Florida Estos

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 23, 2025

12:00-5:00 pm

Shelter #2

This shelter is next to the new children’s playground.

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 is minimal at $10 for adults and children over the age of 12. Children under 12 are free. You may pay by cash or check at the door; by Zelle (KFES1918@yahoo.com); or by mailing a check in advance to

Mr. Heikki Joonsar

KFES Treasurer

14032 89th Ave

Seminole, FL 33776

KFES will provide hamburgers, hotdogs, buns, pork and beans, potato chips, and fixings as well as non-alcoholic beverages (water and soft drinks). 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 19, 2025, 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! Restrooms are located near our shelter.

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

Heikki and Inne Joonsar

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Note: Groups of multiple photos below the opening group shot in this report are arranged in galleries. In each gallery of photos, double click on the first photo or the last photo to launch the carousel of photos in each group.

With pride 54 members, friends and children of the Estonian Society of Central Florida/Kesk Florida Eesti Selts celebrated the 107th Anniversary of Estonian Independence over a formal luncheon on Sunday, February 16, 2025, in the beautiful and familiar Feather Sound Country Club Ballroom in Clearwater, Florida.

KFES Treasurer and Acting President Heikki Joonsar and KFES Vice President Inne Joonsar greeted guests at the door. Just inside the entrance, Estonian Consul hr. Tarmo Punnik, from Washington, DC, offered consular services to Estonians renewing fingerprints, ID cards and passports.

KFES Treasurer and Acting President Heikki Joonsar hosted a fulfilling program that included the following: the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, an invocation by KFES member Monika Orumaa, unison singing of Hoia Jumal Eestit and Eesti lipp led by KFES members Vincent and Birgit DeLaidatti, and a commemoration of the fallen led by KFES member Virve-Kai Bulla. It was wonderful to see Virve-Kai Bulla in traditional Estonian costume and Moonika Mägi in patriotic Estonian colors.

Estonian Consul Mr./hr. Tarmo Punnik was our invited keynote speaker. Hr. Punnik is posted to the Estonian Embassy in Washington, DC. Estonian Honorary Consul Kaie Põhi Latterner presented a thank-you gift to hr. Punnik following his remarks.

We were delighted that hr. Punnik accepted our invitation to accompany us on guitar–along with Rein Männik–as we sang Läbi päeva ja öö following his remarks.

When Heikki and Inne Joonsar were home in the Washington, DC area last summer, they had the pleasure of meeting an extraordinary University of Florida college student named Sophia Abolfathi, who describes herself as a filmmaker, writer and intern with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Sophia currently is dedicating herself to academic work she calls Project Estonia. Returning after her visit to our fall picnic, Sophia described her project about Estonian experiences in Florida and the United States and the interviews she has already conducted with KFES members. Sophia will be conducting additional interviews before she brings her project to a close with a short film and article to be published in Smithsonian Folklife Magazine later this year. Sophia could be seen with a video camera throughout the afternoon documenting our special event. Sophia can be reached through this site sophiaabolfathi.com.

We closed our formal program reciting in unison Silvi Ann Verder’s poem Eesti, Eesti ela sa. Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch punctuated with homemade kringel and festive cakes and lots of great conversations at our tables. Thanks to a generous donation from KFES member Tõnu Toomepuu we offered a champagne toast to Vaba Eesti. Our fun-filled loterii and unison singing of familiar songs learned around campfires in our youth enlivened our lunch break. Estonian Honorary Consul Kaie Põhi Latterner then offered closing remarks and we filled our hearts as we sang the Estonian National Anthem to close the afternoon.

In a tradition we started in 2024, we invited members and friends to share some of their favorite Estonian recipes. Here are this year’s offerings. Enjoy!

Please enjoy these photos from our event. Information about KFES events and photos may be found on this website, floridaestos.blog, in engaging post-event stories graciously written by KFES member Sirje Kiin and published by New York-based Vaba Eesti Sõna and Toronto-based Eesti Elu, and our Facebook page, Kesk Florida Eestlased https://facebook.com/groups/2497393393890607/ . To enhance security features for our Facebook account members, Kesk Florida Eestlased is a private account that asks you to click on a link to join. The account is managed by KFES member Birgit DeLaidatti, and she will respond to requests from prospective followers. Thank you, Birgit, for this wonderful service to Estonian Society of Central Florida/Kesk Florida Eesti Selts members! To join our email list, please send an email to Heikki Joonsar, KFES Treasurer and Acting President, at kfes1918@yahoo.com.

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