daily lives of Heinola's farmers and made the region a prospering Finnish farming community.

The Heinola Farmers Cooperative Mercantile Association was founded in 1911, with the first board including Henry Anderson, John Carlund, Charles Käsmä, Gust Kästämä, Charles Lakso, Charles Palo and Peter Toppi. Two years before that the Heinola Telephone Company had been started, with J. P. Aarni as its first president; Henry Anderson, vice-president; John Carlund, secretary; M. H. Korkalo, treasurer; and William Anttila, F. O. Haapasaari, Jonas Ojala, Fred Vapola and J. J. Välimaa as board members. At first the company served only the immediate area of Heinola, but in 1921 it purchased from James Dooley the New York Mills Telephone Company, which became the headquarters of the larger company.

Religious activity in Deer Creek has been so closely associated with that of New York Mills that it has already been discussed in connection with that community. But the Finns of Heinola did have their own, independent baseball team, as far back as 1902. The earliest players included Midian and William Fräki, William Kaisalahti, John Pernula, Henry and Oscar Piippo, and Alfred, Nicolai and Richard Pudas.

The population of Deer Creek was 474 in 1890, then 510 at the turn of the century, and 658 in 1910.

Leaf Lake Township

Leaf Lake (Lehtijärvi) Township, which lies west of Deer Creek, was incorporated in 1879, following a petition signed chiefly by Norwegian immigrants. Later many Finns settled in the township, and the northern part of it, together with the `prairie country' southern part of Otto Township form a preponderantly Finnish settlement into which the first Finns arrived in 1878-79.

Lehtijärvi was visited during the years 1885-87 by two Finnish pastors, K. Nikander and William Williamson, who began religious work in the area. The Evangelical Lutheran congregation was founded on the last day of the year 1888, with founding members including John Gunnari, Gustaf Kauppi and John and Sakris Pajunpää. The congregation built its own church in 1903, and in 1906 it joined the National Church, becoming the oldest member of that church in Minnesota. Three church congresses have

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