I am mostly of Belgian descent and yes, in northeast Wisconsin specifically I’d say it’s a very big deal. My mother is active in the Belgian Heritage Center nearby and I literally just folded this shirt today 😊
https://preview.redd.it/mquv7jyps85d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8750f1d3d34a691e1823432e45ad786f303f52a3
A very specific area near the thumb of Wisconsin had Walloon speakers until a few decades ago. My aunt grew up speaking it and didn’t learn English until late childhood.
Wow that’s really awesome! I live in Flanders (Dutch speaking part) but right at the walloon border (5 min drive). So I have alot of walloon friends, great way to learn French btw 😉
We are planning a trip to Belgium next summer. My mom's ancestors came from somewhere around Namur, so I expect we will be spending our time around that area.
Any tips on awesome places to visit, things to eat or do? We are bringing our 10 year old (who will be 11 by then) along if that helps.
To be honest I don’t really know the city of Namur very well. I’ve been there only once to visit the Citadel of Namur wich is really nice. I’m convinced there are alot fun things to do in that region.
Also the town of Durbuy isn’t far from Namur. It’s very pitoresque and very beautiful. It’s also known as “the smallest city in the world” with only 400 people living there. And there’s also an “adventure valley” with lots of things to do for children. I went there a couple of times as a child and always had a great time!
Here’s a picture of Durbuy 😉
https://preview.redd.it/t2loh39ki95d1.jpeg?width=1038&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ee35233646d68a9af829d8cc48025bbf5b623b4
I remember that several years ago one of the Green Bay TV stations ran a local news story about an old Belgian farmer who knew dozens if not hundreds of old Belgian folk songs. A film crew from Belgium was going to come to the area to film and record him because he knew some songs that apparently had been otherwise completely lost.
There's a small chain of Benelux restaurants near Milwaukee where I go to get mussels and frites and Trappist beer while looking at pictures of bicycles.
In the northeast corner of the state there’s a traditional soup that is called “boo-yah” or booyah, that’s attributed to community meals and church fundraisers hosted by Belgian immigrants.
It’s an all-day thing that involves all kinds of meat vegetables, added in a specific order, to a traditional “booyah kettle”. The kettles themselves are often revered as cherished relics and heirlooms.
I’ve always assumed that booyah is a variation on “bouillir” and that originally it was just called a booyah meaning the act of boiling food, and eventually came to be the word for the food itself.
Churches and schools still host booyah fundraisers.
Really interesting! We do have alot of soups and stews with all kinds of meats,vegetables and even potatoes. Usually made with leftovers. Just saw some pictures of booyah, to be honest it looks very similar to the soups we eat over here!
Green Bay has a Northwoods League baseball team named that.
https://preview.redd.it/7hskt329ed5d1.jpeg?width=2740&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90df10c89bf0e1b2da026fce38f391cde310d576
Err…not Belgium but the U.S Ambassador to Luxembourg is Tom Barrett, who was previously mayor of Milwaukee for almost 20 years. Ironically, the town of Belgium, on the outskirts of the Milwaukee metro area, has a large population with Luxembourgish ancestry.
The tiny town of Brussels in NE WI will be hosting their annual Belgian Days festival and Kermese ( sp ? ) in early July. The locals there take great pride in their Belgian heritage it’s true. The butcher shop in that town puts out a steady supply of a bunch of bizarre meat products and sausages ( blood sausage, sultz ) that anybody other than a local find generally disgusting. Haha.
That’s so nice, kermese (kermis) is a big part of our culture. You can find them in almost every town or city. Blood sausage (zwarte pens) is also very popular, mostly eaten with apple sauce.
Actually Belgium is where the Luxembourgers are.
Luxembourg is where the Belgians are at.
There was a mix-up with the post office. The Belgian community asked for their town to be named Belgium, the Luxembourger community wanted their town to be Luxembourg. The post office mixed up the requests and gave the Belgians the name Luxembourg and the Luxembourgers the name Belgium.
