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WINTER 2006
In December 2005, our Archangel Committee hosted a four
person local government/cultural delegation from the Solovetsky Islands in the
Archangel Oblast. This large group of islands is located in the White Sea and is
about 180 miles northwest of the City of Archangel. This visit was funded by a
grant from the U.S. Library of Congress based "Open World Program" and was given
to us through Sister Cities International. Visiting Maine were Solovki Mayor
Dmitri Lugovoy, Solovki Director of Social Services Olga Koroleva, Solovki
Museum Deputy Director Svetlana Lebedeva, and Solovki Museum Director of Public
Relations Anna Balandina. Accompanying the delegation was Open World Facilitator
Andrey Fink, a software engineer from Tolyatti in the Samara Oblast. The
week-long visit focused on non¬profit organizations, state and local government,
and historical museum organization and operation. Cultural program highlights
included "behind-the-scenes" visits to the Norlands Living History Center and
Museum in Livermore, Maine (www.norlands.org); the Laudholm Historical Farm and
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Reserve in Wells, Maine (www.laudholm.org); the
Tate House and Museum in Portland (www.tatehouse.org); the Strawberry Banke
Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (www.strawberrybanke.org); and the Maine
Historical Society/Longfellow House in Portland (www.mainehistory.org).
Government program highlights included roundtables with Maine Secretary of State
Matt Dunlap and Portland Mayor James Cohen, visits to social service agencies in
Westbrook and on Peaks Island, and a meeting with Maine First District
Congressman Tom Allen. Social events included the Portland Symphony Orchestra's
"Magic of Christmas" Concert, a dinner with the Portsmouth NH Sister City
Committee, and wonderful Welcome and Farewell Potluck Dinners at the home of Ann
and Ted Noyes. Mayor Lugovoy and the delegation want to continue the
relationship between Solovki and Maine and have presented us with several
proposals for future cooperation, including a "Friends of Solovki" non-profit in
Maine and a "Volunteer Center" on Solovki for summer interns.
The Open World Program would like to express our deepest appreciation of your exceptional work on hosting the Open World delegates this year! We are happy to have such a reliable, dedicated, and capable local community partner as The Archangel Committee. Thanks to the genuine hospitality, sincere interest in other countries, and diplomatic skills of people like you, more than 10,000 Open World Program alumni have returned home free of negative stereotypes about Americans and inspired by the new friendships they made during the program. Thank you for doing your job so well! We hope to have the opportunity to work with you in the future. We wish you, your colleagues, and your family a very happy holiday season.
The Solovki Archipelago is comprised of about 100 islands
(large and small) with a total land area of about 288 square kilometers (112
square miles). The year-round population is 946 people, which includes 207
children and 229 retirees. Even though the Islands are near the Arctic Circle,
the climate is moderated by the White Sea and many species of plants and animals
flourish there, including fox, rabbit, seals and beluga whales. There are 256
architectural monuments on the islands, some dated back thousands of years. In
1425, the Russian Orthodox Church founded the huge fortress-like Solovetsky
Monastery which went on to play a leading role in the spiritual life of Russia.
Unfortunately, in the 1920's the Bolsheviks closed the Monastery and soon opened
the notorious gulag prison there. Untold thousands were sentenced there and many
did not survive. The prison closed in 1939 and the structures fell into
disrepair until 1991 when the Monastery was triumphantly re-opened. Today, the
islands are becoming a major tourist destination, with some 19,000 tourists and
pilgrims in 2005. For more information about the Solovki Islands, please visit
the official website at
www.solovki.museum.ru.
We mourn the recent passing of committee member Esther
Norzow, beloved spouse of Dr. Alex Norzow since 1960. She was the office manager
in her husband's obstetric and gynecology practice at Parkview Medical Center
and went on several medical missionary trips to Africa, Mexico, Russia, Belize
and Guam with him. Memorial contributions may be made to Pine Tree Academy
Worthy Student Fund, 67 Pownal Road, Freeport, ME 04032.
The business portion of our Annual Meeting will be held on
Tuesday, January 31, 2006 at 4:00 p.m. at the Maine International Trade Center,
511 Congress Street in Portland. We will be holding the more traditional social
portion of our Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 5, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in the
Events Room on the 76 Floor of the Glickman Library on the USM Campus in
Portland. Click on this link for
details! (Adobe PDF FIle)
February 5, 2006 - Annual Social Gathering at Glickman Library USM March 27, 2006 - Waterville Committee's "Russian Sampler Day" at Colby College Late May 2006 - Maine Rule of Law Delegation will visit Novgorod and Archangel September 2006 - Saratoga Springs, NY Committee is organizing
a trip to Russian communities that have New England sister cities |
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