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The board of directors of FinnFest USA 2013 has begun distributing the revenue generated by its successful festival of nearly two years ago. “The day the festival began we looked at each other and said, ‘We’re going to be fundraising for years,’ thinking we wouldn’t meet our expenses. But, people came and we ended up in a very good place,” Jim Kurtti, chairman of the board laughed. Although impossible to calculate exactly how many people attended some portion of FinnFest, estimates run between nine and ten thousand. When all was said and done, FinnFest USA 2013 had cleared approximately $203,000. The first $31,000 was given to the national FinnFest USA board, per contractual agreements.
Now that the FinnFest USA 2013 committee has met all its financial obligations and the books are settled the board has begun to disperse its profits. After careful review, the board decided to give support funds to several Finnish-American groups and activities.
The Kivajat and Loistavat Dancers, two young people’s folk dance troupes who are sponsored by the Finlandia University’s Finnish American Heritage Center, received up to $20,000 in a one-for-one match, to support their upcoming tour to Finland, where the 30-some members will perform at Finland’s premiere folk dance event Tanssiva Turku in mid-July. “We had a goal of raising $50,000,” reports the troupes’ director Kay Seppala. “Without this very generous matching grant from FinnFest making that much money would never have been possible. This trip will be life-changing for the dancers,” Seppala beamed. “We can’t thank FinnFest [USA 2013] enough.”
The Kivajat and Loistavat are getting close to their goal. Their next fundraiser is a pannukakku breakfast April 18th (8 – 11 am) at St. Albert the Great parish hall in Houghton.
The Finnish-American Chamber of Commerce – Upper Peninsula Chapter was given a $5000 grant as start-up monies for the relatively new group. The Chamber is the on-going result of FinnFest’s Business and Technology Forum. Since its inception in 2014 the Chamber meets monthly, has been receiving Finnish business delegations and is planning a trade mission trip to Finland in 2016.
Another $52,000 was awarded to the Finlandia University’s Finnish American Heritage Center expansion project – Home & Hall. The grant will support the development and design of the large addition, and the promotion costs associated with marketing the vision to Finnish constituents across the US, as well as Finland. Duluth-based architect David Salmela, who has gained international recognition for his modern Nordic-inspired designs has already been working on the concepts for the building.
“Home & Hall represents the home of the Finnish-American cultural archives, and the hall is the gathering place,” Salmela explains. “Early Finnish-American community life was always centered around a hall; the church hall, the labor hall, the temperance hall, and the like. The FAHC represents the “new” hall, without any particular denominational or political affiliation, but open to all Finnish-Americans and community members alike,” Kurtti adds.
An additional $10,000 was awarded to the FAHC to be made available at the ground-breaking of the new addition.
All proposals were judged against the criteria created by the FinnFest USA 2013 board, which placed emphasis on promoting regional Finnish-American culture, opportunities for youth and benefit to the entire community.
The remainder of the profits from FinnFest USA 2013, amounting to approximately $85,000 will be reserved as potential start-up monies for a future Copper Country FinnFest, with a stipulation that the board will review the possibility in no less than three years.
