Grand Marshals Marvin Martilla and Lila Grape wear royal purple and Nile green, traditional colors of St. Urho's Day.
What began as a single-car parade decades ago has grown to include several entries.
The Irish have St. Patrick and the Finns have St. Urho, who was feted in small town glory Saturday on the streets of Lake Norden.
The annual St. Urho’s Day parade was small, but Lake Norden’s Finns participated with zeal, donning the traditional royal purple and Nile green and affixing Finnish flags to wagons and tractors.
The celebration originated in Lake Norden decades ago when two local Finns placed a sign in the window of the cafe advertising a St. Urho’s Day parade the upcoming weekend. Then they drove around town, honking the car horn. It has slowly grown to the dozen or so entries that paraded around town on Saturday.
Someday I'm gonna get up there for a bowl of that fish head stew.
This parade & dinner has brought the people of Lake Norden, present residents & those that have moved on, together to celebrate life & community. Those are the most important things we can celebrate. Life in a small town can not be beat.