April 8, 2025

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Hello Pittsburgh Finns and friends!
 

Spring is in the air and the next event on our calendar is Vappu (May Day). Although in Europe it is widely celebrated on the first of May, we will host a picnic on Sunday May 4th from 12:00-4:00 pm at a shelter in North Park. All members, children and guests are welcome. If the weather permits, we will play mölkky.
Please consider bringing a cold dish or grilling food to share--we'll enjoy a picnic potluck style.  There is no electricity in the shelter.  Restrooms and a playground are nearby.  We hope you can come--please send us a message to ask for directions to the shelter, by going to the Contacts, Credits tab.​

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We are currently building a Finnish Nationality Room at the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of University of Pittsburgh. The Finnish Room will join the existing Nationality Rooms which depict and commemorate the cultural heritage of 31 different ethnic communities.  We are working with our architects and Pitt staff on the detailed plans for the room.

 

Our chapter has also been busy entertaining and reaching out to the community. In November, we took part in the annual Open House of the University of Pittsburgh's Nationality Classrooms.  One of our members traveled to Finland beforehand and brought a variety of authentic Finnish gifts to be sold at the table. Decorative elves, advent calendars, and kitchen gifts sold very well. 

 

Finlandia Foundation National’s “sauna week” was honored Feb 16-22. Public saunas in the Pittsburgh area have been quite rare until recent years. Pittsburgh Finns members attended a sauna session at one of the few public saunas available, to enjoy some steam and mingle with other sauna enthusiasts. We are glad to see an interest in sauna beginning to grow, and plan on coordinating social events including sauna in the future.he year.

 

We'd like to thank all members, and those involved once again for their donations and their PATIENCE with the Finnish room project - a project decades in the making, passed on to new generations to come. We should not stop supporting our project and our group.  We are ALL now builders of our ROOM. Also, we need to keep our group going through yearly dues. If you haven’t paid dues or want to make a donation, you need to follow separate procedures for the two organizations we are members of—the Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh Chapter and the University of Pittsburgh Finnish Room Committee.

Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh
Dues are $5 yearly. We also appreciate donations for office supplies, if you would like to add something extra to the $5. 
Make the check payable to “Finlandia Foundation Pittsburgh” and send it to “Sally Morton, 5250 Liberty Ave, Apt 447, Pittsburgh, PA 15224-2380.” 
Finnish Room Committee
Dues are $10 yearly. You can also include donations for the Finnish Room, since all monies sent to our Committee go into the same fund while we are building the room. 
By mail:
Make the check payable to “University of Pittsburgh” and in the memo write “Finnish Room”. Send it to “University of Pittsburgh, PO Box 640093, 
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-0093”.  
Online: 
This procedure is complicated at the moment but will become simpler once we have an established room. We tried it and it works!
Go to http://www.nationalityrooms.pitt.edu
Select the About button at the top left and then select Support the Nationality Rooms! --you will be sent to the page Donate to the Nationality Rooms. 
Cursor to the bottom of the page under the section General Funds and click the Finnish Room Construction link.  You will be sent to the University of Pittsburgh/Pitt Giving page. 
Fill in the gift amount. Click on Choose Area(s) to Support. You will be sent to the page Select Your Area(s) of Support. Scroll down to the bottom and select Other and click Continue. 
The University of Pittsburgh/Pitt Giving page will appear again only this time Please Enter a Description of Where to Direct This Donation will appear under Designations.
In the box below Please Enter a Description, type Finnish Construction Fund and continue filling in the form. 
 
Best wishes for a happy holiday season!

From your officers: Karen Fix, Chair; Sally Morton, Treasurer