Coming up: first chance, as far as we know, to celebrate St. Uhro's Day in Blaine County
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This unidentified senior citizen will be posing as St. Uhro for the upcoming celebrations of St. Uhro's Day-a festival honoring the man who was credited with saving the grape vineyards in Finland many years ago. St. Uhro's Day will be celebrated during lunch at the Chinook Senior Center on Wednesday, March 16. St. Uhro will appear in costume and share his history with diners during a traditional St. Uhro's Day meal. Everyone is welcome, make a luncheon reservation at 357-2648 before 10 am. There is a charge for lunch--$5 for those over 60, $6 for those under 60.
Readers may not be familiar with St. Uhro's Day celebrations on March 16...that's right, one day before St. Patrick's Day. St. Uhro is the patron saint of vineyard workers in Finland. Uhro, serving as a rural priest many years ago, is credited with banishing the grasshoppers that threatened the grape crop (and resulting wine). Sources say the holiday has not been celebrated here in Blaine County, at least as far as any old-timers can recall, and there are no references to the holiday in official archives.
Elias Korhonen, Director of Finnish-American Relations, recently said from his office in Helsinki, "We were very happy to hear of the upcoming celebration in Chinook, Montana, planned for March 16 this year. Historically the hard rock miners in Butte, many of Finnish descent, brought the tradition of St. Uhro with them from mines in Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. That was about the extent of celebrations we knew about in the Treasure State."
The upcoming March 16th celebration at the Chinook Senior Center
This year the Chinook Senior Center is hosting a St. Uhro celebration. Peggy Perry, chair of the center's board, noted, "Like the Finns in Butte, we thought it might be fun to get one up on St. Patrick's Day and start celebrating a day early." Perry was quick to add, "I'm of Norwegian extraction so I had never heard of the Finnish saint.'"
The celebration, set for lunch time, will feature a traditional St. Uhro Day celebration meal and possibley an appearance by the jolly old saint himself. St. Uhro is noticeable by his purple robe, bejeweled crown and scepter with a huge grasshopper impaled on it. At the celebration the honored saint is supposedly going to yell again, in Finnish, for the grasshoppers to go away. Uhro was known for "a big mouth and a loud voice."
Later St. Uhro will stroll among the diners answering questions about his history and how his holiday got started (it's fairly recent in terms of famous holidays). The standard fare for the meal is fish head soup, hard tack, rye bread, veggie sticks and chocolate cake. The center cooks are planning a slight variation in some of the traditional dishes given the delicate palate of their clientele.
If you would like to join the center for lunch in what is believed to be the first ever celebration of St. Uhro's Day in Blaine County (Wednesday, March 16, 2022) call the center before 10am at 357-2648 and make a reservation (It's $5 for those over 60 and $6 for youngsters under age 60). Be a part of the celebration, be a part of the tradition and be a part of local history. "Heinäsirkat menevät pois!" (you'll have to come to the celebration to learn what that means).
