Lips, a music teacher by trade, was presented his award at a special Father's Day concert held at the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn on Sunday (see gallery).

The Estonian Women's Union (Eesti naisliit) picked Lips from among over 20 candidates, and also presented him with his award.

Lips is a father of four and also a grandfather to eight children; he teaches woodwind instruments – primarily flute, recorder, oboe, clarinet and saxohphone, at the Rakvere Music School.

He and his entire family also won Lääne-Viru Couty's musical family of the year 2021.

Over 20 candidates from across the country were nominated for the award, whose purpose is to recognize all Estonian fathers and also to draw attention to the value of the family within society. 

Father's Day in Estonia, quick facts (source: Statistics Estonia):

• A total of 304,834 fathers live in Estonia at present, a slight rise on the figure for January 1, 2021.
• Of these, 78 percent (nearly 237,800) are the fathers of children who are minors at the time of writing, ie. below 18.
• Nationwide, 48.1 percent of men aged 15 and over are fathers, while in Rapla County that figure is outstripped the most, of any of Estonia's 15 counties, at 59.5 percent. The proportion of men in Tallinn aged 15 or over who are fathers is slightly lower than the national average, however, at 44 percent.
• 57 percent of fathers in Estonia are married, 20 percent are unmarried (either single or cohabiting), 17 percent divorced and 4 percent widowed.
• By mean, Estonian fathers have 1.93 children each, with Antsla Municipality the district which exceeds that the most (at 2.3 children-per-father).
• By mode, the average father has two children (42 percent) compared with 37 percent who have one child; 21 percent three or more.
• Slightly more fathers (32.6 percent) reside in the countryside compared with the proportion of the Estonian populace as a whole (29.7 percent).
• The average age of Estonian fathers is 54, while the average age at birth of the first child is 32 (2021 figures).
• 736 fathers also celebrated their birthday this Father's Day, November 13.
• Perhaps most interestingly, there are 14 fathers aged over 100 in Estonia at the time of writing.

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