[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1685-E1686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNITION OF FINN GRAND FEST 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a festival in my 
district in northern Michigan that honors the history, heritage, 
culture and contributions of American-Finnish and Canadian-Finnish 
people. This joint U.S./Canadian Finnish festival to be held on August 
10-14, 2005, in Marquette, Michigan gives the Finnish communities in 
the U.S. as well as Canada the opportunity to experience activities, 
educational programs, worship opportunities, musical entertainment, 
cultural displays and a parade based around the theme ``Heritage Powers 
the Future''.
  The Finn Grand Fest 2005 is the second time FinnFest USA and Finnish 
Canadian Grand Festival will have participated in a joint, 
international event. The first occasion took place five years ago in 
Toronto, Canada. Planning committees from both countries have expressed 
interest in holding a joint festival held every five years as a new 
tradition. The Canadian festival is considerably older than its U.S. 
counterpart having first been organized in the 1940's as an influx of 
Finnish immigrants came to Canada to work. Although Finnish immigrants 
first came to the U.S. during the decades around 1900, FinnFest USA was 
not established until 1983 in Minneapolis, MN.
  Since 1983, FinnFest USA has been held each year around the country 
except the 1\1/2\ year gaps before and after February 2004 when 
accommodations were made for a winter festival in Florida. Locations 
are determined by places where there is a strong Finnish community to 
organize the event. A large population of people of Finnish decent live 
in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This will be the second time Marquette, 
Michigan has hosted the festival in the United States. They also hosted 
it in 1996. Other Michigan cities to host this event include: Hankcock 
in 1985 and 1990 and Farmington Hills in the Detroit area in 1987. 
Other cities throughout the country include: Seattle, Washington 
(twice), Lake Worth, Florida (twice), Minneapolis, Minnesota (twice), 
Fitchburg, MA, Newark, DE, Thousand Oaks, CA, Portland, OR, and 
Portland, ME.
  While Canadians have been able to maintain the use of the Finnish 
language in their current culture, the communities in the U.S. have 
unfortunately watched as the traditional language has been replaced by 
English. This happened over the generations as many families spoke 
Finnish at home but the children learned English in school. As time 
went on, English was the primary language used to communicate with non-
Finns, taught in school and practiced at home. Canadians are facing the 
beginning phases of this trend that may result in the loss of native 
Finnish speakers in their country as well. Thankfully, there are still 
a number of people in Michigan's Upper Peninsula who still speak 
Finnish. In fact, my district is home to a weekly television program 
call ``Finland Calling'' hosted by Carl Pellonpaa. ``Finland Calling'' 
is a weekly show about Finnish heritage that has been on the air for 43 
years.
  Like the Finnish language, the original organizers of FinnFest are 
slowly slipping away. A major contributor from among the earliest 
generations was Dr. Sylvia Kinnunen who recently passed away on July 
25, 2005. Despite her admired age of 84, she was an energetic force in 
the planning and execution as the Co-chair of Cultural Programs for 
Finn Grand Fest 2005. We appreciate her devotion to preserving Finnish 
culture and for her contributions to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She 
will be greatly missed.
  Americans and Canadians are proud of their Finnish heritage and the 
Finnish people. FinnFest organizers have noted that even are non-Finns 
have taken active roles and in some cases are major contributors to the 
event. Among those non-Finns is the musical headliner White Water made 
up of a family of folk music artists from Amasa, Michigan. The Premos 
began incorporating Finnish influence in their music and even performed 
at a folk music festival in Finland last year. The premiere 
performances at the Finn Grand Fest 2005 include a solo by Evan Premo 
during a double bass concerto on Thursday, August 11 and 100 violinists 
of all ages performing at the opening ceremony organized by Evan's 
mother Bette Premo.
  The esteem felt for the Premos by the local Finns is an example of 
the educational sharing

[[Page E1686]]

and overall embracing of non-Finns to the culture and heritage of the 
community. Aside from the encouragement of Finnish people to understand 
more about their own history and traditions, those involved with this 
festival hope that all people are able to enjoy and learn more about 
the Finns' unique ethnicity that has evolved in the American and 
Canadian societies throughout the years.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been due to the incredible insight, dedication, 
passion and innovation of the planning boards from the U.S. and Canada 
that have made this four-day joint festival possible. I am pleased 
Marquette has been chosen for the second time to host the U.S. festival 
and as the first American location for the joint festival--it is 
because Marquette is ``Sisu''. I applaud the Finnish communities in 
both the United States and Canada for preserving their sense of 
identity into the next generation and, based on the theme ``Heritage 
Powers the Future'', I applaud them for utilizing their past to power 
the direction of their culture for years to come. I wish the Finn Grand 
Fest 2005 the greatest success and look forward to participating in the 
event this August.

                          ____________________