FINN SPARK, INC.
Non-profit organization under Section 501(C)3 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code
Kipinästä Liekki – From Spark to Flame!
President's Message 2009
September 2009
Dear Members,
The September meeting was hosted by Maiju Wilson. I wonder if Maiju has ever counted how many Finn Spark meetings she has held in her home. I know they are many. We are very grateful to you, Maiju, for your generosity over so many years.
The Bazaar was the main topic of the meeting. After the official meeting, we enjoyed a beautiful piano recital by talented Francesca Hurst, a Finn Spark member, who is now finishing her doctorate (DMS) in piano performance. Another highlight of the meeting was the pride and joy we all shared as we individually recognized four decorated past Finn Spark presidents, Marianne Parssinen, Ritva Rauanheimo-Butrum, Saga Rinta. and Pirkko Saarinen-Fanelli. As Pirkko was unable to attend the meeting, she had sent us a nice note. The final highlight was the delicious meal prepared by Maiju, Hildegard White, Karin DaHarb, and Tuula Barlow. The recipe for the tasty salmon casserole is on page 34 of Finn Spark's new cookbook.
Enclosed with this newsletter are 12 five dollar raffle tickets. If people buy 5 tickets , they will receive 6th one free. Sell all 12 tickets quickly, then ask for more from Hildegard White. The seller of most tickets will get a prize at our Christmas party. Kirsti Bridges has won this prize for may years running. Last year Kirsti sold $425 worth of tickets! She challenges you to beat her record! Who, I wonder, will win the prize this year?
Our Bazaar is less than two months away. Though a lot of work has already been done, there remains much for each of us to do. The best way to get started is to contact the Bazaar Coordinator, Kati Jarva, our efficient VP, or any of the table coordinators if you know where you want to work. (See below)
The enjoyable tangible rewards of being a volunteer at the Bazaar are making new friends and sharing the camaraderie. If you join the baking team, you learn to make Karelian pies or Pulla. But first and foremost, you enjoy an enhanced feeling of our Finnish sense of national pride for a well run Bazaar that our unique SISU produces. I am feeling it right now, just writing about it.
Raili
April 2009
Our warmest thanks to Mrs. Laurel Colless, who has traditionally hosted
our April meeting, but this time at the beautiful residence instead of the Chancery. After the business meeting we enjoyed afternoon coffee and tea with many delicacies masterly prepared by Chef Mikko Kosonen. Mrs Colless introduced the beautiful brochure of the residence. She invited the members to
view the extraordinary artwork fully covered in the brochure. She also encouraged the members to visit the beautiful garden and sauna building.
During the business meeting, I informed the members that Finn Spark is doing well financially and its membership is growing little by little. I encouraged the members to visit our web site to view the many pictures taken at the Gala, which was a great success.
Maija Wiste conducted the election of the new board that will be at helm as of June 1st. Raili Niskanen-Maultsby was elected as President, Adele Hagen and Seija Levela-Johnson as Correspondence Secretaries to succeed Liisa Thorne, and Hanna Wagner as Director for 3 years, to succeed Leena Thomas. I had the pleasure to present Leena the traditional Jefferson cup, and also sent one to Liisa, who was not able to attend the meeting. My friend, Raili Maultsby presented a cup to me with many beautiful words. I told the members, that my heart was full of gratitude. It has been a great privilege to be a leader of this wonderful organization.
I wish to thank everyone who helped with Finn Spark activities these past three years, especially those who always were there with a helping hand whenever I needed one. My congratulations and best wishes to the new board. Finn Spark is very fortunate to have another strong board going forward to meet new challenges.
Our next bazaar is scheduled to take place on November 21, 2009 at the River Road
Unitarian Church.
It is also time to pay your dues for 2009-2010. Please complete the enclosed form and mail to Maiju Wilson with your check for $20.00 by August 15, 2009.
I hope to see many of you at Tuula Barlow’s home on May 19th. If you are
not able to attend, I wish you a beautiful, blessed summer, be it here or in Finland or
somewhere else just as wonderful!
Kaunista kesaa toivottaen,
Marianne
=======================================================================
March 2009
While I was having fun in Florida sun, I was told that our members had a
great meeting at Joanne Blum’s home.
Our warmest thanks to Joanne for hosting the meeting and to her co-hostesses,
Ritva Butrum and Sirkka Singleton for helping Joanne serve a tasty lunch,
and especially the birthday cake prepared by Sirkka to celebrate Irene Nelson’s
90th birthday. Unfortunately, Irene was not able to attend the meeting.
We remembered Irene on her actual birthday of February 7th with
a bouquet of roses which Maiju Wilson took her. We thank Irene for being a devoted and active member for many years. She also served as a President 1978-1982.
Kati Jarva, our Vice President, who chaired the meeting, reports that there were 18
members present who had a lively discussion about our grant applications, which
were available for everyone to review.
