Uusikaupunki’s Palomettä is the best place in the world for a family with children

As evening falls in the Forsell family’s home in Uusikaupunki’s Palomettä, their 4-year-old youngest, Sakari, is not tired at all. He is as active as always when awake.

The ever-moving child dashes around the family’s cozy detached house from one place to another and then excitedly shows off the toy combine harvester he received for Christmas in the children’s room. For a moment, he manages to sit on the sofa for a family portrait, calling also Sandra, 10, and Samuel, 12, to join.

And of course, the photo must also include the fluffy Bella cat, who is very dear to everyone.

Guess if it’s easy to get a photo of this lively bunch where everyone is still? Fortunately, a stiff photo is not needed, and this group is quick to smile.

Basketball plays a significant role in the family’s busy life. Both Samuel and Sandra play in the Korihait junior teams, and the father is involved in coaching. Practices are at least every other day during the week. Games are on weekends.

Sandra resumed the hobby after a break and now plays in the boys’ team.

-It would be great if we could have a girls’ team for basketball here,” Jenna and Simo say.

Jenna, the mother, is excited about the newly established girls’ cheerleading team, which Sandra is a part of.

-A childhood friend and I reminisced at a basketball game in Pohitulli about how they had a Sharks Girls cheer squad back in middle school and high school. I then blurted out loud, ‘Doesn’t this game need something from you too?’ she laughs.

That settled it.

-As if there wasn’t already enough to do,” she jokes.

One of the best aspects of living in a small town, according to Jenna and Simo, is how smoothly everyday life runs when everything is close by.Jenna works as a laboratory technician, and it’s less than a ten-minute journey from her workplace at the hospital to home.

-I manage to prepare dinner before the children’s hobbies start,” she says.

It’s a quick drive to the places for hobbies, and Simo also praises the affordable rental fees for gyms and their flexible rental terms.

– I’ve talked with teams from the capital region during travel games, and in bigger places, gym rentals can be over a hundred euros per hour. At our Saarnisto sports hall, it’s much cheaper,” he compares.

The gym can also be rented on short notice, even for one’s family.

-At the beginning of winter, the weather was pretty unpleasant outside, and I quickly rented the gym for our family and the children’s friends for a couple of hours,” he praises.

Palomettä’s nature-close detached housing area became the Forsell’s home fourteen years ago.Simo and Jenna built a large detached house themselves with the help of their parents.

-It was one of the best things in our life, that I embarked on it, although we wouldn’t take on such a project again,” he claims.

There’s no need to consider moving elsewhere as the house can be adapted to new solutions as the children grow. The parents’ large bedroom became the boys’ shared room, and the adjacent walk-in closet was turned into Samuel’s own space.

The thought of a bigger house crossed their minds as the children grew, but only for a moment.

-Here, all the children have their friends nearby,” the parents say contentedly.

The Forsells are eagerly awaiting the currently under construction Community Hub Wintteri in Uusikaupunki, both as basketball enthusiasts and as parents of schoolchildren. The new, modern sports and school facilities are more than welcome.

The Forsell family’s story began in the early 2000s. Simo and Jenna were both teenagers living in Uusikaupunki’s Santtio, Simo on Allikujalla and Jenna on Telkkäkujalla.

-Our backyards were opposite each other,” Simo chuckles.

April will mark 22 years of their journey together. Both have deep roots in Uusikaupunki and warmly welcome newcomers and returnees to their hometown.

Simo works at the Uusikaupunki car factory and appreciates having met people from all over the world at his workplace.

A few years ago, he worked in a team with representatives from over a dozen different nationalities.

-We got along well,” he appreciates.

Simo’s mother, Arja Forsell, was the first hostess of the legendary Pakkahuone café. Her donuts became famous throughout the country.

Pakkahuone is located almost in the center of the city, next to the guest marina. There, people from Uusikaupunki and tourists gather in the spring like migratory birds as soon as the weather allows.

In the summer, the Forsell family heads to Vaakua Island in the Uusikaupunki archipelago. According to Simo, his wife Jenna’s family’s old fishing estate is their family’s “archipelago playground.”

But before the cottage season in Palomettä, a gadget is unearthed from its winter storage, which is at least the youngest’s top thing for the summer.

– Can we put the trampoline out yet?” Sakari excitedly asks his parents.