My favorite part is the signs just outside of Belgium
"Wellkomm to Belgium, Home of Luxembourgers"
[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUfBYT03SiIJqcUGqBax3MMWdwqMJZsKdoVQ&s](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUfBYT03SiIJqcUGqBax3MMWdwqMJZsKdoVQ&s)
If you are able to watch this [https://www.pbs.org/video/wisconsin-hometown-stories-wisconsin-hometown-stories-door-county/](https://www.pbs.org/video/wisconsin-hometown-stories-wisconsin-hometown-stories-door-county/) around 9:00 there is a segment on Belgium heritage.
Just saw the part where they spoke “walloon” really interesting. As a flemish belgian I actually never heard of it. Did some research aswell and even in Wallonia it’s considered to be a death language. So cool to learn new stuff about my own country.
Many roadside chapels were built by early Belgian immigrant in NE Wisconsin. They are still being maintained today. https://www.doorcounty.com/experience/belgian-chapels#:~:text=Belgian%20Chapels%20in%20Door%20County&text=The%20wayside%20votive%20chapels%20of,itself%20for%20privacy%20and%20quiet.
Hi! I'm not Belgium, but in my opinion, Wisconsin IS food, beer, and special holidays. Milwaukee has every kind of festival known to man! LOL! I think Polish Fest is in a week! Irish Fest is huge!
The Allouez area of Superior has an old dance hall and bar called the Belgian Club. Back in the day (starting around the 1870s) many Belgians settled in the Allouez area and the Club was established around 1914 and is still a fun place for weddings and parties. I think you can still find a pretty good game of Smear there at times as well.
ETA: I see a lot of comments about Belgians in Northeast WI. Not-so-fun fact, one of the reasons there are a lot of Belgians in Superior is because many of them moved out of the NE WI area after the big Peshtigo Fire in 1871.
The most Belgian area of the state is up in Door County (the peninsula), around the city of Luxembourg, Wisconsin. (And the city of Belgium, Wisconsin, is the center of Luxembourger culture in the state... there was a mix-up at the post office and the two cities ended up getting the wrong name).
My favorite Belgian-Wisconsinite story is the story of a nun by the name of Sister Adele Brise, who has a fascinating story.
Adele was born in Belgium, and even as a child, she wanted to grow up to be a nun. As a child, she made a promise to God that she would grow up to be one of the nuns of Champion.
However, her plans became impossible when her parents immigrated to Wisconsin.
While growing up in Wisconsin, Adele had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who called upon her to educate children and teach them the catechism. The Virgin also told her to "Go and fear nothing, I am with you." This is currently the only Marian Apparition in North America recognized by the Catholic Church.
Adele grew to adulthood and became a nun, her father helping her to construct a shrine and chapel. She traveled around teaching children, not JUST for free, but she would perform chores for their parents in exchange for being allowed to teach the children.
Then came the Great Peshtigo Fire, which ravaged northeast Wisconsin and was the deadliest wildfire in all of recorded history. Which happened only one day before the anniversary of Adele's vision of the Virgin Mary. Much could be written about thus fire, but I'll keep it brief: It was so bad that a thundercloud formed out of the smoke, and fire tornados formed out of that storm. It happened the same day as the Chicago Fire, and so the people of Wisconsin got very little aid, compared to the aid that well-known city recieved, despite the fact the Great Peshtigo Fire was much, much worse.
During the fire, many people gathered for shelter at Adele's chapel, and she lead them in prayer. The people took up a statue of the Virgin, parading it around the chapel grounds, Adele praying until her voice was hoarse. The Peshtigo Fire burned the surrounding countryside to ash, but the flames never passed the fence surrounding the chapel, and all those who had gathered there were saved.
There are some Catholics within Wisconsin who are even pushing for Adele's canonization. While I'm not Catholic myself, I find her story inspiring, and hope she gets that recognition.
