President's Letter 

FFFC President
Dr. Kaarina Langeland

 Finlandia Foundation Florida Chapter was founded in 1954 and has evolved over the past 60 years from an active social club to becoming an IRC 510(c)3 modern, independent public charity organization. Its mission is to sustain Finnish and Finnish-American culture and Finnish language in Florida, to maintain ancestral ties with present-day Finland, and raise funds for educating young Finnish-American students in Florida.

 The annual Charity Gala is the main source of income for the chapter activities. In 2014, our 60th anniversary year, the Chapter provided five

$1000 scholarships for college students and two scholarships for students to attend Salolampi Finnish language immersion courses in Northen Minnesota. From the proceeds of the 2015 gala the Chapter awarded six $1000 scholarships.

 Since 2011 the FFFC Mission has also been to promote the present-day Finland as a globally competetive  country. After paying the war reparation following the Second World War Finland has distinguished itself in many areas, such as high-technology, health education, environment sustainability, not to talk about the Finnish education which is according to recent studies world’s best. Finns are even among the happiest happiest people in the world. In the European Union Finland has been one of the few countries supporting the Union.

Understandably, it has been easy for the FFFC board to choose every year a new theme of the Finnish society to be carried out in the newsletter Finlandia Foundation Florida News as well as arranging the meetings and other activities. Finland, Education Superpower, Finland in  European Context, Finnish Art Goes Global, Go Green with Nature, Lifelong Learning, and Sibelius Goes Global have been the themes in recent years. In 2016  the theme is Finland at the Fore Front of Personal Health and Fitness, and 2017 it will be Sisu 100, Finland's 100th Anniversay Celebration. 

FINLANDIA FOUNDATION FLORIDA CHAPTER IS A TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATION

EVENTS

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2016 Charity Gala ”Vappu in November”
Traditional Finnish Spring Celebration

Friday, November 18, 2016

Atlantis Country Club
1900, Atlantis Blvd, Atlantis

  Click the photo for more pictures...

2016 October Finnish-English Bilingual Meeting

Thursday, October 20, 2016, 6pm @  Kerhotalo
Dr. Kaarina Langeland: “kunnossa Kaiken Ikää”

Movie "Aatsinki"

JANUARY 2013 MEETING INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday,  January 23, 2013
Time: 6-8 pm.
Location: Suomi Talo, 301 W. Central Finlandia Ave, Lantana
We warmly welcome Professor Dr. Johanna Lasonen from University of South Florida,Tampa, as our guest speaker.

Theme: Lifelong Learning – “Oppiaikakaikki”
Music Performer: FFFC troubadour Mikko Manninen
Refreshments will be served. All welcome!
 

FEBRUARY 2013 MEETING INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2013
Time: 6-8 pm.Location: Suomi Talo
Speaker: FFFC President Kaarina Langeland: American Observations of Finnish culture
Music performer: Unto Haapa-aho (from Finland)
Refreshments! Welcome!!
 

MARCH 2013 INFORMATION
Saturday, March 23, 2013 : FF National 60^th Anniversary Gala Celebration with concert
The Westin, Pasadena, CA. Additional Events at Paloheimo Home, Pasadena Museum of History
For details: phone 626-795-2081 or email: office@finlandiafoundation.org.
Let’s all  head for California in March!
 

APRIL 2013 MEETING INFORMATION
Date: Thursday, April 11, 2013
Time: 6-8 pm.
Location: Suomi Talo
Theme: Annual Meeting
 

Friday, November 30, 2013, from 6-11.30 P.M.
CELEBRATION OF FINLAND’S  95^th  INDEPENDENCE  DAY

The Annual Charity Gala to benefit educational activities and programs was held on Novembert 30^th, 2012 the second time at the Airport Hilton Hotel, West Palm Beach. Almost two hundred guests enjoyed an evening of wonderful music, guest speakers, and fine food.

The evening began with a cocktail hour with delicious hors d’oeuvre by Hilton. Mikko Manninen, the FFFC candidate for the FFN Performer of the Year, delighted the audience with American and Finnish tunes. After the National Anthems the Honorary Guests, Her Excellency Ambassador Ritva Koukku-Ronde from Washington D.C, The FFN President Anita Smiley and the Patron of the Gala, Consul Peter Makila were introduced.  The Celebration of Finland’s 95^th Independence Anniversary was a good time to remember how the Finns fought courageously against immense odds and successfully retained the independence. Today, Finland has a globally competitive economy with strong social safety net.

