Finlandia Foundation Suomi Chapter
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FINLANDIA FOUNDATION SUOMI CHAPTER Finnovations Promoting Finnish Heritage From The Evergreen State to the Golden State Vol. VII - No. 4 © 2017 – Finlandia Foundation Suomi Chapter – All Rights Reserved In This Issue: President’s Corner From the Editor’s Desk – Pg. 3 Dear Members, Joy, Dignity and... Karaoke? – Pg. 3 Thoughts on My Trip to Finland – Pg. 4 It’s October and fall, my favorite time of the year Finland Versus Fake News – Pg. 5 when nature is preparing to sleep, showing off so Membership Form – Pg. 5 many beautiful colors and we are getting ready for Music Knows No Borders – Pgs. 6 & 7 the holidays and ending 2017 – what a year!!! A Granddaughter’s Journey – Pgs. 7 & 8 Finland’s First Family is Expecting – Pg. 8 This is our final newsletter for this centennial year. Viipuri Library – Pg. 9 It has been busy, productive and exciting in many Siikalahti Nature Preserve – Pg. 10 ways. I want to thank all of you for your Three Lessons From the Finnish contributions to our organization, your continued Educational System – Pg. 11 support of the foundation and your commitment to our goals. Nordic communities as well. Seattle, Ferndale, Bellingham, Vancouver, Berkeley, The Nordic Heritage Museum has invited our San Francisco and Los Angeles hosted major chapter members to a reception for the Finnish events this year including a visit from and Ambassador to the United States, Kirsti Kauppi, performances by the Singing Fellows of Viipuri. and Consul General of Finland, Stefan Lindstrom. These concerts gave the all male choir from This wonderful event will be held on Friday, Finland an opportunity to tour the five cities of the November 3rd at 5 p.m. at the Nordic Heritage west coast, ending their visit at a reception at the Museum 3014 NW 67th Street, Seattle, WA. As consulate general’s home in Los Angeles. Their many of you know Tapio is on the board of trustee concert was planned in the spirit of the Centennial for the museum and represents Finland. 2 and at the same time to commemorate their own 120th Anniversary of the establishment of the choir Meanwhile please enjoy the rest of our beautiful in Viipuri 1897. More on this elsewhere in our fall colors and we’ll see you later at our Centennial newsletter. Reception. Many of you visited Finland this year and wrote Kiitos! articles for our newsletter. It is always wonderful to hear of your adventures, connecting with family and your feelings about your trip. Tapio and I were Brend fortunate to have our children and granddaughter visit this summer for five weeks. As it was cold and rainy in Finland, our kids loved the Bellingham heat as they sunbathed daily on our deck alternating between the sun, shopping, swimming and enjoying our Finnish sauna. Not to mention the many, many, many Finnish meals they enjoyed. As members you are always invited to attend board meetings. Just let us know in advance in case we have some business for board only. We have nine board members now and are off to a great start. Each member brings something unique and special to help further our foundation goals. We are also reaching out to our friends in the Nordic communities as well. © 2017 – Finlandia Foundation Suomi Chapter – All Rights Reserved Our newsletter editor is always looking for interesting articles from our readers and members, especially those which reflect the Finnish Joy, Dignity and Karaoke to Ring in Finland's 100th Independence Day Finland's government has announced its plans for events to celebrate the country's 100th Independence Day on December 6th this year. Official descriptions of the plans indicate that they will be filled with joy, dignity — and karaoke. Finland's centenary celebrations and campaigns have gone on all year, but they are set to From the culminate around the country's hundredth Independence Day on December 6th. The Editor’s Desk government published detailed plans of the festivities, with events planned featuring flag- Finland’s Centennial is to end later this December. waving, war memorials, ice hockey and even Main events in many cities around the world will karaoke. take place on the 6th of December, Finland’s Independence Day. The whole of Finland's birthday week features an array of memorial events leading up to the big According to the Finnish Government, some 4,500 day. Among the most impressive is a series of various projects were planned for this Centennial light installations, collectively called “Luminous,” and some 25,000 individual events will take place which will illuminate various Finnish landmarks. before the end of the year to celebrate. Our major The project began on New Year's Eve 2016 with event for this year was the visit of the Singing the lighting of Töölönlahti Bay in Helsinki. Fellows of Viipuri, which toured the five cities of 3 the west coast this past fall. While Luminous is a nod to Finland's seasonal flux of sunlight (from the sun not rising at all in the far th Our own Celebration of the 100 Birthday of north in winter to barely setting in Midsummer), Finland will be held at the Encore Room of Mt. another collective campaign highlights one of rd Baker Theatre on Sunday, December 3 between Finland's favorite pastimes: singing karaoke. 