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Our Committee was very active in October 2004 as we helped host two significant legal delegations from the Archangel Oblast: Domestic Violence Delegation - Archangel District Court Judge Raisa Sabelnikova led a seven person legal delegation to Maine from October 2 to 10, 2004. Also on the trip were Vice Prosecutor Ludmilla Kovtunyuk, Law Professors Tatiana Zykina and Olga Liapounova, attorney Masha Liponina, businesswoman Ninel Vtoraya and legislative aide Mikhail Portyanko. The program, building upon previous domestic violence (DV) programs in Maine and in Archangel, focused on "Developing a Community Response to Domestic Violence". Each delegate spent a day with his or her professional counterpart (i.e. judge, prosecutor and crisis center manager) to learn in-depth the issues faced in a routine day. In addition, the delegates visited a women's shelter and a police station, attended a Batterers' Education Session and a DV volunteer training session focusing on elder abuse, and participated in an important day-long conference hosted by Maine Governor John Baldacci entitled "Domestic Violence in the Workplace". Their week long visit culminated with a fundraiser event put on by our local Family Crisis Services agency; this event raised more than $1,200.00 to benefit the newly-formed women's shelter in Archangel. Socially, committee members hosted a gala dinner for the delegates and took them on a wonderful foliage tour through the White Mountains. Bankruptcy Delegation - Four days after the DV delegation left Maine, Judge Alexander Shashkov of the Archangel Oblast Commercial ("Arbitrazh") Court arrived in Maine with an eight person legal delegation focusing on "Bankruptcy". The Arbitrazh Court is responsible for handling financial disputes between businesses and all commercial bankruptcies. This delegation was funded by the U.S. Library of Congress based "Open World Program" through Rotary International. American hosts Michael Deasy (U.S. Bankruptcy Judge in New Hampshire) and Peter Fessenden (U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee in Maine), who had traveled to Archangel for an excellent Bankruptcy program in May 2004, organized a very productive program here in the United States. The delegates spent a day in Judge Deasy's Court in Manchester NH, attended numerous Bankruptcy Court sessions and roundtable discussions in Portland ME, met with members of Maine's Supreme Court, gave a presentation to Portland's Rotary Club, and participated in Maine's Annual Federal Judicial Conference in Rockport. Socially, committee members hosted an informal "pot-luck" dinner for the delegates at the home of committee member Ann Noyes and members of the Portsmouth/Severodvinsk Sister City Committee hosted a dinner in Portsmouth to honor the delegation.
Our High School Subcommittee continues to plan for the April 2005 simultaneous exchange of ten high school students and two chaperones. Members of the Subcommittee recently met with Sergey Kremensky here in Maine and agreed on a unique fundraising/marketing proposal. Sergey agreed to sponsor an Archangel rock band's visit to Maine in March 2005; we hope that this event will help stimulate interest in Maine high school students for the Exchange. Sergey was one of the original leaders of the Greater Portland Sister City Committee in Archangel during the late 1980's and early 1990's; he is now living in Rotterdam where he manages his own shipping company.
The Waterville Sister City Committee has a new website and web address! Visit them at www.Kotlas.org or email them at inquiry@kotlas.org. Their Annual Meeting was set for November 9, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. at the Forum in downtown Waterville.
The Portsmouth Sister City Committee has begun to plan for the 100th Anniversary of the September 5, 1905 signing in Portsmouth of the treaty that ended the. Russo-Japanese War. American President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his personal diplomacy in Portsmouth and the people of the community contributed by warmly hosting the delegates of the warring nations.
Committee member Marina Temkin left Archangel and moved-to Maine some 15 years ago. Recently, she and business-partner Elena Gorbunova (from Novgorod) opened "Alpha Spa" at 660 Brighton Avenue in Portland. This beauty and wellness spa will feature Russian deep-tissue massage, homeopathic treatments and many other services that are popular in Europe but unfamiliar to many Mainers. FMI, call Marina at 774-2100.
We mourn the passing of Vance Richardson, a dedicated educator and a long-time member of our committee. Contributions may be made to: Maine Alzheimer's Association, Memory Walk/"Vance's Prancers", 163 Lancaster St., Suite B, Portland ME 04103.
Our Committee published 2000 copies of the cookbook Flavors of the Russian North in 1993; the book features tested and tasty recipes from our friends in the Archangel Region. Now, more than ten years later, fewer than 200 copies remain in inventory as sales continue, especially on the Internet through our website at www.arkhangelsk.org . Our Internet sales go to all over the country, recently including folks in Madison GA, Wethersfield CT, Ashton MD, Newport News VA, and Mount Morris MI.
Adventure author David Roberts has recently published this hard-cover book about the ordeals of four Pomori walrus hunters from the village of Mezen in the Archangel Region. The four men were rescued in September 1749 from a remote and uninhabited island in the Arctic Ocean's Spitsbergen (Svalbard) Archipelago; when the rescue ship returned to Archangel, the men claimed to have been stranded on that island since May 1743! So amazing was their story of survival against all odds that they were summoned to Saint Petersburg to be questioned by learned members of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences (including the famous Mikhail Lomonosov from Archangel). Author Roberts investigates the story in depth, including visits to Archangel, Mezen and Svalbard. Available online and through Simon & Schuster Publishers. |
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