The Legend(s) of Saint Urho

March 16th is Saint Urho's Day. I have long been fascinated with this mythical Finnish holy man who, it is alleged, drove the grasshoppers out of Finland and saved the grape crop in Finnish vineyards. Over the past few years I have become a sort of reluctant historian on the subject of St. Urho, because I bought the domain name www.SaintUrho.com and have turned it into an online shrine. Consequently I get plenty of email about this time of year as the web site hits go from a few a day to tens of thousands a day.

Two Minnesota communities have even erected statues to St. Urho: Menahga (south of Park Rapids) and Finland (up the North Shore, then turn on MN Hwy 1). Both have elements of grasshoppers and grapes.

The legend of St. Urho dates back only to the 1950s, but who really created the story will probably forever remain a mystery. Two people in particular are given credit for the original tales: Richard Mattson of Virginia, Minnesota, and Professor Sulo Havumaki of Bemidji. It could be that two creative minds came up with similar ideas and the stories they told merged into the legend we have today.

One area where the original legends differed was in the plague that affected Finland. Gene McCavik of Virginia, contributed the "Ode to Saint Urho" at a party given to honor Mattson's version of the saint in the '50s. She referred to "t'ose 'rogs" (those frogs) as the source of Urho's ire, and the feast day of St. Urho was given as May 24th. More recent versions of the poem have changed the plague to "hoppers" and the date to 16th of March.

A few months ago I received a brief email from another possible source of the St. Urho legend. Matthew Brist wrote: "One of the originators of the St. Urho legend was Mr. Kenneth F. Brist, who in the late 1950's was a Social Studies teacher at Ontonagon High School in Michigan. Brist and two or three others were up in one of the local watering holes in Ontonagon and they conjured up the legend there. He took the legend with him back to his hometown in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where after he celebrated it with friends and family."

Tia Kekkonen of Finland (the country) disputes the part about saving the grape crop: "We have never had vineyards or grapevine crops in Finland, St Urho saved barley crops and the jobs in beer breweries all over Finland. That's why we have a beer labeled Urho here in Finland." Ahh, to be sipping a chilled Lapin Kulta right now.

The legend seems to grow a little every year and more communities are celebrating the Feast of St. Urho. I have heard from Urho-ites (Urho-ists?) from Burlington, Vermont, to Hood River, Oregon; from Napa Valley, California, to Lake Worth, Florida, to Thunder Bay, Ontario; where St. Urho revelry adds one more reason for a party.

Miss Helmi 2003

Here in Minnesota there are several Finnish communities that go all out to celebrate their Finnish hero Urho. Both Menahga and Finland hold weekend festivals with parades. Finlayson, another Finnish settlement about an hour south of Duluth (near Sandstone), is also the site of St. Urho festival.

The party in Finland is particularly fun. The locals decorate pickup trucks and flatbed trailers appropriate to an annual theme, dress up, paint up, and generally have a good time trying to out-silly one another for the parade. They also choose a Miss Helmi every year, a local man dressed in drag. There's nothing like a 300-pound beauty queen with chin whiskers halfway to her navel. To help pay for the annual celebration, the organizers are now selling a calendar of former Miss Helmis. The perfect gift, though I'm not certain for what occasion.

This year's St. Urho gathering in Finland will be this weekend, March 17-19. Saturday is the big celebration with a pancake breakfast in the morning and the big parade at noon. If you're going for the parade, get there early as the parade route travels down the only major road through the community, Highway 1.

Finlayson (located on Minnesota Highway 18 west of I-35) holds its smaller celebration on Saturday only. The parade begins at 11:00 a.m., and slo-o-owly makes its way the few blocks along the main drag. Of particular mention are the grilled pork shops sold by the local Lions Club. Yum!!!

A hearty northern Minnesota celebration of St. Urho's Day is just the way to shake off winter and look forward to warmer temps.