This weekend, the air was warm and festive as Lao community members gathered at Wat Lao Forest Lake for Boun Phra Vet. The temple revived its annual traditional celebration of  the life of Phra Khodom/Vetsandone devoted to Buddha. The festival was filled with the usual Lao food staples from grilled quail to sweet khao lam (sweet sticky rice) and of course, the piercing loud mor lam (Lao folk music) rolled on in its parade with kong ee thum (drumming) as community members finally were able to enjoy what  they’ve been looking forward to for so long. It’s been years since what many in the Lao Minnesotan community had deemed as the ‘Wat Wars’ crisis of the Lao Buddhist temples. Some foreclosed due to money corruption, some shut down due to personal conflicts, and some just couldn’t trust the temples for awhile. The community found itself at divisive crossroads, where many Lao families found themselves not having a place of worship to go to and going out of Minnesota to participate in other Lao communities’ events. Many issues had …