FinnFest Schedule

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Tentative Schedule

SUNDAY, JULY 27

Unless otherwise indicated, lectures will run 45 minutes and include questions and answers and introductions. Therefore, it will be important to begin and end on time to allow the next program to set up. Thanks to one and all.

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Sun, All-Day Activities: Sun, 9 am – 1 pm
Tori and Tori Stage – Pioneer Hall
Sami Camp – Outside
Food Court – Edmund Fitzgerald Hall

For information and times for these activities,
click here.

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Sun, 7-9 am, “Birding with a Finn” with Ornithologist Jerry Niemi
Minnesota Point, Free.
Contact rathmo@aol.com for all details
     Beginners and experts are welcome to join UMD’s professor Jerry Niemi on a bird watching tour in the Western Lake Superior area. Jerry is a native Duluthian who attended Duluth Central High School, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UMD, and his Ph.D. from Florida State University. He was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Helsinki in 1981. He has hosted six Finnish ornithologists at UMD and has visited Finland for research on birds and forests. Jerry has worked at UMD for over 20 years directing research, teaching ornithology and conservation biology. He has written over 200 articles, received more than $18 million in research funding and was named Outstanding Scientist in the Great Lakes for 2006-2007 by the International Joint Commission.

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Sun, 9 am, IHRC Finnish Collection
Lake Superior L, LECTURE
     The Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) is an interdisciplinary research center in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. The IHRC promotes research on international migration with a special emphasis on immigrant and refugee life in the U.S.
     David LaVigne, a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota and historian specializing on the Iron Range and its ethnic communities, will discuss Finnish culture in Minnesota and the IHRC’s collections.

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Sun, 9 am, “Cookbooks as part of our History” with Mona Meittunen Abel, Beatrice Ojakangas and Anneli Johnson
Meeting Room 202, LECTURE
      Beatrice Ojakangas and Anneli Johnson will join Mona Meittunen Abel on this panel. After retiring from Ironworld in Chisholm after 20 years, Mona Meittunen Abel self-published the cookbook, To Mom With Love dedicated to her mother and women on the Iron Range. This cookbook was followed by, To Dad With Love. These cookbooks are filled not only with wonderful recipes from the past and present, but also include historical pictures, stories and just general silliness. Hibbing is her town although she spent stints in St. Louis, San Antonio and a longer stint in the Minneapolis “burbs.” This didn’t diminish her yearning to return to her roots and she now resides in a cabin near Side Lake.

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Sun, 9 am, Co-op Round Table
Meeting Room 204, LECTURE
      In this session Velma Doby, Lynn Marie Laitala, and Harold Ollila will discuss the cooperative movement in northern Minn. and Wisc.
     Velma Doby was born in Brule, Wisc. where her childhood was immersed in cooperative activity in the Brule, Oulu-Iron River, Maple, Wentworth and Superior areas. The inspiration of those years led her into almost 20 years of Finnish-American activities in the Twin Cities. When she retired from the Immigration History Research Center of the University of Minnesota, she returned to the Iron River, Wis. area where she joined the Brule History Research Group to help write the history of Brule.

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Sun, 9:30 - 11 am, Worship Service in Finnish language,
Harborside Room.
     Preacher: Pastor Jari Lahtinen, Hilldale Lutheran Church, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. A former senior pastor in Oulainen, Finland, Pastor Lahtinen has served a bilingual (Finnish/English) congregation in Thunder Bay for eight years. Music by John Wall of St. Paul, Minn., organist; and Veteli Boy’s Choir of Veteli, Finland.

Sun, 9 am - 6 pm, Art Displays
Duluth Art Institute, 506 W. Michigan St., (9:30 am - 6 pm) has the exhibition "Naturally Finnish/Luonnollisesti Suomalainen" with artists Tiffany Besonen, Tia Salmela Keobounpheng, Lynn Korhonen, Joyce Koskenmaki, Lenore Lampi, Virginia Maki, Scott Murphy, Kristin Pavelka, Natalie Salminen Rude, John Salminen, Cherie Sampson, and Laura Ahola Young. FinnFest Visual Artists have work in the Corridor Gallery. Artists include Mary Erickson, Carl Gawboy, Kathryn Nordstrom, Sue Matuszak, Angel Sarkala-Saur, Andy Saur, Marlene Wisuri, and Margaret Webster.
Tweed Museum of Art, 1201 Ordean Court, University of Minnesota Duluth, (1 - 5 pm) has the exhibition "Honoring Tradition: Finnish and Sami-inspired Textiles." The work includes rag rugs, transparencies, poppana, felting, clothing, woven wall hangings, takana, raanu, rya, and other textiles. Vintage Finnish textiles will provide historical context for the exhibit. Participating artists include: Mary Erickson, Paivi Homola, Laurie Jacobi, Irene Johnson, Susan Johnson, Edith Karlstrand, Ruth Koski, Karen Lamppa, Annika Martilla, Wynne Mattila, Mel Olsen, Joyce Seppala, Carol Sperling, and Mary Wovcha.
See the Wednesday Art Display listing for Finnish-American and Finnish artists who have work at area galleries.

