Events - Lectures and Seminars
Exciting lectures will take place at our new Delta Hotel, located on our beautiful waterfront. A selection of different topics including Finnish-North American History, the Kalevala, Genealogy, Writers Workshops, Readings, and more will be offered. There will be something for everyone; you won't want to miss it.
Time: Thursday - Saturday - 9am - 5pmLocation: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
FinNALA Membership Meeting - Thursday from 3:00 to 4:00 at the Delta Hotel (open to all interested in Finnish North American Literature)
Please Note: The WRITING WORKSHOPS are where the public will spend three hours writing with their favorite authors. You should bring a laptop or pencil and paper to the session.
List of Lecturers:
~Anita Smiley
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Anita Smiley was born to Finnish parents in Canterbury, Connecticut, and grew up speaking Finnish in a very lively Finnish community. Spent 6 months in Finland in 1956 as an International Farm (4-H) Youth Exchange delegate. Career as a business educator. Involvement with Finnish heritage includes: Charter member and 20 years as a Board member of the Finnish American Heritage Society (FAHS) in Canterbury, CT; 3 years as president of FAHS; founder in 1987 of FinnFunn Weekends in the Northeast U.S and co-chairperson of 5 Weekends; FinnFest’98 committee member; Finlandia Foundation National secretary, 8 years; currently Finlandia Foundation National president; has traveled to Finland numerous times and has coordinated and led 16 tours to Finland. Married to Jack Smiley, 3 children.
Title: FINLAND—A TRAVEL DESTINATION NOT TO BE MISSED
A PowerPoint Travelogue on Finland
Photos taken by the presenter during many trips to Finland take the viewer on a tour, sharing all there is to see and do in Finland. Areas covered: Where is Finland; people who have shaped Finland’s history; history in a nutshell; where to stay; what to eat; sightseeing; other areas to visit; fun things to do; what to bring home; memories to savor.
Any questions contact smileys.place@juno.com
~Arnold R. Alanen
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 9am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Title of Presentation: "From Finland to North America: Buildings, Landscapes, and
Cultural Change"
Bio: Dr. Alanen is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and
is this year's Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the Year. He has written
extensively about Finnish immigrant settlements, architecture, and cultural
landscapes throughout North America.
~Beth Virtanen, PhD - Professor and Paloheimo Scholar,
Finlandia University
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Beth L. Virtanen, Ph.D., is Paloheimo Professor at Finlandia University where engages in research and teaching in Finnish-American Studies and she serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Finnish Studies and Editor of the literary journal Kippis! She has also edited Finnish-North American Literature in English: A Concise Anthology (Edwin Mellen, 2009).
~Bill Lagerroos
Date of Lecture 1: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture 1: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Lecture 1: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Date of Lecture 2: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture 2: 9am - 10am
Location of Lecture 2: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Bill, grandson of four Finns, grew up in New York city, where folks took the subway to Finnish halls, where significant traditions were maintained. He has made several presentations at Finnfests since the mid-90s, andhe has written for the Finnish American Reporter and now contributes regularly to the New World Finn.
TOPIC TITLE - Has "Being Finnish" Helped Make Me Human?
TOPIC INFO - Some Finns Bill knows say they are shaped by their heritage. Others indicate that they are "kinda glad" to be Finns but once they go home after a Finnfest they don't think about it much. In this talk Bill will play with and explore the ways we connect with our heritage. He will also bring back a couple of related dialect pieces that folks have asked for.
~Borje Vahamaki, Professor Emeritus of Finnish Studies, Member of Kalevala Society
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 4:30pm (workshop/seminar)
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
*This is a ticketed event
Click HERE to read more.
Born in Vaasa, Finland, Börje Vähämäki received his academic degrees at Åbo Academy University (Åbo Akademi) in Turku, Finland. In 1975, Vähämäki accepted a position of professor of Finnish Studies at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, where he taught until 1989, when he moved to set up and head the Finnish Studies Program at the University of Toronto. Vähämäki specializes in Finnish linguistics, Finnish literature and the Kalevala and is the author of books on the Finnish language and articles on Finnish literature and the Kalevala, including the language learning package Mastering Finnish textbook + CD set. In 1997 he founded the Journal of Finnish Studies and edited it for 12 years. Most recently he has translated and published Finnish literature in English translation. He published two audio books of Kalevala poems in 2009. He has been awarded the insignia of Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, First Class and inducted as the 137th foreign member of the Kalevala Society of Finland, founded 1919.
Books:
Existence and Identity – The Syntax and Semantics of Existential Sentences in Finnish (1984, 494 p.)
Mastering Finnish (textbook) (1994, 1999 and 2004)
Mastering Finnish (cassettes & CD set) (2002)
Audio Book/CD:
Kalevala, Runos 1-3, The Creation, The Sowing, The Contention. (2008)
Kalevala, Runos 4-9, Aino; Joukahainen’s Revenge; Väinämöinen’s Adventures (2009)
Translated and/or Edited Books:
Lars Levi Læstadius: Fragments of Lappish Mythology (2003, 335 p.)
Finnish Short Stories, ed. & tr. with Ingrid Väänänen-Jensen (1992, and 2000, 250 p.)
Laila Hietamies: Red Moon over White Sea, tr. (2000, 354 p.)
Connecting Souls – Finnish Voices in North America (2000, 228 p.)
A Treasury of Finnish Love Poetry (bilingual edition; 1996, 128 p.)
**This is a ticketed event and will be $10.00 for Finn Grand Fest Registrants, register on the main registration form**
To read more about the lecture, click HERE.
~Carl Rahkonen
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 2pm- 3pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Carl Rahkonen received his Ph.D. degree in Folklore and Ethnomusicology from Indiana University, Bloomington, with a dissertation on the “Kantele Traditions of Finland.” He is a Music Librarian and Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and an active researcher, most recently on Finnish American music and musicians. He plays classical, popular and folk music in a variety of ensembles.
Topic: Viola Turpeinen at 100
~David Ellis, local architect (date has been changed)
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
David Ellis is a nationally and internationally recognized, award winning Canadian Architect. He has earned a reputation for expertise in highly complex buildings for academic, science and research oriented buildings, noted not only for their technical innovation, but also for their particular attention to the human condition, for those studying, working and residing within.
