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55th Saunaka Reunion in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Québec

Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Québec.

As the world knows, Saunaka was founded in 1961 by nine young Estonian Montrealers, and has been holding reunions every 10 years in different locations across North Ametica. This was the 55th anniversary celebration … an official Saunaka reunion (which now will be held every five years instead of ten).

L to R: Rein Maasik, Heiki Tamm, Andres Soom, Erik Purre, Enn Raudsepp, Jaak Riga, Mati Merilo. (absent: Olav Niilender and Matti Pindam).

Eight members and seven spouses met at the Grand Chalet in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts for the occasion. We had festive dinners every evening and filled the days with hikes, tours of the town and surrounding areas as well as bicycle trips.

The persons who travelled the farthest were Erik and Gundi from Tlaxcala, Mexico, followed by Mati and Kathy from Palo Alto, California and Olav Niilender from Charlotte, North Carolina. Andrew and Mary are from Buffalo, New York, Heiki and Judy are from Oakville, Ontario, Jaak and Annely are from Markham, Ontario, Rein and Helen are from Pointe Claire, Quebec and Enn and Dana are from St. Henri, Quebec. (Missing were Rachel Niilender and Matti and Jean Pindam from Lower Island Cove, Newfoundland.)

Erik Purre was elected and installed as our new chairman (in a colorful ceremony).

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MES Christmas Sausages – Verivorstid – 2016

The Montreal Estonian Society Christmas Sausages

Orders for the traditional Christmas sausages "verivorstid" will be accepted starting

October 25, 2016 until November 13, 2016.

Please contact Grete Mugu

Telephone: (514) 294-5109

E-mail: grete.mugu@gmail.com

Cost: $10 per pound – maximum 5 lbs per person

Pickup is on Saturday, November 19, 2016 between 13:00 & 14:00

at

St. John’s Estonian Ev. Lutheran Church
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“Ross Sea Suites” – New CD by Valmar Kurol & Michael Stibor

Ross Sea Suites

by

Valmar Kurol & Michael Stibor

This album is based on the places and histories encountered during Valmar Kurol’s 5-week long semi-circumnavigation voyage by ship, along Western Antarctica in 2015.  The trip focused on the Ross Sea area, which was the major portal to Antarctica during the Golden Age of Antarctic exploration in the early 1900s. It is an orchestral-sounding album with 11 instrumental suites, which he composed with a collaborator, Michael Stibor. There are also two bonus vocal tracks on it (the last one of which was co-written and sung by his wife, Carole Desmarteau).

It is available at mtl.ant.soc@sympatico.ca for $13 including shipping in Canada, and will soon be available for download on iTunes and Amazon. It is also available from Indiepool.com at www.indiepool.com/KUROL002DIS

There will shortly be a web site at www.rossseasuites.com
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MES Estonian Language Classes – Fall 2016

The Montreal Estonian Society (MES) will begin a new session of online Estonian language classes the week of October 10, 2016.

The instructor is Piret Vaher leading the classes via Skype video conferencing from Europe. It will be a 12-week session of weekly lessons of 1 to 1.5 hours. We plan to have sections for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students with typically 2-4 students per section.

The course fee will be $75 (plus a $10 annual fee if you are not already a member of the MES).

Because of the six-hour time difference, we cannot hold the classes during evenings (since it would be the middle of the night for her). Weekly classes will be on Tuesday or Wednesday (at a time between 11 am and 5 pm) and during the weekend on Sunday (between 11 am and 2 pm). Which sections will end up on which days will be determined by student availability.

If you are interested, please contact Tom Ventser (MES Treasurer & Language Classes Coordinator) at tom.ventser@gmail.com. Advise him of your availability on the days and times mentioned above, as well as what level of instruction you are interested in.
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Thanksgiving Service at St. John’s Estonian Lutheran Church

Sunday, October 2, 2016

St. John’s Estonian Lutheran church held its annual Thanksgiving service together with St. Michael’s Finnish Lutheran congregation on Sunday October 2, 2016. The combined Estonian-Finnish-English service included music by the Finnish choir. Pastor Matthew Anderson’s sermon focused on our role as serving both our families and faithful as a matter of course and was a touching homily. A light lunch followed afterwards in the church hall.

Tiiu Põldma