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FALL 2005
Our Archangel Committee has received a grant to host a four person Archangel local government/historical museum delegation from Friday, December 9th to Saturday, December 17th, 2005. The grantor is the U.S. Library of Congress based "Open World Program" and such grants are made available to members of Sister Cities International. The delegates are from the government of the Solovki Islands in the white Sea and from the historical museum complex there. They are Dmitri Lugovoy, Olga Koroleva, Anna Balandina and Svetlana Lebedeva. The delegation will focus on non-governmental and quasi-governmental organizations here in Maine that operate historical museums/sites both large and small. If you are interested in meeting socially with our friends, please come to the Welcome Potluck Dinner on Saturday, December 10th at 6:00 p.m. at the home of committee members Ann and Ted Noyes in Yarmouth, or come to the Pizza Party on Tuesday December 13th at 6:00 p.m. at the home of committee members Neale and Deborah Duffett in Portland. For directions and information, please call Ann at 846-3157 or Neale at 775-1515.
Committee members Dennis Marrotte and Jean Souliere ably represented our Archangel Committee at an August 2005 conference of Northeastern American communities with Russian sister cities in Saratoga Springs, New York. Delegates from 10 American cities attended (representing New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut) as well as official representatives from Sister Cities International (Irena Dmitriyeva) and the Academy for International Development (Masha Ozhekh). Dennis and Jean participated in several official forums and roundtables which focused on issues such as visa problems, membership recruitment, fundraising, and opportunities available through SCI and AED. They also reported on our Committee's past accomplishments and future plans, they showed photographs taken by Dennis and by Archangel photographers Viktor Kanashev and Tamara Schilina, and they presented Committee cookbooks as official gifts to two of the hard-working host organizing families. All attendees felt that the conference was worthwhile and urged Saratoga Springs to host the Second Annual Conference in August 2006. FMI: www.saratogachekhov.com
A large delegation of 24 people from Severdvinsk visited Portsmouth, New Hampshire for 10 days in August 2005. The visit coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the signing of the Russo-Japanese Peace Treaty in 1905 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Archangel Committee members Marina Trebukhina, Matt Dunlap, Mike Ouellet, Neale and Deborah Duffett, and Carol and Christopher Santini attended a number of events, including a wonderful evening of music, dancing and food put on by the folks from Severodvinsk.
In September 2005, Maine hosted an eight member delegation from Archangel's legal community. The delegation included Commercial Court Judges Alexi Lepekha, Elena Tryapitsyna and Natalia Antonova, law school dean Nikoli Skoryukov, Regional Court Judges Yuri Yefremov and Alexi Shpanov, and District Court Judges Sergey Smirnov and Irina Nikonovskaya. The delegation had a busy and productive week in Maine, visiting the University of Maine School of Law, the Federal Court in Portland, the Cumberland County Courthouse, the Biddeford District Court, the State Capitol in Augusta, the Maine Judicial Center in Augusta, and the Domestic Violence Shelter in Cumberland County. Socially, the group enjoyed an island lobster bake, a pizza party, and a farewell banquet!
Committee member Linda Rennebu traveled with eleven members of the Waterville Sister City Committee to Kotlas in August 2005. Waterville Mayor Paul LePage led the group to Kotlas where they stayed with host families. Linda reports on interesting visits to Kotlas City Hall as well as emotional visits to the Kotlas Hospital and Orphanage. Linda then left the group and moved north to visit the City of Archangel where she re-connected with old friends. She reports that the tram tracks on Troitsky Prospekt have been paved over, there is a new hotel on the Embankment, and many banks and businesses seem to be doing well. Linda was able to meet with dentist Irina Varakina and businesswoman Svetlana Zhukova who have visited Maine on prior People-to-People delegations. Finally, Linda delivered the traditional letters and small gifts that travel back and forth between friends in Maine and in Archangel.
In May and June 1605, the British ship Archangell explored the Maine coast for a suitable site for a colony. This book explores the ongoing mystery of where in Maine did this very early exploration actually take place. The name of the ship apparently comes from the 1553 voyage of British explorer Richard Chancellor to seek out a Northeast Passage from England to China. Chancellor made it as far as Kholmogory on the Northern Dvina River, near the current location of the City of Archangel (which would eventually be founded in 1584). He was greeted warmly by the Russians and was hosted by Ivan the Terrible in Moscow. Tilbury House Publishers in Gardiner, Maine.
December 9 to 17, 2005 Solovky Delegation visits Maine February 5, 2006 Archangel Committee Annual Social Gathering March 27, 2006 Waterville Committee's "Russian Sampler Day" at Colby College |
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