VIDEO TO EXPALIN SAXON MIGRATION TO E. PERRY

ALTENBURG -- Residents in Eastern Perry County hope to preserve some of the area's German and Lutheran history with a promotional video about the Saxon Lutheran migration in 1839.

The video is a joint project of Perry County residents, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Foundation and the church board of communications. It will cost about $40,000 and is being filmed by Willey and Associates Inc., of St. Louis.

On Saturday, residents who want to audition for the re-enactment video can audition at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Both speaking and non-speaking parts are available. German speakers also are being recruited. The auditions will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the church.

The 30-minute video likely will be used for educational and promotional purposes in the county, said Dorene Grebing, a regional coordinator. It will include the reasons for the migration, the lifestyles of the people and testimony from descendants.

The German natives migrated into the area to avoid religious persecution. Once they arrived in Perry County, the settlers experienced many hardships.

A part of the video about daily life was filmed at the last Fall Festival in Frohna. It shows the lifestyle and work habits of the people, Grebing said.

The idea for a video began several years ago when a couple from Salem visited Perry County and wanted to know more about the area. It also could be shown at tourist sites around the county.

As a regional coordinator for the video project, Grebing said she's learned a lot about the migration and the history of the county.

The log cabin college in Altenburg was the first institution of higher education for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Concordia Seminary in St. Louis actually began after the college in Altenburg, Grebing said.

"We've often had seminary students visiting that didn't know it existed," she said, adding that the video should show churches and seminary students where the history of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod started.