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Kaleva Announces Centennial Summer EventsProject Kaleva is a committee of the Kaleva Historical Society that helps supports the Brethren High School Service Learning Class. The group promotes Kaleva and is working with others to make the town's Centennial 2000 celebration a grand and fun-filled event. Toward that effort the following events are announced:A Centennial Kick-Off and Old Fashioned Picnic will be held on Saturday, May 27 from 2:00-6:00 at the Village Park on Nine Mile Rd. just west of Kaleva. The festivities will include a full picnic meal for $2, music by the Retirees, and unfurling the official centennial banner that will displayed throughout the summer. The idea for this event came from the 1940 Kaleva Festival when two to three thousand people enjoyed a free ox roast and the Kalevala murals were dedicated. Saturday, June 24, Juhannuspaiva or Midsummer’s Day will be observed with a Finnish breakfast from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Bethany Lutheran Church. Following the breakfast all will congregate at the Village Park for music and a short program followed by the “kokko”, a huge community bonfire. This is a custom observed in Finland as well as many communities in the U.S. and Canada to celebrate St. John’s Day.
July 13-16 the Finn Grandfest will be held in Toronto. Several local families will contribute to the Ancestors’ Clothesline, a fabric representation of their Finnish families’ heritage in the U.S. For more information visit website:
Saturday, July 22 is the dedication of all Brethren High School service learning projects in Kaleva. Two hundred students and over two thousand volunteers and supporters will be honored for their involvement over the past five years. Details will be announced later.
August 4 at 7:00, the internationally known folk group, Myrllarit, will perform at the Kaleva Village Park. They are eight individuals from Karelia, Russia, formerly Finland, who travel all over the world to entertain. This special opportunity is sponsored by the Finlandia Foundation Trust and Project Kaleva.
The following Fridays in August other concerts and dramas will be presented at the Log Cabin Outdoor Theater at 7:00. A play about Kaleva’s history with readings from the Songs of Kaleva will return on August 18 and Iowa Rose will perform Aug. 25. These free concerts are sponsored by Project Kaleva.
The Kaleva Days Centennial celebration will be held August 25-27, 2000, with many special activities being planned:
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