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Old-Style Russian New Year’s Celebration

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This year marks the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the first ship to San Francisco from Tubabao (November 30, 1950 on the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) ship USNS General M. L. Hersey ).  Refugees, residents of the island encampment, in several ships had already left the island earlier that year to Australia and other countries, and this ship was the first of three that arrived to America.   This year also marks the 90th anniversary of the League of Russian Women (later to be renamed Russian American Women’s League in SF), and over 95 years of the All Cossack’s Union.  Both organizations were founded in Shanghai in the early to late 1920’s by White Russians who fled the terror of the Russian Revolution and Civil War.   Many organizations were founded, but not many survived.   Yet these two found strength in working together and continued their work, not just in Shanghai, but through Tubabao and in the United States.
 
According to an article from one of the Russian newspapers “Slovo” in Shanghai, dated 1926, the Cossack Balls were considered one of the most grand in the city.  Held at the Majestic Hotel in Shanghai in 1926 and throughout the years as annual balls , Cossacks dressed in their respective Cossack regiment’s uniforms performed as a choir on stage for the delight of the guests.  Many who came in the 1950’s may recall the grand Cossack balls held in San Francisco at the Russian Center.  These traditions have been carried throughout the years, and the Cossacks though dwindling in numbers have continued to hold their traditional Old Russian Style New Year.  
 
This year, joining forces with the Russian American Women’s League (who have their own legendary history, as well as many of whom are also Cossack descendants), the traditional Old-Style Russian New Year was held at the Russian Center’s Gold Room on Friday, January 10.  This was a partnership of cooperation and respect, commemorating 90 years of working together and was a celebration for members (and their families) of both organizations.  While the quantity of members of both organizations may have declined in recent years, both organizations continue their work and united, celebrated the holiday season and their annual commemoration of the Old-Style Russian New Year.
A pot-luck dinner proved that the members, families and friends were able to start the Old New Year celebration together in harmony and commeraderie. Both the zakuski, the main table and dessert table were full of the most delicious variety of gourmet delicacies that Russian hostesses prepared for this joyous celebration. Guests also brought their own favorite drinks. It wasn’t about eating and drinking, it was truly about celebrating together.
Palina Suhonos, who coordinated the tables and pot-luck thanked those people from each organization that brought this evening together. This included the wonderful ladies of both organizations – Nadia Buick, Irene Goncharoff, Sasha Sabelnik-Whooley, Vika Sabelnik, and Katia Sabelnik-Snider who donated her time and help as a director of Russian Center to help set-up and clean-up of the evening. Of course, Palina also thanked everyone who brought food and helped with making this evening a success.
Goga Engurasoff, a favorite of the Russian community, donated his time and talent to the event, with guests dancing to throughout the evening, and our own world-celebrated Nikolai Massenkoff sang several Cossack songs, bringing the audience to join in the singing.
All agreed, that the speech by Congress of Russian Americans (who was a sponsor of the event) president, Natalie Sabelnik who reached out to the participants that there are so few of us left, that we need to work together was inspirational. She encouraged people to join both organizations – Cossacks & League, and people agreed that we, indeed, need to carry on these traditions and we indeed need to work together. Some filled out applications straight away to both Cossacks Union and League, and others approached the directors of each board and promised to join and help in future events.
With the start of the New Year and the new decade, let’s continue working together in harmony and prosperity, much like our parents and grandparents did when they were forced to live abroad, awaiting return of our Russian homeland.

“Taste of Russia” festival in San Francisco.

