Finnfest.....................................................3Lodge News...............................................4Genealogy Corner......................................5IOR Convention.........................................6Scholarships............................................13

WHAT’S INSIDE:

CVIIl EST. 1906 La Palma, California September 2014 Number 3 www.orderofruneberg.org

President’s MessageInternational Order of Runeberg Supreme Board

continued on page 2

Greetings to our members inCanada, Finland, and USA.

Our August 15–16 Conven-tion in Vancouver / Burnaby,BC, Canada:

I would like to thankVancouver Lodge #124 for theirwell-organized hosting of the2014 IOR International Conven-tion. Their Convention Commit-tee worked hard to plan and wel-come lodge delegates. I’m suredelegates appreciated this effortby Lodge #124.

It is with sadness that I reportthat the anticipated has oc-curred—the delegates, repre-senting their respective lodges,after much discussion, resolvedthat the International Order ofRuneberg be dissolved, effectiveMarch 31, 2015, with the Su-preme Board serving until nolater than March 31, 2015, to re-solve legal and financial matters.

On the positive side, “Pro-posal 4” passed: “Be it resolvedthat should the Supreme Boardbe discontinued, the remaininglodges may continue to operateunder the name of the Order ofRuneberg.”

After determining that theannual costs for the LeadingStar newspaper publication areapproximately $3,000, and oureditors, Dale and Mary Lou

Hjort, are willing to continuetheir service, it was decided toallocate $9,000 (with a smallportion going to our website),which should allow publicationfor almost three years, assuminglodges contribute content ar-ticles and pictures.

There is a new page on ourwebsite to view pictures from our

IOR 2014 Convention. You mayview it by going to our “Home”page, http:www.orderofruneberg.org,and click on the Convention pic-tures page link. Attendees whohave pictures from the conven-tion and would like to share anddisplay on our website mayemail pictures to me(stewlyons@gmail.com). Pleaseprovide a caption (i.e., descrip-tion, names) in your email forthe picture(s) you send.

Scholarships UpdateNote (a) new scholarship and

(b) applications submittal andawarding date changes.(a) $500 has been allocated forperson(s) taking Finnish orSwedish language classes. De-pending on the cost of classes, itis possible that multiple scholar-ships may be awarded, if we re-

2

The Leading Star / LedstjärnanInt’l. President: Stewart Lyons

Editors: Dale and Mary Lou Hjort

Subscriptions payable in advanceOne Year, U.S. & Canada $15.00Overseas $20.00

Resolutions, single column, per inch, $5.00

Advertising rates available upon request.

Address all correspondence to:Postmaster: Send changes of address to:The Leading Star, Attn: Dale & Mary Lou Hjort

7682 Tracy LaneLa Palma, CA 90623-1501

Telephone/Fax: 714-739-0932Email: d.mlhjort@juno.com

The LEADING STAR (ISSN No. 0744-7485) is published quarterly by theInternational Order of Runeberg for its members and others interested in theOrder at 7682 Tracy Lane, La Palma, California 90623-1501.

Correspondents: Information received by the first Friday ofthe quarterly month or as noted will be included in thatquarter’s issue.To correct our listing of your address, fill in the requestedinformation in the form below and send your old mailing label to:

Dale & Mary Lou Hjort 7682 Tracy Lane

La Palma, CA 90623-1501

Name:_____________________________________________

Street:_____________________________________________

City:_______________________________________________

State:______________________________ Zip_____________

Lodge & Number:____________________________________

___________________________________________________

–DH

President’s Messagecontinued from page 1

September 2014

ceive applicant(s). This is a one-time scholarship offer.(b) Application and award datechanges, applying to both ourthree annual $1,000 scholar-ships, and the new languagescholarship(s). Due to the im-pending dissolution of the Inter-national, scholarship applica-tions submittal date and award-ing date changed to 2/15/15 and3/1/15, respectively. Note to USAapplicants: Due to frequent longdelays with mail to Canada, it’srecommended that applicationsbe submitted at least 3 weeksbefore 2/15/15 (i.e., 1/25/15)

More information and theapplications are available at ourwebsite – from the “Home” page,

click on the “IOR ScholarshipInfo” page menu link.

