The Finnish American Reporter is a monthly, English language journal, established
in 1986, featuring articles and news reports of interest to Finns across
North America, in Finland and around the world.
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| The Finnish American Reporter has no political or denominational affiliation
and welcomes well-written articles representing any aspect of Finnish culture,
politics and religion. The Finnish American Reporter provides a national
network for announcements of Finnish events in the United States and Canada.
Monthly features in the Finnish American Reporter include: sports, calendar of events, genealogy, book reviews, regional news and regular columnists. Past issue book reviews can now be found here. Current news reports from Finland and the North American keep the Finnish community connected, despite great distances. Numerous FAR subscribers are active supporters of the FAR by submitting articles, regional news, calendar events and photographs for publication. To join the growing number of participating FAR subscribers, click on the links below. Submissions can also be sent by mail or fax.
Some of the features included
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A kokko is a beacon of Finnish culture that shines brightly every Juhannus, such as this one at Toivola, Michigan.
Photo by Jim Kurtti
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in the June 2008 issue are ...
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10 YEARS IN, FESTIVAL STILL GOING STRONG
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Jim Kurtti photo
Covington’s pavilion (above) has enhanced the music festival experience, as organizer Randy Seppälä can attest.
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BY DAVID MAKI
When Randy Seppälä, a Covington native, attended that Upper Michigan community’s centennial celebration in 1993, he was awed by the talent and variety of Finnish musicians he saw that day.When he moved back to his hometown a couple of years later, he attended Covington’s annual July 4 celebrations and enjoyed them, but none of them achieved the level of that special centennial celebration — so Randy took matters into his own hands.“I approached the township board about doing a Finnish music festival here,” Seppälä said. “It was pretty well received. The parks and recreation committee formed around that idea and the first festival was July 4, 1999.”The initial Finnish Music Festival was a rousing success. Feeding off of that energy, and using construction-designated funds remaining from the centennial celebration, the Parks and Recreation Committee began working toward the building of an open-air pavilion. That project, which was funded entirely through grants and fundraisers, was completed in 2003 and served as a sort of “launching point” for the Finnish Music Festival. The new structure provided an ideal venue for the festival, and it’s since grown from a local celebration to a regional musical event. The only change in the last decade is that the U.P. Ethnic Music Alliance was formed in late 2004 to ....
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Pirkko and Albert Karvonen enjoy a quiet moment away from filmmaking.
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SHARING STORIES ON THE SILVER SCREEN
BY DAVID MAKI
Albert Karvonen of Edmonton, Alberta has always cherished the Finnish culture in which he was raised. Kelly Saxberg of Thunder Bay, Ontario recalls her grandparents as teachers of Finnishness.Both have carried these beliefs into their adult lives and careers; both are professional filmmakers who have produced several cultural films between them. This practice, both say, keeps with a country-wide philosophy, and provides a key method for Finnish-Canadians to share their history.“It’s our concept in our country that we promote multi-cultural focus in our society,” Karvonen said. “We try to promote the culture of each ethnic group.”The National Film Board of Canada was established by the federal government in 1939 to produce films, filmstrips, and still photographs that reflect the life and thought of Canada, and to distribute them both domestically and abroad. It has earned international acclaim for the imaginativeness as well as the artistic and technical excellence of its work, winning both awards from film festivals around the world a reputation for the country as a leader in documentary filmmaking. In 1967 the federal government established the Canadian Film Development Corporation to foster and promote a feature-film industry through investment in productions, loans to producers, and grants to filmmakers.To date, the Finns have been well represented on both the ...
2ND GRADERS PACK THEIR BAGS
BY JIM KURTTI
t’s a Tuesday morning at the Gordon Barkell Elementary School’s library in Hancock, Michigan. Every seat is taken and there’s hardly room to stand. Front and center stand 20 second graders — mostly tow-headed, smiling broadly, wiggling in anticipation. Their teacher Maija Stadius, dressed in a Karelian Feresi folk costume, welcomes the parents, grandparents, great grandparents and others. “Come on everybody. We’re heading for Finland,” is the students’ opening line. As the opening lines of the poetic invitation read:
We’ve been on a trip and
now that we’re back,
We’d like to discuss it
before we unpack....
Yes, for six weeks the students have been “virtually” traveling to Finland, with rucksacks Stadius crafted from shopping bags to collect what they’ve learned. In turn each student reveals a bit of what they’ve learned about Finland and why it matters in their community. Student William Hannu points out, “Well, many of us have Finnish roots and Finnish last names,” to which Maily Brooks adds, “And even if we don’t we see Finnish flags, Finnish street signs, and store names that show Finns played an important part in our community’s history.” From Suomi College/Finlandia, to Hancock’s sister city Porvoo to President Halonen visiting their school the children have learned and in turn ...
NOTED SCHOLAR PASSES AWAY
Arthur William Hoglund, 81, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida passed away peacefully in the presence of friends on May 1, 2008. A. William (Bill) Hoglund was born in Baltimore, Md., on Sept. 4, 1926. He distinguished himself as an American historian, writing on agricultural and immigrant history, particularly of the Finns. His dedication and service to Finland led to Hoglund being knighted by the Republic of Finland in October 2004 and awarded the medal of the White Rose, Finland’s highest civilian honor.Hoglund grew up in the upstate New York Finnish American community of Spencer-Van Etten, a community of abandoned farms that Finnish immigrants purchased and brought back to life as chicken farms. His parents, a Finnish born father and a Finnish American mother, left urban life and became chicken farmers, part of the co-operative farming community that formed there. After graduating from Spencer High School in 1945, Hoglund attended Cornell University in New York, where he received a B.A. in history in 1949. He then enrolled in graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he became the student of Merle Curti. He obtained graduate degrees in history (M.A. ’50, Ph.D. ’57). While working on his Ph.D., Hoglund was drafted and spent four years in the United States Army. His dissertation, “Paradise Rebuilt: Finnish Immigrants and Their America, 1880-1920,” was published as a book in 1960 titled “Finnish Immigrants in America: 1880-1920.” It continues to be the basic source in Finnish immigration research. Rather than a history of immigrant institutions, the book ...
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