Pyhäjoki - Your Home by the Waters

YOUR HOME BY THE WATERS 64° 27’49.9 ”N

24 ° 15 ’ 29. 7 ”E

TO LIVE WITH US Pyhäjoki, known for its pure nature and energy, has been built in the middle of coastal Northern Ostrobothnia. The municipality lives on the lap of the sea and the river. Here nature is near people – and everyday services are easily available.

Floating into the Bay of Bothnia, the River Pyhäjoki with its foaming rapids has become a very popular site for fishing and paddling.

When a traveler passes through the seashore villages towards inland, the scenery varies from wide fields to nearly untouchable deep forests and grand windfarms.

Friendly and genuine people, a viable home amid increasing job opportunities and services, a modern breeze of internationality.

That is Pyhäjoki.

3 300 INHABITANTS

700 COTTAGES AND HOLIDAY HOMES

90 KM OF COASTLINE

PYHÄ JOKI

DRIVE TIME RAAHE 25 MIN. KALAJOKI 30 MIN. OULU 1 H KOKKOLA 1 H

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OULUNSALO AIRPORT 1H

YOUR HOME BY THE WATERS

TRAIN STATION OULAINEN 30 MIN. VIHANTI 30 MIN.

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Photo: Habita

LIVING In Pyhäjoki you will find your home in a scenery that you enjoy the most, whether it is an apartment house by the river and next to the services, the idyllic Aatosvainio residential district, the seashore of Matinsaari, or an authentic countryside milieu in one of the villages.

Commuting flows straightforwardly without traffic jams. The Highway 8 that splits the municipality takes you to Hanhikivi or to the neighboring municipalities in a moment. The daycare places and schools are near. Daily groceries and minor utensils are found conveniently at the local stores. Ordinary living is smooth in Pyhäjoki – you will have more time for your family, friends and hobbies.

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YOUR HOME BY THE WATERS

AT THE WATERS As you may have already found your permanent homeport somewhere else, Pyhäjoki offers many attractive corners to furnish your home away from home.

The second home may serve as your vacation destination as well because nature, hobbies, and relaxation are truly close.

A refreshing morning dip at your own waterfront? Watching a fall storm from the warmth of your cozy house? The Matinsaari Island will let those dreams come true. In the upcoming years the island with its surrounding area will compose close to a hundred permanent and vacation lots with their own waterfronts. Services and shops will be only a walk away.

If you enjoy hearing the sound of a flowing stream, then you may find your home at the verdant banks of the River Pyhäjoki. Most riverside properties locate in the village of Pirttikoski.

Business travelers and tourists may stay in cozy cottages or affordable apartments. Stay as long as you wish! More information about the housing options: www.visitpyhajoki.fi

No matter where you live in Pyhäjoki, you are among genuine and friendly neighbors. Nature, peeking out through your windows and beginning at your door steps, gives you a fresh breather when needed.

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PYHÄJOKI Home-like day care places in kindergartens and day nurseries, morning and afternoon care for the smallest school children and pleasant playgrounds to frolic in – Children´s Pyhäjoki is a safe and joyful environment to grow up in with other children.

In the future, the juniors may practice new languages already before the school age in an international day care setting.

The pupils go either to one of the three small schools in the villages of Pyhäjoki or to the central school, Saaren koulu, where 7th-to-9th-graders learn as well. Because of the small group sizes and the calm learning environments, the children may enjoy the rarity of individual teaching. To the youngest students, the municipality provides with more teaching hours than in the average Finnish school.

The ways to school go by easily through cycle ways, peaceful village roads or on school buses.

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YOUR HOME BY THE WATERS

Photo: Josefiina Nuorala

FROM THE OWN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL One of the many things that one can be proud about in Pyhäjoki is the entrepreneurial upper secondary school where the teachers encourage initiative approach to school work, entrepreneurial attitude, and media skills.

