The Seminaarinmäki Male Singers, who have been renewing male choral culture for 33 years, will embark on a tour of Finland and at the same time promote nature conservation. The Semmar Patrol promises to clean up the beaches in every city.
Other Semmar are scurrying around the beach picking up litter in the chilly autumn weather. Before the Turka swimming event, the choir rehearsed a new *Inclement Weather* song in the school gymnasium. According to choir friends, Turkka Saarikoski swam every day, even during the tour – before and after the show.
Seminaarinmäki Male Singers (Semmarit) want to illustrate the side story of their upcoming Finnish tour with a swim in the school pond. The choir is not content with simply conveying the good news of singing, but also includes charity events in its performances.
With the “Herring in the Sun” tour, Semmarit highlights the importance of water protection. Together with the Keep the Archipelago Clean Association, Semmarit encourages keeping beaches clean and litter-free.
The Keep the Archipelago Clean association was founded in 1968. It was then that it was noticed that in addition to the garbage left by people on the beaches, garbage from the Archipelago Sea is carried to the beaches. The association started work to collect garbage and the work has continued for 54 years.
In addition to collecting garbage and waste, the association takes care of boaters’ septic waste, maintains excursion ports in Saimaa, Päijänte, the Gulf of Pohjanlahti, the eastern Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea. The association has many partners in nurturing beaches and waterways.
– The approach of summer is indeed a boost for autumn. We get a lot of visibility for our work, because Semmarit is well known, Takkinen is happy.
Semmarei was attracted by the domestic association’s work on a global problem.
– We like it when the association gets down to business, really goes to the archipelago and digs out the rusty barrels from there, Saarikoski reasons.
Semmare’s tour starts in Joensuu on November 24 and ends at Musiikkitalo in Helsinki on December 10.
The choir brings the environmental theme to the fore at concert venues in the 12 cities of the tour. Encouraged by the association, the choir spreads the message with a twinkle in the corner of the eye and is enthralling in all cities.
– Before the gig, our strike team will set off with garbage bags to collect garbage from the beaches, promises Saarikoski.
– This way we get visibility for the beach cleaning talk show, Siisti Biits, says Terhi Takkinen.
In the charming harbor of Säynätsalo, Takkinen thinks that the harbor looks really clean, but the beach is not really clean.
– In autumn, an older couple came to Säynätsalo’s Siisti biitsi talk to wonder why you are cleaning here, there is no trash here.
Takkinen gave the couple a pair of trash tongs, and in a short time, a good hundred cigarette butts accumulated in the trash bag.
– The tank is full of poison and microplastic, which melts into the lakes and is transported in the food chain through fish to even us humans.