Just walked past our Christmas tree and noticed the icicles... then here in the Pasty Cam photo-inbox I find the real thing from Donn de Yampert. He spotted this shaggy formation out at the north Portage Canal entry.

Also with our decorations, my wife had this 100 year old post card. I've seen the first couple of phrases posted recently on the Pasty Cam, something like "Merry Yule and Blessed New Year". But the last phrase puzzles me - "toivotta: Laina Makela" - appears to mean "Wishing you a Sweet Loan" ?? Maybe some of our Finn-speakers can help us out here.

From all of us at Pasty Central, hope you have a wonderful day :o)

Sweet Loan?? Maybe the holiday card was from a Finnish banker.

Lost another one to ditech.com

Last night it snowed about 4 inches here in East Lansing..and its blowing and drifting right now,Makes me feel like I am back in my hometown of Calumet with weather like this; ) But we had next to no snow before today..so nice to have a White Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all the pastycam viewers,Have a Happy Safe Holiday Season!

7 inches in Indiana!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!
Entire town paralyzed however :)
GREAT TO HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to who has ever had their heart in the U.P.

Hei,
Toivottaa is wish.I have some of these old cards.The Finnish used to send them out at Christmas time with thier names on them.
Merry Christmas to all.

Water and freezing weather makes for some nice formations.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all from SW Washington

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL. We are having a green Christmas in Arizona, but wish there was snow outside, and we were sitting by the Christmas tree drinking hot chocolate!

The greatest gift of all was wrapped in a manger. Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Greetings from the "balmy" south west of England where we never see sights like this. We hardly see snow all winter and if we get some it's about half an inch and causes major problems!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all who brings us this great website daily and to all who visit it, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR in 2003.

Lee is correct!The word "toivo" means hope or wish. Then when you wish something for someone, you "toivottaa".
So Hauskaa Joulua, toivottaa is same as Wishing a Merry Christmas. Laina Mäkelä is the woman's name.
Merry Chistmas! Hauskaa Joulua!
toivottaa: Yooperfinn

Perhaps it's a wish for prosperity?

Anyway, Rauhallista Joulua!

Merry Christmas to everyone from Lake,Mi. which is between Clare and Harrison in the central lower peninsula. Only about an inch of snow on the ground and that would be stretching it. Being a transplanted Yooper from Houghton, the Pasty Cam is sure a great way to visit the Copper Country each day.

I made the mistake of posting this in yesterday's CamNotes, late at night. Because of that, I am reposting it today, so everyone knows my feelings about this site and the people here! --- Alex


Dear Friends...

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy and safe holiday season, and God's richest Blessings for a great 2003.

I am so happy I discovered Pasty Central in 2002. It's one of the best things that ever happened to me. I have met people related to me, and people who knew my Grandparents, and even Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. I have been served with memories of my Summers in the U.P. and furnished with pictures of places that mean so much to me, like the Gay Smokestack.

This site is the best site on the Internet. It never ceases to amaze me when I see the beautiful pictures, and meet such kind and wonderful people here.

I look forward to being a part of this site for many years to come and thank everyone for their kindness and comments over the last year.

Thanks, Charlie... Don't ever let this site go anywhere. It is the first place I go in the morning, and the last place at night. (And a lot of short visits during the day!)

I continue to hope to move my family to the wonderful Keweenaw soon. When this happens, I would like to meet as many of you as I can.

Thanks, and God Bless!

Alex Tiensivu

I get very homesick for the UP this time of year. It has never really felt like Christmas in Texas after leaving Michigan. Yes, I miss the darn snow. I miss downhill skiing and my snowmobile......

Charlie and Jonathon.....I must commend you both on the fantastic website you have created for all of us wannabe "Yoopers". pasty.com was the very first website I visited when I connected up to the internet about 10 years ago and I still continue to visit the site almost every day to keep up on local photo views, news and goings on in The Keweenaw. Keep up the great job at pasty.com and Pasty Central. Merry Christmas to you both and to your families and to all the pasty.com visitors from all over the world. I can't wait for my next trip to Eagle River and to Keweenaw County. Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

Hi Bob and everyone,

We just unwrapped gifts here in Eagle River. Becky and Bryan came up from Houghton, and Jonathan and Katriina came over from their home. (They bought the former White/Rosengana/Sibilsky house across the street from us.) It's a pleasant day in Keweenaw, with some blue sky peeking out between the clouds.

Thanks for all the notes and good wishes. And thanks Yooperfinn for pointing out that Laina Mäkelä is the sender's name on the card above. Mystery solved.

Merry Christmas also from the staff and residents at Still Waters, where this website was born. We currently have a fund raising project for a new van for our residents, and if anyone would like to help out, please use this secure link. Gifts are tax deductible... and much appreciated. Thanks to all who have already contributed. We'll post a total in January, and hopefully have some pictures to go along with it.

MERRY CHTISTMAS to all. I don't have to be in the U.P. now to have a white Christmas we have about 6 or 7 inches here in Missouri. Didn't think we would have a white one this year but this last storm brought in plenty for us. Still isn't as pretty as up in the U.P. but will settle for what we have.

Christmas Greetings to Charlie and family and to all my family and friends in the Copper Country........ I just got back to Escanaba from a trip to Green Bay for the holiday.....I did not see a flake of snow on the ground or in the air for the whole trip!!! With all the snow in lower Michigan and Indiana and out East I think we are blessed!! I personally like a green Christmas...not as pretty but a lot easier to live with!!! I echo Thanks Charlie!!!!

was santa good to everyone!! ha ha ha.. merry christmas everyone.

