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The Hamilton… (Continued from page 8)
2. Describe your Estonian community Although I grew up in Toronto, I have not lived there for the past 40+ years. The Toronto connection is still very strong, but regular participation in weekly events is not possible largely due to the length of time spent in travel. We drove our children weekly to the Toronto Estonian Schools, Scouts, Guides and numerous other events but as the commute continued to take longer and longer, it was time to reconsider and focus more on the Hamil ton community, instead of try ing to organize and be active in Toronto. Hamilton has had a strong and active community since the 1940’s, and we are very fortu nate to have our own Estonian House, which was gifted to the Estonian Lutheran Church by a generous donor in the 1970’s. This “residential” house on 3 Mapleside used to serve as a home for the minister, but lately it has provided a base not only for the Church but also a dedi cated space for the pensioners group, the Mixed Choir, the Estonian School and the Hamilton Estonian Society. The number of active members in the Hamilton Estonian Society is about 150, but we have renewed optimism and hope to increase our membership and participation numbers when Covid restrictions end. In 2007, we welcomed over 40 new members to the Hamil ton Estonian Mixed Choir, which is the oldest mixed choir outside of Estonia. To celebrate its’ 60th year of continuous activity, the choir attended the Estonian Song Festival for the first time in 2009, and then again, in 2014 and 2019. The choir also performs regularly at most major local Estonian events and is a frequent guest performer at Seedrioru each summer. In 2015, we restarted the Hamilton Estonian School with a steady participation of about 25 children and adults. Hamilton has a Senior’s resi dence called Aberdeen Gardens where there are already close to 10 Estonian seniors. It is nice to keep our ageing Estonians together. 3. What makes your com munity unique? We all work together and are now focusing on the inclusion of many young Estonian fami lies who have moved from the GTA to the Hamilton area. There is great interest for these children to attend the Hamilton Estonian school Korp! Amicitia has many ac tive members who are part of Toronto Koondis, but who live in Hamilton/Cambridge/Water loo/Guelph/Grimsby and other Southern Ontario communities. Three years ago, we decided to host a meeting in Hamilton instead of travelling to Toronto. There were about 20 members in attendance, including 5 new
EESTI ELU reedel, 8. oktoobril 2021 — Friday, October 8, 2021
ones, so the events have con tinued. Our highlight was to rent a limo to attend Komerss celebrations in Toronto and we also had a summer community event at Seedrioru this past June. We intend to gather again in the fall as Covid restrictions allow. Very exciting. 4. What are some recent accomplishments that you’d like to highlight? The last major event before Covid shutdowns was “We the Nordic” organized by the Hamilton Estonian Society. This event was in lieu of a traditional formal February Estonian Independence Day “aktus” or assembly. The current board headed by Leila Hess and con sisting almost entirely of 30-40 yr. old Estonians felt the need to organize an event that they would attend out of interest rather than duty. This new event was held at the Cotton Factory and attracted close to 200 at tendees, many of whom had not attended an Estonian event for years. The success of the event also confirmed that people will attend a well-organized, new, interactive, entertaining, infor mal yet festive event to com memorate Estonia’s indepen dence. There was a deliberate attempt to draw more attention to Estonia’s cultural similarity with other Nordic countries instead of focusing entirely on our political past. 5. What are some of the challenges that your commu nity faces? We share similar challenges to that of other Estonian com munities with too few people volunteering to do the many jobs required to sustain the community. 6. What are community goals for the future? There are currently hundreds of Estonians on the fringes who for various reasons are not en gaged in any Estonian commu nity activities, including but not limited to Hamilton. Since the structures and formats of the past do not adequately address the needs and wants of the current generation, we need to be more flexible and open to change. I believe we need the courage to try new events and adjust current programs to meet those challenges. Although the past will continue to be honored, the stubborn old atti tude of “but we have always done it this way” could be changed to “How can we adjust our activities and events to suit this generation?” 7. How might your com munity or organization bene fit from greater cooperation/ collaboration with other Ca nadian Estonian communities and organizations? If the various Estonian communities develop stronger communication among each other, the sharing of informa tion can lead to better events and programs. 8. How do you envision future collaboration in this age of Zoom and global com munication? Perhaps a zoom meeting once or twice a year with repre
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We’re hiring! The Estonian Foundation of Canada is looking for a roll-up-your-sleeves MANAGER to run the office of this exciting national charity. You will lead marketing, communications and fundraising and help take this charity to the next level. You will also manage the Foundation’s office, funding applications/ EFC agents, donations/donors, awareness campaigns, and ideally plan and write content for platforms such as the EFC website and community news outlets. This position is based in the Toronto office but can provide flexible hours, some remote work, and could evolve in future. You should have a basic understanding of Estonian. We are interested in hearing from you if you have most of these skills or willing to learn. Compensation commensurate with experience. Please apply with resume to: estonianfoundationpresident@gmail.com Estonian Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that supports Estonian cultural and heritage initiatives across Canada.
sentatives of all Estonian Cana dian communities. An agenda could be prepared in advance outlying various topics to be discussed. This could be an EKN initiative. (NOTE: EKN has organized 3 such events over the past year and another is planned for late October) It is quite likely that most routine and planning meetings will take place on ZOOM in stead of having people drive to various locations. A clear bene fit of Covid has been the elimi nation of personal travel times associated with various meet ings. Also, not having to buy coffee, various meals and other meeting essentials saves every organization time and money. REET MARTEN SEHR, EKN Vice President (To be continued)
Estonian students in Hamilton learn and enjoy it.
Choir practice at Seedrioru.
Estonian sorority members from the Hamilton contingent of Korp! Amicitia arriving at Tartu College via limousine.
