11th Finglish trip August 2011 #25 Raymond Bentley's grandmother's place, the old Tapio Farm, is now the Finn Creek Open Air Museum. His mother was born there, the daughter of Siffert from Jurva, Finland and Wilhelmiina, from Ii in northern Finland. They were granted the homestead in 1900. Raymond Bentley's parents were Norman and Tekla Bentley. The father's family was originally named Penttilä in Finnish. One of Raymond's nephews recently changed his name back to Penttilä. R

10th Finglish trip July 2010 #8 Lydia Marie Fowler was born in Chassel, Michigan, in 1933. Her father's family came from Viipuri in the Karelian Isthmus and Karvia in Satakunta region in the early 1900s. Lydia´s father was born in the family farm´s sauna in Chassel. Lydia´s mother was from an Apostolic Lutheran family from Covington, Michigan. Mother´s parents were farmers and the farm still exists, even the dunghill is still there. Lydia graduated from Chassel Township Schoo

10th Finglish trip July 2010 #7 Markku Ketola was born in Lappajärvi, Finland. He came to Ishpeming in Upper Michigan with his uncle in 1952. Markku´s grandparents had lived in Copper Island in USA and in Sudbury, Canada but they had returned back to Finland. Markku went to school in Ishpeming and studied electrical engineering in Michigan Tech University in Houghton. He worked as electrical engineer for 30 years with Ford Company. In the Vietnam War Markku served one year in

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

5th Finglish trip July 2007 #7 John and Pauline Kiltinen's hobby is to sing in a band which perform old Finnish folksongs. John has also translated the lyrics in English. John and Pauline are active in numerous Finnish-American organizations that have Copper Country connections. Their involvement isn’t limited to their local area. John served on the FinnFest USA board of directors, and both played key roles in organizing the FinnFest USA celebrations that took place in Marque

5th Finglish trip July 2007 #6 Community artist Mary Biekkola puts the final touches to her artwork "Granma"- doors at the Marquette Lower Harbor Park. The artwork consists of 2000 doors with old photos and stories of grannies of Finnish immigrants. Mary's previous community artwork was the 3000 blue and white decorated chairs at the FinnGrandFest 2005 in Marquette. Mary's grandfather came from Hailuoto in Finland in 1890s to the Quincy Mine in Hancock. Her grandmother came f

2nd Finglish trip August 2005 #2 Every fifth year American Finns and Canadian Finns organize a joint cultural festival in a place comfortably close to the US-Canadian border. In 2005 the Finn Grand Fest was held in Marquette Michigan USA. In addition, both groups organize their own festivals each year. Marquette is the most populated city of the Upper Peninsula with 21.000 inhabitants. U.P. has the largest Finnish population outside of Finland, with 16 percent of Yoopers havi