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Lucia, aka Linnea Cederberg, led attendant Nicole Ellis and head star boy Rutger Van Huber through the American Swedish Institute mansion Sunday in Minneapolis. In Scandinavian countries, Lucia is celebrated Dec. 13 in a ceremony where a girl is elected to portray its namesake -- an Italian saint who was adopted by the Swedes. Wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles, Lucia walks at the head of a procession of girls, each holding a candle. The candles symbolize light in winter's darkness and the fire that refused to take St. Lucia's life when she was sentenced to be burned. Cederberg, a Roseville Area High junior, is a member of the National Honor Society, Future Problem Solvers and varsity swim team, and she has been a Lucia choir member for 14 years. The native Swede and Swedish speaker said she was honored to "represent someone who was a good person" and helped the poor, as Lucia did. The event is a Cederberg family affair: Linnea's mother, Laurel, directed the choir, brother Gabriel was in the choir and her dad, Christer, photographed.