Viikkosanomat, September 29, 1980

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VVEBSTERS CORNERS MARKS HISTORIC
65th and 75th ANNIVERSARIES
On September 7 1980 an
historic and memorable
occasion was held at Websters
Corners Sampo Hall to mark
the 65th anniversary of the hali
and the 75th of the arrival of the
fiist Finnish settlers to the
district The tables were cover-e- d
vvith red cloths to give color
to the occasion with vases of
flowers The guest book at a
separate table covered with a
Finnish linen cloth and where
stood the Finnish and Canadian
flags a wooden 'tuoppi' and a
copy öf the Kalevala to signify
the 'Kalevan Kansa' On the
vvalls were enlarged photos of
Matti Kurikka and other pic-tur- es
from the early times The
hali had a festive atmosphere
and the clouds cleared vvith the
sunshine as nearly 300 people
packed the hali beginning with
a luncheon at 12 noon
Many descendants of those
first 'Sammon Takojat' attend-e- d
along vvith other early re-side- nts
Everyone had a com-memorati- ve
ribbon pinned to
their lapel and when Minda Ka-tainen
entered the hali she had
a corsage pinned to her dress
and was escorted to her place It
was agreed there vvould be no
'head table' as there are too
many deserving people to have
been so honored so everyone
was equally treated
Master of Ceremomes Os-mo
Lahti opened the program
with a toast to the memory of
those first settlers:
On this the 65th anniver-sary
of Sampo Hall and the
75th anniversary of the arrival
of the first Finns to Websters
Corner I would like to propose a
toast:
— to the far-sight- ed pio-nee- rs
that saw to it that this hali
was build
— this hali has been and still
is a catalyst for the preservation
of the rich language and cultural
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heritage of the Finnish people in
their adopted land Canada
— this hali has from its
inception championed the de-mocra- tic
and social rights of ali
Canadians
A toast to 'Sammon Tako-jat'
and ali the other Finnish-Canadia- ns
in this community
who have made great con-tnbuti- on
to our province'
Intermittently dunng the
program and speeches gree-tin- gs
were read from the TPK
Toronto (central committee of
FOC) the Sudbury Local
No 16 signed by J Miettinen
and other Finnish groups the
Cambie Hall Society of B C
signed by Sirviö The Finnish
Consul Keijo Seppälä of Van-couver
Mrs Taimi Halonen
spoke on behalf of guests from
Seattle Wash USA
Alderman Austin Peiton
brought greetings on behalf of
the Maple Ridge municipal
council Ina (Bell) MacLeod
born in 1911 in Websters
Corners gave short history
over the past 75 years up to the
present time Alex Meek
Scotsman played several se-lecti- ons
on his accordion
including 'Life in the Finland
Woods' — he played for dances
at the hali for several years
Then Minda Katainen an
honoured guest spoke of her ex-perien- ces
of those early times
and mentioned that her sister-in-la- w
Army Skytte 92 years
and herself 88 years must have
strayed from the flock as they
are the only two left of the
original group Armi was un-ab- le
to attend for health re-aso- ns
Minda's daughter Hel-mi
translated her speech into
English David Derozio
grandson of Matti Varila sang
accompanied by guitar Next
Ernie Adair past president of
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In iHliiimmi onthprpri in thp Snmnn Hall
to join Ihe anniversary celebrations
the Malpe Ridge Historical So-ciety
offered his congratula-tion- s
He mentioned the hard
work of the Finnish people in
the preservation of their fine
arts athletics etc and added
even the Finnish haystacks
(seipäät) stand high in his me-mori- es
The Sampola girls sang
three selections accompanied
by Eila Male on the piano Don
Wilson a historian of Univer-sity
of B C who speciahzes in
the history ofthe Finnish people
addressed the audience and
mentioned that the Sampo Hall
could possibly be designated an
historical site Next Martha
Saan recited a poem vvritten
especially for the occasion
Greetings and an inspinng
topical anti-w- ar poem was
rendered by Kerttu van Ermen
of Seattle Wash on behalf of
the Finnish community there
The remainder of the after-noo- n
was spcnt in reminiscing
of days gone by and greeting
friends after 40 and 50 years at
this re-uni- on The hali was filled
with a warm glow of friendship
If those walls could speak of
what people and events they
could teli! Many months of pre-parati- on
vvent into the planning
of this momentous occasion and
hard work before and dunng
the big day— there was much
voluntary helpgiven vvhich was
greatly appreciated The meal
was catered by Jydy Nordin of
Langara College Vancouver
The younger people wished
to pay their respects to those
first far-seei-ng idealistic
settler YVe had excellent pub-licit- y
and coverage from the
local newspapers and Cable
Television who came to film the
event and Vancouver Finnish
Radio program This double
anniversary was declared a
complete success
This author was one of the
'Finn kids' who grew up around
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EILA MALE a Finn vvho was raised in Webster's Corner
displays a 60 year old Finnish Costume known as Orimattila
vvhich was owned by her mother She is olso vvearing birch
bark shoes vvhich her mother made and is holding a linen
scarf vvhich was made by h'er great greatgrandmother over
130 years ago
the hali and that can be taken another and my grandson for
literally as ve spent so much escorting his great-grandfath- er
time there as children — it was into the hali Eläköön!
our 'second home' Thank you
to ali and to my children for
contributing one way or ElL MALE
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Minda Katainen now 88 and the last of the early
Finnish Websters Corners settlers left in the area was 20
years old in tls picture which was taken just before she
left Finland to come to Canada