Miss Finland Sofia Morrill from Warrenton was crowned Miss Scandinavia 2019 at the Queen’s Coronation on June 21, 2019. Runner-up was Miss Denmark Isabel Talley from Astoria. As runner-up, Miss Talley serve as the Lucia Bride for the Lucia Festival in November 2019.

The 2020 court was announced on March 10. Find out more about these special young people below.

Lila is Senior Miss Denmark and a sophomore at Astoria High School. She’s sponsored by the Lower Columbia Danish Society. Her family heritage includes Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian by marriage. Lila June has only lived in the local area for 2 ½ years but one of the first things she did when she moved here was to attend the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. She loved watching the dancers and trying the different foods. She thinks serving on the court is a good way to meet new people, work on a community project, and make fun memories. Lila June plays soccer and the piano. She likes photography, snow skiing, longboarding, and is the only redhead in her family!

Elle is a junior at Astoria High School and sponsored by Nidaros Lodge #16 of the Sons of Norway. She’s eager to serve on the Midsummer Festival Court in order to learn more about her heritage and to improve her public speaking skills. Her family has Norwegian heritage on both sides and maintains some Norwegian traditions, especially at the holidays, by making lefse. Elle plays varsity soccer and basketball and rides for the equestrian team at Astoria High School. She also raises 4-H pigs. Elle loves to organize and plan things and after high school intends to attend a four-year university to major in physical therapy or psychology.

Senior Court Chaperone is Carole Chase of Warrenton. She graduated from Warrenton High School and Oregon State University and is public relations / marketing specialist for the Pacific County Health Department. Carole’s paternal great-grandmother was Icelandic and her maternal grandparents were both Finnish. Carole was Junior Miss Iceland in 1987 and Regatta Queen in 1997. Her daughter was Junior Miss Iceland in 2017. Carole plans to take her children to visit Iceland in 2025. Carole has good memories as a child working with family members on preparations for the festival. She thinks preserving heritage is important and is excited to help foster that continued spirit.

Avery is sponsored by Finnish Brotherhood. She loves attending the Midsummer Festival and seeing the Troll. Celebrating her heritage and eating Finnish foods are her priorities. Avery loves to help her Grammy make prune tarts, pannukakku, meatballs and pulla. Both her maternal and paternal great-great-grandparents immigrated from Finland to the United States at the turn of the 19th century. Avery plays basketball and softball and loves to read and play Pokemon. She’s very unique and creative and loves to take care of her farm animals. She’s a hard worker with very strong SISU!

Kilee is from Astoria and sponsored by the Sons of Norway, Nidaros Lodge #16. Her sister Hailey was Junior Miss Norway in 2016 and Kilee went to all festival events with her and is looking forward to attending them again. Her family heritage includes Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish. Her great-grandfather immigrated to the US from Norway in 1921. Kilee participates in basketball and softball at school and loves ballet and jazz hip hop.

Petra lives in Astoria and is sponsored by the VASA Lodge. She dances with the Nordic Dancers and has been involved with all aspects of the festival since her parents and grandparents are long-time festival volunteers. Petra is excited to be a princess and especially looks forward to the parades. Her heritage is Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian and she’s met Swedish cousins who came to the US to visit. Petra stays busy with church and family activities and her Scandinavian heritage is very important to her.

Max is a student at Hilda Lahti Elementary School in Knappa, Oregon. Max is of Finnish descent through his grandmother, Constance Waisanen. Her grandparents came from the west central regions of Karstula and Paavola, Finland and settled in northern Minnesota. At past festivals Max has enjoyed the burning of the hexes and the barnefest for children. He enjoys the Vikings and loves to play with the sword and dagger he got at the festival. A special treat has been getting to know musicians from the other side of the world when they stay at Grandma’s house during the festival. Max’s favorite subject is math and he loves to do science experiments, build projects and spend time in the woods hiking and foraging with his family. Max is honored to represent his culture and excited to be part of the Court.

Constance was born in Moose Lake, Minnesota, to Lauri Waisanen and Walma Penttinen Waisanen. Her father’s family emigrated from the area around Paavola, Finland, to northern Minnesota in the mid 1800’s. Her paternal grandparents raised nine children in Split Rock Township, Minnesota. Her maternal grandparents married in Karstula, Finland, and moved to the Minnesota Iron range with four of their daughters in 1917. Constance was given an English name because of the difficulty her parents faced in America with their distinctly Finnish names. She lived in Minnesota until attending the University of California where she majored in Chemical Engineering. After graduation, Constance’s first job brought her to the paper industry in Oregon, where she was delighted to reconnect with her Finnish roots. Constance has two sons who are both foresters and two grandchildren whom she encourages to believe that they are 100% Finnish. Constance is an active member of First Lutheran Church, sings with the North Coast Chorale, gardens, and makes art. In 2018, she traveled to Finland with her brother and connected with her cousins. A highlight of the trip was visiting Juoksuaho, the family homestead her grandmother left in 1917, where her cousin lives and which remains virtually unchanged.