Finn Funn Weekend 2005 Worcester is located in central Massachusetts, and is known as the "heart of the Commonwealth." Worcester was established as a town on June 14, 1722, chosen the shire town or county seat of Worcester County in 1731, and incorporated as a city on February 29, 1848. The population of Worcester, from the 2000 census, was 172,648. We ten had dinner together that evening at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Joining us was a lady from Ketchikan, Alaska, who told us about her home there. After a good night’s rest, on Friday we were taken by bus to Boston. We toured the city in a trolley car. I noticed a small old building with a corrugated tin roof and a sign that said "Wholesale and Retail Lobster," right in the middle of the city. We rode by many sights, some of which were the Bunker Hill Monument, Charlestown Naval Yard where we saw The Constitution (Old Ironsides), Paul Revere Park, Faneuil Hall, Boston Commons and Public Gardens, and many more interesting places. Our trolley car driver/tour guide kept up a stream of information on the whole tour. After the tour we were hosted to an "Italian Feast" at Maggiano’s Restaurant, which every-one enjoyed very much. Then we went on to the breath-taking views from the Skywalk Observatory at the top of the Prudential Tower. You could see for miles, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the row houses in the old part of the city, which originally were occupied by the "elite", but eventually were occupied by regular folks as the "elite" moved out to Back Bay. Other people went on a tour to Old Sturbridge Village where people demonstrated what it was like to live nearly 200 years ago. There are shops stocked with lots of attractive, reasonably priced items, plus a bookstore, bakery, and coffee shop. They dined at the historic Pub-lick House Restaurant. Jack Smiley, from the Connecticut group, hosted Friday night’s banquet and he was full of good jokes. Bert Stromholm and Brent Buswell provided the music and the food was excellent. On Saturday, the Tori was open, and there were many activities we could take part in. Some of us went to the slide show by Anita Smiley called "Finland, Then and Now: 50 Years of Change" which was very interesting. We learned about "Runeberg, More Than a Poet" and "Finns and Americans in Conversation" at which the leader showed the Morley Safer interview done on "60 Minutes" a few years ago about the so-called glum Finns. The film "Sibelius" was shown, in Finnish with English subtitles. We enjoyed this too, although Hemmo was disappointed because in Finland, the general public knew only the best things about Sibelius, and the movie outlined his whole life, good and bad. Jack Smiley again hosted Saturday’s banquet, with music by Bert and Brent, and a group called Hölmöläiset (The Simple Folk). A soprano named Karen Minkkinen Page also entertained both Friday and Saturday eve-nings. The whole evening was very enjoyable. We left for home on Sunday morning and had a good trip back. We had wonderful sunny weather the whole time we were in Massachusetts. According to informa-tion given at this Finn Funn, the next one will be held in Maine, so watch for your information envelope and make plans to attend next year! |