Our history

The first written meeting minutes were recorded by the so-called Rapla Rotary initiative group as early as 1993. The first set of minutes—No. 1—is dated September 29, 1993. With somewhat hesitant strokes of the pen, the club secretary at the time, Kaljo Toome, noted that according to Jüri Võigemast—the leader of the initiative group and the club’s designated president—the club had been officially registered as a legal entity with the Rapla County Government. Thirteen of the original twenty-two members were present. The format for the minutes was approved, and the group discussed how to pursue membership in Rotary International. It was also announced that, in cooperation with the Värnamo club, arrangements had been made for the first charitable project: bringing seven photocopiers to Rapla. The Rapla-Värnamo Friendship Society had already been in existence for some time, and in 1993, it awarded the first scholarships for internships in Sweden. The club continued to meet regularly for about a year at the Ristiku Café in the Rapla hospital building, listening to presentations on members’ professional activities or talks by guest speakers, all while preparing the club’s statutes and working toward official affiliation with Rotary International.

Official registration of Rapla Rotary.

Ühistöö / 23.08.1994 / Ülle Miilen

One of the most colorful events of the weekend was the Rapla Rotary Club’s three-day (!) celebration, which began on Friday, August 19, and concluded on Sunday afternoon with a concert at the church music festival. The club was officially founded on June 13, 1994. The Rapla Rotary Club was registered as a member of Rotary International in Zurich on June 30, 1994. The recent celebration in Rapla was a “Charter Party”—or, in plain language, an inaugural celebration—during which our Rotary Club was presented with its registration certificate and club insignia.

Until now, there were six fully chartered Rotary clubs operating in Estonia. The Rapla Rotary Club is thus the seventh in the country, and the first to be established in a small town. Among the initiators of the Rapla Rotary Club were Ruve Schank and Harri Õunapuu, both of whom remain active members to this day. Prior to Kalle Talviste’s appointment as president, the local club was led by Jüri Võigemast. Rotary club activities are strictly regulated: members meet once a week, and a member must attend at least 60% of club events or risk losing their membership. The club president is elected for a one-year term. The Rotary motto is: “Believe in what you do; do what you believe in!” The symbol of the Rotary movement—a gear—represents the driving force.

Rotary clubs worldwide are organized into districts. The Rapla Rotary Club, like other Estonian clubs, belongs to District 1420; the district governor at the time was Erik Wihtol (pictured). However, the Rapla Rotary Club had already begun meeting and seeking official status during the tenure of the previous governor, Rolf Forsman. Both men also attended the celebrations in Rapla. Rotary members worldwide address one another as brothers; membership is open to representatives from various professions and organizations, with only one representative per field. Although Rotary is (originally) a men’s club, family events are also organized.

The Rotarians who officially became members of the Rapla Rotary Club from that moment were: Raivo Heinaru, Tiit Kadastik, Eero Kalberg, Jüri Kivi, Mihkel Kukk, Aivar Künnapää, Rein Laanisto, Ennu Laasner (corrected), Mati Leipalu, Aavo Lumi (corrected), Tarmo Lukk, Urmas Minn, Urmas Nestor, Paul Orupõld, Riho Pihlapuu, Andrus Ristkok, Mikk Sarv, Tõnu Susi, Ruve Schank, Kalle Talviste, Erlend Tammenurm, Margus Tilga, Viktor Sartakov (corrected), Rene Tobbi, Kaljo Toome, Jüri Võigemast, and Harri Õunapuu.

All 27 men received a club membership pin. Membership in Rotary International opens channels for international interaction, while club activities offer a great opportunity for professionals from diverse fields to connect with one another. As a global organization, Rotary also distributes grants.

Eesti Sõnumid / 23.08.1994 / Ester Šank

The Rotary movement arrived in Estonia in 1930 and was revived in 1991. Over the weekend, the Rapla club became the seventh in Estonia to receive its membership charter from the global organization. Previously, Rotary clubs had been chartered in Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Viljandi, Haapsalu, and Saaremaa; these clubs served as sponsors at the Rapla club’s induction ceremony. Representatives from sponsoring clubs in Finland (Hausjärvi, Riihimäki) and Sweden (Värnamo) also attended, alongside fellow Rotarians from Norway and Germany. A conference titled “Rapla’s Resources” was held, and participants toured local businesses. The Rapla Rotary club brings together county government leaders, school principals, mayors, bankers, and the owners and executives of various manufacturing companies—currently totaling 27 men. It has also been reported that an eighth Estonian club—Põlva—has already been admitted to the global Rotary organization.

