Tuesday, June 20, 2023

June 2023: Join us for the annual Scandinavian Midsummer Festival in Burnaby BC - easy to access by bus or vehicle. The two days of activities include crafts people selling everything from wooden bowls to knitted washcloths, a beer tent, a salmon bbq, a food tent, food vendors, cultural information from the Nordic countries and much more. The full day activities on Saturday costs $15 and on Sunday $10. Children are free. There is no ATM so please bring cash with you. Not everyone accepts credit or debit cards.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Join us Sunday Feb 5th to celebrate Runeberg Day!

 

Canadian Friends of Finland

invites you to join us for a

Runeberg  CELEBRATION


 

An afternoon of Runeberg’s songs featuring the Runeberg Chorus with soloists Austin Doyle and Kaoru Henry.

Piano duet: Janet Mowatt & Austin Doyle performing Tapiola by Sibelius.

Enjoy coffee, tea and the Runeberg torte or Runebergintorttu.

Everyone in the lower mainland of Vancouver is invited!



 

Why Finland celebrates Runeberg Day:

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (Feb 5, 1804-May 6, 1877) was a Finnish poet who wrote in Swedish. He wrote the lyrics to a song, Our Land, which was adopted as the national anthem. His literary achievements led him to be considered the National Poet of Finland. He wrote many hymns for the Virsikirja. He was also a language teacher at a number of establishments.

 

Scandinavian Community Centre

6540 Thomas St

Burnaby, BC V5B 4P9

https://scancentre.org/

 


 

Monday, May 30, 2022

Searching for Finnish-Canadian publications, films and music

Dr. Veli Niinimaa, Ph.D., was born in Revonlahti, Finland and immigrated to Toronto with his family at the age of 14 in 1964. After completing his high school education, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a BPHE (‘73), M.Sc. ('76) and Ph.D. ('79) in exercise physiology. He taught at the Universities of New Brunswick and Calgary for four years. Veli's sport career began in 1973 when he joined the University of Toronto cross-country ski team and coached it for the following five years. His organizational skills were tested when the home team hosted the annual inter-university competitions in Midland, ON. He arranged the race details, coached the team, raced, and even won a medal a few times. In 1978 Veli started in biathlon at a race at the Kitchener Pioneer Range.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Notice of Annual General Meeting - Friday, Dec 17, 2021

 

CANADIAN FRIENDS OF FINLAND

Notice of Annual General Meeting

TAKE NOTICE: The Annual General Meeting of Canadian Friends of Finland will take place at the Scandinavian Community Centre 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby on Friday December 17, 2021 at 2:00pm to:

1)    Consider the Reports of the Directors to the members.

2)    Consider the Financial Statement for the fiscal year ended 14th of June 2021.

3)    Elect Directors for the coming year

4)    Transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

Masks and proof of vaccination required to attend CFF AGM

Dated 10th November 2021  

By the order of the Board of Directors of CFF.                                  

Dianne Kilback, President

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Maple Ridge Museum, Searching for Finnish Heritage in Websters Corners By Dianne Kilback

Thanks to the covid-19 pandemic I had time on my hands to do some research on the history of Finnish Immigrants to British Columbia.  Searching the internet, I discovered the website for the Maple Ridge Museum.  I was happy to learn the museum had the history of Websters Corners in their archives.   Websters Corners was settled by Finnish people who left Sointula in the early 1900’s after a disastrous fire and differences of opinion in the community.  A group from Sointula founded a community in Websters Corners.  I was pleased to discover there was a book Maple Ridge: A History of Settlement at the Museum.  I contacted Val Patenaude, Director of the Museum and decided to buy some copies of the book.  The Museum has been closed due to Covid-19, but I was able to go and pick up the books through the door of the Museum.  There is a chapter on the Finnish People of Websters Corners.   

Here is a quote from that chapter that made me feel proud of my Finnish Heritage.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Operation Ankka - This is a story about a duck. By Geoff Ballance

This first appeared in print in the Canadian Friends of Finland Spring 2020 Newsletter    

 As is often the case with duck stories, it begins on a cool, misty summer morning by a lake in Finland.  My partner Christina and I had been staying at her cousin Tapani's kesämöki, exploring the lake and surrounding countryside.  Perched at the end of a small peninsula, the cottage is situated in the ideal location to enjoy the unavoidable peace and tranquility of rural eastern Finland.  But alas, our time here had come to an end.  It was time to head back to Canada.

I grabbed our bags, threw on my jacket and stepped outside. The faded wooden deck was slowly being painted a polka-dot motif as light rain began to fall. I filled my lungs with cool pine-scented air that crept up from the lake and across the moss-covered forest floor.