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,…
Learn about culture, traditions, and history.
Swede Finn Junction
Donald Widjeskog Remembers Christmas from Long Ago
Donald Widjeskog, Norden 5 Feb. 2011English translation by June Pelo. We celebrate Christmas as a special place in our hearts. It is then that families gather together;…
Swedish Christmas
By June Pelo.Taken from excerpts off the Internet. Christmas is the darkest period of the year in Scandinavia, and the season could be depressing except for…
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…
Memories from The War 1941-1944
By Sven Lågland.Karleby, 30 March 1987.English translation by June Pelo. This journal was written between shooting and free moments. We were 20-year-old draftees from Österbotten and…
Emigrant Nabb-Kalle on a Visit to Terjärv
Norden Newspaper, 6 September 2001. Translated by June Pelo Finland has traditionally been a country from which people emigrated. Over a million Finlanders moved to other…
Finnish Fishermen of Lake Superior
From The Finnish American Reporter, January 1997, by Mike Roinila.June Pelo. It is believed that the earliest European fishermen began to fish on the Ontario side…
Farming in North Dakota – Late 1800s & Early 1990s
By Börje Prest, Karlebynejdan No. 40, 2008.English translation by June Pelo. At the beginning of the 1800’s the American country paid a large sum to the…
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…
Fishing Families on Isle Royale, Minnesota
Excerpts from “Once Upon An Isle” by Howard Sivertson. June Pelo. From the mid-1800’s until 1955, Scandinavian immigrants settled on Isle Royale, an island 52 miles…
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…
Living on the Island
This story includes many of the details written in Finn Town and Swede Finns in Mason County, MI. By Leonore P. Williams; The Ludington Daily News,…