The first president of the Rotary Club of Rapla is County Governor Kalle Talviste. The registration certificate was presented to him by Wihtol, the current governor of District 1420 (covering Finland and Estonia), and former governor Forsman.

Photo by Taimu Tammik.

But a few other exciting events had already taken place six years earlier – recalls fellow club member Andrus Ristkok.

It was an autumn (or perhaps early spring?) afternoon in 1988. We were still living in the Estonian SSR. The Pirgu Development Centre’s residency—then in its second year of operation—was housed in the recently restored Pirgu manor house, a space we were trying to utilize as effectively as possible for our needs. A daytime training course for adults had just concluded, and the participants had departed for home. I remained on-site as one of the course organizers. Besides myself, there were a few others at the manor—people who were helping to restore the building and who spent a significant amount of time there in those days. We grabbed some coffee from the cellar bar, gathered in the Red Salon, and reviewed the day’s training session. In between, we rearranged the chairs in the hall, returning them to their “ready” position.

Suddenly, a long black ZIL limousine with Moscow diplomatic plates rolled quietly up to the main steps, crunching over the gravel, a state flag flying proudly from the mount on its fender. The car maneuvered with some difficulty to turn around and came to a halt. What a surprise that was! Nothing of the sort had ever been seen in front of the Pirgu manor, and one rarely saw such a car even in Tallinn. A chic, elegantly dressed lady and two elderly foreign gentlemen stepped out of the limousine. Katrin Saukas and I headed to the manor steps to meet them. The lady introduced herself in Russian as an escort and interpreter and presented the guests. One of the arrivals was the Swedish textile industrialist Axel Murray, and the other was a former Swedish diplomat, Vikar Säfvestad. The lady asked if they might have an hour to discuss a few matters. I agreed. Katrin reacted quickly and ushered us into the Yellow Salon, which featured impressive period furnishings from the manor’s heyday. She then hurried off to the cellar to serve coffee.

We took our seats in the lounge on the sofa and armchairs arranged around a small table. Katrin returned almost immediately. With true professionalism, she had quickly found a cap and a white lace apron, adjusted her hairstyle to suit the occasion, gathered the necessary items from our formal dinner service onto a tray, and added coffee, sugar, and the accompanying essentials in equally elegant vessels. The elderly gentlemen’s astonishment knew no bounds, and a look of bewilderment appeared in the female companion’s eyes as well. Then the conversation began. First, the guests introduced themselves in greater detail. The lady was an employee of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs—an escort sent from Moscow and an interpreter with specific KGB duties (as became apparent later!). It turned out that Axel Murray was a Rotary District Governor in Sweden. Vikar Säfvestad, who appeared to be the driving force behind their visit to Moscow, was a former agricultural attaché at Swedish embassies in the USA, Poland, and Moscow, as well as a farm management consultant and a dedicated Rotarian. He also revealed the true reasons for the visit.

At that time (1988), the Rotary club network was only just beginning to expand into developing countries. The Swedes noted that not a single club had yet been established in China or within the territory of the Soviet Union. Vikar Säfvestad, a veteran diplomat with experience in Russia, wondered why Swedish clubs shouldn’t take a historic step in Rotary’s timeline by becoming a “sponsor club” for a new Soviet club. With this objective in mind, a high-level delegation was dispatched from Stockholm to Moscow. Unfortunately, Mikhail Gorbachev—whom Säfvestad knew personally from his work in the agricultural sector—could not find time to meet the Swedes amidst the frantic organizational demands of *perestroika*. Consequently, they were directed to Yegor Ligachev at the Kremlin. Although Ligachev was the second or third most powerful man in the country after Gorbachev, he was known for having a rather narrow worldview and being anything but reform-minded; rather, he was a loyal conformist in the domestic politics of the era, intent on preserving his position within the Party elite. Naturally, Yegor Ligachev failed to grasp the concept of the club the Swedish envoys were describing. He understood even less why such a club might be needed in the Soviet Union at all. Yet, he hit upon a clever solution: send the Swedes to Estonia, where the people were notably more reform-minded and Western-oriented than in the rest of the Soviet Union. Let *them* deal with these distinguished foreigners!

The USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs duly provided a car, a driver, and a trained escort, and dispatched the Swedish delegation to Tallinn. Since the matter concerned the club movement, and lacking a better idea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Estonian SSR directed the group to the VEKSA Society. Its chairman at the time, Mr. Liiv—who had evidently never heard of the Rotary club movement—also did not know what to do with these troublesome guests. Yet, a saving idea occurred to him, too. A peculiar institution had sprung up in the Rapla district, dealing with obscure, modern things—so why not send them there? And that is how they ended up right in front of Pirgu Manor.

It was, of course, a matter of chance that anyone was present at the manor at all to receive the guests. For the better part of the day—and indeed the week—the castle doors were locked, or the premises were occupied solely by members of the Pirgu theater troupe. The conversation itself, however, turned out to be quite long and cordial. First, the idea of ​​founding a Rotary Club was presented. Naturally, the guests seemed disappointed that this could not take place in the capital city of Moscow, but rather—at best—in one of the Soviet republics, and perhaps not even in its capital. Yet, they were willing to accept any scenario that would allow the Rotary Club to plant its flag on that vast pink expanse of the world’s political map, and that would secure the honor of acting as its “godfather” for the Swedish organization. The conversation then shifted to the revival of farmsteads in Estonia—a topic very much on the agenda at the time (the Farm Act was in preparation, and the Pirgu Development Center had been commissioned to conduct a pilot study on the prospects of restoring farm-based agriculture)—a subject with which I happened to be somewhat familiar. This area was of particular interest to Vikar Säfvestad.

Naturally, I couldn’t make any firm commitments regarding the club idea. I promised to sound out the situation and prepare the groundwork, to the extent that the idea might find a receptive audience in Rapla. We agreed on maintaining contact and on our next steps. An awkward issue arose with the Russian female escort right at the start of the conversation. She insisted that our discussion be conducted via her translation into Russian. I, however, was managing relatively fluently in English, and the conversation had shifted to that language from the very beginning. The interpreter was proficient in English as well! Fortunately for her, Vikar Säfvestad happened to know a little Russian; he understood the point of her absurd demand, voiced a diplomatic objection, and firmly steered the conversation toward the language we all shared.

As they left, the elderly gentlemen expressed sincere appreciation for the unexpectedly grand reception (during our time together, Katrin Saukas even managed to step into the drawing room several times to play the role of a maid—a performance that came across as entirely authentic), praised our activities and enterprise in glowing terms (though all foreign visitors to Estonia did that back then!), and, of course, promised to return soon. The Russian lady also conducted herself with great poise, although she hinted at something with a slightly threatening undertone, as if I had breached some rule of etiquette. That could only have referred to her obligation to take notes in Russian.

What happened next?

There was no shortage of interested individuals in Rapla. A group of young men gathered for some time to familiarize themselves with the principles of the Rotary Club and prepare for its establishment. Vikar Säfvestad and I maintained close contact regarding these matters. Tiit Tammemägi (Director of the foreign trade training firm EMI-EWT) from Tallinn also joined the initiative. However, the Swedes were soon informed by Rotary International headquarters in Evanston that if the Rotary movement were to emerge in the Soviet Union at all, it would have to begin in Moscow. Time passed as attempts were made to negotiate an exception with Evanston. Estonia regained its independence. It then emerged that Estonia had been assigned to the same district as Finnish clubs, meaning the Swedes could not become the sponsoring club for any association in Estonia.

Soon, the first post-war Estonian Rotary club was established in Tallinn. It was initiated by others, with supporters coming from Finland. Thus, the first Tallinn Rotary Club was founded in 1991, effectively restoring the continuity of the Rotary movement in Estonia, which had been interrupted by the war. Vikar Säfvestad became a loyal friend to Estonia during his lifetime. Under his leadership, Rapla County established a partnership with Jönköping County in Sweden, and the Rapla Rotary Club later formed a friendship with the Värnamo Rotary Club from the same Swedish county.

In conclusion

Some current club members were only 12 or 13 years old in 1988. The club’s activities are further documented in previously published news and website photos, archival materials at the Rapla Central Library, and articles from county newspapers spanning the years (such as *Ühistöö*, *Nädaline*, *Rapla Teataja*, *Raplamaa Sõnumid*, and others). Rapla’s history holds memories—dating back nearly a century—of enterprising locals whose leadership turned the seemingly impossible into reality, such as the construction of the Rapla Secondary School. It is heartening that this culture of philanthropy has endured to this day.