New Britain herald., 1915-09-25
PASTOR CELEBRATES SILVER ANNIVERSARY
Dr. and Mrs. 0hman Receive
 ( Many Gifts

| and Mrs Sven G. Oh1 <sn was eel ebrated at the Swedish Lutheran church on Franklin Square last eve | ming with a large crowd of parishion. CTS and friends of the happy couple pr. and Mrs. Ohman were married
 on Sept. 24, 1890, in Elgin, Illinois The church was prettyily decorated TOT the occasion, the principal feoture
 helng huge banner draped between the two pillars flanked on one side
 by the Stars and Stripes and on the other by the Swedish flag.
 At S:5 the organ began to peal forth the wedding march which was played at the wedding of the couple just 25 years ago. The center doors swung open and a procession entered the church in the following order: Decon s. J Swenson and Otto Beng ston, a trustee of the c!ylrch and chairman of the program committee;
 Rev. Dr. S. G. Youngert of Hartf ord and Rev. Elias E.. Anderson of
 Middletown; Dr. and Mrs. Ohman and two sons, Fillmore and George
 Keynote of the Evening.
 The program opened with a hymn by the congregation, followed by a prayer offered by Rev. c. E. An derson. Deacon Swenson made a few remarks in which the keynote of the evening, congratulations and lauda- tions, was sounded. The Arpi Sex tette sang in a pleasing manner. Rev. J. Herman Olsson of the Lutheran Zion church, Waterbury then deliver ed the following address,:
 Rev. J. Herman Olsson's Speech.
 hl n,, Mrs. Ohman: members and friends Of the Maria church.
 We have assembled here this eve- ming to offer our kind and loving re- spects, together with hearty congrat- u1ations, to our honorable guests, pr. and Mrs. s. G. Ohman, on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
 ''In celebrating an ocasion of this kind, it is natural to think first of the past, then of the present an = then of the future.
 Allow me then to bring your thoughts back a quarter of a century.
 "As we enter the home of cer- tain MT. and Mrs. Lethin, of Elgln, Illinois, on the 24th of September 1890, the soft melodious strains of a wedding march reach our ears and soon we see a young bridal couple towards the waiting pastor, the venerable pr. Olsson. As cere- mony proceeds We hear the solemn words: You promise to love and cherish each other till death do you part"
 ''These are the solemn and inn pressive words which hallow every bridal, and which make them look forward to clear and cloudless sky, with not even a single thin floating cloud to mar their future happiness, because the opening life of loN+ is all sunshine, and, as radiant as that hour appears all the future.
 Years roll by, one after the other and perhaps all the happy epecta- tions for the future, have not fully but where the rude ex- allowed to blunt the sensibility; where avarice has not frozen the hearts, nor selishness checked the flow of gen. erous affections,-there life is love and love is life.
 "Beautifu as anything may be, the love that stands the test of a lifetime and that fingers to illumine it's sum- set sky and to gild it with heavenly
 
 Here, before us tonight, we have our friends pr. and Mrs. Ohman,-
 We cannot say the aged pair,' all though they have been married Twenty-Five years They look quite young to me as yet; but a quarter of a century has been more than suffi- cient to test the fidelity of their love for each other, and now, during this evening hour of celebration, in the | full confidence of their affection, we l them to a just as happy l and, if possible to still happier | future.
 For twenty years they have toiled 1 and struggled together with you for | the betterment of this community, for l he uplift of humanity and for the | eternal welfare of your, souls.
 Your beloved pastor has never l auring this time assured position of 1 as if he were above you; 1 he has never stood aloof from you, as | if he had no common interests with l you. On the contrary, know that he l has felt, and led you people to feel l that he is one with you in heart, in l sympathy and in those grand inter- 1 ests of the soul which bind men to- gether the closest of all.
 "Often you will hear people who 1 are constantly depreciating others and l speaking of one another in the most ] terms; but every time | that I have heard your beloved pastor 1 speak of you as individuals or as a 1 it has always been with | g. deeply cherished affection for you | one and all. And the same can be 1 said of you both as individuals and as l D congregation, because I know that | this cherished and deep-rooted love is l mutual. l
 His heart and interest is with | you, and I am sure you have seen | nothing of your beloved pastor but l that it has pleased you and you have |