The Finnish-Americans have an important role as ambassadors for Finland and Finnish culture  thus supporting Finlandia Foundations efforts to preserve Finnish Language and Culture in the United States. The lecture on Sibelius and the Finnish Awakening by Dr.Glenda Dawn Goss , the FFN  Lecturer of the Year was a highlighted performance. Floridan Laulumiehet Trio sang serenades to the ladies and Joe Spitale provided good dance music. It was a very successful Charity Gala.

Click the photo on left for more pictures...

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 from 6-8 P.M.
Dr.Tiina Ojanen
Finland’s School Success: - Comparisons to the U.S. Education System
Suomi Talo, (Finland House)
301 W. Central Finlandia Blvd., Lantana

2012 FFFC jakoi ensimmäistä kertaa 1000 Dollarin stipendin yliopisto-opiskelua varten. Sen sai lahjakas Teo Kyotikki, joka opiskelee kauppatieteita  Floridan yliopistossa Gainesvillessa . Tämänvuotiset Salolampi stipendiaatit ovat Justin Weir ja Kim Mustonen, jotka menevat kahden viikon kielikylpykurssille Concordia Language Villageen Minnesotaan. The Finnish Collection transferred from PBSC to the Suomi Talo The Finlandia Foundation Florida Chapter collection including Finnish and English books  (over 1000 volumes) has been donated to the Suomi Talo. The PBSC could not store the books any longer since nobody read them. Now they are located at the Suomi Talo library for the easier community use.

Maila Smith is the Volunteer of the Year 2012 for his contributions to Finlandia Foundation.

The Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year Maria Kizirian's concert in March  was a highlight of the spring program.

In February we organized the Finnish-American Authors' Forum. At this event, author Dr. Steve Lehto discussed his book Shortcut, which is about Michigan Copper Country's mining history. In the lively panel discussion that followed, five other authors--Frank Antilla, Liisa Pasila, Mauno Laurila and John Johnson--presented their memoir books of life in America.

FFFC NEWSLETTER of January. 2012 CAN READ FROM THIS LINK (PDF format, tabloid size paper). The newsletter is in two parts:
Part1
Part2

Translation of the article by Pekka Aukia
Translation of the article by  Paivi Lipponen
 

ROOTS IN FINLAND. Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 6PM at Suomi Talo, Lantana, FL. At that meeting. Mr. Matti Korpinen from Finland will teach us how to conduct the genealogical research of our own to find our roots in Finland.
 

FFFC NEWSLETTER OF SEPT. 2011 CAN READ FROM THIS LINK (PDF format, tabloid size paper)

2011 NOVEMBER 18: Annual Charity Gala
to benefit educational and cultural activities and programs
Friday, November 18, 2011, Airport Hilton, West Palm Beach, Florida
Dinner and entertainment, $60 per person
Gentlemen: Jackets, please.

Click to enlarge the poster

Click the photo on left for more pictures... 

2011 OCTOBER 12: Finlandia Foundation National President to speak
Our first program of the 2011-1012 season will be an illustrated talk by the president of : the Finlandia Foundation National, Anita Smiley.

Anita’s life has truly been an endless journey through Finland and Finnish America. Endless because for decades (at least) what she has seen and done and learned will be remembered and appreciated by many, many people.

We are looking forward to Anita's illustrated talk, My Vision  of Finland,  at  Finland House, (Suomi Talo) in Lantana from 6 to 8 P.M. on Wednesday October 12. It is free and open to the public, so please plan to attend and bring others with you, also non-Finns. Coffee and pulla will be served.

THE FINLANDIA FOUNDATION FLORIDA CHAPTER HONORED TIMO VAINIONPAA  AS THE 2011 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR IN RECOGNITION OF HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICE PROMOTING AND PRESERVING FINNISH CULTURE. TIMO WAS THE SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION  2007-08-09 AND HAS WORKED WITH OUR WEB SITE AND PUBLICITY SINCE THAT.

DEATH'S DOOR
Steven Lehto has recently moved to this area from Michigan and we were pleased that we could include him in our program this year. Steve is a lawyer, professor and historian who has done important research on the Italian Hall tragedy of 1913 and the truth behind it.
He will discuss his research as well as his book on the subject.
THURSDAY MARCH 24^TH 2011  6:00 PM
AFCC – KERHO TALO
908 LEHTO LANE
LAKE WORTH

2011, FEBRUARY 3:  Wilho Saari, Finlandia Foundation National Performer of the Year and a noted kantele virtuoso,  performed at Suomi Talo at 6:00 p.m. Wilho Saari has written more than 2,400 songs for the kantele and has recorded two CDs. He is the fifth-generation of kantele players in his family.