The students edit the local, weekly-delivered newspaper, Kuulumiset, organize the annual fall fair, participate regularly in international projects and head for study trips abroad. The school is known for its cozy and inspiring spirit.

The achievements of Yrttis have been recognized nationally.

Photo: Sari Hidén

Into a profession nearby – within a direct bus connection, the neighboring towns organize versatile vocational education programs from house-building and tourism to healthcare and interior design studies

Music in Pyhäjoki can be studied in the regional Ylivieska College of Music which offers basic education in arts.

OF THE FUTURE “The School 2022 Project” aims at building a new school of the future with a learning environment that will have an international focus.

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Kuva: Fennovoima

Kuva: Fennovoima

SERVICES One of the good parts about living in Pyhäjoki is the easy access to friendly everyday services. Whether you had rye bread or a lawn mower on your shopping list, you will find it at local stores.

Soon people will have access to new services at a new shopping center, while another one is under design.

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Photo: Katri ja Aleksi Photo: Katri ja Aleksi

If you like to shop in bigger stores or use specialized services, you will drive to the malls and entertainment services of the neighboring towns in a moment. One of the biggest malls in Finland is only a little bit more than an hour-drive away.

WITHIN A 45-MINUTE DRIVING DISTANCE

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SUPERMARKETS AND DEPARTMENT STORES

FOR YOUR HEALTH

PYHÄJOKI-HOUSE

When a tooth is aching or a persistent flu is not giving up, help is near. The doctor´s office and dental care services are open on weekdays at the own rush-free health care center. If you need an on-duty doctor on weekends, pediatrician or special health care services, you will find them in the Hospital of Raahe within a 30-minute drive.

Pyhäjoki House will locate at the riverside, in the heart of the municipality. The house brings a pleasant addition to the service assortment with sections for culture, exercise, recreation, accommodation, training and a reception hall. One of the attractions will be Fennovoima´s visitor center.

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CLOTHING STORES

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RESTAURANTS AND PIZZERIAS

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NIGHT CLUBS, PUBS AND DANCE PAVILIONS

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BARBER SHOPS AND HAIRDRESSERS

Soon there will be also private healthcare and wellbeing services available in Pyhäjoki.

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CAR RETAILERS

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Take a closer look at the local services on the website www.visitpyhajoki.fi

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HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO SUNBATHE CALIFORNIA? – Welcome then! The map of Pyhäjoki does include a place called Kalifornia. When entering there, you may hear a story about a man who moved from America to Pyhäjoki to run a convenient store. And he had the sign from his old store with him…

FIND LOCAL SERVICES 1

Municipal Hall, Youth Center, Fire Station

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Health Center, Dentist

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Day Care Center

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School (Saaren koulu)

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Shops and Services

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Shopping Center, Postal Office, Bus Station

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Accommodation

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Congregational Youth Center

MOVE AND EXERCISE 1

Kielosaari Exercise Park, Sports Field, Tennis Court, Beach Volley Court

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Sports Hall

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Indoor Ice Rink

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Rautiperä Outdoor Recreation Area, Ice Swimming Hole

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Disc Golf Course

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Church Park Playground

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Beach

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Shooting Range, Hunting Clubhouse

ON CULTURAL TOUR

Check out the detailed service map online

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Library

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Pauhasali Auditorium, Upper Secondary School

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Church

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Summer Theater, Annala Home Museum

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Etelänkylän Isosilta Historic Bridge

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Kaukon kalaranta Fishing Milieu

ENJOY NATURE 1

Kielosaari Nature Trail

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Saaren penkkatie Riverbank Road

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Koskipuisto Rapid Park

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Pohjoishaaran penkkatie Riverbank Road

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Tervo Marina NEW RESIDENTIAL AREAS

JOY OF

Photo: Kusti Kittil채

The Folks of Pyh채joki are active. Whether your sport is disc golf, ice hockey, tennis, cross-country skiing, icehole-dipping, or riding the snowmobile, you are among your kind. Pyh채joki was made for fitness fans!

