Roots run deep at Finnish American cultural celebration

Published 5:00 pm Monday, July 23, 2012

NASELLE, Wash. Our Finnish Roots Run Deep is the theme of the 16th biennial Finnish American Folk Festival (FAFF). This years festival will be held July 27 through 29 at the Naselle schools, located at the junction of Washington state routes 4 and 401. There is no admission charge or preregistration for the festival.

The festival officially kicks off Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the opening of the Tori, food vendors and exhibits, with art, crafts, flowers, quilts, a museum with a barnyard theme, a gillnet boat, a Chinook dugout, logging trucks, a commercial fishing vessel, Finnish war memorabilia, puukkos and numerous photos.

Local musicians, writers and readers will headline the performers. Favorites include the FinnAm Choir, Wilho Saari, the Maypole dancers, the SouWest Aires Barbershop Quartet and the Naselle Marimba Band, among many others. Dancers from Seattle and Astoria will perform and a readers theater play by Sue (Pakenen) Holway will be presented Thursday and Friday evenings. All women who can sing the national anthem of Finland in Finnish are welcome to participate in the opening ceremony.

The Cultural Programming Series will happen Friday and Saturday and includes a showing of the Norwegian movie Max Manus, based on the biography of the World War II resistance fighter; it is not appropriate for young children, but there are childrens activities concurrent. Classes in beginning Finnish for youth and adults will be on the agenda. There will be information about local logging family camps and other local history, including the history of Bumble Bee Seafoods. There will be a presentation by Bob Goldstein of Seattle of his bicycle trip through northern Finland, Lapland, and Arctic Norway. Other historical programs will include Sami Americans, the Chinook Nation and Deep River pioneers. A genealogy workshop and talks about the kantele by Wilho and Kaisa Saari are among the other many presentations and workshops.

The marketplace includes books, fiber arts, Finnish jewelry and puukkos, Lapland hats, goods from FinnWare of Astoria and prints of the festivals themed artwork by Debbi Littlefield. The FAFF souvenir booth will have T-shirts, aprons, totes, mugs and more available.

Food vendors will offer authentic Finnish and other foods Friday and Saturday, including meatballs, pannukakku, sima, makkara and split and whole pea soup.

New this year will be instruction for playing the Finnish game Palikka. It is appropriate for the whole family. There will be arts and crafts projects for children.

Bill Wuorinen will conduct tours to Toonerville, an early logging camp in the Salmon Creek Valley. Contact the Appelo Archives Center for reservations at 360-484-7103.

The newly painted Deep River Pioneer Evangelical Lutheran Church will be open for viewing from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. You must provide your own transportation.

The Appelo Archives Center, two miles east of the school at 1056 State Route 4, will host a public reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, honoring the performers and presenters. During the reception, a Finnish costume and a 10-string kantele made by Gerry Henkel and donated by Norm Westerberg will be dedicated at their new permanent home at the Archives Center.

Saturdays festivities kick off with a pannukakku and fruit breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. at the school, followed at 8 a.m. by the Paavo Nurmi 5K Run/Walk, starting at the schools Rueben Penttila field. Entry forms are available that morning.

The Tori, food vendors and exhibits are open again from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All day, various performers will share their talents in the stadium, while presenters provide new information about Finnish culture and history. There will be food and arts and crafts demonstrations. The wife carry, Nokia phone toss and boot toss follow the opening ceremony.

The Grays River Grange will serve a salmon dinner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the school commons. Performers will delight the audience for another two hours that evening, followed by a raffle and ending with a community dance in the commons to music by Toby Hanson and the Smilin Scandinavians.

Sunday is a time for worship and fellowship. The Tori, exhibits and food vendors will not be open. An ecumenical service and closing ceremony begin at 10 a.m. The Priscilla Circle of the Naselle Lutheran Church will serve kahvi ja pulla in the commons. A program planned by Anna Ehrlund will follow at the Peaceful Hill Cemetery to honor Finnish ancestors.

Parking is available at the churches on Parpala Road and Knappton Road. The roads meet at State Route 401 by the Bank of the Pacific. Shuttle buses will run from there to the schools and to the Appelo Archives Center. Handicapped parking is available in front and in back of the schools. Only service animals are permitted on the school grounds and no smoking is allowed on the school property.

A complete schedule is available at http://finnam.naselle.net