Happy St Urho's Day!

 I am certain by now most of you have heard of St. Urho!

Now for the St. Urho’s Day Poem

Ooksie kooksie kollme vee
Santia Urho is the boy for me
He chase out the hopper as big as pirds
Never before have I heard those words
He really told those bugs of green
Bravest Finn I ever seen
Some celebrate for St. Pat and his snake
But that Urho boy got what it takes
He got tall and strong on feelia sour
And ate Kalla Mojakkaa every hour
Thats why that guy dould chase those beetles
That crew as thick as jack pine needles
So let's give a cheer
in our very best way
On the sixteenth of March
St. Urho's Day!

Big Storm and Happy St Urho's Day!

 We were spared yet again from a blizzard.  It was sure windy....and some snow came in sideways and blew further into Minnesota.

Jen and Andy returned from their vacation in Grand Cayman,  Sadie is very happy that they are back to take her on daily walks!

I finished watching Territory on Netflix.  It was a limited series and there is no second season...too bad ...because I enjoyed it very much.

Happy St Urho's Day!!! The parade and all the "doings" for St Urho's Day in Menahga were cancelled because of the big storm...they got ice and snow...parade, craft show all cancelled.

Far Side

St Urho's Day

 

In Menahga Minnesota there will be the Changing of the Guard at noon and shortly after that a parade on Main Street.  We have seen that parade in warm weather and with a snow bank down the center of the street.  Finlanders and wanna be Finlanders will be there celebrating St Urho as he chased the pesky grasshopper off of the grapes or so the legend goes...

Sadly we will miss the parade and all the doings this weekend. 

Far Guy is hanging in there, he is spending more time upright and walking around which makes him very tired. 

The parade in 2014

Happy St Urho's Day to you all.  I heard that a news station out of Fargo was doing a story on Menahga Minnesota this weekend. 

Far Side

Happy St Urho's Day!

 Since we are Up North for the Winter we miss the St Urho's Day parade.  It was held last Saturday when the weather was horrid here...we didn't even think about traveling.

If you are not familiar with St. Urho...legend has it that he chased the grasshoppers out of Finland when they began eating the grapes.  

"Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, menetaalta hiiten"   Grasshopper, grasshopper get the hell out of here.

Far Side

Happy Saint Urho's Day!

 Tis the day that Saint Urho is celebrated!

We missed the parade last Saturday.  Maybe we can be there next year! (Photo from last year)

Today is the day that Finlanders all over Minnesota celebrate Saint Urho's battle with the pesky grasshoppers that threatened the grape crop. He chased the grasshoppers waving a pitchfork hollering "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, menetaalta hiiten"...Grasshopper, grasshopper get the hell out of here.

Far Side

Happy St Urho's Day!

 Today is St Urhos's day, the colors of the day are purple and green.   As the legend goes the grasshoppers were eating all the grapes so St Urho chased them out of Finland. 

The little town of Menahga Minnesota had a parade last Saturday. 

The parade lasted about two minutes. 

Men in underwear...the highlight of the parade. 

There were not many parade participants or parade watchers even though it was a beautiful day. 

Far Side

Happy St Urho's Day!

St Urho's Day is a well known day of celebration in Finnish communities in Minnesota. 
Parades and Outhouse Races and Bar Stool shenanigans were held over the weekend. 

We usually go to the parade held in Menahga.  This year we decided that the risk was too great to attend.  Darn Corona Virus anyways. 

St Urho chased the grasshoppers out of Finland and saved the wine crop.

Far Side

The Parade

The parade was short...about five minutes.

A wave from the King...no horse drawn wagon this year.

This group was collecting donations for the food shelf.

Best part was a tie between the dog and men in underwear.

Remember to enter your snow stick guess HERE.
Far Side

Happy St Urho's Day!

We plan to attend the St Urho’s Day parade.  I will have parade photos tomorrow God willing and the crick don’t rise.

What you don’t know about St Urho?  He chased all the pesky grasshoppers that were eating all the grapes in Finland.   Purple and green are the colors of the day…representing the grapes.

Now for the Snow Stick contest!  Please leave me a comment with the date you think the snow and ice will be completely gone from the snowstick.  The winner or winners will get something special from me.  Those of you too shy can email me with your guess.  I will take guesses until Monday night at 9 PM.