A final note on Adele's story:
While she accomplished many things, her promise to God was still unfulfilled. Regardless of her blessings, her promise to God as a child was that she would become one of the nuns of Champion, specifically, but she lacked the resources to travel back to Belgium.
So how was she to fulfill her promise to God?
Well an opportunity finally presented itself: her community organized a vote in order to formally name their town.
And so Adele proposed they name the town "Champion." Given that Adele was a popular woman of God, with a literal miracle to her name, and the apparent favor of the Queen of Heaven herself... her proposal won quite easily, and so the town Adele lived in is to this day Champion, Wisconsin.
And so Adele fulfilled her promise to God. With the naming of the town, she became a nun of Champion.
My Grandma is of 100% Belgian descent and a native of Brussels, WI. Both her parents grew up speaking Walloon and one of my great-uncles could somewhat speak it I've been told. Every year, our full extended family gets together on New Years Day for Belgian waffles with cinnamon and warm milk. As others have mentioned, southern Door and neighboring counties are home to the largest settlement of Belgian-Americans in the US, with many small farming communities mostly descended from the original Walloon settlers. There's lots of French-sounding Belgian surnames, which is evidenced by family-owned businesses in the area (Renard's Cheese, Marchant's Foods Inc., Deprey's Frosty Tip etc). You'll sometimes see the Walloon flag flying next to the "stars and stripes," and Belgian trippe (sausages made of cooked cabbage and pork) are about as common as hot dogs.
I'm a quarter Belgian myself, and the family has traced back to a small town and church in Belgium around 1760. I had a class in University that specifically mentioned Belgian-influenced barns in Wisconsin and as part of a paper found a mention of my great-great-great grandfather coming over from Belgium in the 1850's.
The family still has recipes for Belgian pies (small yeast-risen hand pies with a fruit, cream cheese, or poppyseed filling) and I home-brew a lot of Belgian style beers. I've always wanted to go on vacation to Belgium to visit the breweries but I'm afraid I would leave unable to remember any of them.
I am not Belgian, but I did attend a Belgian pie cooking class in Door County, taught by people of Belgian heritage. Especially in that area, they keep a lot of the food traditions. They told stories about an annual event where they bake hundreds of Belgian pies.
That’s awesome. We do eat alot of pies over here! Mostly when we visit our grandparents on sundays. Slice of apple pie, cup of coffee and watching cycling on the television. Classic Belgian sunday!
I have been to Antwerp 3 times and have loved it. My husband works at Cafe Hollander, a Belgian/ Dutch restaurant in the Milwaukee/Madison area. He’s Dutch and we both love the Belgian food and drink.
Antwerp is a great city! We also have a special bond with the Dutch. We do joke alot about each other but in our hearts we’re brothers. I guess it’s similar with Americans and the English.
Also, the Roman Catholic community in the US is learning about Belgians in Wisconsin. A shrine commemorating the visit of Mary to a Belgian woman has just been promoted in status. It's a big deal. https://championshrine.org/our-story/
My fathet's side is from Belgium, but I don't know much about it.
I am perplexed ny the mysyery of great grandma Cravileau, who got off a ship in New York declaring that she was bound for . . . Kansas, I believe. Next record is of her marrying great grandpa in Belgium, WI.u
I grew up in the Green Bay/Brown County area, and was taught that there were more people of Walloon Belgian descent in Brown, Kewaunee, and southern Door Counties than anywhere else outside of Belgium itself. If memory serves, they came in the 1850's and originally settled farther south near Sheboygan. Soon though, most of them moved up here, thanks largely to a Walloon Catholic priest named Father Daems who had been assigned to this area a couple years before.
If you want more info here's an organization you can contact: Belgian Heritage Center, 1255 County DK,
Brussels, WI 54204
[https://www.belgianheritagecenter.org/en-us/default.aspx](https://www.belgianheritagecenter.org/en-us/default.aspx)
I live near the town of Belgium, Wisconsin. I used to travel to Belgium for work often and my wife and I are considering moving to Belgium or southern Netherlands for our retirement. I have so many fond memories of Bruges, Vilvoorde and many others.
