife Christine’s family since 1906 and is located where broomcorn was once raised.

Around 1900, as many as three broom factories/warehouses were flourishing in the area, including one in Lindsborg.

Now Bethany College’s Swedish craft program is helping the crop come full circle in Lindsborg, from planting to harvest, from seed to slöjd (Swedish for handicraft), cultivating a long-lost skill and an artful way of life. To find out more about Swedish crafts and to purchase items made by students, visit https://www.bethanylb.edu/product-category/swedish-crafts/.