In its 40 years, Finlandia Village has grown from an idea among Greater Sudbury’s Finnish community to a 400-resident community with facilities spanning the housing continuum.
On Thursday, the community came together to celebrate Founders Day at a hall in Finlandia Village’s expansive collection of buildings at 233 Fourth Ave. in the Minnow Lake neighbourhood.
Three founding members, Marjatta Vainio, Raili Myllyharju and Irene Salmenmäki Pakkala, were among the event’s most cherished dignitaries, which also saw Finnish ambassador to Canada Roy Eriksson make his first visit to the community since taking on the role in 2019.
When a group of volunteers dreamed up Finlandia Village more than 40 years ago, Myllyharju said that they never dreamed it would have gotten as big as it has.
Now a resident of the village for more than 10 years, she said that the Finnish-centric seniors’ community has helped provide an important link to her heritage throughout her retirement years.
“Language is important for us because we’re getting old and we’ve got to understand it,” she said, adding that socialization has been integral, which she hasn’t had much of since the pandemic began.
“Two years we have not had anything here, so a celebration is nice – to go out and see the people.”
The three founders to attend the day’s events make up one-quarter of the surviving group, which in 1982 numbered 81. Many of the founding members were in their 60s at the time, Sudbury Finnish Rest Home Society president Reijo Viitala said, adding that they joined a ladies auxiliary group called the Ladies of the Finnish Rest Home Society in making the village a reality.
Thursday’s event wasn’t just about past reflections, however, with Finlandia Village CEO David Munch announcing during his remarks that they hope to have shovels in the ground for their seventh phase of development next year.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has recently approved them for an additional 30 long-term care beds, which will bring their 110-bed nursing home facility to 140. They are also planning the construction of two floors of apartments to help alleviate their waitlist.
“Like somebody once told me, the Finns are like beavers, they just keep building and they don’t stop,” Munch said.
During the morning’s festivities, Eriksson awarded Viitala the Order of the Lion of Finland on behalf of Republic of Finland President Sauli Niinistö. Viitala was recognized for his integral role at Finlandia Village and for promoting Finnish roots and culture through the organization and others, such as the Finnish War Veterans’ Association of Sudbury.
Finlandia Village came about as a result of the idea of establishing rest homes for elderly people of Finnish heritage gaining popularity in Ontario in the early ’80s, which a group of local community stewards latched onto.
The founders raised $72 at their first meeting, and in the heat of a sauna around this same time, Oliver Korpela told fellow founder Leo Raaska that if the community came together to build a rest home, he’d donate the land – which he ended up doing.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation pledged $4.5 million for their first structure; a three-storey 120-unit apartment building with meeting rooms, a store and two saunas which opened in 1985.
Other facilities followed, including Palvelukoti, a supportive housing complex built in 1992, townhouses, and a long-term care home called Hoivakoti. In total, approximately 400 seniors are housed within the Finlandia Village neighbourhood.
Volunteers drove the effort and had a lot of “sisu” – a Finnish word bandied about a great deal during Thursday’s event.
It doesn’t have a direct English translation, Eriksson told Sudbury.com during Thursday’s festivities, describing it as a form of perseverance and an unwillingness to give up.
The fruits of their labours have been impressive, he said.
“When I saw the aerial picture of this, I said ‘Wow.’ I would be glad to have these kinds of facilities in Finland,” he said.
To have a cultural hub such as this in the heart of Greater Sudbury is a boon to not only Finnish people, but also the community as a whole, he said.
“In these days, if you have a better understanding of the thinking in different communities, there might not be these kinds of conflicts we are now experiencing in Europe.
“I think it’s good also to have the grassroots connection between the new home country and the old country, because that also increases the interaction between the two nations.”
This year also marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and Canada.
“Our relationship is very very close because we share the same values, we value democracy, human rights, media freedom, gender equality and on the world stage, Canada and Finland stand quite often together in promoting these values that are important to us,” Eriksson said.
“We both nations feel strongly that we should promote these so we don’t lose what we’ve had.”
These values are also shared by the Nordic countries, which include Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, he added.
“If Canada would be a bit closer you would certainly be in the Nordic club, because we’re similar, like-minded countries.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
