NEWSLETTER OF THE FINNISH HERITAGE HOUSE NO. 45 ~ Spring 2015 SIBELIUS CONCERT Craig Randal Johnson (above) with Esa Ruuttunen, Finnish baritone (below) FHH is proud to present Pianist and Conductor Craig Randal Johnson in concert on Friday, May 15, at 7 pm. at the Thomaston Federated Church, 8 Hyler Street, Thomaston, ME. There will be a small donation of $5.00 per person requested. We are sponsoring this event to honor the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius (1865 to 1957). Sibelius, the famous Finnish composer, wrote seven symphonies, an opera, music for thirteen plays, and songs for voice and piano. An excerpt from his symphony “Finlandia” is used for two well-known hymns, “Be Still My Soul” and “This Is My Song.” Craig Johnson is based in Minneapolis, and has performed engagements across the US and in several European Countries. He maintains a wide range of musical interests, having worked extensively in opera and theater, as orchestral conductor, solo pianist, as orchestral double bassist, as chamber ensemble performer, and concert organizer. As Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year in 1999, he delighted Finnish and Finnish-American audiences with piano recitals throughout the country. FinnFest USA has also enjoyed several of his performances. We are honored to have this opportunity to have such a distinguished musician here. Please invite all your neighbors, friends, and relatives to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be immersed in Finnish music and culture. Following the concert, refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall downstairs. It is hoped that our members will, as they always do, generously bring finger food for FHH to serve to the attendees. If you would like to help with this 1 event, please call one of the officers. NEWSLETTER OF THE FINNISH HERITAGE HOUSE NO. 45 ~ Spring 2015 Charlie Heino Annual Membership Meeting and Presentation by Charlie Heino FHH and the Finnish Congregational Church 2/27/2015. This has been the coldest, snowiest winter in many years. . Notice! FHH is going to reopen every Saturday From 9 am to 12 noon on May 2, 2015. Drop in for Tori browsing and have a cup of coffee with Edna and friends. While you’re there check out the newly refinished floors and trim. FHH held its annual membership meeting on January 17, 2015 at Jura Hall. The attendance was small, but enthusiastic, as the winter weather continued to be horrible. After a delicious pot luck lunch with a nice variety of casseroles, salads, and desserts, the election of officers was held.(please note the list of officers in the box on Page 5) We especially appreciate Reggie Montgomery for the fantastic job he does as editor of the FHH Newsletter, Iltatähti, and another big thank you to all who work above and beyond to benefit the Heritage House. CHECK YOUR MAILING LABEL! HAS YOUR MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED? If so, you may be removed from the mailing list. Your name will be removed if you are more than two years overdue. By Jacqueline Laffely One of our favorite speakers, Charles Heino, presented a program on Finnish immigration. As usual, he did not disappoint us. He was very informative, and interspersed humor with the details about what our Finnish ancestors experienced as they left Finland and settled in America. We appreciate his willingness to speak, and hope he continues to provide interesting programs. 2 NEWSLETTER OF THE FINNISH HERITAGE HOUSE NO. 45 ~ Spring 2015 Did you know? Recipe Box Finnish innovation creates trash-free deliveries Vermont Baked Beans Ingredients 1 pound dried navy beans 4 cups water 1/2 pound thick-sliced bacon strips, chopped 1 large onion, chopped 2/3 cup maple syrup 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground mustard 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper Repack Repack’s reusable packaging can be folded to letter size and returned to any post box in Europe. Unboxing and disposing of piles of packaging material is deemed a necessary evil of online shopping. But not anymore, a Finnish startup thinks it has the solution. Every year over 3.7 billion disposable packages are delivered to consumers in Europe solely from ecommerce, according to the 2014 Europe B2C Ecommerce Report. The result is vast amounts of waste, something Finnish sustainable design startup Repack believes can be avoided. The company has created packaging which is reusable up to 50 times, returnable and stylish. How Repack works is simple. When shopping online a customer chooses Repack as the delivery option for a small extra fee, usually around five euros. After their shopping is delivered, the customer folds the packing and places it into a post office or post box anywhere in the EU. When the webstore receives the returned packaging the user is rewarded with a voucher (usually ten euros) to use at any web store using Repack service. According to Repack, its postal returns system reduces CO2 emissions by up to 75 percent in comparison to recycling and remaking new, disposable packaging. www.originalrepack.com Directions 1. Soak beans according to package directions. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid. Place beans in a Dutch oven, add water. Bring to a boil. 2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp; drain. Stir the onion, syrup, salt, mustard, pepper and bacon into the beans. 3. Cover and bake at 300° for 3 to 3-1/2 hours or until beans are tender and reach desired consistency, stirring every 30 minutes. Yield: 8 servings. TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. + soaking Bake: 3 hours Originally published as Vermont Baked Beans in Taste of Home's Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook Annual 2010, p189 Read more: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/vermont-baked- 3 — We believe that as long as reuse is made easy, NEWSLETTER OF THE FINNISH HERITAGE HOUSE NO. 45 ~ Spring 2015 GENEALOGY CORNER Here are some photos of the newly repainted and refinished floors and trim inside of FHH. The work was done during February by Bouchard Painting of South Thomaston. Two bids were reviewed at the FHH Officers meeting April 15, 2014. No other bids came in. So far everyone seems to be very pleased with the outcome. Stop in to see it. It looks great! 