Category: President’s Message

With late June and early July being unusually warm this year, it seems that the dog days of summer came early to the Pacific Northwest. You might know that the hottest days of summer are called “dog days” because ancient Mesopotamians and Romans associated the hot weather with Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (“Great Dog”). Two thousand years ago Sirius rose in conjunction with the sun in late July – August, and because of its brightness, Mesopotamians attributed the warm temperatures of August not just to the sun but also to Sirius, and hence the label of dog days. In Finnish there isn’t a similar expression for warm weather or August, but instead August was for centuries called mätäkuu or rotten month. Apparently this was due to the German word Rodenmonat being mistranslated centuries ago into Danish as råddenmåned, which means rotten month, and the expression spread through Sweden into Finland. It remained in the two languages, and in fact mätäkuu was included in the Finnish almanac for centuries until it was removed in 1996.

Some of you have probably wondered why there hasn’t been any news about the biennial Finland Summer Festival; it is, after all, our turn to host it this year. When discussing plans for the festival with local Finnish organizations earlier this year, it became evident that organizing the event would be difficult, primarily because we have so many more activities this year with the Sibelius anniversary as well as the Seattlen Suomi Koulu and University of Washington Finnish Studies program celebrations this year. After the surprisingly popular dinner and concert at the Finnish Lutheran Church in March, somebody suggested that we should have another Sibelius dinner concert instead of the summer festival, but this time in a larger venue. Coincidentally the Finnish Choral Society had been planning a fall Sibelius concert, so together with the Finnish choir and the Swede-Finn Historical Society we are going to have a concert on the afternoon of Sunday October 18th at the Swedish Club. Some details still need to be finalized, but our plans include having Flame Catering provide appetizers before the concert and perhaps during an intermission. In addition to the Finnish Choral Society, the Swedish chorus as well as Maria Männistö and other soloists will perform that afternoon. There will be many events in the local Finnish community this fall, but I hope you have a chance to attend the concert. Our website (www.finlandiafoundationseattle.com) will always have up-to-date information about local events, so look there for the latest information about the concert and other events.

The fall also marks the start of work for a new FFSC board. As I mentioned in my message in the previous issue of this newsletter, Ron Karjala and Airi Suomalainen are leaving the board as their terms ended in June. I thank them both sincerely for their work and contributions to FFSC. Technically there is one new member on the FFSC board, namely Ilmari Ivaska, who was elected at the annual meeting as a member-at-large. Ilmari has, however, already attended FFSC board meetings since last summer as a representative of the University of Washington Finnish Studies program.

We are unfortunately losing our newsletter editor, Mia Spangenberg, who for the past year has very skillfully published our newsletter. Mia and her family have an exciting opportunity ahead of them that makes continuing as newsletter editor difficult. I’m grateful for Mia’s work over the past year, and I wish her and her family all the best in their journey ahead. We are actively looking for Mia’s successor, so if you are interested in serving as our newsletter editor then please contact us by email at newsletter@finlandiafoundationseattle.com.

Mikko Männistö

March is behind us and so are festivities to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius, at least for now. The celebration started March 1st with the 39th annual Kalevala Day Festival, where the Finnish Choral Society and Maria Mannisto performed music by Sibelius and other Finnish composers. The Seattle Symphony’s three week Sibelius Festival opened on March 12th, which coincided with several activities in the local Finnish community. You can read more about those events elsewhere in this newsletter.

Speaking of anniversaries, 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of several other well-known Finns: the artists Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Pekka Halonen as well as the photographer I.K. Inha were all born in 1865. They knew each other and Sibelius well, in fact Sibelius and Inha were high school classmates. They all drew inspiration from Kalevala, travelled abroad extensively and from their travels brought back to Finland new ideas and inspirations. In an interesting use of social media the Gallen-Kallela Museum in Espoo, Finland, has created Facebook pages for both Gallen-Kallela and Halonen and provide frequent updates based on what’s known about their lives in 1915. Postings are historically accurate and frequently include photographs. If you’re interested in learning about the lives of these two artists, then go take a look at www.facebook.com/gallenkallela and www.facebook.com/taiteilijapekkahalonen. You do not need to have a Facebook account to read these Facebook pages.