Here is the Snowstick History:
2011  April 8
2012  March 13
2013  April 30
2014  April 10
2015  March 11
2016  March 8
2017 March 20
2018  April 22

Far Side

Guesses:
March 26 LD
March 31 Denny   Marilyn
April 2 Lisa
April 3 Marlys
April 5 Cathrin
April 7 Rita
April 8 Victoria Z
April 9 Pauline
April 10 Red
April 11 Dianne
April 12 Kay  Marti C
April 13 Gemma's person   Karen
April 14  Kathy    KCD   Dale
April 15 Phyllis
April 16 Jo Anne and unknown
April 17 Sara
April 18 sillygirl
April 19 Andrea   Betsy
April 20 Unknown  and Cathy M
April 21 Wendy D
April 22 Bonnie   Linda
April 23 Gene B
April 24 Granny M    Carol W
April 25 Joyce  F
April 26 diane
April 28  Barb
April 30 Susie
May 1 DJan
May 5 Sonja

St Urho’s Day Parade 2018

It was a great day for a parade!  The grasshoppers were escorted out of town in style!

Sweet smiles!

Royalty

St Urho

Another St Urho

Some grasshoppers were on pitchforks and others were drug out of town followed by dogs.

Beautiful smile

Flag bearers

Instead of the normal horses and wagon, the King was riding in a pick up truck…I hollered “Where are the horses?”  They shouted back the horses were getting too old.

I think perhaps I know these kids!

It was a fun  parade, Chance was a good boy and quietly growled at all the dogs…with one sharp bark for the last dog in the parade.  The parade lasted all of ten minutes mostly because the Police Officer was driving her vehicle really slow. 

Happy St. Urho’s Day

We got the flag up!

We are ready to celebrate!  Chance and I may have danced around the flag if we didn’t have such huge snowbanks!

The big parade will commence tomorrow…it is okay to share the day with that lesser known St. Patrick.  I am certain that many Minnesota towns and cities will be wearing the purple and the green in honor of St. Urho…who chased those pesky grasshoppers out of Finland and saved the grapes!  I will be taking lots of photos of the parade! We are expecting sunshine and  40F ABOVE zero ( 4C eh!)…practically sunbathing weather.

St. Urho’s Day Poem

Ooksie kooksie kollme vee
Santia Urho is the boy for me
He chase out the hopper as big as pirds
Never before have I heard those words
He really told those bugs of green
Bravest Finn I ever seen
Some celebrate for St. Pat and his snake
But that Urho boy got what it takes
He got tall and strong on feelia sour
And ate Kalla Mojakkaa every hour
Thats why that guy dould chase those beetles
That crew as thick as jack pine needles
So let’s give a cheer
in our very best way
On the sixteenth of March
St. Urho’s Day!

The St Urho’s Parade

I made a date with Far Guy and Chance to go watch the parade in Menahga.

It was a partly cloudy day with a bit of a north wind.  It was cool but not freezing.

This gal has sisu which means bravery or hardiness.  She is escorting the grasshoppers out of town.

There were sled dogs…pulling four wheeled carts instead of sleds.

Men in underwear…perhaps my favorite part of the parade.

 

signs some said “Grasshoppers lives matter.”  “I’m going to build a wall and make the grasshoppers pay for it.”

I liked this one the best!

 

There were lots of kids!  They were throwing candy and beads.   The T Shirts say Sisu perhe or bravery/hardiness family.

Royalty was there.

The St Urho’s Royalty along with Miss Minnesota.

It was a nice parade.  We all enjoyed it.  Chance did not bark at the dogs but he did bark at the horses.

Happy St Urho’s Day!

March 16th is a mighty fine day.

tis the day of the Finns!

Today is the day that Finlanders all over Minnesota celebrate Saint Urho's battle with the pesky grasshoppers that threatened the grape crop. He chased the grasshoppers waving a pitchfork hollering "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, menetaalta hiiten"...Grasshopper, grasshopper get the hell out of here.

The Parade

I haven’t had much luck taking photos at the St Urho’s Day Parade the last few years.  Last year my camera card wasn’t in the slot all the way.  This year my camera went nuts after I accidently hit a setting  delaying every photo…some timer setting that I never use…do do do do.  Far Guy said it was a sign…

Chance loved the parade, there was a whole bunch of sled dogs and puppies…cute as could be, I glanced up a few times as I was trying to fix the blankity blank setting.

The King and Queen arrive in style. The Nytes were busy handing out candy and grapes.

Fun was had by all except for stupid old me fiddling with camera settings.  I finally got it figured out but by then the parade was over. The whole parade lasts about four minutes.

The road on the way home. The fields are bare only a little snow remains.  It is cool with highs only in the 30’s to maybe 40 in the sunshine.

It looks way warmer than it is.  Happy Spring! I guess it is offically here, but it doesn’t feel warm enough to be spring yet.