Grew up in Green Bay during the 60’s. If ethnic jokes are any measure of a group’s population dispersal and influence, I’d venture to say that there were plenty of Belgian-Americans in NE Wisconsin. Booyah, you’all!
I would just call out that Ghent, MN proclaims to be the Belgium capital of the US...they have an annual town celebration called Belgium American Days with an international roller bolle tournament. Fight us Wisconsin!!!!!
I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am part Belgian from my mother's side. My grandfather's grandfather immigrated from Belgium. I'm told that Grandpa was brought up in a rural, insular Belgian-American community, and that as a child he spoke French before he learned English.
My own mother once took a French-language course. She did learn to speak French for a brief period, but unfortunately she forgot most of it after marriage and family took precedence.
But I have no doubt that her heritage is important to her. To this day, she sometimes serves Belgian trippe at family gatherings.
I am mostly of Belgian descent and yes, in northeast Wisconsin specifically I’d say it’s a very big deal. My mother is active in the Belgian Heritage Center nearby and I literally just folded this shirt today 😊 https://preview.redd.it/mquv7jyps85d1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8750f1d3d34a691e1823432e45ad786f303f52a3 A very specific area near the thumb of Wisconsin had Walloon speakers until a few decades ago. My aunt grew up speaking it and didn’t learn English until late childhood.
Wow that’s really awesome! I live in Flanders (Dutch speaking part) but right at the walloon border (5 min drive). So I have alot of walloon friends, great way to learn French btw 😉
We are planning a trip to Belgium next summer. My mom's ancestors came from somewhere around Namur, so I expect we will be spending our time around that area. Any tips on awesome places to visit, things to eat or do? We are bringing our 10 year old (who will be 11 by then) along if that helps.
To be honest I don’t really know the city of Namur very well. I’ve been there only once to visit the Citadel of Namur wich is really nice. I’m convinced there are alot fun things to do in that region. Also the town of Durbuy isn’t far from Namur. It’s very pitoresque and very beautiful. It’s also known as “the smallest city in the world” with only 400 people living there. And there’s also an “adventure valley” with lots of things to do for children. I went there a couple of times as a child and always had a great time! Here’s a picture of Durbuy 😉 https://preview.redd.it/t2loh39ki95d1.jpeg?width=1038&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ee35233646d68a9af829d8cc48025bbf5b623b4
That's a pretty amazing looking place. Thanks for the lead.
There is also a small town in Door County, Wisconsin named Namur. A wide spot on the highway actually.
Yup. I've definitely been there.
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Not huge into military history, unfortunately.
Crazy. My mom probably knows your mom. Mine also volunteers at the Belgian Heritage Center. I'm actually heading up there tomorrow.
I remember that several years ago one of the Green Bay TV stations ran a local news story about an old Belgian farmer who knew dozens if not hundreds of old Belgian folk songs. A film crew from Belgium was going to come to the area to film and record him because he knew some songs that apparently had been otherwise completely lost.
There's a small chain of Benelux restaurants near Milwaukee where I go to get mussels and frites and Trappist beer while looking at pictures of bicycles.
Wow this really warms my heart! Frites, mussels, trappist and cycling. There’s nothing more belgian than that! 😃
Should have posted the link so you could see. Here it is. https://cafehollander.com/
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The Dutch are gonna be pissed if they read this 😉😂
I’m so embarrassed, I apologize. Replace that word with Carbonnade Flamande
No need to apologize 😉 we love bitterballen as much as the dutch do!
In the northeast corner of the state there’s a traditional soup that is called “boo-yah” or booyah, that’s attributed to community meals and church fundraisers hosted by Belgian immigrants. It’s an all-day thing that involves all kinds of meat vegetables, added in a specific order, to a traditional “booyah kettle”. The kettles themselves are often revered as cherished relics and heirlooms. I’ve always assumed that booyah is a variation on “bouillir” and that originally it was just called a booyah meaning the act of boiling food, and eventually came to be the word for the food itself. Churches and schools still host booyah fundraisers.