He is a member of the Ontario Association of Architects, the National Council of Architectural Registration Board, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the State of Michigan Board of Architects and the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario.
David's thirty years of expertise in both architecture and interior design paired with his uncompromising commitment and philosophy to design excellence is the cornerstone of the firm and every project.
View website HERE.
~Duane Westfield
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Bio: Duane Westfield is a retired Army Chaplain in the grade of Colonel, and historian of modern warfare. A 1953 and '58 graduate of Suomi College and Seminary, he is the recipient of the prestigious Sampo Award for scholarship and service. He and his wife, Lo-an Nguyen, reside in Salem, MA.
Synopsis: In December of 1939, the Soviet Union unleashed the power and fury of one of the most formidable land armies in history against its long-time neighbor and ally, Finland.
The purpose of the move was to position itself in regard to the oncoming conflict in Europe, the Second World War.
But something went terribly wrong for the Soviet Army. Instead of the weeks or months which would normally suffice in an operation of this nature, the Finnish units dug in and were able to withstand both that, and a series of other attacks, lasting for five long, bitter years. And at a tremendous cost.
What went wrong? Who was responsible for the gross miscalculations which transpired? And what of the resoluteness of the nation and the people of Finland, in the miracle of survival that was to shape not only their future, but their very existence? It is a part of the living heritage of freedom-loving Finns the world over.
~Eric Enno Tamm
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Mannehiem's Asia Journey
Click HERE for more info.
Eric Enno Tamm is an author, journalist and analyst with more than 15 years’ experience in the media and non-profit sector. His first book, Beyond The Outer Shores: The Untold Story of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering Ecologist Who Inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell, was a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book in 2005.
Eric has worked as executive director of the B.C. Coastal Community Network, communications director of Ecotrust Canada, and as a correspondent in Europe. His writing has appeared in Wallpaper*, The Globe and Mail, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Canadian Geographic, San Francisco Chronicle, Toronto Star, among others.
Born in Tofino B.C., Eric developed his interest in history and current affairs at a young age. His father, an Estonian refugee, would often recount gripping first-hand accounts of the Soviet invasion of the Baltic States during the Second World War. At the age of 15, Eric became the editorial cartoonist for the local newspaper, and went on to earn a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a master’s degree in European affairs from Lund University in Sweden. Eric remained in Sweden for three years, working as the Nordic Contributing Editor for Wallpaper* magazine.
While study in Lund, a Finnish friend told him about Gustaf Mannerheim’s epic trek from St. Petersburg to Peking in 1906. Several years later, and back in Vancouver, Eric read Mannerheim’s travel journal and was mesmerized by its piercing insights and the striking parallels between the country’s modernization in the late Qing Dynasty and Communist China today. He began intensive historical research and logistical planning to retrace Mannerheim’s route on the centennial in 2006.
However, before he departed his home in Vancouver, the Chinese consulate, through its network of spies and informants, caught wind of his plans to venture into China’s restive and rugged borderlands. He was repeatedly denied a visa. Like Mannerheim, he devised a cover and snuck into China’s back of beyond.
The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds chronicles two epic journeys along the Silk Road—past and present—that offer a cautionary tale about the breathtaking rise of modern China.
Eric currently lives and works in Ottawa, Canada.
Visit Eric’s personal website at www.ericennotamm.com
Click HERE to see a video.
~Ernest Hekkanen
Date of Lecture 1: Friday, July 30th, 2010 (Finnala Reader)
Time of Lecture 1: 3pm - 4pm
Location of Lecture 1: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Date of Lecture 2: Saturday, July 31st, 2010 (WRITING WORKSHOP - WRITING WHAT IS DIFFICULT)
Time of Lecture 2: 10am - 1pm
Location of Lecture 2: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Ernest Hekkanen is Editor-in-Chief of The New Orphic Review and co-curator of the home-based New Orphic Gallery. In addition to that, he is a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, anthologist, reviewer, publisher, printmaker, painter, sculptor and carver. He has published over 40 books. The latest include The Collected Short Stories of Ernest Hekkanen: Naturalistic, Modern Gothic, Surreal & Postmodern, Volume One and Volume Two, Of a Fire Beyond the Hills (a finalist for the George Ryga Award, 2008), Shadows on a Cave Wall, Kafka: The Master of Yesno, Heretic, The Life of Bartholomew G., Melancholy and Mystery of a Street and The Last Thing My Father Gave Me. Recently, Hekkanen had work published in Finnish-North American Literature in English: A Concise Anthology (Edwin Mellen Press, New York, 2009).
For more information about the author, consult www.abcbookworld.com and enter Ernest Hekkanen’s name. Hekkanen is also listed in the Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada (editor, William H. New, University of Toronto Press, 2002) and Contemporary Authors (Thomson Gale) in the United States. A comprehensive list of publications by him can be found at the Finnish North American Literature Association website, www.finnala.com. For a more detailed account of the author’s life and work, consult Margrith Schraner’s book: The Reluctant Author: The Life and Literature of Ernest Hekkanen.
~G. K. Wuori
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 12pm - 1pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
G. K. Wuori is the author of over eighty stories published throughout the world in the U.S., Japan, India, Germany, Spain, Algeria, Ireland, and Brazil. A Pushcart Prize winner and recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, his work has appeared in such journals as The Gettysburg Review, The Missouri Review, The Barcelona Review, Shenandoah, The Kenyon Review, StoryQuarterly, The Massachusetts Review, and TriQuarterly. His story collection, Nude In Tub, was a New Voices Award Nominee by the Quality Paperback Book Club and his novel, An American Outrage, was Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year in fiction. He is vice-president of the Finnish North American Literature Association and associate editor of FinNALA’s literary journal, Kippis. He currently lives in Sycamore, Illinois where he writes a monthly column called Cold Iron at www.gkwuori.com.
