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mods_r_jobbernowl t1_jb8ig05 wrote

Reply to comment by SharanskyWailer in Finland’s president addresses Washington Legislature on historic first stop of US visit by trueslicky

This is the first i'm hearing of Astoria having a lot of people of Finnish descent.

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SharanskyWailer t1_jb8j0ok wrote

It's a not-so-well-kept secret. I had the pleasure of talking to 70-something year-old Finnish man at a fundraising lunch at the lodge there that there were so many in the area decades ago (into the 1960s and 1970s) that they still spoke Finnish with each other in everyday life.

Apparently, Astoria had one of the largest populations in the USA outside Minnesota and Wisconsin. Those who haven't passed away have mostly left the area. The same old man complained bitterly about the economic decline and how there is so much poverty and addiction in the area instead.

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lurkerfromstoneage t1_jb93dlb wrote

UP of Michigan too for sure. Heck they even have Suomi College. Am Finn-American with a large Finnish family from MN, WI, MI. Didn’t know about Astoria either I’ll need to look more into that!

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