[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 49 (Friday, April 26, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO CARL PELLONPAA ON 40 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE FINNISH-
            AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 25, 2002

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a unique 
cultural institution in my northern Michigan congressional district and 
to the individual who has been the inspiration and guiding force for 
that institution for 40 years.
  Carl Pellonpaa started the show ``Finland Calling!'' in 1962 on WLUC-
TV as a cultural bridge between Finland and the thousands of Finnish 
residents who call the Upper Peninsula of Michigan their home. Mr. 
Speaker, the presence of this large Finnish population is instantly 
clear to anyone who opens an Upper Michigan phone book like the 
Houghton-Hancock book and sees page after page of Finnish surnames--
names like Haapala and Jurmu, Karvakko and Lahti and Manninen. One scan 
of such a phone book, Mr. Speaker, and you would not be surprised to 
know that Upper Michigan is also home to Finlandia University, the 
former Soumi College, the only university in the nation founded by 
Finns.
  It was this strong connection between northern Michigan and Finland 
that Carl Pellonpaa tapped and reinforced with his first airing of 
``Finland Calling.'' Even though Carl and his show have themselves 
become part of Finnish-American culture, a job in television and a 
career as a media ambassador between two nations was not Carl's 
original aspiration. In fact, as a recent story in the Marquette Mining 
Journal points out, baseball was Carl's dream, and he pursued that 
dream all the way to a contract with the Boston Braves in 1949. The 
dream was shattered when he was accidently shot by a fellow hunter that 
very fall, taking buckshot in his head, neck, and the shoulder of his 
pitching arm. Although Carl was able to heal enough to serve a tour 
with the Army in Korea, the Big League fast ball was gone forever.
  Married to his hometown sweetheart Doris, work led the couple away 
from the U.P. and then back to the Marquette area, where Carl took a 
job with radio station WJPD. In 1961 he joined the staff of TV-6, and 
March 25, 1962, marked the first broadcast of ``Finland Calling!'' or 
``Soumi Kutsuu!`` as the show is called in Finnish. As Mining Journal 
writer A.M. Kelley notes, the original purpose of the show was to drum 
up a little travel business between Finland and the U.S.
  Although his own parents came from Finland, Carl at first spoke 
little Finnish, and he has said the first shows, which are still 
broadcast in Finnish, made him ``a laughingstock'' with the Finns in 
the area. Clearly, however, no TV show in any market could log 40 
continuous years--and still be going!--without acquiring a polished 
professionalism and without serving an essential need for its audience. 
``Finland Calling!`` has performed the task of linking people with 
their relatives and their roots, and Carl, now fluent in his parents' 
native language, have even led tour groups back to Finland. As Jukka 
Valtasarri, the Finnish ambassador to the U.S., wrote Carl Pellonpaa 
earlier this month, ``Your program has brought Finland closer to the 
Finnish-Americans and helped them understand their roots.''
  Although Carl has otherwise retired from broadcasting, he has 
continued his show, which we believe to be the longest continually-
running show in the nation that celebrates a foreign language and 
culture. A man of tradition, Carl and his wife still live in Ishpeming, 
where his parents settled so many years ago. Carl and Doris have three 
children, Carl, Diane and Wendy.
  Mr. Speaker, Carl Pellonpaa will record a special 40th anniversary 
edition of his show on Saturday, April 27. I ask you and our House 
colleagues to join me in offering our sense of appreciation and our 
congratulations to Carl Pellonpaa for his dedication to his community 
and for exemplifying the best qualities of positive relations with 
nations of the world.

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