The Potica Tour: Gov. Dayton to Croatia

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Today, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is traveling on an economic, military, and diplomatic mission to Croatia, celebrating the ties between our state and this eastern European nation.

“Our partnership with Croatia has produced tremendous benefits over the past twenty years, strengthening national security, enhancing economic ties, and growing civic relationships between Minnesota and Croatia,” said Dayton in a press release. “I was pleased to host President Grabar-Kitarović in St. Paul in January, and I am honored to have been invited to visit Croatia, to celebrate the anniversary of this important partnership.”

Gov. Rudy Perpich, a Hibbing DFLer, was the only Mesabi Iron Range native to serve as governor in the late 1970s and again through the 1980s. He was instrumental both as a State Senator and Governor in using the IRRRB as a tool to save communities during economic crisis. However he correctly predicted in 1982 that the Iron Range would "never, never, never be the same" after the collapse of the taconite boom. (Wikimedia)

Gov. Rudy Perpich, a Hibbing DFLer, was the only Mesabi Iron Range native to serve as governor in the late 1970s and again through the 1980s. He was instrumental both as a State Senator and Governor in using the IRRRB to protect communities during economic crisis. However he correctly predicted in 1982 that the Iron Range would “never, never, never be the same” after the collapse of the taconite boom. (Wikimedia)

You can’t talk about Minnesota-Croatia relations without talking about Gov. Rudy Perpich. The Hibbing DFLer remains the only Iron Ranger to ever serve as governor. Perpich was first generation Croatian-American in a Northern Minnesota region where thousands immigrated from former Yugoslavian territories to work in the iron mines.

In a colorful political career, Perpich spent years cultivating relationships between Minnesota and the rest of the world, especially Europe. After leaving office, Perpich went to Zagreb to help Croatia form a new government after the fall of Communist Yugoslavia.

Croatia is in eastern Europe, but defies stereotypes of a cold, foreboding place. Croatia is a warm, Mediterranean nation of slavic people. Most Croatian-Americans today would wonder why their ancestors left, though they certainly had good reason at the time.

One of my favorite local Croatian-Americans is Sam Miltich, the jazz guitarist who just played in my Great Northern Radio Show on June 18. His father grew up on the north side of Virginia on the Mesabi Iron Range. The Miltiches, like the Perpiches, are a good example of how the immigrant laborers who arrived here and their descendants would go on to expand and beautify their new world with ideas, art and labor.

Gov. Dayton will be in Croatia through Saturday, arriving back in Minnesota on Sunday, July 3.

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