Vice President Heikki Penttila spoke to our group as a part of our Independence Day/Pikkujoulua Finnish Heritage Museum celebration and program. Since we were talking about Independence Day, it was important that the membership hear what is going on presently in Finland. On December 18, a Level 4 travel advisory warning for US citizens in Russia or thinking about traveling to Russia was released. In mid-November Finland began to close parts of the 830 mile international border between Finland and Russia. On December 14, 2023, Finland's entire eastern front at two crossing points on Russian borders were sealed.

Much like the United States' difficulty with undocumented migrants, Finland was experiencing an unprecedented influx of undocumented migrants. Finland believed that this was the direct result of Russia staging "hybrid warfare", an action that uses migrants to destabilize a country's health and welfare infrastructure. From August until late November over 1,000 migrants were reported to have entered Finland without proper documentation. The majority of these migrants came from Syria, Somalia and Yemen.

Donna Lesciasek, nominating committee chairperson, announced the open positions of officers for this coming year. Both the offices of Vice President and Secretary were open. Heikki Penttila is our re-elected Vice President (term of two years) and the office of Secretary will be filled by Kathleen Hilston (term of two years).

FHM President Dave Leifer shared the 106th Finland Independence Day Greeting video from Finlandia Foundation Executive Director Tommy Flanagan. Director Flanagan delivered his speech from Hancock, Michigan, reminding all who listened that Finnish and Finnish-American history is especially important this year. We have seen the closure of Finlandia University after over a century of presence in the United States. But the Finlandia Foundation National has worked to preserve the most important pieces of our Finnish American history archive including the Finnish American Center, the Finnish American Folk School, the Art Gallery, the Price of Freedom War Museum, the Finnish American Reporter and the North Winds Book Store. Their campaign was three million dollars all dedicated to the saving Finland in America.

The meeting then broke for a gathering of members around the table which included many Finnish delicacies as well as some special American specialties. After enjoying the company of one another in this celebration, the program resumed with music by our own membership including the Finnish National Anthem. Member Virpi Buck led her Finnish class through several songs and those in the audience were encouraged to follow along.