11th Finglish trip August 2011 #36 Marianne Wargelin´s family traces itself to the early Astoria, Oregon Finnish fishing community, mining towns of Upper Michigan and Minnesota, the urban Finntowns of Brooklyn, New York, Worcester, Massachusetts and Waukegan, Illinois, and the industrial villages along Lake Erie. Marianne was raised within the Finnish American communities of Berkeley, California, Hancock, Michigan, and Fairport Harbor, Ohio, with Finnish as her first language

11 Finglish trip July 2011 #2 The 28th FinnFest USA was held in Town & Country Conference Center in San Diego, California in 2011. FinnFest USA was first held in 1983 in Minneapolis, Minnesota establishing the concept that the festival would travel from site to site, year by year, always creating an opportunity to provide Finnish Americans and their progeny an opportunity to meet one another and to broaden and deepen their knowledge of Finland and Finnish American history and

10th Finglish trip July 2010 #3 Carol Pärssinen´s all eight grandparents came from different areas in Finland, Könni, Pyhäjärvi, Kuusamo, Kemi and Kotka. Her father's family moved from Finland to Port Arthur, Ontario in Canada and her mother's family to the Copper Island, Upper Michigan in the U.S. Eventually all moved to the Detroit area. Carol´s father Lauri F. was born in Detroit, Michigan, he was the only child of Lauri G. and Irja (nee Ojala) Pärssinen. Lauri F. attende

9th Finglish trip October 2009 #4 The present day Brooklyn Baptist Church at 733 44th St. was formerly the home of the Finnish Golgotha Congregational Church of Brooklyn from 1920 until 1988. Originally it was build in 1915 by the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Free Church. The Brooklyn Finnish Congregational Church was founded in 1912 by Frans Lehtinen and Johannes Väänänen and 20 other Brooklyn Finns. The very first congregation was organized in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1891. Al

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #34 At the foot of Mount Shasta near the Oregon border in California is the sign of the Finlandia Motel, a place where one would least expect it. Eila Halonen, a former waitress at the Hotel Torni in Helsinki, realized her dream and founded a motel in the 1960s. 81-year-old Eila’s daughter Kathy owns the hotel, which is managed by the Pöyhönens, a Finnish couple. Next Messiah Finnish Lutheran Church Portland Oregon USA #FinlandiaMotel #MountShasta

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #31 Kevin Jussila was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Although a financial advisor by training and profession, he wanted to get into the wine-growing business and bought a vineyard in Paso Robles, California. Although Jussila speaks hardly any Finnish, he named his first white wine of his Kukkula (Finnish for 'hill') Winery Vaalea (light or white) and the first red wine Sisu (guts). Next Finnish Temperance Hall Rocklin California USA #

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #29 ”I like to drive really fast, 130 miles an hour in my Bentley,” says Otto Heino, over 90 years of age, next to his cars, a Bentley and a Ford Mustang Shelby. “That’s why I go driving at night on the straight roads in Santa Barbara.” With his unassuming manner and peaked cap, Otto is often mistaken for the chauffeur of a rich person when he stops at a filling station. Otto Heino has lived in Ojai, California for the past 38 years, because ”this

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #23 Esko Hieta was born in Tampere in 1930, were he also went to school. After studying at Business Institute in Helsinki he moved to Sweden in 1950. Then in the same year he was recruited to Canada. Esko worked in Toronto for 5-6 years in building construction. In 1956 Esko moved to New York and started importing wooden speed boats from Kotka, Finland. He participated in Marathon Race Around Lond Island, which was 260 ml long. The name of the game

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #22 The family of Albert Jokela's mother moved from Alahärmä to Ishpeming, Michigan in 1903. His father's family came in 1910 to the neighbouring community of Negaunee from Kuortane in Finland. Albert went to serve in the military soon after high school, because pilots were promised high wages. This was just before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Albert's aircraft carrier was first sent to exercises off New Guinea and then into action near Okin

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #18 Tom Nurmi and Kip Aalto are the descendants of Finnish fruit growers who settled in the Reedley area at the beginning of the 20th century. Finns have lived in California since the Gold Rush in 1850. Baron Axel von Wrede, who was expelled from Russian Finland, attempted to begin a colony in Fresno County in 1904. He noticed that the Reedley area was suitable for farming. Other deported nobles settled in Reedley, among them Arthur Back, Otto Hend

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #17 ”Six years, eight months, 12 days, and about 12 hours ago,” answers Rusty, looking at his watch, when he is asked when he bought his Harley-Davidson. He had to give up fruit farming because it was not profitable, but he still lives on his parents’ farm. Rusty is now a sales clerk in an auto parts store. Next Tom Nurmi and Kip Aalto Reedley California USA #RustyLehtonen #Reedley #California #HarleyDavidson

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #15 John Hauli (Juho Hakkarainen originally) bought property on the bank of Kings River in Reedley, California, where a house known as Hauli Huvila was built. It was a place where “men with strong views” met. During McCarthy years of the 1950s, everyone visiting Hauli Huvila was under special surveillance. The new owners, a Finnish community in California is restoring Hauli Huvila with traditional volunteer work. http://haulihuvila.com Next Mike Ju

8th Finglish trip May 2009 #12 The Rubicon Estate Winery, formerly Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery and once again Inglenook, is located in Rutherford, California. The winery sits on a portion of the historic Napa Valley property first acquired in 1879 by a Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum, founder of the Inglenook Winery. In 2011, owners Francis and Eleanor Coppola acquired the Inglenook trademark and renamed the winery Inglenook. Gustave Ferdinand Niebaum (1842 – 1908) was

8th Finglish trip May 2009 #11 In the 1910s around ten Finnish families moved from the mining town of Butte, Montana to California. Later they were joined by others, and finally there were over thirty families. Following their socialist ideals, they establish Finnish Colony Inc., a cooperative farm that paid all its members the same wage. The Finns first shared a single building with a communal kitchen, but the house burnt down and the families lost everything they owned. New

8th Finglish trip May 2009 #10 Dennis Tuomala has been president for 39 years of the United Finnish Kaleva Brothers and Sisters Fort Bragg Lodge #3. Tuomala joined the lodge in 1972, one of the youngest members in the club, with most members in their 80s. The Lions Hall on Redwood Avenue was the Kaleva Lodge built in the late 1800s. As part of his duties, and his lifelong interest in collecting and preserving history and heritage, he is also looking for the right way to prese

5th Finglish trip July 2007 #37 Marja-Liisa "Hipsu" Pihlgren (1936-2011). A longtime valued employee of the Elizabeth Arden Salon at Simpson's and an active member of the Finnish Community, particularly as the Cultural Director of the Ostro-Bothnians in Toronto. In 1962 Marja-Liisa came from Kauhava in Finland to visit her brother in Toronto. Her brother called her Hipsu. Soon Marja-Liisa went to California to visit her relatives living there. After working for three months a