THUNDER BAY - He is a savior of Finland and all its delicious wine, bravely chasing away the grasshoppers ravaging the grapevines wielding only a rake. St. Urho instills inspiration and pride in the hearts of Finlanders and continues to bring all people together. And he’s not even real.
This weekend, the streets were alive with St. Urho celebrations, including the annual St. Urho’s Day parade on Saturday.
“It’s a really ridiculous concept,” said Heleena Stephens, one of the St. Urho festival coordinators. “It’s a saint that doesn’t exist chasing grasshoppers away.”
The story of St. Urho is a uniquely North American one. It began more than 50 years ago in northern Minnesota and has been held in Thunder Bay for the past 30 years.
Veijo Maki has buttons from nearly every St. Urho Day he has attended, and the hat is weighed down with almost 30.
“Just count the buttons plus a couple more times,” he said. “I come just to relax, come out and meet friends, and listen to the entertainment.”
“It’s just a sense of community,” added Kaija Maki. “This is not a true story, it’s something that started in Minnesota, so it doesn’t even originate in Finland. Finland doesn’t even have grapevines. But a lot of our friends come here too and it’s a way to see everybody.”
And that is what makes St. Urho’s Day so special, particularly in a city like Thunder Bay with such a strong and active Finnish culture.
“I think it’s so inclusive,” Stephens said. “It is a North American tradition. You don’t have to be a Fin to enjoy this awesome holiday that we made up.”
Every year the holiday expands and this year festivities stretched on for four days and included the parade and variety show on Saturday, a market on Sunday, and performances on Thursday and Friday by Finnish comedian, Ismo Leikola.
“I think it’s getting more popular because some of the younger people are having kids who grew up marching in the St. Urho Day parade, and now we want our kids to do the same thing,” Stephends said. “So it’s sort of a generational thing.”
Once again, St. Urho’s shoes were filled by Adam Nousiainen, who has taken on the role of the legendary saint for the past three years.
“If it’s possible, I would like to do it every year,” he said. “It’s just entertaining and fun to me and I just like the Finnish tradition, trying to get it out there, get new people involved. The bigger we get the better.”
And there’s no added pressure leading the parade, Nousiainen said, or recounting the story of St. Urho during a sketch at the Finlandia.
“I like the attention,” he continued. “It’s just fun to get out and cheer and seeing everybody enjoy themselves and just seeing all the different generations together and trying to bring new people in. It’s about bringing everybody together for happiness and fun, and some exercise. We get a walk out of it.”
Nousiainen said it was his son’s idea to have him take on the role of St. Urho, and it looks like it might be something that will stay in the family.
“He goes: Dad, I want to take Urho’s position after you retire,” Nousiainen said. “It’s going to be a little bit to go, but you can do it. I just have to pass the rake on to you. Seeing the enthusiasm in his eyes, my daughter this year wanted to be in it. It’s just encouraging them to come out and try new things.”
And even though Saturday was also St. Patrick’s Day, city streets were filled with people dressed in purple and green, rakes waving in the air, and one giant, dead grasshopper.
“There is no St. Patrick Day’s parade, but there has been a St. Urho’s Day parade for the last 30 odd years,” Stephens said. “I think that says it all.”
