39th Luxembourg Fest Part 1: LACS Members Meeting Focuses on Preserving Cultural Heritage

On Thursday 7 August 2025, the Luxembourg American Cultural Society (LACS) launched its four-day 39th annual Luxembourg Fest in Belgium, Wisconsin (USA), starting with its Members Meeting at its Roots & Leaves museum attached to the cultural centre.

With over 75 people attending, both members and non-members, it was standing room only as more people had attended than foreseen.

Patricia Lutz, Former LACS Executive Director, welcomed everyone and presented the 2024 Annual Report. She showed how both income (mainly from dual citizenship, donations and Luxembourg tours) and expenditure (mainly operations and personnel) had increased 9% and 6% respectively in the preceding five years since 2019, yet investments (balance sheet) had risen 73% in the same period to over $1.6m.

She talked about the hard work of a lot of people and the resources devoted to dual citizenship over the years have resulted in higher membership. She also referred to two upcoming LACS events, "Humanity Through the Lens: Edward Steichen and the Family of Man" on 27 September, and "Digging into the  Past: Roman Archaeology in Luxembourg" in November 2025. 

Talking with one of the LACS Board Members, they confirmed to Chronicle.lu that a LACS Luxembourgish language class of around a dozen students plan to visit the Grand Duchy in October.

Dr. Bradford Hunt, Professor and Chair of the History Department at Loyola University Chicago, presented a project on Luxembourg Americans conducted by history students, two of whom were with him at the event. He said that everything has a history and Edgewater (a district in Chicago) he discovered has Luxembourg links; he then tasked some students with practical research.

One of the, Tyler, talked about the role of Luxembourg immigrants in settling around Chicago and the reasons for the waves of migration. He highlighted the greenhouses built for agriculture. Then Sophia, president of the University History Club, talked about the research into the Luxembourg Brotherhood and the origins of the annual Schobermesse celebrating Luxembourg’s heritage and culture. She also touched on WWI and its effect on the Luxembourgish “conflict of identity” when France and Germany were at war with one another. She also talked about Churches and taverns, meeting spaces in the neighbourhood built and populated by Luxembourgers.

Talking with Chronicle.lu, they explained that they are working with Marc Zimer (who coordinated educational exchanges between the two countries) who explained that they intend to present the result of their research in Diekirch in March 2026, on the concept of a "Luxembourg Heritage Trail" in Chicago.

Geoff Thompson, director and producer of the 40-minute documentary film "Luxembourg in America" that he had filmed at the 2024 38th Luxembourg Fest, made a presentation on "The Making of Luxembourg in America", introducing himself and the background to the documentary film (he explained that he went over to make a 15-20 minute film of the four-day festival before quickly realising that he needed to put it in context in order to tell a coherent story) before going through the three stages of the making of the film, from the Pre-Production (planning, coordination with LACS and writing the storyboard), Production (filming, interviews and venue shoots) and Post-Production (editing and incorporating the various components: videos, photos, narration/voice-over, script, animation, credits and sub-titles). 

He then shared details on where it had been screened, from the Heritage Days 2024 programme in the Grand Duchy to a general release at Ciné Utopia in February-March this year, as well as private and schools screenings. He had also travelled with it to both New York and Washington, and now in Wisconsin where it would get two screenings during the 39th Luxembourg Fest, on the Friday and Saturday afternoons in the Belgium Village Hall across the road from the LACS.

After the formal part of the evening had concluded, the 2025 Luxembourg Fest Duke & Duchess, Michael and Anne Calteaux, were presented (she mentioned that they has got engaged in the LACS Roots & Leaves museum building), as were the LACS 2025 Honored Family, the Burmesches.

Mike Rock, LACS Board President, concluded the event by talking about the “monumental challenge” of replacing Patricia as Executive Director. He introduced Travis Gross, the new LACS Executive Director in his post just a few days from early August, who said that he has been interested in history since reading about Marco Polo, and is looking forward to working at LACS.

Rosie, the longest serving employee at LACS, the paid tribute to Patricia Lutz, outgoing Executive Director, and presented her with gifts from the LACS.

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