4:00 and 8:00 pm. We hope many of you can participate in our Centennial Anniversary Belting out a familiar tune will take on a whole Celebration. You will receive the invitations soon. new gravity on December 5th, when "all karaoke bars in Finland are invited to take up the In our next issue in January our board will challenge and participate in an event to join in announce the program for our 2018 events. singing well-known, Finnish hit songs celebrating Finland." Karaoke pre-parties will start at 9 pm Also, I am always looking for interesting articles nationwide. from our readers and members, especially those which reflect the Finnish culture, heritage and YLE News language. Kiitos! Tapio © 2017 – Finlandia Foundation Suomi Chapter – All Rights Reserved Thoughts On My Rovaneimi's museum of Lapland nature and Saami life and culture, the Arktikum, is a show Trip to Finland stopper. If you go to only one museum, this should probably be the one. Historical (Sept. 6 – 16) photographs, models, a Northern Lights viewing First of all, I am half-Finnish. My mother was born room where you lie on your back and look at a in Michigan of Finnish-American parents. She projection of the lights through the tops of clung to being Finnish as part of her identity, and trees. I could have stayed there forever. It was that became part of my identity as well. cloudy that night so we couldn't see a real aurora borealis. Drats! Going to Finland reenforced that concept. I feel truly connected to Finland; before going it was A short flight back to Helsinki the next day we abstract, being names on a family tree. I adore stayed in the middle of the city near the the cousins I met for the first time. We are five esplanade. There were lots of potted flowers generations from the ancestors who came to decorating the city, geraniums, calla lilies, America and the ones who hydrangea among others. These are not hardy. I stayed. They welcomed me into the family with wonder what fills the pots in winter. open arms and hearts. A few conversations of note, other than those The trip was an appetizer for future courses. It with cousins. A Somali taxi cab driver who came was too brief, too limited in its time and to Helsinki as a teenager said it was difficult at opportunity. I stayed with one cousin and first, but he felt secure now. There are about his wife in Vantu, close to the Helsinki airport. 10,000 Somali in Helsinki. Finnish is much harder Markku and Anne took us to downtown Helsinki, than English to learn, he said. He railed against first to a magnificent, opulent Russian the idea that if a Muslim commits an act of church (Finland became independent of Russia terrorism, then people think that all Muslims are 4 100 years ago). Filled with gold leaf and stained suspect. His opinion of Mr. Trump was low, and glass, soaring to the sky. Then to the main there was fear of his foreign policies. Another government building. I was struck by taxi cab driver in Rovaniemi said he didn't care for Mr. Trump, but also thought that as we had architecture: old buildings with ornate trim next to new, shiny buildings and American elected him, he deserved respect. A conversation establishments like Burger King and Hard Rock with a German baker at the hostel: We talked Cafe. Pizza is popular. about "real" bread; Angela Merkel, whom he said is called “Angie;” and, again, Mr. We took a train to Rovaniemi, the largest city of Trump. And, again, negatively. Lapland. Prior to taking the train to Rovaniemi we had a layover in Oulu, where we ate lunch. I Traveling on the roads was not too different than wish we could've come later as the Irish Festival of our country roads here in Whatcom County: lots Oulu would be there Oct. 4-8. There would be of trees, dominated by birch and mountain ash, some Irish bands, Altan for one and a number of some pines and other conifers. Finnish groups playing Irish music. Maybe next year? Home now, and looking at a colorful coffee table book of nature photographs that Maiju and her siblings gave me and at the postcards I bought that caught my eye.