As always, I continue to en-courage lodges to take advantageof their lodge’s web page on ourwebsite. Have you checked yourlodge’s web page? Does it reflectaccurate up-to-date lodge infor-mation (meetings schedule,meetings locations? Is there in-formation to encourage potentialnew members to contact thelodge? If your lodge would likeinformation posted on yourlodge’s web page, email or callme. For Lodge #124, Vancouver,BC, send your lodge informationdirectly to Shea Teixeira.

Stew Lyons

ChangesThere are changes ahead that

have resulted from the just con-cluded 2014 IOR Convention inVancouver, BC, Canada. Of course,the biggest change is in the IOR it-self. Please carefully read thePresident’s Message.

One change to take note of is inregard to scholarships. First of all,there are now two different scholar-ships. Secondly, the timing of sub-mitting the applications is different.If you are applying for a scholarship,please read page 13 in this issue verycarefully which tells about the tim-ing of the application.

Also in this issue is the formfor sending a personal Christmasgreeting.

Please submit allnews, resolutions, and articles

by November 23 for publication in the

December Leading Star

3 September 2014

Report:

Since 1996 at Portland, OR,SFHS has sent an exhibitand volunteer crew to 15

Festivals. The intent was to raiseawareness of the Swedish-speak-ing parts of Finland and theiremigration. This is the first yearever that “Swedish Finns” wasincluded within the range of 5major topics offering dozens of

FinnFest—August 7–10, 2014Minneapolis, Minnesota

lectures. Other topics were lit-erature, music, DNA, etc. The2014 SFHS Tori booth offeredfree family searches, using data-bases and the Internet, project-ing the process on a large screenso visitors could watch. Judi andGeorge Miller, Syrene Forsman,Jane Ely, and Wendy Sundquistresponded to Genealogy queries,map questions, Kronoby craftquestions, and offered SFHSmemberships. Syrene deliveredone lecture to the Genealogyconference Thursday, and one onSFHS’ mission and history for

the Swedish Finn group of lec-tures. Jane attended FinlandiaFoundation International’s dis-cussion the 2015 events to cel-ebrate the Sibelius Jubilee asSFHS’ representative. She alsoattended lectures on the kantele,its history, construction, andperforming on Finland’s na-tional instrument. Wilho Saari,National Heritage Fellowshipwinner from Naselle, WA, per-formed and discussed his work. SFHS Newsletter Volume I,Issue I August 31, 2014Svensk Osterbotten Edition

SFHS volunteers at their booth at FinnFest 2014

4

LODGE NEWSLodge #106Tacoma,Washington

September 2014

On July 20, 2014, some 24members were present atCarolyn Nelson’s home. All of usmembers always enjoy comingout to Carolyn’s out on Clearlake.This year Mt. Rainier was behindclouds, but a few Runebergmembers took a trip around thelake.

Rhea Linden and Monica Ma-son were crowned “MidsummarFlickor.”

Sten-Erik Andreassen joinedTacoma Lodge #106 two yearsago. Sten-Erik is the grandson ofour president, Marita Agnew,and has traveled with her to Fin-land, Sweden, and Denmark tolearn more about his family heri-

tage. Sten-Erik is a four-yearhonor student at Curtis HighSchool in Tacoma, Washington.He plans to attend a universityand major in Civil/MechanicalEngineering with a goal of work-ing for a large company such asBoeing. He says: “Thank you,#106 Order of Runeberg, forawarding me this scholarship; itwill be a tremendous help to-ward my tuition.”

#106 Order of Runebergmembers who have birthdays inSeptember are:

September 8Karlyn Andreassen

September 11Susanne Edwards

September 13Sandra Gustafson

September 14John Sandstrom

September 16Al Ramberg

The next Order of Runebergmeeting will be held October 4,2014, and we will be having aguest speaker according to whatI hear. This will be a potluck af-fair at the church.

