What goes on in Finland, Minnesota in February? Almost nothing at all! That’s why Adam Lattin and his family started Colonial Sugar on Snow eight years ago, about 10 years after moving to the area. It helps keep the blood circulating right when the weather is still freezing but the maple syrup is starting to run. “Our family came from Connecticut,” Lattin said, “and we love history. …You can never learn too much.”
“Sugar on Snow exists to create an awareness of our past and to remind us of the dignity of work,” according to the brochure. The family calls the annual celebration “a living-history experience and a maple syrup tradition” with fun for the entire family.
The ninth annual celebration will take place Friday, February 24 from noon to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 25 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Clair Nelson Center (the old Finland Rec) on Lake County Road 7 off Highway 1 in Finland.
Participants will find a “village gathering” where colonial tradesmen (recruited from Finland, Silver Bay, and Two Harbors and subsequently trained) will demonstrate and teach their trades. Among them are a blacksmith, a potter, a candle maker, a soap maker, and even a chocolate maker. The festival will include games of tug o’ war, a corn husking bee, and a wood splitting contest. Kids along with adults can make things like candles, metal dinner triangles, and clay pots that they get to take home. Twenty-five volunteers in character will share colonial trades from the 1700s, some colonial culture, and “a lot of fun.”
The event hosts came to Cook County to extend a personal invitation to their North Shore neighbors. “Last year was spectacular,” Lattin said, “and that was our goal: to get the community involved and the businesses. It’s a crazy two days of the event, but it’s just so much fun.”
For more information, call the family at (218)226-4074 or email them at colonialsugaronsnow@gmail.com. They are also on Facebook.
Volunteers are needed for a host of roles ranging from tradespeople and costume sewers to hotdish bakers keeping other volunteers fed. “If you or someone you know has an interest in Colonial Era trades and their history or would be interested in helping behind the scenes with this community event, please contact us,” the family writes. “People skills, enthusiasm and just plan hard work are needed before, during and after.”
Business sponsors are also sought, and their advertising is placed on brochures that are placed in visitor centers up and down the Shore and passed out all year at various local events. The event’s nonprofit fiscal agent is Positive Energy for Youth.
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