Mommilanjärven soutelu

The event has been organized for 19 times now, always on the third Saturday of July. The boating event is a cheerful happening capturing the spirit of a summer festival. The setting for the event is idyllic and peaceful village area near Hausjärvi and Lammi. The smell of tar, folk music and country fair will lead you to a special experience. There will be lots of traditions present in form of craftwork and shows. There are also things solely for children.

Mommilanjärven soutelu is a unique event, where you don’t have to compete so hard and taxingly. The event offers something that seems to have disappeared from the world: The joy of doing things together and shared experiences. The thing bringing the boat team together can be anything: Workplace, a common hobby, old friendship or the same home village. The time together can be made a bit longer with practicing the boating a bit before the actual event and with having an ending banquet with the team.

The boating event has been there to revive some old sporting clubs which operated on old Karelia, like “Kirvun Vilkas” and “Antrean Esa”. These two clubs had fierce competitions against each other, starting from the 30’s and continuing on new locations after the wars. Although the clubs slowly faded, their legacy didn’t. The old traditions are slowly coming back to life. The community spirit, which has been a part of Finnish traditions, shows in a wonderful way, in the voluntary work of the organizers and the time spent together by the participants. The original goal of the event is fulfilled literally: to meet good friends at least once a year while doing something enjoyable.

I would like to heartily welcome to the event on behalf of Mommilanjärven soutelu ry. Here the term “bench sporting” gets a brand-new meaning, and everyone will be on the same boat - literally.

Markku Juhola

Mommilanjärven soutelu ry.

Chairman

Water way preservation & the boating society

What is the purpose of the boating society?

The purpose of the boating society is to develop the water way usage in Hausjärvi, Lammi, Kärkölä and Hämeenkoski municipalities and to protect the water ways so that they can be used in both recreational and industrial needs. The society organizes water way related events, grants stipends, participates in expenses coming from research and development of water way usage and educates people about the society and its goals.

How did the society get started?

A group of cousins and their friends decided to gather once a summer to spend some time together and to row Mommilanjärvi from one end to another.

This evolved into an idea how to gather all the regular habitants and vacation people on the same day to the lake, to see how the lake is faring and to think about ways to preserve the environment for the generations to come.

Why is a boating society needed?

There aren’t many water ways in the area, and their usage has changed a bit during the years. What used to be a route for log floating is now a natural lake for people’s recreation.

The water ways are growing shut, getting too swallow and slimy. Dangerous algae are spoiling the waters, and the waters might end up unusable in a few years.

Even in good conditions, the revival of the water ways might take years. The spoiling of the water areas is a problem, which can be prevented, and its causes can be affected. It’s important to find common goals for the habitants to help with the water way restoration.

The boating society tries to bring the environmental state to peoples attention and asks people to think of ways to preserve the water ways to the next generations.

How to achieve these goals?

The boating society’s main income comes from Mommilanjärven soutelu, the annual boating event and from some other sources, like selling merchandise, receiving donations and renting equipment for different occasions.

The society participates in the other local summer events in Lammi, Hausjärvi and Riihimäki, for example. On the events, the boating society brings out its own activities and markets the boating event. The society works with the officials and offers summer jobs to young people in restoring the water ways.

How is the income spent?

If the events produce profit, it is split so that one third is used to restore the water ways, one third is used to support the organizations participating the events and the last third is used to develop the boating event.

Contact

For more information about Mommilanjärven soutelu, contact:

Markku Juhola (0400) 444 714

markku.juhola (a) mommilanjarvensoutelu.fi

Jari Kovanen (019) 758 6780

jari.kovanen (a) mommilanjarvensoutelu.fi