Sincerely, Your president,Marita P. AgnewPresident Tacoma #106

P.S. I have been thinking aboutnew ideas for our lodge:

1. How about a picture ofyourself when you were little, ora young person.

2. Where were you born.3. Write something about

your background and share itwith our members. —Marita Agnew, president

Some of you indicated, at the Convention in August, that you would comeand help us celebrate. We hope you are planning to come. It will be our90th Anniversary, as well as the closing of the International, a double party. Mark your calendar. We are already making plans for a good celebration.Watch for more information later. Lorene Mara

90th ANNIVERSARY— YOU’RE INVITED

Order of Runeberg, Vancouver Lodge #124,will be celebrating its 90th Anniversary, Saturday, March 28, 2015,

at the Scandinavian Center, Burnaby, B.C.

5September 2014

June Pelo,A Dedicated Genealogist

Ellis Island is a place of

names. Here millionsof immigrants calledout theirs for the firsttime—proud names,

long names, names that wouldtwist the tongue—before theystepped ashore onto America’ssoil. To most, Ellis Island was anIsle of Hope, a brief stoppingpoint on the way to a better life.To an unfortunate few, it becamean Isle of Tears, a place of deten-tion and possible rejection.

When the great steamships ofthe early 20th century sailed intoNew York Harbor, the faces of athousand nations were on board.There were Russian Jews, Irishfarmers, Greeks in kilts and slip-pers, Italians with sharp mous-taches, Cossacks with fierceswords, English in short knick-ers, and Arabs in long robes. Theold world lay behind them.Ahead was a new life. Gone werethe monarchies and kings, thesystems of caste and peasantry,of famine and poverty. But alsoleft behind were friends and fam-ily, as well as tradition and cus-toms generations old.

By the 1890s steam-poweredships replaced sailing vessels andcut the time of an Atlantic cross-ing from three months to twoweeks. Large shipping lines suchas Cunard and White Star com-peted for the immigrants whowere seen as a profitable cargo.

The steamships could accommo-date as many as 2,000 passen-gers in steerage, so-called be-cause it was located on the lowerdecks where the steering mecha-nism of the sailing ships hadonce been housed. These longnarrow compartments were di-vided into separate dormitoriesfor single men, single women,and families. Jammed withmetal-framed berths three bunkshigh, the air in steerage becamerank with the heavy odor ofspoiled food, sea-sickness, andunwashed bodies. There waslittle privacy, and the lack of ad-equate toilet facilities made itdifficult to keep clean. A RussianJew recalled that “the atmo-sphere was so thick and densewith smoke and bodily odorsthat your head itched, and whenyou scratched your head…yougot lice on your hands.”

By 1910 many ships had re-placed steerage with four- andsix-berth third-class cabins.These vessels served meals indining rooms with long tablesset with dishes and utensils.However, on many of the olderships, passengers still ate mealsfrom a tin mess kit while sittingon deck or in the hot, crampedsteerage dormitories. The Ital-ian lines served pasta and wine,and many shipping lines pro-vided kosher food for Jewishpassengers, but not all shipscatered to ethnic or religioustastes. Cases of malnutritionwere not uncommon. Standardfare consisted of potatoes, soup,eggs, fish, stringy meat,prunes…and whatever food theimmigrants carried from home.

By the time the steamshipssailed into New York, the firstand second-class passengershad already been inspected andcleared to land by immigrationofficials who came aboard.However, steerage passengerswere not afforded such privi-leges and their first steps on themainland were brief. They weredirected helter-skelter onto fer-ries which shuttled them to EllisIsland. These vessels were littlebetter than open-air barges,freezing in the winter, swelter-ing hot in summer, and lackingtoilet facilities and lifesavingequipment. Deaths caused by

continued on page 10

Genealogy CornerThe Journey to AmericaThrough Ellis Island Ellis Island 1897

6 September 2014

International Order of Runeberg Registration, Friday, August 15th:

To the left we see Lodge #205 delegate JasonGarnett dealing with the stress of being a votingdelegate to the convention.