The Kielosaari Exercise Park moves you around in all seasons, indoor and outdoor. The renewed ski trails and mountain biking routes in the Rautiper채 outdoor recreation area let every person enjoy exercising, no matter how skillful he or she is. The motor sports enthusiasts get to challenge themselves on the motocross track in Viirre.

WITHIN A 30-MINUTE DRIVE

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SWIMMING HALLS

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GOLF COURSES

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DISC GOLF COURSES

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HORSE STABLES

REFRESH YOURSELF IN

Here hikers may explore activities that the real four seasons offer. One may appreciate nature in peace and hearken the sounds of silence or face the vigor of sea gales. There is something for everybody from light summer nights to crisp freezes of winter.

Go biking, paddling, fishing, or collect vitamins for the winter by picking berries. Trek to a wicket and sit down at a campfire. Enjoy nature – with your own style.

TO THE NEW TRAILS

A PARADISE FOR BIRD-WATCHERS

The new hiking trails take bikers and trekkers to the roaring seashore and into the soughing woods.

The trail network consists of 160 kilometers of marked and maintained paths.

In springtime, Pyhäjoki is filled with swishing wings and chirping sounds. The bays, glades and suitable location in the migration route bring us hundreds and thousands of migratory birds every year.

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SAVOR Pyhäjoki may enjoy close to a hundred art performances and functions annually.

The library organizes cultural events from small concerts and comics workshops to puppet shows and poetry recitations throughout the year. The Pauhasali Auditorium transforms itself into a movie theater each month, and the actresses and actors in the Annala Summer Theatre amuse the audiences annually in the historical courtyard of the home museum.

In half an hour you will reach the cultural activities of the three neighboring towns. You may experience well-known artists´ concerts, art exhibitions, and anything in between – you name it.

In summertime, the Merimaja Dance Pavilion attracts dancers for twirling in the authentic atmosphere of the legendary summer dance pavilion.

PYHÄJOKI HAS ACTION

The events in Pyhäjoki reflect the spirit of the community. They are warm-hearted occasions that welcome the villagers and their guests to chat around and to share a few laughs. The village happenings and family carnivals from Shrovetide festivities to the Fall Fair embroider the weekly living nicely year-around.

In spring the Pike King Competition and the Pyhäjoki Paddling Event invite folks to Nature. The First of May Motorbike Gathering and the Seaman Church in July are some of the local peculiarities. On Easter Saturdays, around the municipality, Easter bonfires are blazing and carrying on the Ostrobothnian tradition.

Within an hour-drive from Pyhäjoki, numerous largescale events, with something to everybody´s liking, take place in all seasons. You may visit outdoor and sportmen´s fairs, music festivals, or motor carnivals.

Sports fans´ vocal cords are being tested at the PJK hockey games at the indoor ice rink. In spring, the villages of Pyhäjoki will compete against one another in the traditional hockey tournament.

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Photo: Fennovoima

Pyhäjoki belongs to the rare group of small municipalities where the number of jobs and residents is increasing significantly in the upcoming years.

Growing business sectors and the location next to large employers provide our residents with good opportunities to find appropriate work close to home. Within a 45-minute driving range, there exist currently around 28,000 jobs. In the approaching years, the number of jobs will be growing impressively, thanks to the large-scale industrial projects nearby.

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THE GROWING JOB MARKET In addition to creating new jobs on the construction site, Hanhikivi 1 Project has given already a positive boost to the local economy in the service sector and travel industry with new jobs and investments.

Outside Pyhäjoki the most important employers are the steel factory with its subcontractors in Raahe, travel industry and services in Kalajoki, and the educational and well-being sectors elsewhere in the region.

In agriculture, around a hundred farms produce pure food in Pyhäjoki.

