European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 29, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 steamy Sanctuary in new York saunas new York times photo relaxing in steam George Hascup with wife and son in renovated new York times Osmo Hellas Sauna a Pine Shack a Hal Century old tucked Between the Lilac Trees and the High grass by the Creek fits neatly into the Rural landscape near tru a woo burning stove sends the temperature soaring to a steamy 200 degrees and draws the sap from the unvarnished planks As hot water gurgles through the old Iron a lot of the old they Why dont you tear this place Down and build a new said who owns the Podunk Cross country ski shop in a the Small town near but once Treyve tried they it raises a Good and that what lowly is a finnish word that translates roughly As the steam produced when water is splashed Over the Sauna in Western new York towns such As tru Newfield and Van where nearly a Quarter of the residents Are estimated to be finnish immigrants or their saunas Are a serious business and Praise for their lowly is not offered Melissa curator of education at the de Witt historical society in is documenting the saunas for an upcoming exhibition and estimates that there Are at least 100 saunas in the area in various states of repair and various states of when finnish lured by the Promise of inexpensive flocked to that Hilly Region in the 1910s and their first undertaking often was to erect a a Small two room Structure built of rough logs or milled Many of them lived while building or repairing the House and to the original finnish the saunas Pri Mary role was As a Wash stored in a Metal was As is still the Case in Hellas in pipes running through the with its hushed atmosphere and dim the Sauna also served As a Sanctuary where the finns sought both repose and far from spurning the Sauna in they often turned to it for refreshment after a Long Day of haying or Many of these Early saunas were built along Ponds or streams where swimming alternated with following the Advent of indoor the practical importance of the Sauna but its spiritual significance Onni a retired Printer who lives in heats his woo burning Sauna on the average of once a week he theres nothing like a Good hot Sauna to make you feel it opens up the pores and forces everything the according to takes about one hour to reach the desired although the Kaartinen Sauna is in the basement and is outfitted with hot and cold running its design is visitors enter through a dressing room stacked with new York times Osmo Heila outside his Pine Shack towels and decorated with a mural of the finnish Woods painted by Kart inns the Sauna which measures roughly 6 feet by 6 is furnished Only with two tiers of wooden benches running along the since heat the bold sit while the less Hardy remain Sauna benches Are made from soft Wood of Low density such As Redwood or the benches absorb less heat and arc slatted to facilitate while Many finns insist that Only woo burning stoves fill the Sauna with the proper Smoky Allan a retired Tooland Dic maker who lives in says he achieves the right effect in his electric Sauna by dabbing the stones atop the stove with Pine the stones function is to absorb heat and then release it no Pul Kanin nonetheless swears by the traditional ritual of applying a Leafy known As a to the Back and legs while taking a it stimulates the knocks the barnacles he each Spring Pul Kanin gathers shoots for his Virtu from local Maple Trees and ties them in Bunches with wire while Many of the newer saunas in this like have been constructed indoors and equipped with modern others have been built along More traditional George an architecture professor at Cornell visited the saunas of his finnish neighbors before building his own two years ago in the Boathouse by his Home in Hascup labels himself a regionalism and his he represents an Effort to incorporate the natural assets of the area into his lined with Redwood planks and fitted with an Iron the Sauna sits directly on the supported by a platform of weather beaten a door in the Back opens directly onto the where visitors Cool off Between sessions of it could be 90 degrees and the Sauna is still Hascup somehow it gives you Energy and relaxes you at the same Singer Julio Iglesias built a 14bed room Villa in Argentina with 16 Baths As a vacation Retreat for his three the 16 Baths will not be any Parent who has Ever washed his hair with a vegetable sprayer in the Kitchen sink can Tell you they will beat on doors and demand to be let in even when there is no one they will run water and steam up All the mirrors when they Arent even taking a there will be empty toilet tissue spindles even though the room has never been kids Are drawn to bathrooms like a it Moti Vates them from the time they Are immediately following an inner voice As soon As you learn How to you can toddle into the Bath room and throw your shoes into the what Are shoes asks the something you take off your feet every Chance you whats a toilet the place you throw your shoes to make it a bathroom int just another room in the to its the Las held fortress to protect their Pri the final Battle for the armageddon of their very if a bathroom were used for bodily and hygienic i could understand but its the social watering Hole of children my children went into the bathroom at age and barring major Holiday and occasional stabs at we never saw them again until it was time for them to get their own what did they do in there they projected Home movies of Mommy and daddy into the toilet bowl and flushed so that their faces swirled and looked they floated Light clubs in the Bathtub and shot at them with water they wrapped a dead horned Toad in a Flag and buried him at they decorated the toilet seat like a using dad Dys shaving Cream for the if you had to pick one room for learning about it would be the you learn about a Large bar of soap left in the Drain will eventually disappear when excessive water is run Over you learn about locks consisting of a Pushin Button Are easily opened with a plastic curler pin or the end of a paper you learn about human some people Are slime who will spit in a was bowl and never rinse it out even if he is your you learn about a Lizard put in a Cage on the Back of the commode will not be a Happy but with every Lush will hold his breath and some when they yell into the what Are you doing in there believe their children when they grow c los Angeles times Syndicate