~Helinä McGrath and Sari Jokinen
Date of Workshop: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Workshop: 2pm - 3pm
Location of Worksop: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Helina: I was born in Finland to a big family and learned to make PULLA with my mother and 6 sisters. At our big dairy farm we had a baking day on every Friday. Mother Taimi was a great organizer and an excellent baker; she made sour rye bread, barley bread ‘ohra leipä’ and at least 16 long loafs of PULLA every week. This used to just be enough for our 15 members family. PULLA was my favorite and I was eager to learn to make it.
22 years ago I moved to Canada and I have kept up this tradition. I do not make quite 16 loafs of PULLA every week, but I do have always PULLA in the freezer. My little girl Miia also enjoys PULLA baking with me and I am sure this Finnish tradition will go on. ‘PULLA KAHVIT’ is the very medicine for any problem us Finlanders may have.
Sari: I am a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario . I have enjoyed baking pulla with my mother since I was a young child. I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to the distinctively sweet smell of fresh baked pulla coming out of the oven. There is nothing better than that of fresh baked pulla and a hot cup of Juhla Mokka coffee. I started baking pulla for my own family and soon had my children involved up to their elbows kneading, rolling & braiding. I don't ever remember a time when my mother or any other Finlander I know, hasn't had pulla at their coffee table. Enjoy!
See Receipe HERE.
Read More HERE.
~Irene Ala-Jukuri
Date of Workshop 1: Thursday, July 29th, 2010 (Dance Workshop)
Time of Workshop 1: 1pm
Location of Workshop 1: Essar Centre
Date of Workshop 2: Friday, July 30th, 2010 (Dance Workshop)
Time of Workshop 2: 12pm - 1pm
Location of Lecture 2: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
~Jarkko Sipila, award winning journalist
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 3010
Time of Lecture: 2pm - 3pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Crime in Finland
Jarkko Sipila is a Finnish author and journalist. He has been reporting Finnish crime news for MTV3 TV News and the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper for almost 20 years. He has written 12 novels and co-wrote a TV-series based on the Takamäki-books.
Following in the footsteps of popular Scandinavian writers, Jarkko is introducing his critically acclaimed Takamäki series in English. Helsinki Homicide: Against The Wall won the 2009 Finnish Crime Fiction of the Year Award. It was the first of Jarkko Sipila's ten Takamäki-novels to be translated into English-it was published in June 2009.. Helsinki Homicide: Vengeance was published in April 2010.
Through realistic characters and story lines, Jarkko explores current topics surrounding life in contemporary Finland.
~Jennifer Wagner Harkonen
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Mary Kuusiniemi Hendrickson and Her Tornio River Valley Gákti (Sami Outfit).
Description: Mary Kuusiniemi Hendrickson immigrated to Calumet, Michigan from the Swedish side of the Tornio River Valley in 1880 age the age of 18. Mary was proud of her Saami roots and wore a Saami outfit to her grandchildrens’ classrooms where she talked about her youth as a nomadic reindeer herder. She was from a reindeer herding family. Find out a little about Mary's life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as a mother, businesswoman, and an integral part of the Finnish-American community and the likely origins of her Saami clothing. Included in the presentation will be Ellen Jensen, Saami-American historian and author, who holds a Master's in Indigenous Studies from the University of Tromso, Norway; Joan Dwyer, Finnish and Sami-American Genealogist; and Mary Ellen Brigman, great-granddaughter of the subject.
Bio: Jennifer Harkonen is a fourth generation Finnish and Sami American who grew up in a large, close-knit extended family that included three Finnish-speaking grandparents and relatives scattered throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. She lives in suburban Minneapolis with her husband, Reijo, who grew up in both Finland and Sweden. Jennifer and Reijo have a teenage son living with them in the Twin Cities and a young adult son living in Sweden. Jennifer became interested her maternal family’s mysterious Tornio River Valley Sami origins a few years ago. She is an active member of the North American Sami Siida and is a contributor to Arran, the North American Sami Siida publication. Jennifer is also a member of the Finnish Genealogical Group of Minnesota. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Professional Writing from the University of Wisconsin—River Falls and is employed by the University of Minnesota Extension.
~John Byk (Writing Workshop)
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010 (Finnala Reader - Writing for the Net Workshop)
Time of Lecture: 1pm - 4pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
John Byk, M.A. in English and fully certified Professional Educator in the state of Michigan, is a published writer and Internet freelancer. He has taught composition at both the university and high school level for nearly 25 years. Currently, he resides in Michigan's western upper peninsula and spends his free time reading eclectically, writing sporadically, and enjoying nature continuously. He can be contacted at johnbyk@ymail.com
~Josef Aukee
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 3pm - 4pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Josef Aukee is the author of the poetry collections Town and Country, Where Bright Stripes Go, Hill People, and a recorded two collections, Industrial Strength and Afterbeat. His work has appeared in Out of Our, 5_Trope, Ink, SF Reader and Kippis! among other journals. He has appeared at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC, Highways Word 4 festival in Santa Monica, FinnFest (Duluth, MN) and many other venues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Aukee received his M.A. English: Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. He lives in Sausalito, California. www.josefaukee.com
~Jouni Korkiasaari
Topic: Finnish North Americans today
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 9am - 10am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Genealogist in the footsteps of Finnish emigrants to North America
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 3pm - 4pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Jouni Korkiasaari, born in 1951, has worked as a researcher and expert of Finnish migration and currently as an information service manager at the Institute of Migration since 1980. His special area of interest is Finnish emigrants and their descendants abroad. His current project focuses on publishing a book on Finnish North Americans today. He is a "FinnFest veteran" who has participated in 12 Finnish North American festivals since 1996. He is also an expert in using the internet in genealogical research of Finnish emigrants.
~Kaarina Brooks
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Kaarina Brooks, a retired elementary teacher, immigrated from Finland with her parents and older sister in 1951. Since early childhood, writing and art have played a big part in her life. Her short stories, articles and poetry have appeared in magazines, e-zines, literary journals and anthologies, and she has written books and/or done translations for Thomson/Duval, Scholastic Canada, Aspasia Books, Write Words Inc. and Wild Rose Press. Her translation of The Kaleva—Tales of Magic and Adventure (published by Simply Read Books) won the Aesop Award for 2009 from the American Folklore Society. She has sold her watercolours at shows and festivals around Ontario and her paintings have found homes as far away as California and Finland. In the fall of 2009, the book received the prestigious Aesop Award for 2009 from the American Folklore Society. The book recently received the Benjamin Franklin Awards, Juvenile/Young Adult, and was the Fiction Winner of (Silver) Book of the Year Award, Forward Magazine.