Boy I am I glad I live in Miami now.
BUUURRRRRR. How did I live there? Musta been the pasties and Genos. Merry Christmas everyone

Christmas wishes to all! May God bless us, everyone! Thank you for the beautiful photos! YOU are our daily connection to our MTU, Hancock, Houghton, Calumet, etc. friends and family. To all who are traveling, safe journey and Godspeed. After all the wrappings are picked up, the toys and trinklets put away, don't forget the greatest gift of all...and follow His star!

By RC Wetton, $Bay, MI on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 10:56 pm:

Santa was here: Our 2 Poodles opening Santa's treats for them!!

As I said in Finn last night, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! No snow here in Cornell although it rained early this am. My sidewalk and driveway and the county road were really slick! Charlie, Toivo, and all the pastycamists, "Kiitos oikean paljon!" (Thank you very much!) for all your time and work keeping us all connected. It's really special to be a part of our UP 'family'. Let's not forget to thank HIM for the unspeakable gift HE has given us!

I am so impressed with the UP!!! Makes me want to visit - what delightful sights and prose accompany each and every photograph!!

Merry X-mas to all and Happy New Year!!!!

Merry Christmas from North Ga.It is 32 degrees now.This a.m. If you looked REAL REAL hard you could see a FEW snowflakes. I am happy it is cold anyway! I join all the others in saying Thank You for Charlie and the others who get Pasty cam on line each day. I will probably never get to live back home but by means of Past cam I can visit each day.Thanks!!!

FRAN! You see snowflakes? I don't! GASP!

Thanks for posting the link, Charlie. And Merry Christmas to everyone from a very snowy Pinckney!

WOW!! That first one's just got to make the WOW for this week.....

We were told that the snow advisory would be south of 8 Mile, mainly in Detroit and south. I live in Troy, about 10 miles north of there, and we had about 4-6 inches and it was still coming down Christmas morning. (Nothing by Yooper standards and my days as a Tech student, but significant in these parts)

I had to drive to Saginaw Christmas Day, 2-Track all the way. I had people passing me like I was standing still, including one w/ Georgia plates, who was flashing his lights at me. (Apparently 50 mph on a 2-Track in a snowstorm wasn't fast enough for him.)

There were cars off the road all up and down I-75, an there was even a spin out on the I-675 ramp at Saginaw, where the guy sideswiped the guardrail. (My 8 year old saw it and said "Look!! A piece of that guy's car broke off!")

They just don't know snow down here....

Good morning Alex and Fran:

Cold here in Columbus this a.m.. About 32 degrees.

I'm a former Houghton gremlin.

Hi there, Jim...

Click on my name above and send me a private E-Mail! (My family is from Gay and Mohawk).

Many thanks for this wonderful web site. I check it several times a day. I enjoyed your picture from 12-24-2002 concerning the man playing the harp at the Mall. I hate to date myself but the thought of a Mall in Houghton amazes me. While at Sumoi in 69 to 71, we shopped only the local stores. That's all there was, always found everything we needed. The joke was if you wanted to see a stoplight go to Marquette, McDonald's go to Green Bay. But if you wanted a great heated salad or sub or pizza go across the street from Old Main at Suomi to the "Sub Shop". A mall in Houghton....how depressing....what always made the area special was the lack of things like Malls, wal mart and things like that. Oh well Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all. Oh yes, for my two daughters..Go Iowa..Go Hawkeyes!!!

Merry Christmas Jim,
It is cold here again tonight, 28 degrees at 11p.m. I grew up in Dollar Bay. Those Gremlin-Bluebolt games were exciting.Like Alex says click on my name if you want to e-mail me. Bye

Don't you think that photo is a WOW? Wish I had been
there, but I don't think I could have done better. That's a
dandy.

Great capture Donn, I wanted to be there too!!!
I absolutely love the action in this one. Great timing. EXIF data?

The Z-Man

My Grandpa Mikko translates this as Happy Christmas & A Succesful New Year.

Laina Makela is a name and toivotaa means "wish"

so it could mean Best wishes or regards, Laina Makela

Greetings from the western shore of Lake Superior. Here in Grand Marais,Minnesota we had a brown Christmas with just traces of November snows showing. It's hard to think Christmas! The El Mino is really affecting our weather here. Hello and Happy New Year to friends in Dollar Bay.

Lake Superior's beauty never ceases to amaze me. Wish I was there!

The company's all gone back to California now. Went to bed Xmas eve thinking we'd have a green Christmas this year for sure. What a treat to wake up Christmas morning to a nice white blanket of snow. A good way to end the year. Here's to a good year to come.

After seeing this; I can't wait for my annual Feb. Vacation in the UP......

Neat old card..."Hauskaa Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta" means Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...and the other part of it, "toivotta: Laina Makela" is merely the ending (like, 'best wishes') and the person's name signed at the end...the root part of the word "toivo" means wish or hope, and it is still commonly written on Finnish Christmas greetings today. I often receive cards from relatives in Finland each year signed "toivotta:" or sometimes just "t:" and then their name is signed afterward. Laina is a very old-fashioned Finnish woman's name, and would have been very common in 1902. I've had conversations with a cousin in Finland recently about the name Laina, because we have an elderly friend who lives out here, who has this Finnish first name. My cousin tells me that it's a very uncommon name in Finland nowadays, but it was common when her grandmother was young. Makela is this Laina's last name on the old postcard.

Great shot of the frozen ice formations!