JOBS WITHIN A 45-MINUTE DRIVING RANGE FROM PYHÄJOKI 7 000 INDUSTRY 2 000 CONSTRUCTION

7 500 OTHER SECTORS (e.g. Other Ser vices)

5 000 SOCIAL WELFARE AND HEALTHCARE

JOBS

750 HOTEL AND RESTAURANT BUSINESS 2 500 TRADE

The local businesses operate in a supportive atmosphere. The boost from the large-scale industrial projects and the modern business parks

by Highway 8 create a productive environment for businesses to flourish.

YOUR HOME BY THE WATERS

Photo: Letkiä Cloth

Pyhäjoki delivers know-how to the world in paper machine maintenance, streetwear, ergonomic products, and wooden strips, for example.

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2 000 AGRICULTURE 2 000 EDUCATION

Building an optical fiber network to cover every household in Pyhäjoki will create first-class possibilities for teleworking. A video-conference meeting with colleagues in the capital region is easy to organize. And if you must be present face-to-face in that meeting, you will get there in a few hours by flying there from the second busiest airport in Finland.

WE – THE PEOPLE OF

The people who live in Pyhäjoki are friendly and jovial. We like to chat around in a grocery store line and greet folks at the main street, even though we would not know each other yet.

At our corners, people help one another and do things together. While we cherish some of the traditions, we aim our vision into the future.

Living at the vast sea has made us international and our minds open to the world. In the past decades and centuries, the residents of Pyhäjoki were moving to Sweden and sailing to America. Today, Pyhäjoki has come full circle when many returnees and new international folks are moving back to Pyhäjoki. Pyhäjoki will enjoy lots of new twists from the world in the future.

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THE KUULUMISET NEWSPAPER The Kuulumiset Newspaper is read every week from cover to cover. The upper secondary school students edit the paper in which you may check out what happens in the main street, read interesting articles, and find the latest offers at the local shops.

PUHTO Kittipuhto, Teeripuhto, Pietipuhto…

We have those puhtos. Puhto is a sporadic Finnish word, used in Pyhäjoki. It refers to a huddle or a cluster of houses, a corner of a village.

Which of the puhtos ye live in?

THE LAMPER EEL A half of the people in Pyhäjoki consider these round-mouthed treats of water to be incomparably delicious snacks. The other half will not even taste them. Decide for yourself!

THE GOOSE The goose stands in the coat of arms of Pyhäjoki. It refers to the Hanhikivi (Goose Stone) erratic block, located in the Cape Hanhikivi, where Hanhikivi 1 nuclear power plant will be build. The big erratic block may have gotten its name from migratory geese that had been resting on it – who knows? Hanhikivi is thought to be the borderstone of the Treaty of Pähkinänsaari in 1323.

Photo: Fennovoima

THE RIVERBANK ROADS The weaving riverbank roads are placid jogging routes, fitting for biking, and particularly for floodwatching in spring. The banks were built with shovels in the 1950s to prevent the flood waters from rising too much.

Photo: Letkiä Cloth

PAUHA The word Pauha is glancing in many contexts: the Pauhasali Auditorium, the Pauha-Matti and Pauha-Maija nominations, the Pauhalla statue...

It is an old Pyhäjoki-word which means in English: a herring shallow where waves are roaring loudly. Thus the verb pauhata translates freely into a verb roar. “You went to the pauha on a pauha boat and brought home the most plentiful catches.”

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ST. RIVER Pyhäjoki stands for a saint river or a holy river in English. The youngsters came up with the nickname St. River in the 1990s. Whether skaters, school kids or the skating school kids invented it – we do not know. The main thing is that they came up with it!

Graphical Design and Folding: Kuuma Kamina | Place of Printing: Rannikon Laatupaino, Raahe

MUNICIPALITY OF PYHÄJOKI Kuntatie 1, 86100 Pyhäjoki tel. +358 (0) 40 359 6000 www.pyhajoki.fi

Texts: Municipality of Pyhäjoki and Kuuma Kamina | Photos: Municipality of Pyhäjoki (Heini Kittilä, Tiina Tiirola) if not mentioned otherwise