http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26582809by Dan Kraker
St Patrick's Day is 17 March, of course. But it's not just the Irish who throw a party this time of year. Across the US, small groups of Finnish Americans are celebrating St Urho's Day, which falls on 16 March.
At the main junction in the small town of Finland, Minnesota, stands a tall carved wooden statue of a bearded man, his mouth wide open, apparently shouting. Legend has it that sometime long ago, grasshoppers invaded Finland - the country - threatening its grapes. Then in stepped St Urho. "He's got a big mouth, he yelled really loud and they ran away."
According to actual history, two northern Minnesota men concocted the story in the 1950s, says Tim Winker, a self-described Finnophile who runs a website devoted to St Urho's Day.
"In Finland we don't celebrate St Urho's day, at all." There are still grasshoppers in Finland, and the country still doesn't grow any grapes.
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