ST. STEPHEN - This week our "Your Town Tuesday" series is finding out about the town of St. Stephen.

We all know central Stearns County is home to a lot of people with German heritage. But, did you also know that the community of St. Stephen traces it's roots back to the country of Slovenia?  In fact, it's the oldest Slovenian settlement in the entire United States.

Next week, when the town celebrates it's centennial, the Slovenian Ambassador to the U.S. Bozo Cerar will be coming for a visit.  He says he's looking forward to telling the local residents more about this country. He says, "It's a central European country between Vienna and Venice. We are very green, very picturesque, with rolling hills".

Cerar says he'll be bringing a message from the people of Slovenia to the people of St. Stephen, "I would like to express our appreciation that apart from being proud Americans, they haven't forgotten about their Slovenian roots, their culture, and heritage".

Cerar says Slovenians speak their own language. They are the creators of the Lipizzan breed of horses.  And, they have the oldest winery in the world.  Their capital city is over 2,000 years old.

Slovenia is a small country about the size of Massachusetts.  It's people go back to the sixth century. It became part of the country of Yugoslavia in 1929. It was a communist nation after World War II. Slovenia declared it's independence in 1991.

Next week we're heading to the town of Gilman as we continue our "Your Town Tuesday" series.

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