The hosting lodge, Vancouver Lodge #124, did awonderful job of making the convention an enjoy-able event, as demonstrated here by Jason enjoyingthe miniature golf course that was set up for theconvention participants.

The Finance Committee:L–R: Tom Martin, Tor-Erik Rosback,Ed Brannfors, Janet Anderson, andRon Kokkonen

The Nominating Committee:L–R: Bob Anderson, Carolyn Nelson, JasonGarnett, George Nelson,and Theresa Kokkonen

During the meeting, Andy Carlson providinghis opinion on an agenda item.

The Press Committee: L–R: Heidi McCarthy, Clara Robinson, Nathel Martin, and Monica Mason

7 September 2014

2014 Convention, Vancouver, BC, Canada • August 15–16, 2014

The Saturday evening banquetdinner was well attended.

Being entertained with music—Terhi-Miikki Broesma is playing the bassoon.Terhi-Miikki is an accomplished musician,born in Finland, and plays several instruments.In 2009 Finlandia Foundation elected her as“Performer of the Year.”

Stew and Annabelle enjoying the socialaspects of the dinner event.

We had a large turnout for our Sundaymorning breakfast, as we filled three longtables at the restaurant.

IOR Board Meeting, Sunday, following breakfast:L–R: Stew Lyons, Gary Robinson, Dale Hjort,Ed Brannfors, Nils Holm, Annabelle Kergan,Janet Anderson, and Lorene Mara.

International Order of Runeberg2014 Convention, Vancouver BC, Canada

August 15 -16, 2014

10 September 2014

exposure to cold were not un-common. A Public Health officialestimated that of the childrensuffering from measles whenthey arrived, 30% died becauseof their trip across the harbor.On busy days the immigrantswere imprisoned on these vesselsfor hours while they waited todisembark and be ferried to EllisIsland. Sometimes new arrivalshad to wait in steerage for days,prolonging the miserable jour-ney.

When they landed, the immi-grants had numbered tagspinned on their clothes which in-dicated the manifest page andline number on which theirnames appeared. These numberswere later used by immigrationinspectors to cross-referenceimmigrants about their right toland. Though relatively few im-migrants who landed at Ellis Is-land were denied entry, the 2%that were excluded often equaledover a thousand people a monthduring peak immigration years.Greeted with pointing fingersand unintelligible commands,the new arrivals formed a linewhich stretched from the EllisIsland dock into the BaggageRoom of the main building,winding its way up to the secondfloor where the immigrants weremet by a team of doctors and in-spectors who would decidewhich way the Golden Doorwould swing. Jostling threeabreast, the immigrants madetheir way up a steep flight of

stairs and into the great hall ofthe Registry Room. The inspec-tion process had begun, althoughmany did not know it.

Scanning the moving line forsigns of illness, Public Healthdoctors looked to see if anyonewheezed, coughed, shuffled, orlimped as they climbed the steepstairs. Children were asked theirname to make sure they weren’tdeaf or dumb, and those thatlooked over two years old weretaken from their mothers’ armsand made to walk. As the linemoved forward, doctors had onlya few seconds to examine eachimmigrant, checking for sixtysymptoms, from anemia to vari-cose veins, which might indicatea wide variety of diseases, dis-abilities, and physical conditions.Of primary concern were cholera,scalp and nail fungus, insanity,and mental impairments. In1907, legislation further barredimmigrants suffering from tuber-culosis, epilepsy, and the physi-cally disabled. The disease whichresulted in the most exclusionswas trachoma, a highly conta-gious eye infection that couldcause blindness and death. Atthat time, the disease was com-mon in Southern and EasternEurope, but almost unknown inthe U.S. Doctors checked for tra-choma by turning the eyelid in-side out with their fingers, a hair-pin, or a button-hook to look forinflammation on the inner eye-lid, an extremely painful experi-ence. The “button-hook men”were the most dreaded officialson Ellis Island. During inspection, those immi-grants who appeared sick or weresuffering from a contagious dis-

ease were marked with bluechalk and detained for furthermedical examination. The sickwere taken to Ellis Island hospi-tal for observation and care, andonce recovered, could proceedwith their legal inspection. Thosewith incurable or disabling ail-ments were excluded and re-turned to their port of departureat the expense of the steamshipline on which they arrived. In anattempt to discourage steamshipcompanies from transporting ill,disabled or impoverished pas-sengers, an immigration law of1903 imposed a $100 fine forevery excluded passenger.

