Finnish Tori-Marketplace at Troy Elementary School on Saturday, November 16, 2019 9-2pm

About 20 vendors of Finnish crafts, baked goods, books, clothing, and Christmas ornaments will set up shop for a day at the Finnish Tori-Marketplace, Saturday, November 16 at the Troy Elementary School, 44 School Street, Troy, New Hampshire. The Tori is patterned after traditional outdoor marketplaces in Finland. Admission is free and the public is welcome. Visitors will have multiple opportunities to purchase Christmas ornaments, gifts, and goodies.

Finns will be able to find some of their favorite products such as sweet licorice, mustards, breads, woodworking, knitted goods, tapestries, and field knives. Finns-for-a-day will be able to learn about Finnish foods, crafts, and imports. As in classic Toris, the marketplace will feature impromptu performances of Finnish music and craft demonstrations. Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and coffee will be available at the Tori-Marketplace as well.

A few things to look for at the Tori are woven birch bark items by Elaine Moe of Massachusetts; custom embroidery by Cara Staviski of New Jersey; hand-dyed spinning fibers by Peg Critser and Jan Lishua of New Hampshire; raw honey from Son of a Bee in Westminster, Massachusetts; and imported products of Finland by Suomi Imports. Baked goods will be available from The Kitchen Garden of Templeton, Massachusetts; Apron Strings Bakery of Rindge, New Hampshire; and The Finnish Mama of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire.

The Historical Society of Cheshire County is organizing the Tori-Marketplace in conjunction with FinnFunn Weekend at the Inn at East Hill Farm, hosted by the Finnish American Heritage Society, Finnish Heritage Society Sovittaja, and the Finnish Center at Saima Park in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The Historical Society’s director of education, Jenna Carroll says, “The Tori is a wonderful way to celebrate the Finnish culture. One of our most important goals at the Historical Society is to connect people with the diverse cultures that have come to this area throughout our history.”

Finlandia Foundation’s 2019 Lecturers of the Year Soile Anderson and Eleanor Ostman are special guests of the FinnFunn Weekend. They will co-present on Finnish foodways. Soile is a native of Finland who relocated to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where she founded The Deco Restaurant, Taste of Scandinavia, and the Finnish Bistro. In 2017, she was inducted into the Scandinavian American Hall of Fame. Ostman’s popular 30-year food column for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, “Tested Recipes,” was the basis for her cookbooks Always on Sunday and Always on Sunday Revisited.

FinnFunn Weekend will feature an afternoon of Finnish plays in translation, presented by Rockport Community Theatre and Valerie Nelson of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Men on a Mission is a tale of love and potatoes in 1700s Finland by 20^th century Finnish playwright Arturri Leinonen. The Betrothal by Aleksis Kivi is about a tailor’s romance gone awry. The Burglary by Minna Canth has a main character who is a pagan folk healer. And Scenes from Karin is the story of a woman who returns to Finland after 18 years in America.

FinnFunn Weekend also includes a film series, presentations, music and dance performances, and workshops. A detailed schedule of sessions and activities for FinnFunn Weekend is available at www.saima-park.org/ff2019.

For more information about the Finnish Tori-Marketplace, call the Historical Society of Cheshire County at 603-352-1895.