~Kathi Huhtaluhta
Date of Performance 1: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Performance 1: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Performance : Delta Waterfront Hotel
Date of Performance 2: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Performance 2: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Performance 2: Delta Waterfront Hotel
Kathi Huhtaluhta is an original composer/lyrist and vocalist of Finnish/Saami heritage. She is currently recognized in global music for her contemporary and traditional Folk styles of music. She combines American Indian Flute with drums, percussion, Spanish flamenco guitar and other various musical instruments. Her band, the Four Winds consists of Marvin Todacheenie, A recognized Native American Flute player of the Navajo people from Northern Arizona. Marvin is featured on Kathi Huhtaluhta's newest album "Ela Tanssia, Laula" (To live, To sing, To dance) www.5horses4winds.com. This album combines Finnish music and songs with elements of the southwest, Spanish guitar, Tango and Native American Flute and chants. The incredible and soul felt vocals of Kathi Huhtaluhta bring the sounds of many places to heart...Together with Marvin Todacheenie you feel the magic of the Finnish and Native American cultures.
Marvin Todacheenie is a traditional Navajo from the reservation of northern Arizona. He brings the rich heritage of native american flute and culture to Pow Wows and folk festivals throughout the country.
He crafts his own flutes and native drums and offers workshops on learning to play the native flute and drums. Together Marvin Todacheenie and Kathi Huhtaluhta offer a varied and enriched cultural educational experience.
~Kent Randall, Archivist, Finnish American Historical Archive, Finnish American Heritage Center, Finlandia University
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 1pm - 3pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Kent Randell has been working as archivist of Finlandia University’s Finnish American Historical Archive since January of 2010. A native of Marquette, Michigan, all four of Kent’s grandparents spoke Finnish as a first language and lived in the Copper Country, or Kuparisaari, of Michigan. Kent received his Masters of Science of Information (Masters of Library Science) from the University of Michigan in 2006 and since has also worked as an adjunct professor at Northern Michigan University and as a grant archivist for the State of Nebraska’s Capitol Collections.
Mr. Randell has over ten years of genealogy experience and has visited the ancestral farms of his great-grandparents in Finland. He has published articles in The Mayflower Descendant and The American Genealogist and has also written about Finnish-American, or Finglish, linguistics. His speech at Finnfest 2010 will discuss the immigration patterns of Finns that came to the United States, an explanation of the naming conventions of Finland and linguistic features that an American genealogist needs to know, the electronic resources available to researchers, and the print and manuscript resources of the Finnish American Historical Archive.
Click HERE for more info
~Lauri Anderson
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010 (Finnala Reader Workshop)
Time of Lecture: 1-2pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Bio: Lauri Anderson is Chair of Language and Literature at Finlandia University. He has published six books of short fiction, a novel, and a book of poetry, all with Finnish themes and characters. His books have been positively reviewed nationally and have been studied and taught at a number of universities. They have been topics at conferences and of dissertations by doctoral candidates here and in Europe. His work has also been anthologized multiple times.. Professor Anderson and his books have appeared on Finnish National Television and he has received nine study grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He drinks Moxie and eats tripe, kidney, and heart. He has lived and taught in Nigeria, Truk Lagoon, and Turkey and has lived in France, Mexico, and England. He survived the Biafran genocide and has been threatened at gun point twice. He has raised his daughters alone and loves Flannery O’Connor, Faulkner, Melville, and hundreds of other authors.
~Lennard Sillanpää
Date of Presentation: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Presentation: 12pm - 1pm
Location of Presentation: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
FINNISH SUMMER FESTIVALS IN NORTH AMERICA: OUR LEGACY! WHAT FUTURE?
Lennard Sillanpää
President, Canadian Nordic Society, Ottawa
Docent in Political Science, University of Helsinki
The Finnish Grand Festival 2010 is the confluence of two long-standing Finnish summer festival traditions established in North America: the Finn Fest tradition that was first established to promote Finnish heritage and culture in the United States in 1983; and the Finnish Grand Festival which was established as such in Canada in 1971 but actually traces its roots back to its inaugural festival back in 1940. Both Festivals promote the Finnish heritage in North America but in different ways. As North American Finns and those from elsewhere come to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to celebrate the third of these joint festivals, it is worth examining the underlying traditions and speculating on the future.
Lennard (Len) Sillanpää has deep family roots in the Finnish community of Canada as both his father’s and mother’s families arrived in North America from Finland prior to World War I. Born in Timmins, Lennard attended elementary school in Timmins, high school in Elliot Lake, graduated with a BA from Laurentian University and an MPA at Queen’s University. In 1995, he defended his doctoral thesis in political science on the land title rights of the Nordic Sámi at the University of Helsinki. Dr. Sillanpää has written on the Finnish community in Canada for The Canadian Encyclopaedia (1985) and The Canadian Family Tree (1979). Sillanpää has worked for the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa and the Multicultural History Society of Ontario (MHSO) in Toronto where he negotiated the donation of large collections of Finnish-language materials in Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins-Porcupine, as well as numerous taped interviews with Finnish Canadian individuals. He lives in Orléans, Ontario, with his wife, Leena; they have two adult children.
~Lillian Lehto and Steve Lehto, Birmingham, Michigan, “The Folk Poetry of Eelu Kiviranta”
Date of Presentation: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Presentation: 10am - 11am
Location of Presentation: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Lillian is a retired educator. She lives in Birmingham with her husband Paul, who is a retired school administrator. She graduated from Suomi College, and has a B.A. and M.A. from Oakland University. After their six sons were grown she taught for several years in private Christian schools. She is a Fennophile and has traveled to Finland about twenty times, seven of those as an organizer and leader of a tour group. All four of her grandparents immigrated from Finland. Finnish was her first language, but she has had to acquire a modern Finnish vocabulary to replace the old Finnish and Finglish she learned as a child. She currently volunteers as a librarian at the Finnish Center in Farmington, Michigan.