The 75th anniversary of the end of the Winter War was on March 13th, the day when the Moscow Peace Treaty went into effect. In honor of this anniversary, the foundation for a memorial at Kasarmitori in Helsinki was set on March 13th and the actual memorial will be created by the sculptor Pekka Kauhanen over the next two years. The memorial will be revealed in 2017, the year of Finland’s centennial. For information about the Winter War I suggest the www.talvisota.fi website, although the content is in Finnish only.

And finally, the last anniversary that I will mention in this president’s message: Seattlen Suomi Koulu – The Finnish School of Seattle – will celebrate its 20th birthday later this year. Suomi Koulu in Seattle was started by Airi Suomalainen in 1995 and met at the Finnish Lutheran Church when Auvo Naukkarinen was the pastor of that church. Suomi Koulu has been an important part of the local Finnish community from its beginning and continues to serve many, many local families.

The annual meeting of Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter will be held at the Swedish Club (1920 Dexter Ave. N. Seattle) on Wednesday April 22nd at 6:30 PM. You are all welcome to attend the meeting and stay afterward for the presentation of the film Sotalapset (War Children), a documentary by Erja Dammert that uses archival footage and interviews by surviving participants to personalize the story of the 70,000 Finnish children who were sent abroad, primarily to Sweden, during the Winter and Continuation Wars.

Mikko Männistö

As I’m writing this message, it is a very warm July afternoon and the end of summer seems far away in the distant future. We will of course eventually reach the end of summer and return to our everyday routines of work, kids’ school and the many other responsibilities we all have. The new FFSC board will also begin its work around that time, and this year we will have plenty to do. In addition to planning and seeing through the usual annual events, such as the bazaar at the Nordic Heritage Museum and the Independence Day Dinner and Dance, the board will be planning events for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius in 2015.

There will be major events throughout 2015 in Finland, including the 11th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, the 3rd International Sibelius Singing Competition, an international conference for Sibelius scholars, the 1st International Jean Sibelius Composition Competition and numerous festivals. In addition to all this, a book about Sibelius containing writings by prominent figures in music, as well as two descendants of Sibelius, will be published. You can find more information about the events and the book on the web at www.sibelius150.org.

Finlandia Foundation National has taken the lead to energize and assist Finlandia Foundation chapters to organize local celebrations, which is fitting since Sibelius was the first patron of the organization. Local events need not be grand, and in fact a big part of the Sibelius centennial anniversary celebrations in 1965 was “the estimated eighty or so community concerts in smaller cities by semi-professional groups who were less familiar with the music of Sibelius.” [Jon L. Saari: “ Ties and Miners’ Boots”]. Eighty local events in addition to concerts in big cities, such as Los Angeles, was quite an accomplishment in 1965 and was probably done with many fewer chapters than there are now!

This fall, the FFSC board will finalize its plans for Sibelius celebrations in the Seattle area. We are fortunate to have a world-class symphony orchestra in Seattle who will be presenting a three-week Sibelius Festival in March, 2015, and we hope to organize some of our events jointly with the symphony’s festival. Details about local and national events will be shared later this year through numerous channels including the FFSC newsletter, this FFSC website as well as the Finlandia Foundation National’s Sibelius Jubilee website.

In addition to Sibelius festivities, next year we will also have the Finland Summer Festival in the Seattle area. This event was first held over 10 years ago in Poulsbo, WA as a counterpart to the Naselle summer festival, with the intent that the Seattle and Naselle festivals be held during alternating summers. Traditionally the event in Seattle has been in August, but planning begins right away at the start of 2015 and we hope that all local Finnish organizations can participate in making the festival a great success.

I hope you will be able to participate in these and many of the other local events during the coming months, and perhaps even celebrate the Sibelius anniversary at a festival in Finland next year.

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

The Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter annual meeting was held at the Swedish Cultural Center on April 23rd. The meeting followed an agenda that I’m sure has remained virtually unchanged for years: officers of the board presented reports to the membership accounting for resources and programs, and members in attendance had an opportunity to ask questions and comment on those reports. Reports were followed by announcement of scholarship winners and finally new members were elected for the 2014 – 2015 board. In this President’s Message I’m including the “State of the Chapter” report that was presented at the annual meeting.

Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter continues to be strong in many ways. Our finances are in good order, we have a hardworking, dedicated board, a fantastic newsletter and excellent programs that are frequently organized jointly with other local Nordic organizations. Events held during the past year illustrate well co-operation with other organizations: in July, 2013, we hosted the Pedavoces choir from Vaasa, Finland together with the Swedish Cultural Center. In August the Finland Summer Festival was held in Bellevue jointly with 12 other local Finnish organizations. Kristiina Hiukka did a marvelous job as MC of the event for the entire day, and an audience of some 140 – 150 people enjoyed a variety of musical performances, children’s talent show, outdoor sports such as Palikka and cell phone tossing, arts/crafts and puppet show with Suomi Koulu, folk dancing and great food.
In October we had the pleasure of hosting cellist Jussi Makkonen and pianist Ruusamari Teppo – great-granddaughter of Jean Sibelius – at the Seattle Finnish Luther Church before they continued to the Lynden music festival. A month later pianist Marja Kaisla – Finlandia Foundation National Performer of the Year – gave a wonderful concert at the Cornish College of Arts in November.

Also in November, FFSC joined other local Finnish organizations in the annual Finnish Community Bazaar at the Nordic Heritage Museum and on December 7th we held our traditional Independence Day Dinner and Dance at the Swedish Cultural Center. Attendance was somewhat lower than during previous years, but plenty of positive feedback was given by many attendees about the event. In particular, our visiting speaker Paul Raida, honorary consul of Estonia, and the Pickled Herring Band were popular.

Together with the University of Washington Finnish Studies Program, we hosted author Hanna Pylväinen at the Swedish Cultural Center in February. The event was very interesting and successful, with nearly 50 people in attendance.

In addition to these events, the monthly “Films from Finland” series continues to be run by Gary London, as he has done since the inauguration of the series in 2006. Films are shown at the Swedish Cultural Center, and while attendance has at times been rather low, it was nice to see a fairly sizeable audience at the most recent movie.

FFSC continued to offer weekly Finnish language classes at the Finnish Lutheran Church, a program that has been running for several decades and has been enjoyed by many students. This year classes were taught by Christopher Morris, with Jenni Salmi managing the overall program. The scholarship program also has a long history, and this year FFSC was able to award two $1,500. Scholarships. The 2014 winners are Rosie Leung and Saiontoni Sarkar, both students at the University of Washington who will be studying in Finland this summer.

New officers and members-at-large were elected to the FFSC board at the annual meeting, and I am very pleased to see new faces on the board, although I believe almost all of the new board members have served in the past. John Borland will be treasurer and Karoliina Kuisma, Jenni Salmi, Christine Makela and Paula Price will serve as members-at-large on the 2014- 2015 FFSC board. I want to thank the entire board for its dedicated work, and in particular Fran Whitehill, Satu Mikkola, Eva Männistö and Taija Hämäläinen who are not continuing on the board. I also thank our newsletter editor Taina Lindström-Redfern for all the hard work involved in producing such as beautiful newsletter.

By the time this newsletter edition has been printed and mailed out to the membership, another joint event will be in the past, namely a jazz concert by the Olli Hirvonen Trio at the Swedish Cultural Center at the end of May. On July 25th we will host – once again with the Swedish Cultural Center – the Aallotar duo, consisting of violinist Sara Pajunen from Minnesota and accordionist Teija Niku from Finland. Some of you may be familiar with Ms. Pajunen from the duo Kaivama which has performed in the Seattle area. More events are in the plans for the fall and winter and I hope you will be able to participate in them and enjoy them.

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

Recently I attended a workshop for Nordic organizations to discuss challenges that many of the local groups are facing, such as declining membership, difficulty attracting younger generations as members and volunteers, lack of resources, and cost of communicating to membership (e.g., through newsletters). At this workshop we applied standard planning methods to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of local Nordic organizations, and while that work – which hasn’t been completed yet – will no doubt give us guidance on how to solve the aforementioned problems, it is not what I want to talk about in this message. Instead I want to focus on another result of the meeting that is perhaps obvious. It was identified by Viggo Forde, the organizer of the workshop, as better together, the idea that we can be more effective and efficient by cooperating and collaborating.

