Vancouver Finlandia Club History
Part 1: A Glance Back: 1971-1976
The Vancouver Finlandia Club celebrates 50 years of existence this March, a fantastic achievement! Now is a perfect time to share some moments of the club’s history, as many newer club members are probably not familiar with the colourful past. For the people who were involved, I hope it will be fun to reminisce. As it is not possible to condense 50 years into a single story, West Coast News will be sharing stories and photos from the past in smaller increments in each issue this year. Luckily, a lot of the past has been preserved in large scrapbooks and other archived material. WCN has access to this material and the editor is immensely grateful to the individuals who put so much work into collecting and organizing these precious pieces of the club’s history.
The club was officially formed on March 7, 1971 when the founding meeting was held in Vancouver. The first club house was at 3750 East Hastings Street in Vancouver, but most events had to be held elsewhere because the space was too small. The beginning of the club was somewhat stormy and judging by the archives, there were some hurt feelings and bruised egos until things settled down. However, people recognized this was a new beginning and immediately and enthusiastically got to work.
There were activities galore: dinner dances, baseball, bowling, fishing derbies, target shooting, gymnastics, folk dancing, cross country skiing, archery, library, yearly plays by the theatre group, choirs, music, baking, chess club, sewing circle and much more. It is not possible to even mention every group in this article. In the beginning the club communicated to the membership with a news bulletin called Finlandia Club Tiedottaa, which was typed on waxpaper and then copied on a hand-crank roller printer.
The club was brimming with renewed energy and the club took on organizing the Finnish Grand Festival in 1973, a huge undertaking. And a huge success, judging by the archives. The festival events took place in many different locations around the Vancouver area and had an ambitious program, including dances, sports competitions in target shooting, baseball, soccer, volleyball and track & field, the play “Kallis Rouvani”, art exhibition, craft show, church services, gala dinner, concerts and so on. There were participants, performers, and dignitaries from Finland, Canada, and the USA.
In those heydays, a Finnish radio program started on the CJVB station. The one hour program, called “Radio Finnish Style”, was on the air for 27 years, ending in 1999 and VFC was one of the organizations sponsoring the program. Library was also needed, so the first bookcase was purchased in 1974 and first 145 books were donated to the club. The VFC Library has been used by many eager readers over the years and has remained as one the cornerstones of the club.
And as if there wasn’t already enough going on, in the early 70’s the club together with the Finnish Rest Home Association, arranged direct summer flights between Vancouver and Helsinki (wish we still had these!). These flights were regarded as truly special occasions and often the club held dances to wish well for the trip! (Läksiäistanssit). For many people these were their first trips back to the “old country”.
The origin of the Finlandia Fish & Game Club was somewhat tumultuous, but the club became an integral part of VFC. The Fish & Game Club operated a cabin at Lake Canim, and for many years popular summer camps were held there for children, making lots of everlasting memories. (In 1973 there was a split in the VFC Fish & Game Club, and some members formed a new club outside of VFC.) The club had a Gun Club branch which held many indoor and outdoor shooting events, in 1974 a women’s group and children’s program was added. There are several photos of members with huge fish they caught. The club even sent two beautiful smoked Pacific salmons to Finnish president Urho Kekkonen’s 75th birthday.
In that same year, the War Veterans were officially accepted as a sub-group of VFC. The Skiers group became a sub-group, and they organised a big cross-country ski race at 100 Mile House. Amazingly, they managed to get the Finnish Olympic skier Eero Kolehmainen to participate, and he skied in a relay race as the anchor for the War Veterans. Over 200 people were present and the event must have been memorable.
In that busy year of 1975, big changes also happened with the club’s publications. The last bulletin style Vancouver Finlandia Club Tiedottaa was cranked out in January, and then the club changed the publication to a magazine style format for a while, but this proved to be too expensive in the long run. The publication style was then changed to a newspaper format and renamed West Coast News, and the very first issue came out in October 1975. Seems to have worked as this is how it remains to this day!
