HANCOCK, Mich. (WLUC) – Dozens of residents and visitors stopped by Finland’s Independence Day celebration at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock on Thursday.
The event was held ahead of the anniversary on Friday, which marks 107 years of independence from Russia. Attendees enjoyed traditional music and dances, as well as listening to the experiences of guest speaker Fern Malila.
“I discovered that my second cousin and her husband had actually lost their home when the Russians to part of Karelia,” Malila said during her keynote address. “I had family members whose parents gave up pieces of their farms in northern Finland when they had to provide property for people who lost their homes when that land was ceded to Russia on one of my visits to Finland, I was given the opportunity to walk on my great-grandparents property, over land that had once been theirs, but had been broken up and given to other families after that war.”
I spoke with some of the attendees about their thoughts on Finnish culture and its importance to them. This included Finnish American Heritage Center Volunteer Oren Tikkanen, who played during the celebration.
“I have been playing Finnish music for the past 50 years or so,” Tikkanen said. “And I particularly enjoy the old immigrant traditions of ballroom dance and folk dancing.”
Resident Randy Karpinen recalls growing up and being surrounded by Finnish culture through his grandparents and neighbors, who spoke Finnish often. He says valuing Finland’s independence is important, especially when considering the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“More important than ever is to remember that this type of independence is hard fought for, and it’s also easy to lose if you don’t keep fighting for it. ” Karpinen said.
Fins and Friends of Hancock Vice President Ted Holmstrom said that he has been to Finland 10 times in his life. He also says that he has many favorite phrases in Finnish but spoke about one in particular.
“‘Kaikki on hyvin,’ which means ‘everything is okay,’” Holmstrom said. “When people are worried, or people are concerned about something, a lot of times…I’ll say ‘kaikki on hyvin’”.
Following the program, an opening reception for the ‘Friends of Finland’ exhibit, featuring works created by Finnish, Finnish-American, and other artists, was held. The exhibit will be open to the public until Jan. 28.
Finnish American Heritage Center Director David Maki says the celebration was wonderful.
“Mother Nature cooperated,” Maki said. “And seeing so many people come out to celebrate Finnish-American culture together speaks to how much they appreciate what we’re doing here at the heritage center.”
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