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. So while you don’t know me much, I know you! In the most literal sense, I come to this position from Isabella. I live off-grid in a small wilderness cabin, where I’ve lived year-round for nearly three years. Mostly, it’s just me back there, but I recently was ‘gifted’ a husky named Jax. He can be found with his head hanging out the window of my truck if you stop by the Clair Nelson Community Center. He likes neck massages and beef sticks. My work background is in journalism, midwifery, and administration–a strange career, to…
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 who can do this work with us–we want your involvement to be a two-way street. We’re looking for a variety of ages, professions, and views. The Board should mirror our community. You share your skills and enthusiasm, and we will offer you an opportunity to gain non-profit experience that can feed your career or your heart. Perhaps it’s time for you to give back. Perhaps you’re called to make a difference in this challenging time. Perhaps you are energized by creating a robust, connected community. Our current Board members are happy to meet with you,…
By: Kaare Melby As I look out at the brand-new and beautifully crafted outdoor oven here at the Clair Nelson Center, I can’t help but think back to early 2022 when I started writing one of the grant narratives that ended up funding the construction of our new wood-fired oven. What I wrote then struck me as even more impactful now: “Culture lives in shared space. Our ancestors were forced to share resources as a matter of survival and through that necessity, they maintained community connection and cohesion. Together they laughed, they sang, they told stories, and they shared experiences. As modernity removed the necessity of shared space, people naturally began to drift apart. Rather than a side effect of survival, our relationships became difficult to maintain. This truth has been amplified with the pandemic and an increasingly divided political culture. We now understand that shared space has to be…
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 the future. The first step in this process is to engage in a third-party investigation to examine how past concerns with Mr. Deyette were handled. We have been guided by our legal team on how to best undertake this type of investigation, and have decided that our Director, Honor Schauland, should be put on administrative leave in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation and its outcome. Friends of Finland is an organization that was created by the Finland community, it was created to serve the Finland community, and as an organization, our top…