Steve Lehto is a writer, historian and attorney of Finnish descent. His family has roots in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Lehto’s grandfather, “Pops” Lehto, was dean of Finlandia University which was founded in 1896 as Suomi College by Finnish immigrants. Currently he resides in southeast Michigan. Lehto obtained a B.A. in history from Oakland University and his J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, where he teaches Michigan history, consumer protection and trial practice. He has written several books, including "Death’s Door: The Truth Behind Michigan’s Largest Mass Murder," and "Michigan's Columbus: The Life of Douglass Houghton," both of which were published by Momentum Books. Both were also named Michigan Notable Books by the Library of Michigan, in 2007 and 2010 respectively.
Title of presentation: THE FOLK POETRY OF EELU KIVIRANTA
By: Steve Lehto and Lillian Lehto
Synopsis: Eelu Kiviranta (1873-1953) was a Finnish immigrant from Oulainen who immigrated in 1901, after which he lived all his life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where he worked in copper mines and mills, bought a farm which he tended carefully and wrote down most of what he experienced, both in Finland and the USA in verse form. He owned a printing press, printed and bound his books, which he sold all over the Upper Peninsula, traveling in the summer on a bicylce, and in the winter on skiis. His poems contain observations about life in pre-1900 Finland, politics, historical events as well as social commentary. Because they reveal so much about typical Finnish life both in Finland and the USA, they have become collectibles. Lillian is Eelu’s granddaughter and Steve is his great-grandson. Lillian and Steve (a published author) are currently collaborating on a book of Eelu’s poems. The program will include a powerpoint presentation as well as poetry readings in both Finnish and English.
~Dr. Mika Roinila
Date of Lecture 1: Thursday, July 29th, 2010 (Fishing)
Time of Lecture 1: 9am - 10am
Location of Lecture : Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Date of Lecture 2: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture 2: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Lecture 2: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Dr. Mika Roinila received his PhD from the University of Saskatchewan in 1997 in the field of cultural-historical geography, resulting in the publication The Finland-Swedes in Canada (2000). Mika has published widely in academic journals as well as the Finnish American ethnic press, writing about the Finns in Canada as well as the United States. An anthology of several of these articles appeared in The Finnish Immigrant Experience in North America: 1880-2000 (2006). Mika is Assistant Professor of Geography at Bethel College, and lives with his wife Grace and children in Mishawaka, Indiana.
Topic: "Finnish Fisherman on the Great Lakes"
Synopsis: The fishing industry of the early 1900s was widely successful on all Great Lakes. In the 1920s and 30s, many immigrants from Finland were employed in the commercial fishing industry. This presentation focuses on the Finnish commercial fisheries of the Great Lakes. Using maps to document known fishing outposts found along the shores of the Great Lakes, numerous archival and recent photographs and stories, this multi-media presentation will examine the history, the social context, cultural values and traditions of the hardy fishermen and fisherwomen who were involved in this profession on Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. Of note are the fishermen of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where more than fifty percent of all fishermen were of Finnish origin during the heyday of this occupation in the 1940s. “Log-roller” fishermen, the eating of “lawyers”, and building fishing boats are among some of the traditions and practices that existed in these areas and are still remembered today.
~Mark Munger
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 2pm - 3pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Mark Munger was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1954 but has lived in Duluth for the majority of his life. He is an honors graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the William Mitchell College of Law. A practicing civil trial attorney from 1981-1998, Mark was elected District Court Judge (trial level) in 1998 and serves a four county district in NE Minnesota, hearing all types of civil and criminal cases.In 1990, Mark was facing spinal fusion surgery. His wife Rene’ suggested that he use the recuperation period from the surgery to begin work on “The Great American Novel” he’d always threatened to write. Beginning shortly after his release from the hospital, Mark began researching a plot for a book. That research and the subsequent writing created The Legacy (ISBN 0972005021), a historical mystery set in WW II Yugoslavia and present-day Minnesota.
During the period that Mark was writing, editing, and marketing the manuscript for the novel, he began writing short stories as an exercise to hone his literary skills. In addition, he began writing a column for his local newspaper, The Hermantown Star. The column, entitled “Living Out” which bi-weekly for eight years and chronicled life along the banks of the wild and scenic Cloquet River, the place Judge Munger, his wife Rene’, and their four sons call home.
~Megan Leslie
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Speaking on Perspectives on public service and Finnish heritage
Website: http://meganleslie.ndp.ca/
Megan is the Member of Parliament for Halifax and was elected in October, 2008. Megan is the New Democrat Critic for Health and Deputy Critic for Justice, and was voted "Rookie of the Year" by her peers in 2009. She is a proud to be the second Finnish-Canadian MP in the history of Canadian Parliament.
Megan has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from York University and a law Degree from Dalhousie University. She also spent a year at Tampere University in Finland. After completing her law degree at Dalhousie University, she focused on poverty law files in Halifax by working as a Community Legal Worker at Dalhousie Legal Aid. Megan grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, where her grandparents, mother and uncles settled after moving from Finland in the 1950's.
~Satu Hallenberg
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
~Marianne Wargelin
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 1pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Marianne Wargelin researches, lectures, and writes about Finnish America. She has co-authored Women Who Dared: The History of Finnish American Women, published encyclopedia essays, and written articles on Finnish and
Finnish American folklore, popular culture, and the high arts. A graduate of Suomi College, she earned degrees in English language literature at Augustana College (Illinois), B.A., and the University of Michigan, M.A., She completed doctoral studies in American Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is in the final stages of completing a history dissertation at the University of Tampere, Finland.