Medical inspectors developeda letter code to indicate furtherexamination, and roughly everytwo out of ten immigrants re-ceived mystifying chalk marks.This alphabet of ailments rangedfrom Pg for pregnant to K forhernia and Ft for feet. Those sus-pected of having feeble mindswere chalked with an X, andalong with those marked forphysical ailments, about nine outof every hundred immigrantswere detained for mental exami-nation and further questioning.Usually this consisted of stan-dard intelligence tests in whichimmigrants were asked to solvesimple arithmetic problems,count backwards from twenty, orcomplete a puzzle. In an attemptto deal with immigrants’ culturaldifferences, Ellis Island’s doctorsdeveloped their own tests whichallowed them to base their deci-sion on problem solving, behav-ior, attitude, and the immigrant’sability to acquire knowledge.

Genealogy Cornercontinued from page 5

11September 2014

Requiring immigrants to copygeometric shapes, for instance,was only useful for testing thosewho had some schooling andwere used to holding a pencil.

After passing the line inspec-tion, immigrants were wavedforward toward the main part ofthe Registry Room. There theyentered a maze of open passage-ways and metal railings whichdivided the entire floor. Ascrowded as a country town onmarket day, the Great Hall was“a place of Babel” where all lan-guages of the world seemed tocry out at once. At the far end ofRegistry Hall the legal inspectorsstood behind tall desks, assistedby interpreters fluent in majorlanguages and any number ofobscure dialects. Although theinterrogation that immigrantswere to face lasted only a matterof minutes, it took an average offive hours to pass through the in-spection process at Ellis Island.

Wearing starched collars andheavy serge jackets, the inspec-tors verified the 29 bits of infor-mation already contained on themanifest sheet. Family nameswere recorded with care, espe-cially if they were spelledAndrjuljawierjus, Grzyszczyszn,or Soutsoghianopoulos. Firingquestions at the immigrants, theinspector asked them their age,occupation, marital status, anddestination in an attempt to de-termine their social, economic,and moral fitness. Influenced by American wel-fare agencies that claimed to beoverwhelmed by requests for aidfrom impoverished immigrants,the exclusion of those “liable to

become a public charge” becamea cornerstone of immigrationpolicy as early as 1882. The AlienContract Labor Law of 1885 alsoexcluded all immigrants whotook a job in exchange for pas-sage. These laws presented theimmigrant with a delicate task ofconvincing the legal inspectorsthat they were strong, intelligent,and resourceful enough to findwork easily, without admittingthat a relative had a job waitingfor them.

In 1917 anti-immigrationforces succeeded in pressuringthe government to impose a lit-eracy test as a further means ofrestricting immigration. The lawrequired all immigrants sixteenyears or older to read a forty-word passage in their native lan-guage. Most immigrants had toread biblical translations. Work-ing from 9 am to 7 pm, sevendays a week, each inspectorquestioned 400-500 immigrantsa day. Those who failed to provethey were “clearly and beyond adoubt entitled to land” were de-tained for a hearing before theBoard of Special Inquiry. As im-migrants had no legal right toenter the U.S., there could be nolawyer present at this hearing,but friends and relatives couldtestify on the immigrant’s behalf.The Board reviewed about70,000 cases a year, admittingfive out of every six detainees. Along with medical detentionsand immigrants facing a hearingfrom the Board, unescortedwomen and children were de-tained until their safety was as-sured through the arrival of atelegram, letter, or a pre-paidticket from a waiting relative.