In 1975 the club embarked on another massive project, a new clubhouse. A special Building Committee with several sub committees was established and those members put thousands of volunteer hours into the planning stages. There were lots of fundraising activities and hectic action trying to secure the financing from various sources. A building lot was purchased, and grand plans were made for a 4 -storey clubhouse which would include facilities like a shooting range and 24 lane bowling alley. People rallied around this project and with great expectations the ground breaking ceremony was held in 1976. But all did not go according to plan. To be continued in April…
Elsa Marlowe
Reader stories and photos from the past are welcome! Please contact the editor.
For anyone interested in the fascinating details of VFC’s history, an excellent source is the club’s extensive history book Uudet juuret – Uudet tuulet (Reflections), which covers the first 35 years (1971-2006) of the club history in English and Finnish and contains lots of photos from the past. Available for sale for only $5 if you pick it up from the Scandinavian Centre, $5 + $25 shipping if mailed to you (in Canada only). Payment in advance by e-transfer or cheque/cash, contact [email protected] for details.
A Glance Back Part 2 : 1976-1983
The year 1976 started with great enthusiasm over the grand plans for the new clubhouse. Several committees within Vancouver Finlandia Club had been busy since 1975 planning and fundraising, donations came from individuals, and sub-groups donated their proceeds. A property was purchased for $275,000 and the future site named “The Kensington Centre”. Several club members worked tirelessly to apply for provincial grants and secure necessary bank loans, and when the Provincial Government announced in October 1975 a grant of $800,000 was awarded for the project, the excitement was palpable. Bowling lane machinery was ordered from Japan when a good deal was found, and the club even sold bonds to raise money.
With all these efforts, the funds needed to start construction were raised by May of 1976. A ground breaking ceremony was held in June of 1976, a very dignified event with Finnish minister Olavi J. Hänninen attending and taking the first jab with the shovel. Later in the summer of 1976, the provincial government in BC changed. A short time after, the club was informed that the previous government had not ratified the grant and that the new government was now canceling it. The disappointment was immense, and many club members felt defeated.
After the club recovered from the initial shock of losing the grant, the club worked on negotiating a settlement with the government. The compensation received covered only the expenses accrued, and the club had to regroup. It took time and effort to divest from the construction project, and at the AGM in 1977 a decision was made for the then club president, Esko Venäläinen, to continue for a fourth year (bylaws allow 3 consecutive years), in order to get that completed. During 1977, there were still efforts to raise money to continue with the clubhouse project, but in the end the club had to decide to abandon those plans.
Many activities were fundraisers for the clubhouse project, and lots of fun was definitely had! Dancing shoes wore out at the frequent dances, plays were performed, there were various fun sporting events, and crafting, gardening and folk dancing skills were displayed at community events. The Male Choir and Folk Dancers performed frequently, often traveling to other communities, and even abroad.
The club scrapbook is filled with photos and other mementos from those years. Some famous visitors in 1976-78 included Olympic gold medalists Pertti Karppinen and Pertti Ukkola, singers Hilkka Kinnunen and Viktor Klimenko, and minister Kalevi Sorsa, to name a few. The membership numbers tell a story too. At the end of 1977, the club had 1078 members. By 1980 it had dropped to 652, which must be due at least partly to clubhouse project fatigue. Eventually some rebound happened, since in 1982 the membership was at 750.
The Skiers had joined VFC as a sub-group in 1975. At the time, cross country skiing was very popular among club members and there were many high level skiers in the club. The Skiers organized a family Winter Festival event for many years together with the Fish and Game Club. The first ski races in the Interior saw over 200 participants from the Vancouver area, even more in the following years. The Winter Festivals included ski races in many categories, ice fishing derby, ice swimming (avantouinti), sauna, and of course dancing. In 1977, biathlon was added to the events and this created new interest in skiing events, and the Skiers organized the BC Biathlon Championships in 1978. In the West Coast News in 1980 it was reported that the club’s best skiers were awarded with lifetime memberships to VFC. The Skiers were very active until the early 1980’s when interest started to diminish.
