Florida Estos

Just under 25 Estonian Society of Central Florida/Kesk Florida Eesti Selts (KFES) members and friends gathered for a picnic on Sunday afternoon, March 24, 2024, in one of our favorite spots, Walsingham Park, in Largo, Florida. KFES provided grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and our members contributed an amazing assortment of side dishes, salads and desserts to our smorgasbord table. Yes, we had traditional Estonian dishes (kartuli salat, rosolje and roosamanna), scrumptious Korean dumplings, and Florida spring-themed fruit-topped desserts (key lime tarts, miniature cheesecakes, and a strawberry whipped cream torte). We give a special shout-out of thanks to Inne and Heikki Joonsar and Birgit and Vincent DeLaidatti for going the extra mile to set up and take down our picnic and a suur tänu to everyone who contributed to our smorgasbord table. Aitäh! Thank you!

March is perhaps many Floridians’ favorite time of year: The sky is blue, the temperature is perfect, humidity is low, and the breeze is warm. That provides the perfect setting for outdoor games.

We have not yet decided when we will meet again. Please stay tuned to your email (to be added to the list, please send an email to KFES1918@yahoo.com), Facebook (search for Kesk Florida Eestlased and ask to be added to the private group), and this website. In the meantime, our group sends best wishes for a happy spring to all our members and friends!

Pictured left to right: Alexandra Remelgas Kroon, Ilme Susi with daughter Marju Dishmey and twin granddaughters Karneelia and Marmeelia, Moonika Mägi, Jüri and Jae Hee Toomepuu, Vincent and Birgit DeLaidatti, with Märt and Ulve Nurmet in the back, Sirje Kiin and Jack Walters with Heiki, Heidi and Nathan Pajusalu in the back, Inne and Heikki Joonsar, with Tõnu Toomepuu and Liz Williams in the back, and Myrtle Hall. (Missing from the photo: Lisa A. Mets and Erkki Taada, KFES web manager and photographers)

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The Estonian Consul in New York will conduct a consular mission in Crystal River, FL on April 19th and 20th, and in Miami, FL on April 22nd and 23rd, and is available for all consular services at these times:

Crystal River (3939 North Eagle Point, Crystal River, FL 34428)

Friday, April 19th – 09:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Saturday, April 20th – 09:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Miami (1384 SW 18 St, Miami 33145)

Monday, April 22nd – 09:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Tuesday, April 23rd – 09:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Note: Passport and ID card renewal applications can also be done by mail or at the self-service portal of the Estonian Police Board (https://www.politsei.ee/en/) if your fingerprints on file are less than 6 years old.

You can update your fingerprints with the consul if you will need to renew a document in the next few years and your fingerprints are or will be outdated. This could save you a future trip to New York or Washington! The service is free of charge.

Regarding the fees – they will change at the beginning of April, so please look at them only after the 3rd of April https://newyork.mfa.ee/state-fees/. Payments during consular missions must be made in cash or check – no credit cards will be accepted as we don’t have the card terminal.

Please contact:

Ms.  Kaie Tiina Põhi Latterner, kaiet@earthlink.net, phone 612-669-9765 to schedule an appointment in Crystal River, FL.

Estonian Consulate General in New York, nyconsulate@mfa.ee, phone 212-883-0636 to schedule an appointment in Miami, FL.

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Dear Members and Friends of Kesk Florida Eesti Selts (KFES)/Estonian Society of Central Florida!

Please join us for one of our favorite activities: A picnic!

Sunday, March 24, 2024

1:00-5:00 pm

Shelter #2

Walsingham Park

12615 102nd Ave N

Largo, FL 33776

https://pinellas.gov/walsingham-park-map

Entrance to the park is free. The KFES fee to help underwrite our costs will be minimal at no more than $10 for adults, payable by cash, check or Zelle at the door. Children are free.

KFES will provide hamburgers, hotdogs, buns and fixings as well as non-alcoholic beverages. Our members and friends are invited to contribute salads, side dishes and desserts to our smorgasbord table. Please note: This shelter does NOT have an electrical connection. The grill we will be using will provide space for dishes that may need to be warmed before serving.

By Wednesday, March 20, 2024, please send an email to KFES Treasurer and Acting President Heikki Joonsar at kfes1918@yahoo.com to let us know you are coming. Please provide the names of all adults, names and ages of children, and the items you will be contributing to our luncheon offerings. If you have some favorite outdoor games for children to play, please bring those too! The playground is under renovation and may not be finished in time for our picnic. Restrooms are located near our shelter.

We look forward to seeing you soon to welcome in spring together!

