6th Finglish trip December 2007 #12
Saima Hyppa nee. Kuitunen was born in 1917 to a Finnish immigrant family. Her father came from Jyväskylä to work in a gold mine, her mother came from Härmä. They met in Superior, Wyoming. After highschool, when Saima was 16, she moved to Detroit to study in a business school. She married Elmer Hyppa in 1946 and Saima moved to Buckley to Hyppa's farm. First they had a chicken farm and later a dairy farm. At the same time Saima worked in a liquor store.
Elmer and Saima sold their old farm and on the land is now Finlandia Estates, a housing community.
They were active in the Buckley Finn Hall. Many of the state's Finnish pioneers came to Washington to work in the coal mines. When some decided to move to the plateau, they formed their own little community, locally referred to as Finlandia. In 1918 they build the Buckley Finn Hall.
Finn Hall was the community center for the local Finnish residents, but it was also well known for its celebration of summer at the Juhannus. Programs, dances, lots of music and great food were enjoyed by the hundreds who would come from all over the Northwest.
Next New England and New York area August, September, November 2008