Doing things together isn’t, of course, a new idea for the Nordic community. Various Nordic organizations regularly hold shared events, and the Nordic Heritage Museum is very much a collaborative effort. FFSC routinely works with other organizations because we don’t own any real estate and thus rely on other organizations’ facilities for holding our events. Our cooperation with the Swedish Club is a fine example of this: in February we held an author event with Hanna Pylväinen at the Swedish Club, and in May we will host the Olli Hirvonen Trio at the Swedish Club as well. However, I think we – FFSC and all other Nordic organizations – need to be more deliberate in seeking this cooperation in the future as it will strengthen our relationships, help increase awareness of the different groups and hopefully increase membership.

Some collaborative ideas floated at the workshop included having an annual Nordic event together, something like the Finland Summer Festival scaled up to include all Nordic organizations where we all participate in creating the event. We could also make resource sharing easier by publishing a list of facilities available for Nordic organizations’ use along with a web-based calendar through which reservations could be made. There were also suggestions for improving awareness of the many groups by having a shared Facebook page where each group could publicize their events, and we could also have a shared email list (probably an opt-in one) through which event information could be spread. Many other ideas were presented, and they will be discussed further, but this should give you a sense of what was being considered.

As usual, feedback on this and any other topic is most welcome. You can send it to FFSC through email (info@finlandiafoundationseattle.com) or you can speak with FFSC board members at our annual meeting at the Swedish Club on Wednesday April 23rd at 6:30 PM. The meeting is intended to be interactive, where officers report to current FFSC members and members have an opportunity to express their ideas and suggestions to the board. You are all invited to attend the meeting.

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

A new year has begun and the FFSC board has been hard at work planning events for 2014. It had been our intent to meet with local Finnish organizations at the end of 2013 to map out major events each group was planning for 2014 in order to avoid overlapping events and to identify areas where we could combine our efforts. Alas, the meeting didn’t happen, mainly due to a very busy holiday time, but I am still hoping that such a meeting will take place this year.

While preparing for the meeting I wrote down all the Finnish community events I could remember, and was reminded of the variety of activities we have throughout the year and the number of groups that are involved in setting these up. Although many of you are quite familiar with the events, I’d like to highlight some of them to show you how much activity we really have.

• Kalevala Day celebration at the beginning of March, which the Finnish Choral Society is organizing this year for the 38^th time.
• Mostly Nordic concert at the Nordic Heritage Museum’s series in May, which includes a concert of Finnish music. This year we will get to hear Jussi Makkonen and Ruusamari Teppo.
• Finlandia Summer Festival/Finnish American Folk Festival in Naselle. These festivals are held during alternating summers and this year it is Naselle’s turn to host the event.
• Finnish Lutheran Church auction and dinner in October.
• Finnish community Bazaar at the Nordic Heritage Museum in November.
• Independence Day Dinner and Dance in December.
• Musical events at the Finnish church in Seattle, such as the ”Kauneimmat joululaulut” sing-along and the Finnish Choral Society’s Christmas concert and dinner.
• Films from Finland nearly every month of the year by FFSC in partnership with the Swedish Club.

In addition to regularly occurring events we

• Host Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year and Lecturer of the year as well as other musical performers, such as Jussi Makkonen and Ruusamari Teppo last fall at the Finnish church.
• Organize book readings for authors with a Finnish background or whose books have a Finnish connection.

There are also events that most of us probably aren’t involved in, such as the Iittala glass bird exhibition at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, the Nordic Lights film festival and the concert by the Cappella Romana ensemble in January, that feature Finnish art.

The list is by no means complete and is missing, for example, events held by Suomi Koulu, but it does illustrate the richness of activity we – the Finnish community – have. The mission of FFSC includes promoting and supporting activities for developing appreciation of Finnish literature, history, art and music. I urge you to contact FFSC if you think there are activities or events that are missing or if you think there’s something we could do better. I also ask you to be involved in the community either through FFSC or other organizations so that we can continue to enjoy all the events that are listed in the event calendar of this newsletter as well as new ones.

Wishing you a happy and successful 2014!

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

The celebration of Independence Day is quite different in Finland than it is in the United States: the Finnish event is a quiet, solemn occasion in December when there is barely more than six hours of daylight in Helsinki, while the Fourth of July in the United States is the opposite in almost every respect. The way Finns and Americans celebrate independence has no doubt changed over time, but there are some traditions that seem to have remained fairly constant over generations, and those customs can teach us something about the history and the values of the societies.

