March 16 (the day before St. Patrick's Day) is St. Urho's Day, when everyone who claims to be Finnish for one day at least can get together for a glass or more of vodka (preferably Finlandia, of course), sing a few well-known Finnish baritone songs, tell some great Finnish jokes, and retreat to the sauna with a cigar.
According to legend, St. Urho is a patron saint of the country of Finland who drove out the grasshoppers and saved the grape crop, thereby saving the jobs of vineyard workers in Finland.
There are a few problems with this whole legend thing... There is no St. Urho in Finnish literature.
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There are few grapes grown in Finland, therefore there is no grape wine industry. And few people in Finland have ever heard of the day (unless they have Minnesota relatives).
In other words, Minnesota Irish have been "punked" by Minnesota Finns. Can you hear the laughter all the way from Virginia and other mining towns in Northeast Minnesota?
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The "real" legend has it that Minnesota Finns, sick of listening to their Irish friends brag about having a day just for them and their patron Saint (Patrick, if you don't remember), decided in the 1950s to declare their own day.
Later, they chose to move their celebration to the day before St. Patrick's Day, in order to get a head start on the Irish in the local pubs (and to add a little jab to the ribs of their Irish neighbors).
Most believe it was one Finn in particular, Richard Mattson, a store manager for Ketola's Department store in Virginia, Minnesota, who started the legend. Mattson's stories had frogs as the central villains. Others credit Sulo Havumaki, a psychology professor at Bemidji State College, with the story about grasshoppers. Oh, those crazy psychologists!
Whoever started the legend, St. Urho's Day is celebrated on the Iron Range and by those Finns who have moved from the range to the Twin Cities and beyond. While March 16 is the traditional observation day, many communities in Northeastern Minnesota have celebrations going all weekend.
Finns may be generally reserved people, but they are reasonably hospitable. So, you too can get a jump on the Irish. Just put on your best green and purple curling shirt and take a trip to the local Finnish pub. You will really impress the patrons if you begin shouting, "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!" (Which I believe translates to "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go to hell!") Ah, yes, those zany Finns!
If you can't find a good Finnish pub, an Irish pub will do nicely. And, if you hang around long enough, you will have "squatter's rights" to the best stool when the calendar turns over to March 17.
Then, as your Irish friends arrive, you can share this story, which my Finnish husband used as a toast last fall at our son's wedding to a wonderful woman named Erin Riley: "A Finn and an Irishman meet at the local pub for a drink. The Irishman lifts his glass and shouts, 'To your health!' To which the Finn replies, 'Are we here to talk or are we here to drink?'"
Whatever your nationality, to you we raise our glasses and say, "Kippis!"