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Sun, 10 am, “The Functions of the League of the Finnish-American Societies” with Elli Heikkilä
Lake Superior Ballroom L
     Elli Heikkilä, the Research Director of Institute of Migration, Finland, has taken part in international projects like Global Regionalization, Core Peripheral Trends and many Nordic level Migration and labour market projects. Heikkilä is the co-editor of the international Migration Letters Journal and is on the executive committee of the League of the Finnish-American Societies.

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Sun, 10 am, Ulla and Carlos Duo
Lake Superior Ballroom O, MUSIC
     Ulla Suokko and flamenco guitarist Carlos Revollar presented their New York recital debut in Carnegie Hall in February 2008. Ulla Suokko is an internationally acclaimed concert flutist, performing artist, Reiki master, sound healer and teacher. A native of Finland, she has been featured in some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues. Flamenco guitarist Carlos Revollar is one of the most sought-after flamenco artists in New York City and the musical director of the Alborada Dance Theater. He is an accomplished composer and has won three American Music Center Award Grants.

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Sun, 10 am, “Textile Art in the Finnish Tradition” with Mary Erickson and Karen Lamppa
Meeting Room 202, ART
     Finnish-American textile artists Mary Erickson and Karen Lamppa will discuss the Finnish traditions in textiles and relate them to contemporary art. They will highlight various textile techniques and artists’ work that can be found in the exhibition at Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota Duluth.
     Karen M.H. (Leino) Lamppa, Britt, Minn., received a BS from UMD in home economics and history and is a member of the Range FiberArts guild. She has visited Finland and has been a weaving demonstrator at IronWorld. “My Finnish grandparents and parents instilled in me a deep appreciation for the traditional, sending me down a path of traditional textiles.”
     Mary Erickson, Mt. Iron, Minn., has an art education degree from Bemidji State University and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. She received a McKnight/ARAC Career Development Grant where she learned weaving techniques from the Norwegian Sami and also a Folk Arts Apprenticeship Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board to study the Finnish craft of Himmeli. Currently she is the vice president of the Range Fiberart Guild and gallery consultant at the Lyric Center for the Arts in Virginia, Minn.

Mary Erickson

Sun, 10 am, “Finnish Racial Purity and What Makes a Finn a Finn?” with Siija J.A. Talvi
Meeting Room 203, LECTURE
     Silja Talvi will address the issue of Finnish racial “purity” and her experience facing xenophobia in Finland.
     Silja Talvi was born in Helsinki, Finland, into Finnish and Jewish heritages. She speaks fluent Finnish, has Finnish citizenship, and has a tremendous pride in her native country. She is an investigative journalist and author of Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System. She has received national and regional awards for her writing on criminal justice, ethnicity, gender, immigration, and poverty. She retains dual citizenship and each year travels to the family’s cabin in the Iitti forest.

Sun, 11 am - 12:30 pm, Worship Service in English language
Harborside Room.
     Service includes Dr. Risto Cantell, Executive Director, Department for International Relations, Church of Finland. Music by John Wall of St. Paul, Minn., organist; and  Veteli Boy’s Choir of Veteli, Finland.

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Sun, 11 am, , “Enchanted Love” with Marjatta Airas and Zingara
Lake Superior O, MUSIC
     From Finnish and Spanish love songs to gypsy love, Zingara performs a variety of music. The program includes gypsy songs, folk and contemporary music. Strong emotions, dance, and virtuosity are distinctive features of their performances. The group includes Marjatta Airas, vocal and dance soloist, Tero Airas, cellist, and Jyrki Myllärinen, virtuoso guitarist.

