Finn News: It's the relaxing, slow time of year for the Finns

Are you enjoying your summer so far? If not, you'd better get out and have some fun during the next couple of months!

There aren't too many Finnish events happening during July as most Finns, both in Finland and in the U.S., tend to head to the lake with their families and friends. In fact, Finland's Finns are too busy relaxing at the lake to even celebrate holidays! After Juhannus (Midsummer) in mid-June, there are no public holidays in Finland until All Saint's Day at the end of November.

Following are a couple of Finnish-American events coming up and a few interesting places, important in Finnish-American history, for you to explore with your families and friends.

Of course, everyone who is American, no matter what your cultural background may be, will be celebrating on the Fourth of July. It's a great time to celebrate not only our country's birth, but also our ancestors of all nationalities who worked hard and sacrificed to help build this new country as well as new lives for themselves and their families. So enjoy the day! Wave the flag! And give thanks for the freedoms we are so blessed to have in our great country!

The Summer Book Market, on July 9, will be a wonderful opportunity to meet authors and purchase signed books. Held from 4-7 p.m. at the Sami Cultural Center of North America, 4915 East Superior St., #205 (use Pitt Street entrance), this Book Market will have novels, children's books, memoirs, histories, and biography books. Featured authors and publishers will include: Baiki, Black Bears and Blueberries, Kathleen Cargill, Holy Cow Press, Katharine Johnson, Thomas Peacock, the Sami Cultural Center, Sharon Shuck, Arlene Putikka Tucker, and Marlene Wiseri. Admission is free and refreshments will be available. It's a great time to grab these special, signed books for yourself or for gifts!

The town of Ely, Minnesota, extends a welcome to you to attend this year's 39th annual Blueberry Festival from Friday through Sunday, July 26-28. This great summer event will feature more than 260 artists and crafters, 30 food vendors, and many local musicians at Ely's beautiful Whiteside Park starting at 10 a.m. each day.

Plan to spend some time at the Ely-Winton History Museum, where you can experience local history from years ago through artifacts, photographs, oral histories, and displays of life among the Ojibwe, fur traders, miners, loggers, voyageurs and immigrants. Many Finns from our area (including me) have Finnish ancestors and relatives who lived or still live in the Ely area, so this is a great place to learn what our Finnish ancestors' lives were like.

Speaking of museums, there are quite a few interesting museums in the Duluth area. The Duluth Depot has several museums that always have new things to discover and explore, including the St. Louis County Historical Society, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, the Duluth Veterans Hall, and the Duluth Art Institute. As this area had (and still has) a large Finnish population, you'll find all kinds of information about how our Finnish ancestors traveled to and lived in this area.

You can also bring the kids and grandkids down to enjoy all the wonderful exhibits at the Lake Superior Marine Museum by the Aerial Lift Bridge. They'll have a blast learning about Lake Superior, shipwrecks, and life living on and by Lake Superior. They will also enjoy walking along the beach, down the pier to the lighthouse, and under the bridge, as well as exploring the area around the museum. Admission is free to the museum, too!

There are other great museums in Duluth to explore, too, including the Tweed Museum of Art, William A. Irvin ship, Glensheen Mansion, Karpeles Manuscript Library, Great Lakes Aquarium, Duluth Children's Museum, and other wonderful places where our history still lives on.

There are hundreds of different kinds of museums all over northeastern Minnesota for you and your family to explore, including the Finland Minnesota Heritage Site (in Finland), the Minnesota Museum of Mining (Chisholm), the Moose Lake Depot and Fires of 1918 Museum (Moose Lake), the Carlton County History and Heritage Center (Cloquet), the Esko Historical Society Museum (Esko), the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center (Grand Marais), the Judy Garland Museum (Grand Rapids), the Edna G. Tugboat (Two Harbors), the Greyhound Bus Museum (Hibbing). There's a museum for everyone all over the area, no matter what your interests are! Make time this summer to get out and start exploring them! And take the time to help your children to learn about and appreciate what our Finnish ancestors did to build new lives in this country, this state, and this area!

Have a wonderful summer filled with exploration and appreciation!