Juhannus, a Magical Day

As a child of the Finnish immigrant community in the Cave Hills of northwest South Dakota, I enjoyed the Juhannus picnic in Casper's Gulch. It was a day of treats, competitions, ball games, food and homemade ice cream. The women of the Cave Hills Lutheran church, Suomi Synod, made hand goods such as pillow cases, doilies, quilts, pot holders and hand loomed rugs to be auctioned off for the church treasury. My Grandpa Tuovinen called the auction. My grandmother was the weaver of the rugs and perhaps Mrs. Tilus.

In the Finnish midsummer celebration, bonfires (Finnish kokko)are very common and are burnt at lakesides and by the sea. Often two young birch trees (koivu) are placed on either side of the front door to welcome visitors. In Midsummer night the sauna is typically heated and family and friends are invited to bathe and to grill.

When my mother and I were in Finland in 1980, our Tuovinen relatives invited family members to their home to visit. The birch trees had been placed on either sides of their front door to welcome Midsummer visitors. We met our female relatives during sauna on their sauna island and the men at the cabin coffee table. Seppo had made us fresh birch switches for the occasion. A couple of dives into the lake were refreshing as well. It was a magical, memorable Juhannus.

"Before 1316, the summer solstice was called Ukon juhla, after the Finnish god Ukko. In e.g. Karelian tradition, many bonfires were burned side by side, the biggest of which was called Ukko-kokko (the "bonfire of Ukko"). After the celebrations were Christianized, the holiday is known as juhannus after John the Baptist (Finnish: Johannes Kastaja).