Jyrki Myllärinen	Marjatta Airas	Tero Airas	Zingara

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Sun, 11 am, “A Documentary on Karelian Fever: A Work in Progress” with Alexis Pogorelskin
Meeting Room 202, LECTURE
     Show Me the Way to Go Home is a documentary that presents a full accounting and historical background of the recruitment and experiences of those in the Finnish-American community who went to Soviet Karelia in the 1930s.
     Alexis Pogorelskin is published widely in Russian intellectual history, especially on the topic of political opposition to Stalin. She is the editor of the NEP Journal, Soviet History 1921-1928, and was guest editor of the Journal of Finnish Studies volume devoted to Karalian Fever.

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Sun, 11 am, “Pullamössösukupolvi Meilaa & Mesett:
Figure out what this means using free net tools” with Sirpa Tuomainen
Room 204-205, LECTURE
      Sirpa Tuomainen is a native of Paltamo, Finland. She taught Finnish language and culture at the University of California, Berkeley since 1996. She also trains ESL-teachers and teaches writing courses. Tuomainen has just finished her year-off from UC Berkeley at the University of Jyväskylä where she developed web-based Finnish teaching materials and taught web courses in addition to doing research. Her interests include intercultural issues, immigrant women and creative writing

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Sun, 11 am, “Árran - a Sami American Tale”
Meeting Room 203, LECTURE
     Arden Johnson is a Duluth native who lives in Minneapolis. His parents were born on the Arctic coast of Norway, five miles from Russia and 15 miles from Finland. Four grandparents are Sami, three spoke Sami and three spoke Finnish. In 1996, Árran, a quarterly newsletter by and for Sami-Americans, was started by Mel Olsen with the help of Arden. Arden did two years alternate service as a conscientious objector in Norway and Sweden and has revisited Samiland several times. See his blog: arran2.blogspot.com.

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Sunday, July 27 afternoon

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Sun, 12 - 2:30 pm, "Ole & Lena's Wedding"
Fitgers, Midi Change of Pace Interactive Dinner Theater
600 East Superior St. Duluth, $40, advance tickets required.
1-888-872-4880 218-727-4880, http://www.midirestaurant.net
Oh, for fun! In this original hit comedy and Finnish/Norwegian wedding, Lena Handspringinnen will tie the knot with her sweetheart, Ole Olaf Olafsson, Jr. at the Lutheran church up here in northern Minnesota. Join her cousin Karlene Kinnunen, her Uncle Eino, relatives and family friends. Guests will receive a nametag and relationship to the bride or groom. They'll attend the ceremony followed by a reception complete with hotdish, jello, and also some fancy food prepared and served by Midi Restaurant. There's gonna be a dollar dance, gift-opening, a polka party and everything. But a guy doesn't hafta dance if he doesn't feel like it. Whatever.
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Sun, 12:30 pm, A Finnish Dinner and Three Finnish One Act Comedies
Rubber Chicken Theater, Proctor Area Community Center, 100 Pionk Drive, Proctor, Minn., Advance tickets only. $30, (218) 213-2780
This evening of Finnish dinner theater includes an authentic Finnish dinner, followed by the one-act comedies: The Betrothal (Kihlaus) by Aleksis Kivi, No Wonder! (Ihmekos Tuo!) by Matti Kurikka and Personal Ad (Naimailmoitus) by Edith Koivisto. All of the plays were translated by Harri Siitonen. The dinner seating is at 12 noon, the show is at 1:30 pm.

Sun, 2 - 3:30 pm, Three Finnish One Act Plays
Douglas County Historical Society, 1101 John Avenue, Superior, Wisc., Advance tickets only. $10
The Strike, by Kathy Laakso is about ore dock men, many of whom were Finnish immigrants, who were crushed beneath rail cars. The story of a strike and its resolution unfolds the true story of workers' - especially the Finns' - involvement with the radical anti-capitalist I.W.W. and their protest against the Great Northern Railway. Gurley and the Finn, by David Brunet is about the famous labor organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn who came to the Mesabi Iron Range in 1916 to organize a strike and to help create a labor union for miners. When she was arrested it was discovered that she wasn't the notorious Gurley Flynn but rather a young Finnish woman whose husband was a miner. Not Red, Just a Little Pink, by Dan Reed delves into issues of Finnish-American workers from the points of view of two men with differing political ideas.

Sun, 3– 4:30 pm, “Finnish One Acts; The Search for Väinämöinen"
Teatro Zuccone, Renegade Comedy Theatre, 222 East Superior St., Duluth, Advance tickets only. $15/$12. Call (218) 722-6775 or (888) 722-6627, www.RenegadeComedy.org

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