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Meet Jana Studelska, Our New Executive Director
Hello Finland! My name is Jana Studelska, and I am the new Friends of Finland Executive Director. In 1985, I was a 22-year-old bartender at Lutsen Resort. A couple of locals invited me to St. Urho’s, and my love affair with Finland began. Since then, I’ve lurked around, always enjoying the energy, creativity, and celebrations.…
Read MoreRecruiting Board Members!
We need a few good people to join our Board. Maybe that’s you? The Friends of Finland Board is designed to have nine members who work effectively, efficiently, and with clear purpose. While the commitment is significant, we can say that hours should be limited and the work inspiring. We’re prepared to nurture the people…
Read MoreDear Finland Community
Dear Finland Community, We recognize that our community is reeling from recent accusations surrounding one of our former youth night employees, Andrew Deyette. The concerns that you have shared are being taken very seriously. We are taking action to better understand what happened and how we can prevent this type of situation from happening in…
Read MoreCommunity Reflections
By Honor Schauland St Urho’s Day in Finland always makes me really happy. It’s the one day that I can think of where I get to see a whole lot of people that I care about, they are all usually happy, we all get a lot of hugs, and candy, the sun usually comes out,…
Read MoreWe’re Getting an Outdoor Wood-Fired Oven!
At long last, we are getting an outdoor wood-fired oven under one of the pavilions on the grounds at the Clair Nelson Center! We have been working toward this and fundraising for a number of years and it is very exciting that it is finally happening. We’re hoping to have the oven up and running…
Read MoreFriends of Finland Winter Update 2023-2024
Newsletter of Friends of the Finland Community, Crystal Bay Township and the community of Finland Friends of Finland’s mission is to help make Finland and its surrounding area an inviting and vibrant place. We do that by extending hospitality to everyone, no matter what circumstances have brought them to our door. We work to hold…
Read MoreFriends of Finland Strategic Plan
Our community has always drawn its strength from the spirit of helping that we inherited from the community ancestors that settled in this area. Those early settlers had to work together in order to survive, and over time they created systems and organizations to make Finland and its surrounding area an inviting and vibrant place.…
Read MoreNancy’s Retiring!
Nancy Anselment-Olson has been with Friends of Finland for a long time. She started as one of the original board members when the organization was formed back in 2007, and was hired as the Building Manager (which became the Operations Lead position) a few years later, after the Clair Nelson Center was built. She has…
Read MoreFinland (and Silver Bay) Go to Laskiainen – February 4th, 2023!
Folks from Finland, MN have a history of traveling to Palo, MN for the Finnish sliding festival: Laskiainen! Early in 2020, before the pandemic caused so much disruption in our lives, a group of folks from Finland and Silver Bay loaded up on buses and traveled together to Laskiainen. But the festival was canceled in…
Read MoreThank You to All Who Helped Put on Camp Finland 2022!
Camp Finland 2022 would not have been possible without the generous support of: The Duluth Superior Community Area Foundation – Silver Bay Charitable Fund, Northland Foundation, North Shore Collaborative, Cliffs Foundation, Tracy Family Foundation, Beaver Bay and Crystal Bay townships, Trestle Inn, and many other individual donors. Many thanks our amazing staff: Lucy Carlson, Amber…
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