In 1999, she was named an Honorary Consul for the Republic of Finland for Southern Minnesota and South Dakota. In February, 2004, she was elected President of FinnFestUSA
Topic: "Does the Border make a difference? Finnish American and Canadian communities"
~Marjut Nieminen
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 12pm - 1pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Live & Work with Finns in Finland
Marjut Nieminen is a native Finn married to a Canadian-Finnish-American husband John Kouhia. Marjut has numerous years of experience living and working in the United States and throughout Europe. Since 1999 she has directed a private company called International Skills in Finland which main purpose is to investigate and train people in cross-cultural skills. She has also gained her multicultural experience by working extensively in the international book business. Marjut lectures and consults about managing cultural diversity, improving intercultural communications, and increasing consciousness of cultural values and how they present themselves in social and business interactions. Her customers in Finland have included prominent Finnish and international companies, organizations and international business-oriented colleges.
She has published seven books in Finnish with English examples about multicultural business life. Please find more information about her professional background at her Internet address: www.internationalskills.net
~Nancy Mattson
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010 (Finnala Reader)
Time of Lecture: 2pm - 3pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Nancy Mattson is a Canadian prairie writer who spent her childhood summers on her Finnish-Canadian grandparents’ homesteads in Saskatchewan. In 1990 she moved to London, England, where she co-organizes the popular reading series Poetry in the Crypt at St Mary Islington. Nancy’s poetry, non-fiction and reviews have been published in Canada, the UK, the US, Ireland and Finland. She edited and co-authored a history book, Life in the New Finland Woods (New Finland Historical & Heritage Society, 1982), which inspired her first collection, Maria Breaks Her Silence (Coteau, 1989). Based on the life of a 19th century Finnish woman who emigrated to Canada via Michigan, this was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry in Canada and adapted for stage and radio as Lye Soap and Dancing Cows.
Her second full collection is Writing with Mercury (Flambard, 2006) and she is one of five poets in the anthology Take Five 06 (Shoestring, 2006). The poems in these two volumes are set in contemporary England, Canada, Finland and Italy and use memory, myth, history and family stories to create a rich linguistic and cultural texture. In 2007 she was awarded a Poetry Fellowship at Hawthornden Castle in Scotland to work on a new collection of poems set in Russia, Finland, France and Saskatchewan. Nancy is pleased to have her work included in Dr. Beth L. Virtanen’s anthology Finnish North American Literature in English (Edwin Mellen Press, 2009). For further information see www.poetrypf.co.uk/nancymattsonpage.html
~Naathan Muus
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 9am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Website: www.nathanmuus.com
Nathan Muus grew up in Minneapolis and Grand Marais, Minnesota (Lake Superior), where his father was a Lutheran camp director. As a kid in school and church, he sang and played in many different kinds of musical groups. This led to playing in jazz, latin, rock and folk groups- sounds that Nathan still incorperates today. Nathan's Norwegian and Saami heritage have greatly enriched him, and he keeps close contact with relatives. Nathan has met and learned from many of the best known Saami yoikers (traditional Saami singers). As the co-editor of Baiki, the International Sami Journal for more than 15 years, he been an active part of contemporary Saami culture.
Nathan maintains a diverse musical website, incorperating the Saami yoik into many folk styles of music. In particular, he is proud of the high visitor volume and online chart rating numbers.
Lecture:
Nathan Muus will discuss Saami Yoik Music: How does this form of music (traditional native singing) fit into the Saami culture. Are there regional variations? What is the history of this style of music? How has it evolved in the 21st century? Where might it be going? Nathan will exhibit examples and insights into this dynamic musical form.
~Niilo Saari
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topics:
Seniors Housing and Care, the Finlandia Village Model
"Hospitals and the Health Care Industry in Ontario is facing a serious crisis as a result of the exponential growth of seniors needing supportive housing/nursing home placement. As such spaces are not available, the seniors remain in hospital as Alternate Level of Care (ALC) patients. This greatly reduces ability of hospitals to provide acute care as a large number of required hospital beds for convolescent patients are occupied by the seniors (Bed Blockers). Finlandia Village and other Senior's Housing and Care providers have a solution."
Finnish Expatriate Parliament/USP Canada-area information meeting
"The Finnish Expatriate Parliament/USP is a forum for Finnish Expatriates world-wide. The meeting will hear news from the Parliament's 6th sitting May 2010 as well as reports from the Deputy-speaker and his alternate. Everyone is welcome!"
Biography
Graduated with a BA (Econ) Laurentian University in Sudbury. Owned and operated several retail enterprises until September 1977 when employed as an Economic Development Officer with Indian and Northern Affairs. Served with several federal departments and agencies, retiring in December 1997.January 1998, established independent management consulting firm. Clients included government departments and agencies as well as private industry along with educational institutions both in Canada as well as Finland.
Community volunteer service includes the following:
In 1988 elected as president of the Finnish Male Singers of North America (AL), an umbrella organization of 10 male choruses in Canada and US. In 1992 organized and led the group’s 7th Choir trip to Finland marking Finland’s 75th Anniversary of Independence. Holder of Achievement Awards from AL as well as the Sudbury Finnish Male Chorus.
1991 to present, member of the Board of Directors of Sudbury Finnish Rest Home Society Inc., a charitable, non-profit, community organization specializing in provision of Seniors Housing and other Services at Finlandia Village (www.finlandiavillage.ca). With assets of $30 million, revenues in excess of $10 million and a staff of over 150, the facility provides housing, support and nursing home services for some 300 seniors. Served as Society President 1992-2009.
In 1997, named as alternate to the Canadian deputy-speaker of the Finnish Expatriate Parliament (www.usp.fi), as well as the convener chair of the Seniors Working Committee. Served in these positions until 2007 when elected Canadian deputy-speaker. Current term ends in 2012.
~Oiva Saarinen
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 3pm - 4pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: A Look at Finnish-Canadians - Geographical/Historical Perspectives and
Some Comparisons to the American Setting
Oiva W. Saarinen, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Geography at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He acquired his Ph.D. at the University of London in England. Among his research interests can be included the study of Finnish-Canadians in Canada, with special reference to Finns in the Sudbury area situated east of Sault Ste. Marie. In 1999 he published his award-winning book titled Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Historical Geography of the Finns in theSudbury Area. In the following year he was appointed Knight, First
Class, of the Order of the White Rose of Finland.