Earlier in February you already received a ballot form with the Board’s recommendations, however, for your convenience we are attaching here another one. Please mark your preference, sign and send the form to Maiju Wilson, our Treasurer, using regular mail, e-mail or fax (703-451-7185) to reach her no later than Monday, March 16th. Should you have any questions, please give me a call. (703-243-7169).
The official voting will take place in our March meeting.
Two important votes took place in this meeting: a vote was needed to allow one Board
position to extend one more year beyond 3 years. Unanimous vote was received for this one time extension for the position of Treasurer. Another vote concerned whether to hold a bazaar in 2009. Again, unanimous vote was in favor of holding the bazaar on November 21, 2009 at the River Road Unitarian Church.
Finn Spark 60th Anniversary Gala was discussed. Our Committee Chair, Hanna Wagner, informed the members that the program, music, singers and caterer have been engaged. Reservation forms and information will be mailed to members in a separate mail in March.
Many thanks to our nominating committee, Maija Wiste and Renata Shaw for having successfully completed the slate of candidates for all slots. However, the slate is open and the committee will still accept names for the April election of a new Board.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at Karin Rahkonen’s on March 17th.
Lampimin terveisin,
Marianne
======================================================================
February 2009
Dear Members:
Happy 60th Anniversary to Finn Spark on February 3, 2009!
Our warm thanks go to Leena Thomas for hosting our January meeting, and to her most capable co-hostesses, Tuula Barlow and Karin DaHarb, who helped Leena to serve us delicious pea soup followed by
pannukakku with jam and whipped cream. It was nice to have a pre-Laskiainen!
Warm regards from Etel Valtasaari, whom I met briefly at Stockmann’s and Tello Anttila, with whom I had a chance to talk on the phone. Tello was very impressed with our results of the Bazaar and she wished us continued success.
I also visited Hotel Helka, and was very impressed by the beautiful rooms.
Sirpa will be warmly welcomed there by the Hotel Director, Henry Laine.
Our grant applications deadline ended January 31st.
The Board is in process of reviewing them. You will receive the descriptions as well as the Board’s recommendations in our February meeting. Your voting ballots will be with the March newsletter, and as usual, we will allocate the grants at the March meeting.
As a program in our meeting we had Emily Channell’s presentation of her paper “Sauna, Sisu ja Suomi: Representation of Finland Among Finnish-American Women in Washington, D.C.” Emily is an anthropological student at the American University. She visited our meetings on several occasions and has interviewed our members for her project. I like to share the conclusion of her paper with you: “Throughout this project, I have discovered strong connections among three groups of Finns: Finns living in Finland, early immigrants from Finland who arrived in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and “recent” immigrants from Finland, these members of Kipina-Kerho who are part of the middle-and upper-class Washington, D.C. area society. All of the people in these groups share a pride in being Finnish and this unique ability to preserve, the sisu that has always held the numerous “imagined communities” of Finland together. While the Finnish-American community must be defined as having a constantly changing culture and identity in order to recognize the process that creates it, there are certain tenets of Finnishness that allow
Kipina-Kerho to exist and provide its members with a space to share this Finnishness.
As the “sparks” of this club age, however, new Finnish-American identities will be born among their children, and it remains to be seen if these identities will have the same foundation as those of their mothers.”
Let’s do our utmost that our 60 year old spark will continue to stay alive for years to come!
Marianne
=====================================================================
January 2009
Dear Members:
It has become a nice tradition to meet at Luanne Ruona’s beautifully decorated home for our December meeting, which was well attended. Many thanks to Luanne for having us again this year. Also thanks to our members’ tasty contributions, our Christmas potluck table was delicious and plentiful. Our appreciation goes to Leena Thomas and her daughter, Sarah, for making sure that everything was in order and run smoothly.
It was time for us to celebrate the fine results of the Bazaar!
Maiju Wilson, our treasurer, gave us preliminary numbers of the Bazaar proceeds which I would estimate to yield roughly $17,000 for grants! How absolutely amazing!
As a reminder, the grant applications must reach us by January 31, 2009.
Our congratulations to Kirsti Bridges who again this year sold the most raffle tickets. She was warmly applauded for her fine results. The prize will follow!
It is time for our nominating committee to get to work. Kindly, Maija Wiste and Renata Shaw have accepted to serve on this committee and they will be calling some of you to take a place as a Board Member of Finn Spark. Please be available to give your time for a good cause!
As I write this, we are at the door of a New Year 2009, which will be the 60th Anniversary year of this fine organization I hope you have marked your calendar to be at the Embassy of Finland on April 18th to celebrate this great milestone!
From beautiful post card scenery in Finland I am sending my best wishes to you all for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Onnellista ja Siunausrikasta Uutta Vuotta 2009 teille kaikille!
Marianne
.
Link to President's Corner for 2008 click here