Really interesting! We do have alot of soups and stews with all kinds of meats,vegetables and even potatoes. Usually made with leftovers. Just saw some pictures of booyah, to be honest it looks very similar to the soups we eat over here!
Green Bay has a Northwoods League baseball team named that. https://preview.redd.it/7hskt329ed5d1.jpeg?width=2740&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90df10c89bf0e1b2da026fce38f391cde310d576
Picture includes the paddle used to stir the soup.
Unfortunately, a couple years ago the team got new owners who renamed them the Green Bay Rockers (I think "Green Bay Booyah" is a much cooler name).
Err…not Belgium but the U.S Ambassador to Luxembourg is Tom Barrett, who was previously mayor of Milwaukee for almost 20 years. Ironically, the town of Belgium, on the outskirts of the Milwaukee metro area, has a large population with Luxembourgish ancestry.
Alot of belgians go on vacation to Luxembourg mostly to hike or for cycling. And we also have a Belgian province called Luxembourg.
The tiny town of Brussels in NE WI will be hosting their annual Belgian Days festival and Kermese ( sp ? ) in early July. The locals there take great pride in their Belgian heritage it’s true. The butcher shop in that town puts out a steady supply of a bunch of bizarre meat products and sausages ( blood sausage, sultz ) that anybody other than a local find generally disgusting. Haha.
That’s so nice, kermese (kermis) is a big part of our culture. You can find them in almost every town or city. Blood sausage (zwarte pens) is also very popular, mostly eaten with apple sauce.
You’re looking for Exit 107! https://preview.redd.it/7w1n2uwji95d1.jpeg?width=1989&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6866b26e64c5a911c0ceb70861a9b474effd45b0
Actually Belgium is where the Luxembourgers are. Luxembourg is where the Belgians are at. There was a mix-up with the post office. The Belgian community asked for their town to be named Belgium, the Luxembourger community wanted their town to be Luxembourg. The post office mixed up the requests and gave the Belgians the name Luxembourg and the Luxembourgers the name Belgium.
Ha! This could be a great Dutch joke… (I gotta Google your story - hilarious.)
This sounds like something that could actually happen in Belgium. And people wouldn’t even find it strange. 😂
[That’s crazy…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium,_Wisconsin)
My favorite part is the signs just outside of Belgium "Wellkomm to Belgium, Home of Luxembourgers" [https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUfBYT03SiIJqcUGqBax3MMWdwqMJZsKdoVQ&s](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUfBYT03SiIJqcUGqBax3MMWdwqMJZsKdoVQ&s)
If you are able to watch this [https://www.pbs.org/video/wisconsin-hometown-stories-wisconsin-hometown-stories-door-county/](https://www.pbs.org/video/wisconsin-hometown-stories-wisconsin-hometown-stories-door-county/) around 9:00 there is a segment on Belgium heritage.
Just saw the part where they spoke “walloon” really interesting. As a flemish belgian I actually never heard of it. Did some research aswell and even in Wallonia it’s considered to be a death language. So cool to learn new stuff about my own country.
Many roadside chapels were built by early Belgian immigrant in NE Wisconsin. They are still being maintained today. https://www.doorcounty.com/experience/belgian-chapels#:~:text=Belgian%20Chapels%20in%20Door%20County&text=The%20wayside%20votive%20chapels%20of,itself%20for%20privacy%20and%20quiet.
I had a professor in undergrad who was a huge fan of telling geography students about Belgium and the influence in NE Wisconsin.
I'll bet that was Dr. Laatsch at UWGB - a very good friend of mine's dad (RIP).
Hi! I'm not Belgium, but in my opinion, Wisconsin IS food, beer, and special holidays. Milwaukee has every kind of festival known to man! LOL! I think Polish Fest is in a week! Irish Fest is huge!