~Paivi King
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Sibelius
Päivi King was born and raised in Helsinki, Finland. She studied piano at the Sibelius Academy for several years. Although she ended up becoming a lawyer, she never lost her passion for playing Finnish classical music, and Sibelius has a special place in her heart. She moved to the USA 21 years ago and has since worked as an editor and translator, having translated two books into Finnish. She lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota with her husband and two children.
~Pasi Sahlberg
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 9am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
TOPIC: CIMO (Centre for International Mobility)
Pasi Sahlberg is Director General of CIMO (Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation) in Helsinki, Finland. He has global expertise in educational reforms, training teachers and leaders, coaching schools to change and advising education policy-makers. He speaks and writes about educational change, development and cooperation. He has PhD from the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) and is Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki and the University of Oulu.
Topic:"What is Finnish Education Miracle?"
Go to www.pasisahlberg.com for more info
~Petteri Mokkonen
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Petteri Mökkönen was one of the last Finnish children born in Viipuri before it was occupied by the Soviet Union 64 years ago, in June 1944. Since retiring from Provincial
Civil Service, Petteri has devoted his time between the Karelia association, and the Finnish War Veterans. He has researched the war history of Finland and Karelia and documented the experiences of the veterans. It has been 92 years since the end of the civil war in Finland and, after spending considerable time in the Finnish and Russian archives Petteri has produced a multi media presentation about the Finnish civil war.
~Sharon Franklin-Rahkonen
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 10am - 11am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Sharon Franklin-Rahkonen received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, concentrating on the language, history and culture of Finland. She is an Associate Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses in Russian and European history, and social studies education. Her research includes the Jewish minority of Finland, the development of secondary education and women’s suffrage in Finland.
Topic:The Finnish Civil War and Its Legacy
~Sheila Packa and Kathy McTavish
Date of Lecture 1: Friday, July 30th, 2010 (Writing Workshop - should bring a laptop or pencil and paper to the session)
Time of Lecture 1: 10am - 1pm
Location of Lecture 1: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Date of Lecture 2: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture 2: 1pm - 2pm
Location of Lecture 2: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Sheila Packa is a poet and writer from Northern Minnesota, her book of poems 'The Mother Tongue' was published by Calyx Press Duluth in 2007. She also has three chapbooks 'Dear Bird', 'Fearful Journey', and 'Echo & Lightning'. She has taught writing composition at Lake Superior College and she also performs spoken word/poetry in collaboration with cellist Kathy McTavish. For more info go to www.sheilapacka.com.
WRITING WORKSHOP: The best poems, stories, and memoir come from the heart. Bring a writing journal and pen to this workshop for all levels of writers, beginning to advanced. Sheila Packa will guide participants through some enjoyable writing exercises that use memoir, myth and music. You will be amazed at what you didn't know you know! Then, she will provide some quick tips for revision. There will be time to share the work with the group. Sheila Packa is the current Poet Laureate of Duluth. She has published short fiction, essays and poetry. Her book of poems The Mother Tongue was published by Calyx Press Duluth in 2007. She has three chapbooks Dear Bird, Fearful Journey and Echo & Lightning) She has taught writing composition at LakeSuperior College and she also performs spoken word / poetry in collaboration with cellist Kathy McTavish. To see a sample of their work, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CIU8ih2eHg
~Sointu Sandy Fulcher
Date of Workshop: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Workshop: 2-3pm
Location of Workshop: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Title of Workshop: European Knitting
Sointu Sandy Fulcher teaches and operates the Sault Finnish School (soon Suomi Koulu) in Sault Ste. Marie. She is a retired elementary school teacher having taught for 35 years. Presently she serves as the secretary of the Ontario Finnish Resthome Association Board of Directors. As she was born in Turku, Finland, she learned to knit the European way which is what she will be demonstrating.
~Suzanne and Arthur Koski
Suzanne Koski -
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Arthur Koski -
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 12pm - 1pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Suzanne Nelson Koski, Morrison, Colorado “Fabergé and Finnish St. Petersburg”
An exhibit sponsored by the Finnish Embassy and Finnair at the Corcoran Gallery in 1996 initiated Suzanne’s interest in the Finnish workmasters who contracted with Fabergé in pre-Revolutionary St. Petersburg. Fabergé employed over 300 Finns in his workshops. The majority of the workmasters were also Finnish, including the head workmaster, Henrik Wigström, who was responsible for the design and execution of most of the Imperial Eggs. Finns were employed in many other positions in the city. St. Petersburg boasted 13 Finnish Lutheran churches as well as Finnish schools and businesses. In her two trips to Russia, Suzanne has visited the Finnish Institute, the Hermitage, and the Fabergé house in St. Petersburg, and the Kremlin in Moscow, where an entire building is devoted to Fabergé. She has also met twice with Theo Fabergé, the only surviving grandson of Peter Karl Fabergé. Her dream is to find one of the lost Fabergé eggs in a secret compartment in an old trunk in a second hand store.
Arthur Koski, Morrison, Colorado “Drummond Island, Michigan, Finnish Colony and the Workers’ Paradise in Soviet Karelia”
Arthur grew up in the U.P. and spent much time on Drummond Island with his maternal grandmother who, with her family, was among the Finns who homesteaded on the Island between 1905 and 1920. Some of them took their families to Soviet Karelia in the early 1930s. Their letters to relatives back on the Island give an intimate picture of their lives in Russia. Arthur is a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit and Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. He has been a board member and officer of both Finland Foundation National and the Colorado chapter.
~Syrene Forsman
Date of Lecture: Friday, July 30th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 1pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
TOPIC: The Swedish Finn Historical Society "Building Bridges"
Please visit the Home Page http://finlander.genealogia.fi/sfhswiki/index.php/Home_Page
Become a Supporting Member of SFHS. Membership fees maintain the archive and offices which support the four websites about Swedish Finns around the world.
Syrene Forsman was born and lives in Seattle. As a child she lived with her family in Finland. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master's in Swedish Language and Literature from the University of Washington and a BA in Painting. From 1966 to 1992 she taught at Roosevelt High School in Seattle. She has served since 1993 on the Swedish Finn Historical Society Board. Between 1995 and 2004 Syrene designed and produced 7 large Swedish Finn Historical Society exhibits for FinnFests and FinnGrandFest. She designed and illustrated The Birch and The Star coloring book to be read in Finnish, Swedish, and English. Syrene is a Charter member of the UW Advisory Board having served since its inception. She assists the Genealogy services provided in with SFHS to their members. Writing and translating articles for the SFHS Quarterly and bird photography are special interests.
