Back again in Vasa. We shopped this morning--went to shoe stores, clothing stores, "pankki" and markets. We also went all through the torget (market place). It was all very interesting--if you like that sort of thing. At one o'clock we had a banquet (they called it frukost - "breakfast") at Handelsgillet. That was the funniest and most filling meal we ever had. First we had smörgasbord. Mr. Carlson told us to eat plenty of that, because he was sure that was all they were giving us to eat. Well! needless to say, we stuffed ourselves, because smörgasbord fare is always so good, and there were about thirty kinds of meats and fish. We then sat down and waited patiently for the speeches. Instead, here they came with more eats - potatoes, meat and vegetables. Was Martin's face red! And how could we eat any more. We managed to swallow a few morsels and when we were ready to sigh with relief they came with dessert. As I once said - a trip to the graveyard followed the meal. We really did go to the graveyard and stayed for a while at the hero graves. It certainly was a beautiful graveyard. It just happened that it was lilac time in Finland, and there were many white and purple lilac trees in the graveyard. (Note by Laura Jensen, Spice Drawer Mouse: In the handwritten diary Linnea Gord has written "William Svenn is buried there." William Svenn was to marry Marie Malm but died in World War One. His sister, Regina Svenn Alskog, was a member of the choir.)
When we got back to town we went directly to Stadshuset and there had a short rehearsal. As we had been short of pianos in Marieham and Korsholm, here I had my choice of two enormous Steinway grands, and beautiful pianos they were. After rehearsal we went to the City Hall or Court House or whatever they called it (hovrättshuset) and went through that, and then home to our car to dress.
Stadhuset was packed for the program. Many, many people! And the program certainly did go off wonderfully, praises be! Our dressing room in back of the stage had big gold framed mirrors which reached from floor to ceiling, and there were also plush chairs and lounges. What class! Between numbers several of us amused ourselves by trying to attract the attention of the Somppi family. They were sitting in the park below the Stadshuset, and try as hard as we could we couldn't get them to look up. Finally we attracted the attention of a little boy, and he went and told them to look up. Then they saw us, and came up. After the concert we were taken to a back room where the reception was to be held. But the crowd was so large that they had to move all of the chairs and tables into the big hall--and here we had the reception and a nice time was had by all. They had a very nice program with a wonderful male chorus. My! how beautifully they sang. After the usual kaffee and kafe brod and speeches, Arnold got out his accordian and we began to dance. The floor was wonderful and we are always pleased with Arnold's music, so how could we help but have a good time -- and we danced until one o'clock.
Close-up of Linnea Gord from photo at Vasa Heroes Graves, below
At Vasa Heroes Graves,Finland 1930
No comments:
Post a Comment