When I think of traditions associated with Finnish Independence Day, three come to mind immediately: raising the Finnish flag at Tähtitorninmäki in Helsinki, lighting candles in homes as well as at cemeteries and the Presidential reception in the evening, watched live by 2.5 million Finns (nearly half the population of the country!) on TV.

Tähtitorninmäki – literally Observatory Hill – is a knoll on the south edge of Helsinki overlooking the harbor. The University of Helsinki built an observatory on top of the hill in 1834, and over time residents of Helsinki began to call the area Tähtitorninvuori, which became its official name in 1928, although nowadays it is almost exclusively referred to as Tähtitorninmäki.

Tähtitorninmäki was originally bare rock, but in the 1860’s large amounts of soil was transported into the area and work to make the hill into a park was begun, making it a popular destination for weekend walks. Artwork was also installed, the most famous one perhaps being Robert Stigell’s sculpture Haaksirikkoiset which depicts a shipwrecked family. While the artist refrained from assigning any political or patriotic meaning to the work, it nevertheless inspired many such interpretations when it was first displayed in 1898. This was due mostly to the family members in the sculpture having their backs turned to the east and looking with hope towards the west. The artwork and the views from it towards the Suomenlinna fortress gave Tähtitorninmäki significance as a gathering place for patriotic Finns at the turn of the 19th century, and this naturally led to it eventually being chosen as a location for celebrating Independence Day.

The modern tradition of raising the flag at Tähtitorninmäki on the morning of Independence Day began in 1957, however, a similar custom had been started on Finland’s tenth Independence Day in 1927. At the time the blue and white flag of Finland was viewed by many as a symbol of the bourgeoisie and not of the nation. To help shift this viewpoint, Itsenäisyyden Liitto – a patriotic Finnish organization – introduced various events throughout the year, including the flag raising at Tähtitorninmäki.

Lighting two candles on a window sill on Independence Day is another tradition started by Itsenäisyyden Liitto in 1927. Burning candles during the darkest months of the year is common in Nordic countries, but the precise origins of using candles, and specifically two of them, for commemorating Independence Day are not known; however, it was common to light candles during the time of Swedish rule to mark royal family anniversaries as well as visits by the King to Finland. This custom continued during Russian rule, but towards the end of the 19th century, when oppression by Russians increased, the tradition changed to lighting candles as a sign of protest on February 5th, the birthday of Johan Ludvig Runeberg.

The use of two candles may have come from the practice of marking soldiers’ “safe houses” with two candles. In 1914 Finnish activists started the Jääkäriliike – Jaegar movement – whose aim was to obtain military training for Finnish men in Germany. During the soldiers’ travel through Sweden to Germany they needed places for rest, and those safe houses – etappitalo – were marked with two lit candles.

The Presidential Independence Day reception, the so-called Linnan juhlat, has been held at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki since 1919, when President Ståhlberg’s daughter arranged a modest reception with coffee and “sweet bread” for 150 guests. 1922 saw the first evening celebration, and in 1925 the tradition of all guests being greeted at the Palace entrance by the President and his spouse began. The 1925 reception was also the first one to include dancing, which along with the “handshake ceremony” became a fixture of the event. Celebrations varied quite a bit depending on the president and the times: prohibition ended in 1934 and with that alcohol was included at the party, although under President Kyösti Kallio (1937 – 1940), who was very religious, no drinking or dancing occurred at the reception. During the war years the event was suspended, and afterwards it’s been cancelled four times for various reasons.

Due to repair work at the Presidential Palace, the reception will be held in Tampere this year. This is the first time that the event is not being held in Helsinki, and there will be other changes that go against decades old traditions: no dancing and men will not be required to wear tuxedos.

There are, of course, many other Independence Day traditions, and we have a long-lived one in Seattle as well, namely our Independence Day Dinner and Dance which was held on December 7th this year.

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

A beautiful summer is coming to an end in the Pacific Northwest and it’s time to get ready for the fall, which once again looks to be full of interesting events. Below are some of the happenings in the local Finnish community this fall.

On the first weekend of October cellist Jussi Makkonen and pianist Ruusamari Teppo will be performing at Seattle Finnish Lutheran church (Friday October 4^th) and at Pacific Lutheran University (Saturday October 5^th). Jussi Makkonen has been in Seattle before, performing at the Nordic Heritage Museum some 5 years ago. Ruusamari Teppo is a great-granddaughter of Jean Sibelius and currently working on her doctorate at the University of North Texas. The two will continue from Seattle to Lynden where they will be performing at the Lynden Music Festival.

