Statue of the legendary figure St. Urho, patron saint of the Finnish vineyard workers, in Menahga, Minnesota
Statue of the legendary figure St. Urho, patron saint of the Finnish vineyard workers, in Menahga, Minnesota – The historic legend states that the wild grapes in Finland were threatened by a plague of grasshoppers until Urho banished the lot of them by yelling "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, mene taalta hiiteen." In memory of this impressive demonstration of the power of the Finnish language, at sunrise each March 16, Finnish women and children dressed in royal purple and Nile green gather around the shores of the many lakes in Finland and chant what St. Urho chanted many, many years ago; "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, mene taalta hiiteen," which translated means: "Grasshopper, grasshopper, go away." - The legend of St. Urho was the invention of a Finnish-American named Richard Mattson, who worked at Ketola's Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in the spring of 1956.
Size: 3500px × 5397px
Location: Menahga, Minnesota
Photo credit: © Todd Strand / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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