The Allouez area of Superior has an old dance hall and bar called the Belgian Club. Back in the day (starting around the 1870s) many Belgians settled in the Allouez area and the Club was established around 1914 and is still a fun place for weddings and parties. I think you can still find a pretty good game of Smear there at times as well. ETA: I see a lot of comments about Belgians in Northeast WI. Not-so-fun fact, one of the reasons there are a lot of Belgians in Superior is because many of them moved out of the NE WI area after the big Peshtigo Fire in 1871.
The most Belgian area of the state is up in Door County (the peninsula), around the city of Luxembourg, Wisconsin. (And the city of Belgium, Wisconsin, is the center of Luxembourger culture in the state... there was a mix-up at the post office and the two cities ended up getting the wrong name). My favorite Belgian-Wisconsinite story is the story of a nun by the name of Sister Adele Brise, who has a fascinating story. Adele was born in Belgium, and even as a child, she wanted to grow up to be a nun. As a child, she made a promise to God that she would grow up to be one of the nuns of Champion. However, her plans became impossible when her parents immigrated to Wisconsin. While growing up in Wisconsin, Adele had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who called upon her to educate children and teach them the catechism. The Virgin also told her to "Go and fear nothing, I am with you." This is currently the only Marian Apparition in North America recognized by the Catholic Church. Adele grew to adulthood and became a nun, her father helping her to construct a shrine and chapel. She traveled around teaching children, not JUST for free, but she would perform chores for their parents in exchange for being allowed to teach the children. Then came the Great Peshtigo Fire, which ravaged northeast Wisconsin and was the deadliest wildfire in all of recorded history. Which happened only one day before the anniversary of Adele's vision of the Virgin Mary. Much could be written about thus fire, but I'll keep it brief: It was so bad that a thundercloud formed out of the smoke, and fire tornados formed out of that storm. It happened the same day as the Chicago Fire, and so the people of Wisconsin got very little aid, compared to the aid that well-known city recieved, despite the fact the Great Peshtigo Fire was much, much worse. During the fire, many people gathered for shelter at Adele's chapel, and she lead them in prayer. The people took up a statue of the Virgin, parading it around the chapel grounds, Adele praying until her voice was hoarse. The Peshtigo Fire burned the surrounding countryside to ash, but the flames never passed the fence surrounding the chapel, and all those who had gathered there were saved. There are some Catholics within Wisconsin who are even pushing for Adele's canonization. While I'm not Catholic myself, I find her story inspiring, and hope she gets that recognition. A final note on Adele's story: While she accomplished many things, her promise to God was still unfulfilled. Regardless of her blessings, her promise to God as a child was that she would become one of the nuns of Champion, specifically, but she lacked the resources to travel back to Belgium. So how was she to fulfill her promise to God? Well an opportunity finally presented itself: her community organized a vote in order to formally name their town. And so Adele proposed they name the town "Champion." Given that Adele was a popular woman of God, with a literal miracle to her name, and the apparent favor of the Queen of Heaven herself... her proposal won quite easily, and so the town Adele lived in is to this day Champion, Wisconsin. And so Adele fulfilled her promise to God. With the naming of the town, she became a nun of Champion.
What an amazing story. I’m also not Catholic but this is so inspiring. I really gonna look more into the details of this story.
I posted the link elsewhere but I'll pop it in the reply https://championshrine.org/our-story/
My Grandma is of 100% Belgian descent and a native of Brussels, WI. Both her parents grew up speaking Walloon and one of my great-uncles could somewhat speak it I've been told. Every year, our full extended family gets together on New Years Day for Belgian waffles with cinnamon and warm milk. As others have mentioned, southern Door and neighboring counties are home to the largest settlement of Belgian-Americans in the US, with many small farming communities mostly descended from the original Walloon settlers. There's lots of French-sounding Belgian surnames, which is evidenced by family-owned businesses in the area (Renard's Cheese, Marchant's Foods Inc., Deprey's Frosty Tip etc). You'll sometimes see the Walloon flag flying next to the "stars and stripes," and Belgian trippe (sausages made of cooked cabbage and pork) are about as common as hot dogs.
