Image of Finnish Labour Temple, Thunder Bay, Ontario, ca. 1910 A great opportunity for Finnish immigrant and Finnish American history: Finn Forum IX being held on the campus of Lakehead University in beautiful Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. This cultural studies and history conference is being held May 26-27, 2010.
I have been given the chance to present at the conference and am really excited to head north of the U.S. border. Thunder Bay, in itself, is an exciting place for Finnish immigrant and Finnish American history. There is a strong labor tradition in Thunder Bay, which includes the incredible Finnish Labour Temple (which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary), the amazing Hoito Restaurant, and of course, historic Bay Street.
I have relatives in Thunder Bay, and when my grandpa Neal was still alive, we'd head to Thunder Bay some summers to visit. We'd always have to stop at the Hoito, and if memory serves right, it was family style dining. We had an old bachelor lumber-jack relative who lived in an apartment on Bay Street, which is where the old jacks congregated and ate at the Hoito because the food was good, the price great, and the portions big. Good memories.
More details on the presentation later and for information about Finn Forum from Lakehead University's web site: http://www.finnforumix.ca/. Also, web page about the Labour Temple and Hoito: http://www.hoito.ca/article/history-of-the-finnish-labour-temple-4.asp.
No comments:
Post a Comment