The Seattle Finnish Lutheran church will have its annual auction and dinner on Saturday October 12^th at the church. The dinner and auction are a fundraiser for the church featuring both a silent and live auction.

The 35^th annual Holiday Bazaar will be held this year on Saturday November 2^nd at the Nordic Heritage Museum. Many of the local Finnish community organizations will be at the bazaar, selling baked goods and other food, crafts, and other items as fundraisers.

Mark Hillman will be giving an interesting presentation on bicycle touring in the Nordic countries at the Swedish Club on Friday November 8^th. He will be showing photographs and talking about his most recent trip – a 3-week, 600 mile (1000 km) tour through southern and western Finland and Åland Islands.

Andy Nestingen, University of Washington Associate Professor of Scandinavian Studies, will be talking about “The Mystery of the Finnish Tango in Aki Kaurismäki’s Films” at the Nordic Heritage Museum on Wednesday November 13^th. The presentation is based on Nestingen’s new book “The Cinema of Aki Kaurismäki: Contrarian Stories”.

On Sunday, November 24^th pianist Marja Kaisla, Finlandia Foundation National Performer of the Year, will perform at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Each year the Finlandia Foundation National organization selects a Performer of the Year, awarding them a stipend to cover travel expenses for touring in the United States.

We will celebrate 96 years of Finnish independence at the traditional Independence Day Dinner and Dance on Saturday December 7^th. This event is probably the oldest one sponsored by Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter as it apparently has been held since 1970. It was originally called the Holiday Supper Dance and at the first such celebration 125 attendees were graced with the presence of the 1970 Miss Finland Carita Holm.

Last but certainly not least, the FFSC Films from Finland program presents a Finnish film each month at the Swedish club. On October 23^rd we will see “Kovasikajuttu” (The Punk Syndrome), and the November movie will be on the day before Thanksgiving when we’ll see “Hiljaisuus” (Silence), a film set in the waning weeks of the Continuation War. See the FFSC website (www.finlandiafoundationseattle.com) for more information these and other movies.

A rather rich variety of program is being presented this fall. More details on the events can be found in the event calendar of this newsletter as well as at our website (www.finlandiafoundationseattle.com). I hope to see many of you at these events!

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

The term of FFSC board members begins on July 1 each year, which means that a new board has just started its work. It will be a little different this time, as Gary London has stepped down after serving as FFSC president for, I believe, 7 of the past 10 years. Gary’s commitment to FFSC has been remarkable and I want to express my deepest appreciation for all that he has done for FFSC and the local Finnish community. Gary has set a high standard for the FFSC president, and it will definitely be difficult for me to fill his shoes.

We are fortunate to have two brand new members on the board: Airi Suomalainen and Eric Schaad, who jumps right into the role of FFSC vice president. The addition of Airi and Eric delivers some of that “new blood” into the board that Gary looked for at the annual meeting in 2012, and brings new perspectives to issues that the board will tackle during the coming months.

The board will have to revisit some topics that come up practically every year, such as choosing the right balance between newsletter features and their costs or finding ways to increase membership. We have some ideas but I would love to hear your view on these issues – and anything else related to FFSC and the local Finnish community. If you have any suggestions, comments, questions or feedback of any kind, please send that in email toinfo@finlandiafoundationseattle.com or by mail to FFSC, PO Box 75052, Seattle, WA, 98175-0052.

The purpose of the FFSC is to promote Finnish language, history, art, music and other cultural activities. To fulfill this mission, FFSC publishes a bimonthly newsletter, provides Finnish language classes, offers scholarships and grants for projects related to Finland, presents Finnish movies monthly and organizes a variety of events every year, often in collaboration with other local Finnish organizations. Partnering with other ethnic organizations is important, as it enables us to share the resources we have and also helps us grow stronger.

A great example of an event planned together by a host of Seattle area Finnish groups is the bi-annual Finland Summer Festival, held this year at the North Bellevue Community Center on Saturday, August 24th. This event was started over 10 years ago as a counterpart to the Naselle summer festival, with the intent that the Finland Summer Festival and Naselle festival be held during alternating summers. Music has always been an integral part of both events, and so it will be this year as well, so come enjoy the musical performances, the children’s talent show, Finnish games, food and more.

