People make the village - part 3 of the story series
Pictures: Johanna Koponen
Huttula's life
When visiting the village of Kerkonkoski, you can't help but gaze at the Huttula farm. In the summer, it stands peacefully amidst dandelion fields. In the winter, Huttula is like a small island from a bygone era, surrounded by a white blanket of snow.
The history of the main house that stands on the plot today dates back to 1882, but the history of the Huttula farm is even older. Along the Kerkonkoski Canal The book says that the current light blue-gray house is not the original main building of the farm, but a large log house stood next to it in the 18th century. That red-earthed house was demolished in the 1940s, when the brothers on the farm divided the property in half. The Vataja farm was built from the logs and the fields and cows were divided equally. The first Markkanen, Juho by name, settled in the house in 1851 when he married the farm's daughter, Erika Hänninen. From those years until today, the mailbox has been adorned with Markkanen's name.
Sitting across from me at the coffee table are Olli and Päivi Markkanen, the former owners of the farm. Olli was born and raised on the farm. He says he always knew he wanted to be a farmer, and he completed his studies at the Suonenjoki Agricultural School. As his life progressed, Olli felt that something was missing from his rural landscape. Päivi, who had faced challenges elsewhere in her life, asked her late mother: “If you hear my prayer, send me someone I can live with.”
Päivi and Olli's paths crossed in 1985. It's been a long time, but the warm love between the couple still blossoms. It was July when Päivi was driving from a trip to Lapland with her daughter Laura on the 5-way towards her home in Kerava. Since the trip was long, she decided to point the front of the Datsun 100A towards Juankoski, where her family lived. Päivi's sister was also there, and when evening came, the sisters and their cousins were excited to go see what was going on in the village. They headed to a local restaurant and were met at the door by a doorman who announced that the restaurant was reserved for two weddings. After a little negotiation, the doorman let the girls in, but swore them not to tell which wedding party they were in.
It wasn't long before Päivi was the bravest, peeking out from the door of the ballroom despite the snickering of her friends. Little did Päivi know that at that moment the pages of the rest of her life were being written in big leaps. Olli was a wedding guest at the party in question, and he caught sight of a woman peeking in from the other side of the hall. He said out loud: "That's it."
Päivi's lively energy captured the young man's heart, and Päivi remembers Olli wondering: "What exactly are you?" From that evening on, they continued to get to know each other between Kerkonkoski and Kerava using landline phones, and it was noticed that things were going very well. In October of the same year, Olli traveled to Päivi's place in Kerava, and at the turn of the year, they celebrated their engagement in Kerava.
In Kerkonkoski, Päivi was charmed by the fields bathed in autumn colours and the beauty of the canal area. Before visiting Kerkonkoski, Päivi had no idea how big the Huttula estate was. There was plenty to do and Päivi's modern ideas about floor mopping did not please the then mistress of the house. "The floor in the cottage has always been washed from top to bottom, and they always come to wash it," said her mother-in-law. Päivi humbly accepted her mother-in-law's advice, but when she started washing the floor, she heard from behind her: "And I've never started from that corner!" Her mother-in-law didn't let her daughter-in-law off easy, but Päivi, who had already experienced hardships in her life, did not give up. As you might guess, settling into a large house in a rural village as the daughter-in-law was not easy for a single parent who had moved from southern Finland in the 1980s.
Despite everything, Olli and Päivi's love carried them through the difficulties unshakably and the wedding was celebrated in the summer of '86. The wedding ceremony was held in Rautalammi Church, from where they moved to Huttula for coffee. When evening came, they went to the village house Seurala, which stands on the other side of the field. A couple of years passed. The family grew and Laura had a long-awaited little brother, Sampo. Later, the current owner of the farm, Alpo, announced his arrival.
There was plenty of work to do on the dairy farm, but as a hardworking and sociable woman, Päivi also joined the Kerkonkoski village committee. She wanted to find her place in the village community, and so friendships gradually began to form. The volunteer group achieved many things, and in the 90s, smart heads were brought together on a project basis when the Kirjava satama event was established in Kerkonkoski. During those summers, thousands of visitors flocked to the small village, and the event gained a national reputation.
This year, Päivi and Olli corked a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate their engagement anniversary at their home in the parish of Rautalammi. No stone grows moss on a rolling stone, and the couple is actively involved in volunteer work. They also occasionally help their youngest son with Huttula's work.
The current owner of the farm, Alpo, works full-time as a paramedic in Varkaus, but he doesn't want to give up his home. Alpo uses his free time to work in the fields and go out into the forest, both for forestry and hunting. After a hectic workweek, it's nice to come home to the peace and quiet of the countryside. "Where else can I go from here?"
The author is Johanna Koponen, a project worker for the Kerkonkoski Ketterän Kerkolla Kylään project. The project has received Leader support from the Development Association Mansikka ry.
Pictures: Johanna Koponen ja Markkasten kotialbumi
The purpose of this feel-good series is to make life in Kerkonkoski visible and bring the villagers closer to each other. The series introduces new and old acquaintances, those who have moved to the village and those who have lived there all their lives.
