Lake Worth, Florida 3.14.2012
I was invited to perform in Florida by Kaarina Langeland, the President of the Florida Lake Worth Chapter. Usually my performances are combined with another event the chapter is planning, and it didn’t occur to me until a few days before arrival that the entire event was the concert!
Kaarina and her team spent a lot of time marketing the event and informing people to come. I was astonished at how much work they had put into making the event. Kaarina really has gone out of her way to make me feel welcome, and I appreciate that so much.
I had taken a red-eye to Ft. Lauderdale. I had a little extra time that morning, so I went to Miami for a few hours before heading up to Lake Worth. They were only 20 minutes apart, so it was a great chance for me to check out Miami, where I have never been before, but wanted to see.
I stayed with one of the board members, Eija (ay-yah) Jannini. She is a very sweet lady, who had retired from an over 40-year career at the Finnish New York Consulate. One thing I have enjoyed seeing, as I begin my travels to all the different chapters is how women my grandparents age are so active and productive. What an example to live up to!
These ladies were making decisions back in the 50s and 60s that would be bold in a modern world, let alone back then. But even thinking about moving alone as a single woman to the US back in the 50s and 60s was an entirely different idea than it is today. And I admire these people.
I performed a mix of my own songs, some traditional Finnish songs with my kind of twist, and a few “kitsch” songs. I have wanted to offer a variety so that there is something for everyone. Finlandia, of course, is something most people want to hear across the board… 
The American Finnish Club has a wonderful building for their events. I was surprised how big it was, and that it was constructed completely with volunteer labor. Finns are known to be very good builders, so I shouldn’t be surprised though! I also enjoyed hearing how the women do the work too… I thought I was unusual for doing hard-core remodeling work myself, but I guess it really is a Finnish thing! And in case you are wondering, these women are not “butch,” but rather quite feminine! haha!
My favorite part of all this, is meeting locals. I spoke with a number of people after the show, and enjoyed it immensely. Some are involved with other chapters, as they have vacation homes in Florida. I’m probably going to meet a few of these people at other chapters this year, and I’m excited about that.
One member, Dennis, had made a collage of my pictures he had found online! He brought it to me, and I was very impressed with not just the fact that had made it, and that he had made it too! He had found out that I co-manage Pia Pakarinen, so he made a collage for her as well. Kaarina promised to send them out to me since I had no way of transporting them on a plane.
Before the show, Kaarina took me to meet the Honorary Consul Peter Mäkilä. He was a wonderful person, and very supportive of me as well. I found out later, that his daughter in law is good friends with a close friend of mine, Kristina Duff.
(Eija on my left, Kaarina on right, next to Mr. Mäkilä.)
I had also met Kristina’s parents and one of her brothers while in town. It was really sweet for me to see Kristina’s childhood home and the area where she grew up. Kristina’s mother Kyllikki (kew-leek-kee), Eija and I went for lunch at a restaurant in West Palm Beach before my flight to Washington, DC, so that was a lot of fun too.
Before all this, however, Kaarina had asked me if I would be interested in an impromptu performance at a Finnish rest house for the elderly. Of course I said yes. We had some problems with the sound system when we were setting up, because we couldn’t get the music louder. But the audience, who was patiently waiting for us to figure this out felt that it was too loud! And we thought it was way too quiet! So we lowered it to what we thought was almost a whisper. It was interesting to hear their perspective like that. Everyone says that the elderly can’t hear well, but it takes good hearing to hear music that quiet… haha!
So I sang for them. As I was singing Finlandia, it occurred to me that these were the people who had fought for Finland’s independence, and are the people the song talks about. (In Finnish, “Finlandia” talks about how Finland was able to conquer oppression (Soviet occupation) in WWII.) I also realized that the couple of Americans in the audience also lived through that war. Everyone suffered greatly because of it, and spent a great deal of their youth in circumstances we have no idea about.
They were tearing through my singing, but when I stopped singing, I began thanking them for their sacrifice, and was overcome with emotion myself! It just hit me how grateful I am, and how much we in subsequent generations owe to these people. There was a “lotta” (Finnish women who served on the battlefield in different ways) who had served in Petroskoi, on the Russian side. These people are now weakened through age and illnesses, but these are the greatest generation on the planet. Soon we won’t have any of them with us.
The moment was very powerful. I will never forget that day. I don’t think they know how much it meant to me to meet them. I had only a brief time I could be there, but it meant so much to me.
From there, I hopped on to a plane to the Nation’s Capitol, Washington DC.Story from that coming soon! 
Below a few more photos from Miami!
