Sunday, June 30, 2013

Monument to Finnish Immigrants in Bryant Park

This pair of geese is forever flying south in Bryant Park. Geese are migrating birds that follow the warmer weather by spending the Winter here in the United States. This is an appropriate representation of the profound impact Finnish people have had on the development and character of Lake Worth. It is universally recognized that, at one time, the city had one of the largest concentration of Finns outside of Finland.
An image of the country of Finland appears on the east side of the monument.
To commemorate that fact, in 1985, Thor and Saimi Soderholm, gifted this monument to "commemorate the immigrants from Finland." The monument exists in the middle of the park, north of the band shell and south of  Lake Avenue.
We are also one of a list of cities that has an Honorary Finnish Consulate. The Honorary Consul here in  Lake Worth is Peter Makila who has an office on Lake Avenue.

The contribution of the Finnish people is an important part of Lake Worth's history to remember as we celebrate our city's centennial year.