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FALL 2008
Our Archangel Committee has received a grant to host a five person "Accountable Government/Education" delegation from the Solovetsky Islands and the Archangel Oblast from Friday, December 5 to Saturday, December 13, 2008. 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. We are using this grant to strengthen our relationships with Solovki and with the Regional and City Governments of Archangel. Delegation members include Zhanna Minder and Elena Frolova from the City of Archangel Legal Department, Oxana Kozmina from the Archangel Regional Assembly Legal Department, Maria Utkina from the Solovetsky Islands Secondary School and the facilitator Tatiana Lebedeva from Nizhny Novgorod. Also in the delegation is the current Mayor of Kotlas Sergey Melentiev; he will spend a few days with us and then be hosted by the Waterville Committee. Waterville will also be hosting an Open World "Education" delegation of teachers from Kotlas that same week; we are planning some joint activities. The two delegations will spend two days in Washington, D.C. prior to arriving in Maine. In Washington, they will be hosted by the U.S. Library of Congress where they will be involved in roundtable discussions about American and Russian culture and where they will visit national historical sites in the city. After their stay in Washington, D.C. both delegations will arrive at the Portland Jetport on Friday, December 5th and will have a busy week thereafter. Professionally, the Kotlas group will focus on education in the Waterville school system and at Colby College; the Archangel group will be divided: the teacher will have counterpart days in the schools of Chebeague Island, Peaks Island and King Middle School in Portland. The city lawyers will have counterpart days at Portland City Hall and the regional assembly lawyer will have counterpart days with the Maine Legislature in Augusta. If you are interested in meeting professionally or socially with our friends, you have several opportunities to do so.
The Sister City committee in nearby Waterville will also be hosting an Open World Delegation December 5 to 13, 2008. This five person "Education" delegation is from the city of Kotlas in the Archangel Oblast. Kotlas is the sister city of Waterville and is located more than 200 miles up the Northern Dvina River from the City of Archangel. The delegation includes teachers Yulia Burtesva, Olga Maksimenkova, Olga Popova, Tatiana Pyratina and Alyona Ursu. As mentioned above, Waterville Mayor Sergey Melentiev will be in Greater Portland for a few days before joining the Kotlas group. Mayor Melentiev will reciprocate the visit made by Waterville Mayor Paul LePage to Kotlas in July, 2008 as leader of a five person people-to-people delegation (after visiting Kotlas, two members of the Waterville group were able to spend a few days on Solovki). For more information about the Kotlas delegation visit to Waterville in December, call Carl Daiker at 873¬6562.
Solovki meteorologist Tatiana Nikitina and Solovki Museum Public Relations Director Anna Balandina returned to Russia November 9, 2008 after a rewarding 3 week visit to Maine and New Hampshire. Committee member Dennis Marrotte is to be commended for his efforts in accomplishing this complex project. With Anna serving as interpreter, the two visited with meteorologist Sarah Long at the WGME television studio in Portland and the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce before finally ascending to the Observatory atop Mount Washington for the next two weeks. There, Anna and Tanya participated in MWO's "Autumn Internship Program" for college/graduate level study in Meteorological Science and worked alongside observatory crews in routine daily operations. You may access photographs and journal entries (including a lobster dinner!) at www. mountwashington.org (check the dates of October 22 to November 5, 2008). Also, Anna and Tanya wrote a fine story about their adventures "on top" which was printed in "The Bethel News" newspaper on November 13, 2008; the entire story is enclosed with this newsletter. After the internship was completed, the two were hosted at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire by Professor Mary Ann McGarry, Professor Samuel Miller and the Meteorological Department. The December 2007 Open World Delegation had also visited Plymouth State and this 2008 visit allowed for continued discussions of future cooperation, perhaps including a student visit to Solovki in the summer of 2009. Finally, the delightful farewell potluck dinner at the home of Ann and Ted Noyes included many gifts, stories and warm wishes for the future.
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