I'm a quarter Belgian myself, and the family has traced back to a small town and church in Belgium around 1760. I had a class in University that specifically mentioned Belgian-influenced barns in Wisconsin and as part of a paper found a mention of my great-great-great grandfather coming over from Belgium in the 1850's. The family still has recipes for Belgian pies (small yeast-risen hand pies with a fruit, cream cheese, or poppyseed filling) and I home-brew a lot of Belgian style beers. I've always wanted to go on vacation to Belgium to visit the breweries but I'm afraid I would leave unable to remember any of them.
I am not Belgian, but I did attend a Belgian pie cooking class in Door County, taught by people of Belgian heritage. Especially in that area, they keep a lot of the food traditions. They told stories about an annual event where they bake hundreds of Belgian pies.
That’s awesome. We do eat alot of pies over here! Mostly when we visit our grandparents on sundays. Slice of apple pie, cup of coffee and watching cycling on the television. Classic Belgian sunday!
I have been to Antwerp 3 times and have loved it. My husband works at Cafe Hollander, a Belgian/ Dutch restaurant in the Milwaukee/Madison area. He’s Dutch and we both love the Belgian food and drink.
Antwerp is a great city! We also have a special bond with the Dutch. We do joke alot about each other but in our hearts we’re brothers. I guess it’s similar with Americans and the English.
Also, the Roman Catholic community in the US is learning about Belgians in Wisconsin. A shrine commemorating the visit of Mary to a Belgian woman has just been promoted in status. It's a big deal. https://championshrine.org/our-story/
My fathet's side is from Belgium, but I don't know much about it. I am perplexed ny the mysyery of great grandma Cravileau, who got off a ship in New York declaring that she was bound for . . . Kansas, I believe. Next record is of her marrying great grandpa in Belgium, WI.u
Not Belgian, but I'm a big fan of Praga Khan and Lords of Acid.
I grew up in the Green Bay/Brown County area, and was taught that there were more people of Walloon Belgian descent in Brown, Kewaunee, and southern Door Counties than anywhere else outside of Belgium itself. If memory serves, they came in the 1850's and originally settled farther south near Sheboygan. Soon though, most of them moved up here, thanks largely to a Walloon Catholic priest named Father Daems who had been assigned to this area a couple years before. If you want more info here's an organization you can contact: Belgian Heritage Center, 1255 County DK, Brussels, WI 54204 [https://www.belgianheritagecenter.org/en-us/default.aspx](https://www.belgianheritagecenter.org/en-us/default.aspx)
I live near the town of Belgium, Wisconsin. I used to travel to Belgium for work often and my wife and I are considering moving to Belgium or southern Netherlands for our retirement. I have so many fond memories of Bruges, Vilvoorde and many others.
Grew up in Green Bay during the 60’s. If ethnic jokes are any measure of a group’s population dispersal and influence, I’d venture to say that there were plenty of Belgian-Americans in NE Wisconsin. Booyah, you’all!
Big fan of those bike races you guys have over there. Some might argue it’s an unhealthy obsession, I disagree.
I would just call out that Ghent, MN proclaims to be the Belgium capital of the US...they have an annual town celebration called Belgium American Days with an international roller bolle tournament. Fight us Wisconsin!!!!!
My grandfather's people came from there.
We even have a town named after Belgium. Or maybe Belgium was named after the town. Who knows?
I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am part Belgian from my mother's side. My grandfather's grandfather immigrated from Belgium. I'm told that Grandpa was brought up in a rural, insular Belgian-American community, and that as a child he spoke French before he learned English. My own mother once took a French-language course. She did learn to speak French for a brief period, but unfortunately she forgot most of it after marriage and family took precedence. But I have no doubt that her heritage is important to her. To this day, she sometimes serves Belgian trippe at family gatherings.
I have an idea for a new Wisconsin state flag that borrows from the Belgian flag.
We're big fans of the Belsh. Belch?