4 Things have been "ramping up" for Dig and Delve Genealogical Services these past few months. I actually have three new trees to work on all from our Church members . Two of these have Finnish ancestors and I am finding communication with the Provincial Archives of Finland very challenging. Besides that, some documents are in Swedish. I've been fortunate to enlist the aid of Irene Vaino in translating these things. The course I took in Scandinavian Records does have a list of commonly used terms found in vital records, but it doesn't cover everything. I'm very excited about all that I continue to learn in this field. As always, I stand ready to assist any of our members with their genealogy research needs. Who might be hiding in YOUR family tree?? Peggy Oliver NEWSLETTER OF THE FINNISH HERITAGE HOUSE NO. 45 ~ Spring 2015 WHY I’M PROUD TO BE A FINN Finnish Heritage House My Finnish pride comes directly from my Finnish born mother. Ella Sivia Wuorinen Webel was born in Aura,Finland in 1899 and came to America in 1909. Although becoming Americanized was part of adapting to her new home, she was thoroughly proud of her Finnish heritage it showed in everything she did. I grew up with Finnish foods, Finnish Christmas traditions, Sauna, and very strong connections to all my Finnish cousins. The Finnish language not so much… it was not spoken much within the house as my father was not Finnish. But when we gathered with my mother’s Finnish friends I certainly became familiar with the more common words. I may not always look or sound like a Finn… but a big part of me certainly is… And proud of it. Officers President: Jacqueline Harjula Vice – President: Gary Aho Clerk/Secretary: Jacqueline Laffely Treasurer: Edna Montgomery Newsletter Editor: Reggie Montgomery Trustees Fred Webel (January 2018) Gail Robinson (January 2018) Steve Gifford (January 2016) Anne Little (January 2016) Kirsti Fish (January 2016) Building Committee Chairman: Neil Harjula Finnish Heritage House P.O. Box 293 South Thomaston, ME 04858 Send articles to [email protected] Finnsh Language Classes Return This Spring Marja-Leena Bailey, chair of world languages and English as a second language at Middlesex Community in Massachusetts, will be offering ten hours of Finnish language instruction on four Saturdays this spring. Classes will be held on April 11th and 25th and May 9th and 23rd in Jura Hall beneath the Finnish Church on Route #131 (River Road) in South Thomaston. Classes will run from 1:00 to 4:00 and include 20 minutes for the traditional Finnish “kahvi aika”.....coffee break. Aire-Maija Schwann, Marja-Leena’s good friend and colleague, will be teaching as well so the class may be divided into two sections to accomodate both beginners and intermediate students. The class will use the book Beginners Finnish by Agi Risko and for those students not having the book Marja-Leena will provide photocopies of the material. The cost of the the class is $120.00 and a second family member would pay $100.00. Students from age ten thru adult are welcome. If you are interested in learning Finnish taught by enthusiastic and dynamic teachers contact Steve Gifford by telephone (207-989-1971), by mail (4 Park Avenue West, Brewer, Maine, 04412) or by email ([email protected]). Tervetuloa. By: Fred Webel ST. URHO’S DAY CELEBRATION The always popular St. Urho’s Day will be jointly celebrated with the Finn-Am Society on SATURDAY, MARCH 21, starting with a pot luck meal at NOON. Don’t forget that purple and green are the colors of the day for this FinnishAmerican holiday started several years ago in Minnesota as a spoof on St. Patrick’s Day. The (fictional) legend tells the tale about how St. Urho drove the grasshoppers out of Finland because they were eating all the grapevines used to make wine. We are thrilled that there will be 14 students with 4 chaperones from Camden/Rockport High School who will be joining us at our meeting. They are involved in an exchange program with a school in Finland, and will be traveling there soon. Since they are interested in learning about Finland, Anne Little has graciously agreed to show her Power Point presentation again. Those of us who have seen it once can certainly enjoy it again and see things we missed the first time. Another exciting addition to the program will be a special presentation to all the “galvanized Finns” in our groups. That term refers to those members and friends who do not have any Finnish ancestry, but who have Finnish friends, spouses, or partners. These “galvanized Finns” enjoy learning about our heritage and culture, and assist our groups in many ways, such as planning programs, serving as officers, cleaning, and doing many other things behind the scenes. 5 Finnish Heritage House P.O. Box 293 South Thomason, ME 04858 Please Join Us! FINNSH HERITAGE HOUSE P.O. BOX 293 – South Thomaston, ME 04858 Name______________________________________________________ Renewal _____ New______ Address____________________________________________________________________________ State____________________________ Zip Code_______________ Phone ______________________ E-mail Address_______________________________________________________________________ I’d like to receive the FHH newsletter by E-mail _______ U.S. Mail ______ I’d like to get involved in the following activity/activities or committee(s) Exhibits ______ Fund Raisers/ Luncheons etc. _____. Building Maintenance _____ Docent ______ Newsletter ______ Grants ______ Music/Dance ______ Children’s Activities ______ Library _____ Other (Please specify) ____________________________________________________________ Annual Member ($10) ______ 5 Year Member ($45) _____ Gift $ _______ Make checks payable to Finnish Heritage House and send to P.O. Box 293 South Thomaston, ME 04858 Is it time to renew your membership? Check your address label. If there is a star, it’s time to renew.
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