Immigration officials refused tosend single women into thestreets alone, nor could theyleave with a man not related tothem. Fiancées, reunited withtheir intended husbands, oftenmarried on the spot. After inspection, immigrantsdescended from the RegistryRoom down the “Stairs of Sepa-ration,” so-called because theymarked the parting of the way formany family and friends withdifferent destinations. Immi-grants were directed toward therailroad ticket office and trainsto points west, or to the island’shospital and detention rooms.During its half-century of opera-tion over 3,500 immigrants diedat Ellis Island and over 350 ba-bies were born. There were threesuicides. While doctors, nurses,inspectors, interpreters, ma-trons, and other staff employedduring the station’s peak yearsgenerally followed the directiveto treat immigrants with “kind-ness and consideration,” the pro-cess of inspection and deten-tion—and the frightening pros-pect of exclusion—remainedoverwhelming. Ellis Island became too costlyto run—in 1953 the island’s staffnumbered roughly 250, to serveapproximately 230 detained im-migrants. The doors finallyclosed on November 19, 1954. Itslast resident, detainee ArnePeterson, a seaman who over-stayed his shore leave, wasgranted parole and ferried to themainland. Excerpted from Ellis Islandby B. Colin Hamblin June Pelo

September 201412

Germans buy Finnish shipyard,land large order

German shipbuilder Meyer Werft will take overa major shipyard in Turku, Finland, officials an-nounced in mid-September, after gaining approvalfrom antitrust authorities.

“We now have a great chance to make the Turkuyard strong again. It will not be easy—the compe-tition in our market remains intense,” Meyer saidin a statement.

Meyer Werft will have a 70-percent stake andrun day-to-day business at the former STX Finlandshipyard, which specializes in building large cruiseships.

The Finnish state will own the remaining 30percent through its company, Finnish Industry In-vestment.

No value for the deal has been disclosed. A pre-liminary sales agreement was announced in earlyAugust.

The September 19 announcement came afterGerman competition authorities approved the deal,the Finnish Ministry of Employment and theEconomy and shipbuilder Meyer Werft said.

The shipyard will be renamed Meyer Turku andwill be headed by Meyer Werft’s chief executive,Jan Meyer.

The announcement breathes new life into theTurku shipyard, which has about 1,300 employeesand also specializes in building passenger ferries.

Due to a drop in orders, its sister shipyard inRauma, western Finland, was closed earlier thisyear.

Following the announcement of new owner-ship, German group TUI Cruises placed an orderfor two cruise ships for delivery in 2016 and 2017.The order is worth almost 1 billion euros. –The Finnish American Reporter October 2014

Norden is a Swedish-language daily newspa-per published in New York in the USA. The news-paper Norden is addressed to Finland Swedish im-migrants (American Finns), and is today the onlyremaining American-Finnish-Swedish newspaperwhich is published in the United States. The news-paper prioritizes news from the Swedish commu-nities in Finland, and news about what’s happen-ing in the American-Finnish-Swedish Cultural Com-munity. It is published with one number per week(with the exception of five weeks during the year),and has a circulation of about 1,000 copies.

The magazine was founded in the fall of 1886under the name of Finska Amerikanaren inWorcester , Massachusetts. Initially, the newspaperwas bilingual, all editorial text drafted in bothSwedish and Finnish. From an unknown date inearly 1887 the newspaper was printed entirely inSwedish. After some years, the editors moved toNew York where the magazine continued to bepublished under the same name until 1935, whenit was renamed Norden.

The circulation was about 6,000 copies in 1920and fifty years later (early 1970s) about 1,800copies.