2011 JANUARY 27: Lee Alperin repeated his presentation entitled The Jews of Finland, which focuses on the treatment of Jews in Finland during the Second World War. His talk  will be delivered at the Jewish Community Center in Boynton Beach, 8500 Jog Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33472, at 2:00 p.m.

2011 JANUARY 7:  To begin with, Finlandia Foundation National Lecturer of the year 2011, Dr. Carl Rahkonen, an ethnomusicologist on the faculty of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, presented a lecture at Suomi Talo at 6:00 p.m. on Finnish-American Music, sharing his expertise in folk music traditions.

JANUARY 8:  Dr. Sharon Franklin-Rahkonen, a historian, also on the faculty of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, spoke at Kerhotalo on the Finnish Civil War at 5:00 p.m..

FFFC organized the Annual Gala Dinner in November 2010 with magnificent musical program and Keynote remarks honoring 175 years of Kalevala Click the photo for more pictures...

THE FINLANDIA FOUNDATION FLORIDA CHAPTER NAMED PETER MAKILA  THE 2010 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR IN RECOGNITION OF HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICE PROMOTING AND PRESERVING THE FINNISH CULTURE.

OUR Programs 2010 NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN READ IT FROM THIS LINK

FFFC organized the Annual Gala Dinner in November 2009.  Click the photo for more pictures... In picture FFFC president Juha Makipaa, Ex-FF National president John Laine and Honorary Consul of Finland Peter Makila

Seppo Palokas is the Volunteer of the Year 2009 for his contributions to Finlandia Foundation during the years.

International Education and Cultural Meet and Greet
What makes the Finns so successful in educating kids?
Monday, April 6, 2009, 3:30 to 5:30 pm  
Recent results for PISA (Programme for International
Student Assessment) report that Finnish students
outperform all other OECD countries. 
Explore the “Finnish Model” with Virpi Sanders,
International Affairs Coordinator, Project Manager in
Department of Education.
PBCC James L. Wattenbarger Conference Center, Lake Worth Campus
Download presentation here

Finnish and Finnish American Resources
Finnish Collection

The Finnish Collection, located on the Lake Worth Campus of Palm Beach Community College, is a special collection of materials that include books, music and artifacts available for community use.  The Harold C. Manor Library is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.   Visitor parking is available on the South side in front of the Administration building.  Visit the website below for more information about the library and community resources.
http://www.pbcc.edu/x14791.xml

Finlandia Foundation Florida Foundation presented Susan Saarinen (granddaughter of Eliel and daughter of Eero Saarinen) for a lecture at the Norton Museum of Art on Saturday March 14^th at 10:30 a.m.   This was a scholarship fundraising benefit for Finlandia Foundation Florida Chapter.  You can see some photos from this event at this link
 

FFFC was the cultural Organization that helped Lake Worth Middle School to present Finland. The students build the miniature replica of Helsinki Railway Station and learnt Finnish language, habits, songs and dances.
Pictures again available by clicking the picture on the left.
 

FFFC organized the Annual Gala Dinner in November 2008. The keynote speaker was His Excellency Ambassador Pekka Lintu. Magnificent musical program was starred by Cynthia Makris, Raimo Sirkiä and Eino Grön. Click the photo for more pictures...

Terttu Voskressensky is the Volunteer of the Year 2008 for her long time contributions to Finlandia Foundation activities

Click here to see the photos from the events.

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NEWSLETTER OF MARCH. 2008 CAN READ FROM THIS LINK (PDF format, tabloid size paper)

FFFC was be the main organizer of the Events of the December the 6th 2007, the 90th Day of Independence Of Finland in Florida Click the picture to see Photos.

NEWSLETTER OF SEPT. 2007 CAN READ FROM THIS LINK (PDF format, tabloid size paper)

Alice Osman is the Volunteer of the Year 2007 for her contributions to Kaleidoscope.

OUR DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2006. YOU CAN READ IT FROM THIS LINK

Look at Gala 2006 Event Photos in USAsuomeksi.com PictureBank (11/2/2006)

OUR FIRST NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2006 YOU CAN READ IT FROM THIS LINK