~Tanja Neuvonen, Embassy of Finland, Ottawa
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Born: 1970 in Helsinki, Finland. Married, no children
Educational Background:
- 1998 Helsinki Business Polytechnic, Studies on Modern Languages and Executive Assistant tasks, BBA on Business Administration
Career:
Head of Consular Affairs, Embassy of Finland, Ottawa 2003 –
Assistant & Visa Officer, Embassy of Finland, Moscow 2000 – 2003
Assistant, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Helsinki 1999 – 2000
Office Manager, Attorneys at law Kallioinen, Tolppanen,
Salminen & CO, Helsinki 1997 – 1999
Office assistant, Oy Valitut Palat – Reader’s Digest Ab, Helsinki 1989 – 1994
Syntynyt: 1970 Helsingissä. Naimisissa, ei lapsia
Koulutustausta:
- 1998 Helsingin liiketalouden ammattikorkeakoulu, Sihteerityön ja kielten koulutusohjelma, BBA yrityshallinnossa
Työura:
Konsulivastaava, Suomen suurlähetystö, Ottawa 2003 –
Assistentti / Viisumivirkailija, Suomen suurlähetystö, Moskova 2000 – 2003
Assistentti, Ulkoasiainministeriö, Helsinki 1999 – 2000
Toimistopäällikkö, Asianajotoimisto Kallioinen, Tolppanen
Salminen & CO, Helsinki 1997 – 1999
Toimistoapulainen, Oy Valitut Palat – Reader’s Digest Ab, Helsinki 1989 – 1994
~Tellervo Lahti
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 9am - 10am
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Projects at The Finnish Emigrant Museum
Tellervo Lahti has studied cultural sciences at the University of Turku and art history at the University of Jyväskylä. After the master graduation she has worked as a curator at the regional museum for many years and since 2006 as the Project Manager and the director of The Finnish Emigrant Museum in Peräseinäjoki in Seinäjoki. She has also been teaching cultural studies and still teaches art history at the adults evening schools. She has plenty of hobbies, for example different leading positions in some associations of local history and heritage, visual arts and architecture. She has arranged lectures about local history for school children and investigations of tar-burning pits for the locals. Some of the themes of her public lectures and publications are visual artists, built heritage and local history. She is the editor for instance of the Old Seinäjoki periodicals. She is a member of The Finnish Association of Non-Fiction Writers.
~Thomas A. DuBois
Date of Lecture: Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Time of Lecture: 12pm - 1pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Tom DuBois is a professor of Finnish at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served as chair of the UW’s Department of Scandinavian Studies and is currently director of the university’s Folklore Program. Prior to coming to Madison in 2000, he taught for ten years at the University of Washington-Seattle, where he established the Finnish program in the Department of Scandinavian Studies and also helped organize the 1999 Seattle FinnFest. His books include Finnish Folk Poetry and the Kalevala, Nordic Religions in the Viking Age, Finnish Folklore, and An Introduction to Shamanism.
www.tadubois.com
About the talk:
Johan Turi is famous for writing the first secular book ever in Sámi, Muitalus Sámiid birra (A Story about the Sámi), which was published precisely one hundred years ago, in 1910. In preparing that book, as well as a subsequent work published in 1918-19, Turi recounted the kinds of healing and magic that were practiced in his community, the Jukkasjärvi district, near Kiruna, Sweden. His account demonstrates the close and productive exchange of magic knowledge between Finns and Sámi of the locale, with Finns figuring as sometimes valued, sometimes shady providers of magic for curing ailments, creating love relationships, and combating assaults by spirits of the dead. In my presentation, I present some of Turi’s account as a reflection of the close and complex relations between the Sámi reindeer herding community of Turi’s locale and Finnish farmers who had moved into the region during the previous half-century.
~Veli Niinimaa
Date of Lecture: Saturday, July 31st, 2010
Time of Lecture: 11am - 12pm
Location of Lecture: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Topic: Publishing a Family History
Veli Niinimaa would like to share his experiences in researching, writing and publishing a family history. He is an author of a dozen books and numerous refereed scientific as well as non-refereed articles in journals and newspapers. His own family history was published in 2004.
Dr. Niinimaa was educated in Finland until age 15, and he continued high school, undergraduate and post-graduate studies in Toronto, ON. His interest in Finnish culture started with pesäpallo, xc skiing and biathlon within the Toronto Sisu athletic club. It continued as the Chairman of the Finnish Canadian Grand Festivals in Calgary in 1983 and 2002, Board member of the Finnish-Canadian Cultural Federation 1998-2004, and presently as the Alternate Deputy Speaker for the Canadian Region, Finnish Expatriate Parliament.
~Vesa Oja, Photo Slideshow
Location of Slideshow: Delta Waterfront Hotel (208 Saint Mary's River Drive)
Dates/Times: Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 2pm
Photography project “Finglish—photographs of Finns in North America”
Vesa Oja (b.1953) has worked as a photojournalist for the leading Finnish national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat since 1978. He is in the process of preparing a book, a photo exhibition and a website that will document through photographs, videos and interview material of Finns in North America gathered during his journeys and studies. Vesa Oja´s previous photo book “Toinen Eurooppa ¬- The Other Europe” is about disintegration of socialism in East Europe and the civil wars in the Balkans.
In 2004–2009, Vesa Oja has spent a total of a year on tours photographing in the United States and Canada with the financial aid of grants from the Finlandia Foundation National, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the Patricia Seppälä Foundation and the Institute of Migration, as well as with the aid of the Eero Erkko scholarship. During his travels, Vesa Oja has visited the most important districts with Finnish inhabitants on the North American continent, from Sointula in Canada to Florida in the United States, meeting hundreds of descendants of Finnish immigrants.
~Chris Pesklo - Demonstration
Northern Lavvu – Traditional Lavuu – Sami Tents - Essar Centre (entire festival)
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