Photo: Finlandia Hall Rotary Club past president Lauri Pokkinen hands over the collar of office to new president Essi Isomäki at a garden party.
The Rotary year traditionally changes over in July, when the new president takes office. The president receives a collar bearing the Rotary logo, with plates engraved with the names of previous holders. The collar is used in almost every club, but the ceremonies in which it changes hands vary. Some clubs hand over the collar in June, others in August at the start of the new season. Here is a small selection of these traditions!
1. In June, in Kadriorg
Most Estonian clubs, especially those in northern Estonia, take part in the traditional Estonian Rotary collar handover in Tallinn, at Kadriorg Palace and Park. The tradition began in 1998, when the Rotary Club of Tallinn decided to hold its own president’s collar handover as a family picnic. Today it has grown into a central collar handover event attended by clubs from across Estonia. The event takes place in late June or early July. A pleasant tradition is also to plant a tree, or several, at the event. Over the years, Estonian Rotary clubs have planted more than 300 trees in various parts of Kadriorg Park. The official part is followed by an informal gathering with snacks. Sometimes there is dancing as well. The Rotary Club of Tallinn’s mixed choir often performs at the event.
Some Estonian Rotary clubs, such as Tartu and Tartu Hansa, hold their collar handover ceremony according to their own traditions.
2. A three-course dinner
In the Kamppi club, the collar always changes hands in June before Midsummer, but the venue is different each time. Most recently, the honour fell to Mustio Manor, where club members first went on a guided tour and then enjoyed a three-course gourmet meal befitting the dignity of the collar handover. In the Herttoniemi club too, the handover takes place in mid-June in a private room at a restaurant, this year at the restaurant Vanha Mylly. Members attend either alone or with their spouse and enjoy a good meal together. The outgoing president gives an overview of the season that has ended, and the new president opens the programme for the coming season. The outgoing president receives Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) recognition and hands over their president’s lapel pin to the new president. The outgoing president, in turn, receives a past president’s pin from the club.
3. Here, there, and now and then
In the Finlandia Hall club, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, the collar handover has in recent years been held sometimes in June, sometimes in August. Sometimes in a restaurant, sometimes as part of a summer outing, or even in the form of an English-style garden party, as this year! In the end, what matters most at the event is not the shine of the collar or a fixed ceremony, but that club members come together, whether to close one season or open a new one!
Sometimes summer brings surprises, and for one reason or another the celebration cannot be arranged. In that case, the president simply receives their collar of office at a meeting, either at the last meeting of the season or the first meeting of the new one. While coming together and a festive mood are always valuable, what matters most is that the Rotary wheel keeps turning, and that responsibilities pass smoothly, and more or less on schedule, to the next president.
