8B
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017
Honorary
grand marshal
Submitted photo
Carol Obie
CAROL
OBIE
INSPIRATION FOR ORIGINAL
SCANDINAVIAN MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL
What began as a Brownie
Troop that performed Norwe-
gian dances for the Girl Scouts’
International Festival under the
leadership of Carol Obie offi-
cially became the Astoria Scan-
dinavian Folk Dancers in 1964.
This troop grew in popular-
ity and, accompanied by sup-
portive chaperone moms, began
traveling the region to perform
at various events. One of these
events was the Junction City
Scandinavian Festival, where
Carol became inspired and
asked: “Why couldn’t Astoria
have their own festival?”
Listed in the very first 1968
program for the “Astoria Scan-
dinavian Midsummer Night
Festival,” you find the peo-
ple Carol rallied together to
spearhead the idea: “Chair-
man – Carol Obie; Co-Chair-
man – Shirley Tinner and Nel-
lie Norman; Committee: Annie
Salo, Helen Perttu, Elsa Rau-
tio, Ed Niska, Arvid & Rose
Jacobsen, Ellen Madsen,
Hilda Andersen, Clara John-
Submitted photo
son, Jordis Tetli, and the moth-
ers of the Scandinavian Folk
Dancers.”
Carol did research to find
out what types of activities
were part of festivals in Scandi-
navia and the U.S. With creativ-
ity, enthusiasm and leadership,
Carol worked with an advan-
tageous team to see this vision
come to fruition for the very
first festival, and with great
success. Everyone had such a
great time, there was no ques-
tion the Festival would become
an annual event.
Yet Carol could not have
accomplished all that came
to pass had it not been for the
committee members listed
above, as well as many other
supportive people, most nota-
bly are those whose names are
not listed except by mentioning
their crucial role as “the moth-
ers of the Scandinavian Folk
Dancers.”
Carol, who moved to Eugene
a few years after the first festi-
val, passed away in 2009.
The 2017 Astoria Scan-
dinavian Midsummer Festi-
val has named Shirley Tinner
as honorary grand marshal for
the OpTog Walking Parade, to
be held 11:30 a.m. Saturday,
June 17, at the Clatsop County
Fairgrounds.
Tinner was part of the group
that founded the original Mid-
summer Festival fifty years ago.
Born and raised in Astoria,
Tinner graduated from Astoria
schools and worked as a judicial
assistant to Circuit Court Judge
Thomas Edison for 23 years.
Tinner’s father, Franz Olaf
Fransen, was a Swede-Finn and
her mother Hilja Maria Eskola
a pure Finn. Shirley learned
“Uniontown” Finnish and can
still speak it. Her only daugh-
ter, Kim Supple, was Miss Fin-
land in 1976 and crowned Miss
Scandinavia.
When Kim and her class-
mates Gail Norrman and Deb-
bie Obie were in first grade, they
joined a Brownie troop. Carol
Obie was the troop leader and
Nelly Norrman and Tinner were
assistants. This group is credited
with founding the original Asto-
ria Scandinavian Midsummer
Festival in 1968.
Tinner was active in the fes-
tival for 25 years, chairing the
entertainment committee and
making programs. She later
alternated these duties with
Maureen Sundstrom. The lead-
ers of the first festival spent
many hours at the Astoria
Library researching midsummer
traditions in Scandinavia and
interviewed local families who
had immigrated to the Astoria
area from Scandinavia.
Tinner is delighted that the
festival continues to be authen-
tic and thrive. She hasn’t missed
a festival in 50 years, and is
pleased that many of traditions
her group started fifty years ago
are still used today.
These traditions include the
hex burning and bonfire, the
Submitted photo
Shirley Tinner
OpTog Walking Parade and the
princess speeches focused on
“What My National Heritage
Means to Me.”
Tinner is unable to walk in
the OpTog herself this year but
will be represented by Supple
and other members of the orig-
inal Brownie troop that started
the festival.
e
Enjoy th
SALUTES THE 50TH
ANNMRSARY OF THE
your friends at
“The electric vehicle people”
SC��AN
MIDSUMMER
fESfIV;\L!
ASTORIA-WARRENTON
REGIONAL AIRPORT
1190 SE FLIGHTLINE DRIVE
WARRENTON, OR
503-861-2288 • 800-535-8767
www.lektro.com
AUGUST9-13, 2017
ASTORIAREGATTACOM