Fish and Game Club was often involved in organizing these winter sporting events as well, and they also held their highly anticipated dinner dances several times a year, serving delicious fish and game, caught by their members. The Fish and Game Club held weekly target shooting practices in Burnaby in the early 1980’s, where many biathlon skiers honed their marksmanship skills.
Finlandia Soccer Club had its first season in 1973 and continued for a few years with an all-Finnish team. The Finns withdrew from the team in 1981 after it had become necessary to recruit players from other nationalities and there was pressure to change the team’s name. This ended the support from VFC, and the Finlandia Soccer Club wound down.
Women’s baseball (Finnish rules pesäpallo) started in Vancouver when a team was put together for the Vancouver Grand Festival in 1980, to play against the Eastern Canadian team. The women had so much fun playing, they decided to travel to the Grand Festival in Thunder Bay in 1981. The team was named “Hutarit” and after an exciting and eventful game they won the gold game! They returned to Vancouver with their medals and continued to practice, and the team went to the Calgary Grand Festival in 1983.
The club had a vibrant Women’s Gymnastics group, which was a regular performer at many club events. Their first big performance was at the Vancouver Grand Festival in 1973, at UBC. They participated at many Grand Festivals in Canada and performed locally at the Kitsilano Show Boat and James Cowan Theatre.
The club had started a phone information service in 1977 and this continued until the late 1990’s. There was a separate phone number you could call to listen to taped information about upcoming events and other important messages. Communication before the smartphone and social media era!
Did you know that VFC used to run a bingo? The first bingo game was held in January 1978 at a hall in New Westminster. The bingo moved locations several times before eventually finding suitable premises, and it became very profitable for the club. Running these games took dedication from a lot of club volunteers in the 1980’s and 90’s. Rule changes to BC Gaming eventually transferred these responsibilities to salaried personnel and this revenue stream ended for the club.
The year 1978 was described by the then president, Sulo Koskinen, as “a year of difficulties”. The Kensington Centre lot was sold, the debts and loans paid off, and the dream of owning a clubhouse was put aside for a while. The club had sold its old hall at Hastings Street and managed to find a new place to rent in New Westminster on 5th Avenue. This would be home for the next 5 years.
The year 1979 could in turn be described as a recovery year financially, and very busy, judging by various club activities. From an event list I counted 12 dances, some other parties, Kalevala Day event, Manning Park Ski event, Mother’s Day, Independence Day, several Christmas events, a play, and more. Amazing!
1980 was another big year. First, a Finnish language school was started with Katri Westerlund being the driving force behind this. A teacher was found, and first classes were held in the fall of 1980. This has been a successful endeavour and the school has helped many young people, and adults too, to learn and retain their Finnish language skills. The school still operates, and these days it is called FinnFun School.
The other big thing for the club in 1980 was hosting the Grand Festival in June, the second time the club took on this responsibility. As always, the festival required lots of work by many people. The three day program included multiple sports events (even swimming!), arts and crafts, the play “Miehen kylkiluu”, a parade, and several evening dances with their own program. People sure knew how to party back then.
For the years 1981-82, the archives show the Finnish community was kept busy with events and activities all year round. These years could be called “regular busy years”. During this time, the club was operating from the rented hall in New Westminster, but people were on a lookout for a permanent location. After extensive searches, the club found a suitable clubhouse location, and the club decided to purchase the property in October 1983. The five year stay in New Westminster was coming to an end. No time was wasted, and renovations at the new Arcadian Hall location started on January 1, 1984.
To be continued in WCN May issue.
I will cover the Male Choir and the Theatre Group in more detail in a future issue, and also other integral groups, such as Bowling and Sewing. Some groups are still operating in 2021, such as Purpurit Folk Dancers and War Veterans, and they will get more coverage later.
Elsa Marlowe
Part 1 published in WCN March 2021 issue