Old Church Customs
By June Pelo; excerpt from Karleby Sockens Historia. I recently read about some church customs in Finland in the 1700’s which seem rather strange in today’s…
Finland
Saint Henry
Submitted by June Pelo, based on work by Jussi Nuorteva, scholar of old literature, science journalist, from “Finland, a Cultural Encyclopedia”, by Finnish Literature Society. Saint…
Monastery of Old Valamo
By June Pelo referencing a Finnair brochure titled ‘Monastery – orthodox-cultural tours’. The monastery of old Valamo, known as the Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ,…
Christmas Traditions in Finland
Excerpts from “Finnish Folk Culture” by Ilmar Talve (ISBN 951-746-006-6) June Pelo. The Christmas season in Finland begins on the Saturday before Advent, known as Little…
Farm Words
Which words have you seen when exploring records of your ancestors? Let’s start with the word ‘farmer’. A farmer could be a: And, if the farmer…
Finland Was a Poor Country
By Mary Losure and Dan Olson June 10, 1997.Submitted by June Pelo. Credits acknowledged at end of article. At a time when anti-immigrant sentiment is building in…
Jean Sibelius
Suomen Silta, #3-04 Irmeli Tanttu.Translated by June Pelo. Jean Sibelius spent most of his life in a large villa in rural Tuusala, about 40 km from Helsinki.…
The King’s Road
By June Pelo. Along the King’s Road there exists an uncounted number of old buildings and sights. The important road has turned to an interesting series…
Farm life in Finland
Translated from Swedish by June Pelo 1982 Haymaking was the most grueling task of all summer work on farms. All grass growing on fields had to…
Munsala – The Ostrobothnian Church Village
From “Den Österbottniska Byn” by R. Blomqvist. Translated by June Pelo This article was written by R. Blomqvist during a visit to Munsala in the early 1900’s. At…
Lepplax Village, Pedersöre Parish
By Thor Portin, from Den Österbottniska byn.Translated by June Pelo. There are 12 villages in Pedersöre parish, the same number as the apostles on the parish…
Småbönders – A Living Village
Donald Widjeskog; Norden August 7, 2010English translation by June Pelo The name of the village, Småbönders, needs no explanation. The name explains who the village people are.…