The newspaper Norden has long had only apart-time editor. In recent years, subscribers havealso been able to read the magazine digitally. Overthe years the magazine has had close cooperationwith the Swedish American newspaperNordstjernan. Since the magazine Nordstjernan

passed a few years ago to be issued mainly inEnglish, so the American-Finland-Swedishnewspaper Norden is the only almost entirelySwedish-language daily in the Americas.A selection of editors

• 1897–1924 — E J Antell• 1926–1950 — Otto A Gullmes•1963–2014 — Erik Rune HermansOf the other editors who have made meritori-

ous contributions to the magazine include Profes-sor Anders Myhrman. – From the Internet

Norden Newspaper

13September 2014

Guidelines for the language scholarship:

The $500 Scholarship for the Cultural Study ofSwedish or Finnish will be awarded to anyone wish-ing to study the language(s). The student must sendproof of enrollment and show the cost of the coursealong with the completed “Language Scholarship”application. Should the tuition requirement be lessthan $500, the asking amount only for the appli-cable course will be paid. The maximum tuitionpaid out for an individual language course will notexceed $500.Important dates:

Application and any support documents mustbe received by February 15, 2015. Note to USA ap-plicants: Due to frequent long delays with mail to

Canada, it is recommended that applications besubmitted at least three weeks before February 15,2015 (i.e., January 25, 2015).

Scholarship(s) will be awarded March 1, 2015.Applications can be found at the websitewww.orderofruneberg.org and look for the word“scholarships.”

This is a onetime scholarship offer.Send completed application and proof of enroll-ment to:

Lorene MaraScholarship Chairperson2021 Palliser Ave.Coquitlam, BC V3K1W8Canada

Swedish or Finnish Language Scholarship

Rules and Application FormThe International Order of Runeberg (IOR) has annually

awarded three scholarships, each in the amount of $1,000,available to all members of the IOR pursing education at aninstitution of higher learning or a vocational school for fur-ther studies towards an advanced degree.

• The scholarship is open not only to high schoolgraduates but to adults and college students who meetthe eligibility requirements.

• Scholarship applications must be received byFebruary 15, 2015.

• Scholarships will be awarded March 1, 2015.• Applications can be found at the website

www.orderofruneberg.org and look for the word “scholar-ships.” Application and any support documents must be receivedby February 15, 2015. Note to USA applicants: Due to fre-quent long delays with mail to Canada, it is recommendedthat applications be submitted at least three weeks beforeFebruary 15, 2015 (i.e., January 25, 2015).

This is our final scholarship.

International Order of Runeberg $1,000 ScholarshipThe eligibility rules are:

1. All members of the IOR are eligible to apply. 2. Applicant must be a current member in good stand-

ing (dues paid) of the IOR and have been a member for atleast one year prior to application. Verification of the mem-bership must be submitted by the Financial Secretary of theapplicant’s lodge.

3. An applicant can be awarded a scholarship every twoyears (not consecutive years) for a maximum of three schol-arships.

4. Impartial judges will be chosen by the SupremeBoard each year.

5. Application must be typed or neatly written.6. Letters of recommendation may be included from a

teacher, employer, or community service supervisor.7. Application must be accompanied with a copy of the

applicant’s transcript, if applicable.8. Write a statement telling why you should be

awarded this scholarship (must be typewritten).9. Send completed application along with verification of

membership, letter(s) of recommendation, a personal writ-ten statement, and transcript (if applicable) to:

Lorene MaraScholarship Chairperson2021 Palliser Ave.Coquitlam, BC V3K1W8Canada

14 September 2014

The SFHS SwedishFinn Heritage Tour II

June 5–19, 2015—The SFHS Swedish FinnHeritage Tour II introduces emigrant descendantsto the “Old Country.” Genealogy volunteers lookforward to researching tour members’ familynames for reunions in locales like Vasa. Proposeditinerary: June 5, 2015, depart for Helsingfors for4 days with guided tours; June 10 drive viaTampere to Vasa (Swedish Ostrobothnia). Four