There will be other events during the fall, such as a performance featuring pianist Marja Kaisla, Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year, at the Cornish College of the Arts in November, the traditional Independence Day Dinner and Dance, and more. Details about these events will be provided on our website and in the next newsletter.

Happy summer,

Mikko Männistö
FFSC President

The annual meeting of Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter provides an opportunity for officers to report to members, for members to give guidance to board members, and for the election of those to direct the organization going forward. All of these purposes were admirably achieved at the most recent annual meeting, held on April 24 at the Swedish Cultural Center.
No annual meeting would be complete without the attendance of the two most faithful members of FFSC – Aini and Fred Messmer, who not only drove the thirty miles in rush hour traffic to be with us, but who also participated very meaningfully. The Messmers contributed to a feeling of camaraderie and good will that prevailed during the meeting and in the social interaction around the refreshment table both before and after the event.

My own “state of the chapter” report, which I normally present only as a President’s Message in this newsletter, I actually gave at the meeting. I beg the indulgence of readers who were in attendance, for I would like to share some of that report with a wider audience.

I am happy to report that Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter is strong in many ways. To begin with, it has had excellent board leadership. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a more dedicated and diligent group of volunteers than those on the FFSC board. Sadly, some of them will be stepping down. They include John Burbank, Marja Hall, and JoAnne Rudo. Each has made a significant and unique contribution to the work of our organization. At the same time, the election of Mikko Männistö as new president, Eric Shaad as vice president, Cathy Perry as recording secretary and Airi Suomalainen as a board member promises vigorous new leadership. The transition on July 1 will bring the “new blood” I had expressed hope for in last year’s annual meeting.

Another area of FFSC strength is in the activities of the organization. Our weekly language classes, our monthly “Films from Finland” series, our bi-monthly newsletter and our annual Independence Day Dinner Dance are successful continuing offerings to the local Finnish community and beyond. So, too, is our scholarship and grant program, which again this year attracted a number of qualified applicants. At the annual meeting, we were happy to announce the winners: Christopher Morris and Alexander Ahlgren, both students in the Finnish Studies Program at the University of Washington. Both these talented scholars will use their scholarships for study in Finland.

A third area in which FFSC has excelled is in building constructive and mutually-supportive relationships with other like-minded organizations. The two most recent examples are joint sponsorships of the Robert Goldstein book reading and signing with the Sons of Norway Leif Erikson Lodge in April and the Kimmo Laine illustrated talk on Finnish film with the Finnish Studies Program in May. Referring to the former, Leif Erickson social director Andrea Torland wrote, “What fun we had tasting Gard wines and feasting on yummy appetizers provided by many members and our friends from the Finlandia Foundation. . . JoAnne Rudo, who is a member of the Finlandia Foundation, in addition to our Leif Erickson Lodge, is credited with obtaining the musicians (Folk Voice Band), as well as our excellent program.” As for the Laine appearance, there were numerous expressions of satisfaction with the evening and with the cooperation that had made it possible. Especially welcome was the number of new faces.

Upcoming events will also open opportunities for working with other organizations. For example, plans are underway with the Swedish Cultural Center to arrange a performance by the Fenno-Swedish Pedavoces Student Choir in July and with Cornish College of the Arts to bring Marja Kaisla, Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year, to the concert stage in November. No member of the FFSC board has better exemplified this spirit of working with others than JoAnne Rudo, who has written, “Since my days are numbered as vice president, I would like the new board to continue reaching out to the general community as we have done with Leif Erickson, Swedish Club, Ethnic Heritage Council, Nordic Heritage Museum, etc. Friends are good!”

Yes, friends are good, whether they be our sister Finnish organizations, with whom we are preparing for the August 24 Finland Summer Festival, or our cousin Nordic organizations, with whom we look forward to many joint activities in the future. Finlandia Foundation Seattle Chapter, like many other ethnic organizations, is learning that reaching outward is wiser than turning inward. It is possible, and even desirable, to uphold the best of the Finnish tradition, while, at the same time, finding points of contact with others who value their own traditions. In this way, we can grow stronger together, assuring that the future state of our chapter will be secure.

Gary London
FFSC President