St Urho’s Celebration 2016 is March 11th, 12th & 13th
The theme for the 41st Annual St Urho Celebration is St Urho’s Beach Party. Plans are already underway. As usual, festivities will include the Friday evening Miss Helmi beauty and talent competition, the Saturday Parade at noon on Highway 1 (the only state highway in Minnesota to shut down for a parade!), music, food, crafts and much more!
The St Urho’s Celebration is funded primarily by button and raffle ticket sales and also by donations. Feel free to donate online, or look for buttons and raffle tickets on sale soon at area businesses! We appreciate your support for this community event, and we look forward to continuing it for many years to come!
Official Schedule of Events
Sunday February 28th – 1:30-4:30pm – St Urho’s Photo Scavenger Hunt – Starts at Wildhurst
Fri, Sat, and Sunday March 4th, 5th, and 6th – 10am – 4pm each day – St Urho’s Float Workshop at the Clair Nelson Center
Friday night, March 11th – 6-8pm – Miss Helmi Talent and Beauty Contest – various stops around town
8pm-Midnight – Music at the West Branch by Sofa King
8:30pm-Midnight – Music at the Four Seasons by Tara Nelson and friends
Saturday, March 12th –
8-10:30am – Finland MN Historical Society’s Pancake Breakfast, and Craft Fair at the Clair Nelson Center
Noon – Tug of War across the Baptism River
Before and during the parade – Finland Fire and Rescue will be selling refreshments outside the Finland Fire Hall.
Before and during the parade – AfterProm will be selling St Urho T-shirts outside the Finland Co-op
Noon-1 pm – Parade through Finland on Highway 1. Call Cheri Bischoff at 220-9947 to register for the parade.
1-3pm – Clair Nelson Center – Craft Fair, kids games, Lunch, and music by Casey Aro
1-4pm – Music at Four Seasons by Tara Nelson and friends
1-5pm – Music at Our Place by the Curry Band
8pm-Midnight – Music at West Branch by Sofa King
8:30pm-Midnight – Music at the Four Seasons by Tara Nelson and friends
Sunday, March 13th –
5pm –Raffle Ticket Drawing and door prizes, Wildhurst
Dear friends of the Finland Community
My name is Tuomas Hovi and I’m a folklorist from the University of Turku, Finland (FIN). I am currently interested in Finnish American culture and I am coming to Finland (MN) to watch the St. Urho’s Day celebrations.
Regarding this I have a question where I was hoping the Friends of the Finland Community might be able to help me. I would like to interview people who have Finnish ancestry or consider themselves as Finnish Americans or as Finns. Could you possibly help me finding suitable persons to interview? My work will be purely a scholarly one and of course I will respect all the wishes of the interviewees. I will be staying in the area (Mariner Motel) from Friday to Tuesday and if you could help me find suitable persons to interview, any time or place between Friday (March 11th) and Tuesday (March 15th) would be fine by me for the interviews.
I would very much appreciate if you could assist me with finding possible suitable interviewees. Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Tuomas Hovi
Hi there, yes, there are many folks who consider themselves as Finns and you are coming at a good time to meet many of them! We can get you some names and contact info for some of the community elders who would be good people to talk to.
Hi and thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you soon and I’m sorry if this is/was the wrong forum for my message.
-Tuomas