Erik Rune Hermans The Editor in Chief of theNorden newspaper, Erik RuneHermans, died Friday, August 11,2014, in New York at 83. Forover 50 years this Närpes-bornjournalist has lived and workedin Manhattan, editing Norden. Itis the only Swedish Finn news-paper which was still publishedin the USA. He gathered newsfrom the four areas of Swedish-speaking Finland. Erik Rune

chose not to take retirement andworked at Norden up to hisdeath. He was highly admired forthe work he carried out at thesmall, spirited newspaper inNew York, the world’s center.Erik Rune was a champion ofSwedish Finn culture in the USA.Finland’s news Yle produced adocumentary about Hermans,“A Gentleman in New York.”This April he received the Swed-ish Ostrobothnian Foundation’sCultural Award at the RunebergFestival in Vasa. There arecountless people on both sides ofthe Atlantic who will miss him. Ann-Christine Westerlund, Norden

Obituary

days in Vasa with time for family visits; then 3 daysin Åbo, Finland’s capital city from about 1200 to1850. June 18 to Helsingfors via Hangö, depar-ture point for emigrants from 1875. The Heritagetour ends June 19. More details in The QuarterlySpring 2014 issue. To sign up, contact SandyGaffney (360-748-4928 or gaffney62@msn.com)and Lynn and Lee Thompson (425-746-9128 orLynandLeeT@comcast.net).

SFHS Newsletter Volume I, Issue IAugust 31, 2014 Svensk Osterbotten Edition

Waste powerplant opens The biggest power plant turn-ing refuse into electricity has of-ficially been taken into use inVantaa. The new plant will pro-duce 920 gigawatt-hours of heatand 600 GWh of electricity eachyear by burning rubbish collectedacross Usuimaa.

Vantaan Energia officiallyopened its new waste-to-energyincinerator on Wednesday. Thenew plant is Finland’s biggest ofits kind, and will produce half ofthe district heating demand and30 percent of the electricityneeded in the municipality ofVantaa.

The facility has been thor-oughly tested, with the first wasteentering the system this spring.It’s the biggest investment thelocal electricity company has evermade, replacing one unit at thecompany’s existing incinerator inMalminlaakso.

Around 320,000 tonnes ofrubbish will arrive at the plantevery year, before it is sorted andincinerated to produce some 920gigawatt-hours of heat and 600GWh of electricity. That will re-duce Vantaan Energia’s carbonoutput by 30 percent. –The Finnish American Reporter October 2014

15September 2014

International Order of Runeberg2014 Convention

Vancouver BC, CanadaAugust 15 -16, 2014

1 Stew Lyons2 Annabelle Kergan3 Margaret Stafford4 Barbara Winter5 Michelle Kienzle6 Kaarina Lyons7 Nathel Martin8 Ulla Nelson9 Etel Rosback10 Miia Kronholm11 Marilyn Thompson12 Lorene Mara13 Eric Mara14 Bob Anderson

15 Linda DeVries16 Janet Anderson17 Peter Duxbury18 Janet Duxbury19 Tom Martin20 Alfie Warne21 George Nelson22 Ron Kokkonen23 Theresa Kokkonen24 Doug Hanson25 Clara Robinson26 Heidi McCarthy27 Nils Holm28 Len Tornquist29 Cathy Stenfors

30 Tor-Erik Rosback31 May Anderson32 Ann-Mari Rovatti33 Ulla Hogberg34 Ralf Hogberg35 Dale Hjort36 Ed Brannfors37 Jason Garnett38 Monica Mason39 Andy Carlson40 Gary Robinson41 Carolyn Nelson42 Lee Thompson

Dale & Mary Lou Hjort7682 Tracy LaneLa Palma, CA 90623-1501

Address Service Requested

Christmas is approaching.Christmas greetings maybe sent to otherIOR members and your friends throughthe media of the Leading Star at the costof $5.00 per column inch (minimum).Please write your greeting in this formand mail it to your Leading Star edi-tors. You will be billed; or if you aresubmitting your name and lodge only,please include your $5.00 check withthe form.

Thank you,

Mail to: Leading Star

Attn: Dale Hjort7682 Tracy LaneLa Palma, CA 90623

OR

Name: _________________________________________Address: _______________________________________City: __________________________________________State: _________________________________________Zip: __________________________________________

Greeting: ____________________________________

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Celebrate the Magic of Christmaswith a personal Christmas Greeting . . . in the Leading Star