KFES Juhatus/Estonian Society of Central Florida Board

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Four members of the Estonian Society of Central Florida/Kesk Florida Eesti Selts (KFES)–Anneliis Kuusik and Rein Allikberg and Lisa A. Mets and Erkki Taada–had the great pleasure of joining 90 guests who attended the Estonian Society of South Florida/Lõuna Florida Eesti Selts (LFES) celebration of the 106th Anniversary of Estonian Independence on Saturday, February 10, 2024, in the Finland House, Lantana, Florida. Lantana is an unofficial Finnish capital in Florida and the United States.

LFES past president Veljo Kurik and current president Terje Hill presided over the evening program. This program was especially significant for the attention given not only to the 106th anniversary of Estonian independence but also to the 80th commemoration of the great exodus from Estonia in 1944 which we are marking this year. Ms. Hill recounted moving stories of escape from LFES members Elve Müürsepp, Vivian Edwards and Aavo Kõiv who were in attendance this evening.

The LFES flag, designed by Veljo Kurik, gives testimony to LFES’s long established history of operations in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach area in southeast Florida. You may learn more about the association through their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FLORIDAEESTISELTS/

[Click on a photo to enter a gallery with full size photos in each section.]

LFES members and friends drove long distances to give a warm welcome to the star of the celebratory program: singer and actor Triin Lellep-Kordes, who came all the way from Eesti to celebrate this special day. And it turns out, a special friend was already here for Ms. Lellep-Kordes: Eha Urbsalu. Ms. Urbsalu is a talented singer and film maker in her own right, demonstrated through her song and preview of her upcoming film. LFES took this opportunity today, too, to extend an invitation to the upcoming Palm Beach Sun & Stars International Film Festival, which will be including a showing of the highly acclaimed Estonian film Smoke Sauna Sisterhood.

What would an Estonian celebration of independence day be without traditional Estonian food?! The LFES ladies were determined to present the dishes we all long for! And they succeeded! We enjoyed great conversation over a dinner of delectable smorgasbord offerings across two tables. Thank you, LFES, for a memorable event!

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On Sunday, February 18, 2024, more than 90 members and friends of the Estonian Society of Central Florida/Kesk Florida Eesti Selts (KFES) gathered at Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, Florida, to celebrate the 106th Anniversary of Estonian Independence. Click on the individual photos in this website to enter a full size photo gallery in each section.

Members of the Kesk Florida Eesti Selts offered our program elements. We were honored to welcome Mr. Margus Särglepp, Deputy Chief of Mission, Estonian Embassy in Washington, DC, as our keynote speaker. You may read the text of Mr. Särglepp’s remarks in Sirje Kiin’s Estonian write-up of our program published in our US and Canadian Estonian newspapers, Vaba Eesti Sõna (New York) and Eesti Elu (Toronto), February 29, 2024, editions.

Though Feather Sound Country Club offered us several meal choices, it was no surprise that the salmon entree was the favorite among our members. Seawater flows in our veins, kas ei? The meal was punctuated by Estonian chocolate, homemade kringel and a rhubarb cake, and a celebratory cake. Thank you Moonika Mägi, Inne Joonsar, Sirje Kiin and Virve-Kai Bulla for our homemade kringel and rhubarb cake. Such choices we had to make!

And it wouldn’t have been a proper celebration without our celebratory toast to Estonian Independence! Thank you to Tõnu Toomepuu once again for generously sponsoring our bubbly!

Donations from our KFES members filled the loterii table. In fact, there were so many contributions, nearly everyone made a trip to the table to choose a gift. KFES Secretary Triin Karr led the loterii, ably assisted by Helen Tammela and Marju Dishmey and her twin daughters Marmeelia and Karneelia. At our invitation, members brought copies of their favorite Estonian recipes to share and those filled a table too! We always seem to take home more than good memories following a KFES event.

It was an uncharacteristic rainy day for us in Florida as we celebrated Estonian independence. That makes the life of our photographer, Erkki Taada, just a little more fun! Though he was out in the rain, everyone posed under cover on the second floor balcony. None of Erkki’s photo-taking postures are easy!

Celebrating Estonian independence is a solemn and celebratory occasion that calls for traditional dress and reminders of home. Thank you Jae Hee Toomepuu and Virve-Kai Bulla for adorning our day with your special traditional Estonian dresses.

It takes a lot of work to organize a special event like today. We thank all those who participated in our program, contributed to our dessert- loterii- and recipe tables, made our beautiful table decorations, and managed the administration that makes an event like this possible. We pause a moment now to extend our profound gratitude to two KFES leaders who deserve special mention, KFES Treasurer and Acting President Heikki Joonsar and KFES Vice President Inne Joonsar. They greet us at the door and are the last ones to send us home.

Please enjoy these photos from the day’s collection. We hope we captured you all in this blog!

And here are a few more photos through Erkki Taada’s lens. Thanks for the wonderful poses!

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