Guestbook

Please write something in the comment section.  This is our guestbook.

32 Replies to “Guestbook”

  1. Very nice website.It was great fun goin’ to the Koko this past June. Hope to see more of the Finn Camp in the future.

  6. Thanks for making the website so interactive. Its nice to see the pictures of the Christmas event with the kids for people who couldn’t make it. Also, thanks Erick for taking such great pictures for the calendar, and to Tammie King who did a lot of the leg work. Its a great calendar!

  8. Great job on the website, Erick!! It feels like a touch of home from far away, although I really don’t miss that weather! Really nice photos on Pikku Joulu and other pages; I’ll buy a calendar right away!

  9. Hi the new site looks great, I lived at the finncamp back in the 40s and fifties in fact the color picture of the tower in the second generation was taken back then by my father Ralph Eklund it was one of our summer swim meets. I will always remember those days and hope to come back to Michigan some day to see it again. I am now living in California.

  10. Thank you Tammie King & gang for organizing and chairing another wonderful Winterfest on Feb 7. The weather was great, the sauna hot and the dippers were plentiful. We loved the live reindeer, chili cook-off, roasting marshmallows at the edge of the beach and the excellent raffle and dance. This event takes a lot of planning and work-thanks to all the volunteers who kept it running smoothly, it really was a lot of fun.

  11. Nice site. I am a Finn. My Great Grandmother Evelyn Strang is still alive and lives on the family farm in Pelkie. I am looking forward to learning more about Finn Camp and maybe joining this year.

  13. Looking Forward to Summer 09. Great Pics. St. Urho’s Party was great. can’t wait to fix up our Camp site this year.

  14. I am very impressed with the evolution of your website since I last accessed it about a year ago. I’m sure all the information it now contains is very valuable to your members. As a child in the 50s I spent many weekends at Sun Lake, and I have a lot of great memories. Last year I was surprised and delighted to find out that Finn Camp is still in existence; I was sure it had fallen victim to progress and was now taken over by subdivisions and strip malls. How wonderful to find out that it still thrives and hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Appreciate and enjoy the gem that has been passed down to you!

  15. I enjoy the site. I have been looking into my Finnish roots, and have learned more through this site. My Great Grandfather came from Puolanka Finland in 1884.

  18. I’d like to see a few of the old pictures of DFEA summer camps. I currently have a copy of the July 29, 1923 group picture of members
    taken at Walnut Lake..I love it because it was taken with a slow moving panoramic camera and my father, Onni Feldt, was on one side and then ran around to the other side to be in the picture twice. I too remember being at the Finn Camp in the 50’s and jumping off the tower.
    Been back a few times but not recently.

    Currently looking a my family history which includes Finns on both sides. A few of my cousins (Sandra Field & Eric Feldt) have had a camp site there. I believe their mother Angie Feldt used to help out in your kitchen. Of course I’m more interested in the times my paternal grandfather Rikka Johnson was a camp police and my mother Helmi and father were kids winning medals
    in swimming and other sports. Thanks for keeping things going….
    Melvina

  19. My wife and I would like to check this out, my mothers maiden name was kuopus and my fathers family name was nicola or something like that, we live in s.c.s. so all this sounds very interesting

  21. Each time I pull up your great website, I’m filled with nostalgic memories of my time as a member where I served on the Board of Directors and as Secretary and Vice President for several terms. I also had a camp on the Loon Lake side and spent my special times there as well as with friends at other Finn Camp facilities. My greetings and best wishes to all as you continue to keep the historic Finn Camp a special place to up hold our Finnish heritage.

  22. Unbelievable site guys! nice work. Helsinki snow stream very cool and informative. Lots to see and check out, very very nice.

  24. I live in SW Florida and was in the Detroit area mainly to see Hilma Aho (my cousin who I grew up calling Aunt Billie).
    I visted the Finn Camp for the first time in 27 years for the Luaw 2010. So good to see the Finn Camp had not changed as much as the surrounding area. Hang in there everyone seems to being a great job. This is a shout out to all those I knew and my Aho cousins- Ginger Wing. Love you all

  25. Found the website while looking at Google maps – Spent many hours at the camp in the summer – Grandparents were John and Ella Bailey , Camp 111 (right next to the power Tower). Did more than my fair share of “Granpa’s 24 hours” at the snack bar
    Remember the diving tower well, and the sauna. Haven’t been in the area since 1969, I will return to Michigan the weekend of July 20th, looking forward to driving by and see how it’s changed.

    Regards

  26. As always, had a great time playing with “Hot Kokko” at the dance, jamming at Juhannuskokko (brought two more guitar players too) and later in the lounge! Looking forward to jamming on the front porch with Steve & Arnie at Finn Fest again!

  27. Hello Finn Camp,
    Sorry we´re going to miss Winderfest. We are basking in the sands and sun of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic drinking rum drinks and watch topless sunbathers with Guy, Denny, Debbie, Grant, and Kathy. So much better then Polar Dipping. We all say “Eat Me Jimmy!” Ola to everyone else.
    Deep sea fishing is soooo much better then ice fishing!!!
    Heidi, wish you were here !!!
    Kemmy

  28. Found out about this camp from a fellow Finn I met at a Super Bowl party this evening. Hoping to become a member and hoping to find out more about my Finnish heritage. Looking forward to meeting more fellow Finns!

  29. What a great site!!! Thanks for the photos! I sure do miss being at Finn Camp – and swimming in the lake after sauna 🙂

    thanks! Evelyn

  31. My name is Matt Hietala. I spent all summers at Loon Lake during the
    early and mid fiftees. My wife Dora and I just visited Finn Fest or the camp for the first time in about close to 60 years. It was so great to meet people I had not seen during this long period. It was great to talk to
    Dick and Karen Pype
    Elaine and Sharon Ecklund (to me Elaine was always known as Shirley)
    Tina and Karl Santti
    Yes Tina the Finnish word for turtle is Kilpikone. (grin)
    Gary Mustonen ( I was very sad to learn that Garys cousin Glen had died of cancer. We were always chumming around.
    Bud Herbert
    Pat Cobb (didnt catch her married name)
    The SAUNA was fabulous. I was so glad that it had retained many of its old aspects like very hot “loyly”. My brother Tim who was also with us and I went back and forth sauna to lake many times. Tim even jumped off third. Im afraid I chickened out. Tim claims he used to do a beatiful backswan off third railing but as far as Im concerned the only person who could do that was Doug Vaisanen AKA “Koira” or dog in Suomi. In an earlier E mail, Sandy Vaisanen had told me that Doug had also died many years ago. Sun Lake beach looks like its still
    a great place to spend time and talk with old friends. I would very much like to once again become a member if it just wasnt so far from my home in Marietta Georgia. Well see. Ill have to talk with Karen and Dick about this. I would very much appreciate hearing from any of the old gang . My E mail is matthietala@att.net

    MATT AKA MATTI HIETALA

  32. I just learned of your camp today. I read a comment from Linda Garland and she mentioned this. Happy 90th Anniversary!
    Sadly through the years my family history has been lost. My Mother was Finnish and my Father Italian. My grandparents came from Helsinki. Staying in NY and then moving to WI. My Mothers maiden name was Kivikoski. Many yr’s ago I met a wonderful tour guide who contacted the museum in Helsinki with the name of my 5 times great grandfather. Family rumor was that he was in a water color painting that included several soldiers. It was true and that wonderful museum pulled it from the archives and made a small print for me to have! How grateful I have remained to the tour guide and the museum after all these yr’s!

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