Espoo donates woollen socks to war veterans
As National Veterans’ Day approaches, we have donated Espoo-themed woollen socks to our war veterans. The idea was to personally honour each and every veteran in Espoo, as many of them are no longer able to attend Veterans’ Day events. The socks were knitted by members of Espoo’s Martha associations.
Mayor Jukka Mäkelä and Chief Security Officer Petri Häkkinen want to highlight the importance of the sacrifices made by veterans and their entire generation during the war as well as the post-war reconstruction work.
“Veterans’ contribution to securing our country’s independence and freedom and the post-war reconstruction work are an important part of our history. We hope that younger generations also feel gratitude for what veterans have done and understand what we can learn from them. Together we succeed. By joining forces, we can conquer difficult situations and build something new.”
Mäkelä and Häkkinen also want to thank Espoo’s Martha associations for taking part in the campaign and knitting beautiful socks for veterans.
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National Veterans’ Day is celebrated on Saturday 27 April in honour of Finnish war veterans and to commemorate the end of the war and the beginning of peace. In Espoo, the traditions include a flag-raising ceremony in Tapiola and a wreath-laying ceremony at Espoo Cathedral’s war graves.
The flag-raising and the blessing of the wreath bearers at the Tapiola Amfi start at 9:30 and last about 20 minutes. Coffee will be available from the soldiers’ home association’s van. The organisation’s activities bring generations together as they have been part of conscripts’ daily life for over 100 years.
You can also watch the raising of the flag at espoo.fi/stream. The event will be interpreted into Finnish sign language.