Sunny greetings to all relatives!

We have been living in exceptional circumstances for just over a year now. The year has taught us to wash our hands diligently and use face masks as well as take care of things remotely.

The family council has traditionally met twice a year. The members live all over Finland, from Kotka to Vaasa and from Helsinki to Virrat, so finding a suitable meeting time for everyone, as well as arranging trips and a meeting place, has been quite a jigsaw puzzle.

The family council also took a digital leap, and the first Teams-related meetings have been held. After small initial setbacks, the arrangement has seemed to work well. And what seemed to make it all easier for all of us was the absence of travel, as anyone can attend a meeting wherever a mobile connection can now be found. The family council decided that remote meetings would be held more often than before, but about once a year the aim would be to meet quite a few people.

Quite a digital leap was also taken at the initiative of our marketing secretary Ulla Kekki, when she suggested that a digital version of the first part of the genealogy series be made, which can now be ordered from our online store. The book contains the pedigrees of Petter and Elizabeth and their children up to the 5th generation.

Hopefully already next summer, the corona situation has eased so much that we can continue the well-started plans for the Ilmajoki family celebrations. After all, it was decided to postpone the family celebrations and meetings by one year due to the pandemic situation. I think the decision was the only right one; we don’t want to risk anyone’s health! 

In recent days, I have remembered a lot of family celebrations in Virrat, my homeowner. The first were held in 1988 and I were assisting in the reception of registrations. The 2012 family festival is better remembered, as I was able to plan and organize them from start to finish, our secretary Eira Siltanen was then both my right and left hand. The party went well and for myself the most wonderful memory of the party was the story of Katarina and Simon, a musical play written by our recently deceased relative Uolevi Nojonen, which Eira adapted into the form of the play and gave it the name “We are clearing this country beautiful”. The play was directed by Tuula Hankaniemi, the music was composed by Jouko Palomäki and the driving force in the performance was the Virrat  mixed choir Waskikööri. 

Hopefully the coming summer will be better for the corona, the vaccinations will start to bite and we will be able to meet our relatives and other loved ones for a long time! Until then, stay healthy and enjoy the onset of summer!

Kurjenkylä in Virrat on June 10, 2021

Tuija Veija