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On Sunday, October 20, 2019, the doors opened at 11:00am for the 12th time for the “Taste of Russia” festival at the Holy Virgin Cathedral. Only one year was missed, since its inception in 2006, when there were conflicting schedules of all of the dedicated volunteers and miscellaneous other community events in San Francisco Bay Area.
There was much to do in the area of the cathedral and school halls and the courtyard, including tasting all of the traditional Russian foods, such as piroshki, borscht, pelmeni, beef stroganoff, as well as a barbecue of sausages, shashlik and fine meats. Both bars, courtyard and in the walkway between halls, offered plenty of libations, including Russian beer, wines, flavored vodkas, mixed drinks and sodas, juices and waters. Truly a labor of love, families worked together to set up, prepare, cook, clean and support the efforts of this Russian Orthodox community fundraising effort for the beloved Holy Virgin Cathedral, home of the relics of St.John of Shanghai and China.
The cathedral choir with their choir director, Vladimir Krassovsky, in addition to singing the liturgy stayed to perform a repertoire of their concerts in the cathedral hall, and the multi-talented Vladimir Krassovsky, iconagrapher also presented an icon painting demonstration.
The official opening was at 12:00 noon, on the stage in the school hall, when Congress of Russian Americans, President Natalie Sabelnik thanked everyone for coming, performing, volunteering and helping under the skilled leadership of Mira Troyan. Shawn Sabelnik-Whooley presented Mira Troyan with a bouquet of flowers and thanked Ms.Troyan for her wonderful organizational work. Sabelnik, who was the MC, also thanked dedicated sound engineer Nick Ionoff and his assistant, Carlos for their enormous help in coordinating all of the music and sound needs. Sabelnik also introduced Matt Davis from the US Department of State, Foreign Missions to say a brief word. Matt Davis, although not a native Russian speaker, who tries to speak Russian to his two young children, thanked Natalie Sabelnik for the invitation, explained how he has worked with CRA in the past, and congratulated the cathedral for a splendid “Taste of Russia” festival.
Congress of Russian Americans was one of the sponsors of the festival, and the coordinators of the program of entertainment, which included beautiful costumes and dances of Vladimir Riazantsev’s Russian Folk Ensemble (where V.Riazantsev also accompanied the dancers on the bayan), newcomers to the festival, Slavitza Folk A-Cappella Group, Sivka-Burka Children’s Cossack Ensemble (again accompanied by V.Riazantsev), Kalinka Women’s Dance Ensemble from Sacramento with young singer, Liliya Vartanova, classical guitarist, Yvgenyi Shilin, singers Oksanna & Liza Nadelson (accompanied by Roman Shatsev), and again Liza with her brother, David, in a Latin ballroom dance. Another newcomer to the HVC stage, Soussanna Chubarian (accompanied by Tatiana Scott). Halfway through the program, Natalie Sabelnik introduced her daughter, Sasha Sabelnik-Whooley to assist with the introductions of the performers, and introduced stage veterans, Russian Center Dance group, under the direction of Aleksei Prokoshin. The program concluded with the Grande Finale by world-reknowned Nikolai Massenkoff and his Massenkoff Russian Folk Orchestra (including piano, flute, guitar, balalaikas, 2 accordions and again, V.Riazantsev on the bayan). It’s important to note, that three of the programs performers were Honored Artists, V.Riazantsev (Russia), Yvgenyi Shilin (Kazakhstan) and Roman Shatsev (Belorussia).
During the intermissions, audience could visit the CRA sponsor table, eat more of the delicious food and a vast variety of desserts (e.g. napoleon, vatrushka & many more), buy souvenirs, jewelry, arts & crafts from the tables of the Russian American Women’s League and the Sisterhood of the Holy Virgin Cathedral. All proceeds going to the cathedral’s fundraiser.
Comments by many of the guests were that the food was plentiful, delicious and some of the best Russian food they’ve every had. The music, singing, dancing and the Russian costumes, especially the bejeweled boyar costumes, the cossack uniforms, sarafans, and all the rest of the colorful costumes also contributed to one of the best programs attended. This was evidenced at the end, when guests were reluctant to leave and were already making plans for next year’s “Taste of Russia” festival (yet, to be determined when)!
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Russian Imperial Charity Ball in San Francisco.

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Congress of Russian Americans and Russian American Women’s League were sponsors of the recent Russian Imperial Charity Ball, held at the Russian Center SF on Saturday, September 14, 2019.
The charity ball was intended to raise funds for CRA’s “Dunya Fund”, the St.George Pathfinders Russian Scouts, as well as the Russian Children Benevolent Society in Los Angeles.  CRA organized a silent auction to include funds raised from the auction towards the humanitarian aid for Dunya Bykon, daughter of Father Alexei Bykon, who was born with Spina Bifida and requires further medical support, treatment and surgery to enable her to walk.

Russian Imperial Charity Ball

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Congress of Russian Americans is a proud sponsor of the 
Assembly of Russian Nobility, Chapter of Western USA’s
           Russian Imperial Charity Ball
held at the Russian Center, 2460 Sutter Street in San Francisco
on Saturday, September 14, 2019 at 7:00pm to 1:30am
(Discounted parking across the street)
 
Join us for an evening of enchanting entertainment, a champagne reception,  bountiful plated dinner with wine, champagne and vodka, exciting dinner program,  and a night of dancing.
 
Bring your check book to bid on the many unique, one-of-a-kind items at the  silent auction – collectibles, gifts, books, CDs, jewelry, fine art, crafts and more…
 
All proceeds profit the following children’s humanitarian aid programs:  
Congress of Russian Americans “Dunya’s Fund”, St. George Pathfinders and  the Russian Children’s Benevolent Society, Inc.
All are 501 (c) 3 non-profit organizations and all donations are tax-deductible
 
Tickets are $100 per person or $900 for a table of 10.  Reservations necessary.
 
For tickets or more information, contact Julia at (415) 609-5433 or info@RICBLA.com
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CRA President met with the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk.

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On May 26, 2019, CRA President, Natalie Sabelnik met with the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk, Sergey Eryomin at the Krasnoyarsk Social Festival “City   of equals – building together” on the island of Tatyshev. N.Sabelnik came to Krasnoyarsk on May 19 (through May 27) by personal invitation of the mayor to participate in meetings with Krasnoyarsk Region officials (governor’s office), as well as Krasnoyarsk city administration, and to take part as a guest speaker on their first day of the festival on their social & humanitarian issues. N.Sabelnik reported that she was pleasantly and unexpectedly surprised how Krasnoyarsk was focusing on aid to seniors, handicapped, people with disabilities and mobility issues and all the programs they now had in place, as well as an emphasis on volunteerism, including middle-aged volunteers, teens and children. This was something that CRA had hoped for when they first started their humanitarian aid after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The last time, Natalie Sabelnik visited Krasnoyarsk was over 15 years ago, when she worked as Commercial Director for Chevron International, and commented on how the city had grown and prospered, appearing to be like other major European cities that she had visited during the past years.
     N.Sabelnik established a relationship with Krasnoyarsk city administration in 2011, when she facilitated city official VIP visits in 2012 for the Fort Ross Bicentennial celebrations. Since then, there have been other exchange and participation in other events and projects.
This year, Krasnoyarsk hosted the World Student Games (Universiade) and it was telecast on local TV stations in the US. N.Sabelnik commented on how upscale the games were, and was now impressed by the professionalism and quality of the Social Festival. During the conference, where N.Sabelnik was a guest speaker, the auditorium, seating over 1000 people was filled to capacity, showing how many citizens of Krasnoyarsk were interested in these programs.
     Natalie Sabelnik’s participation in projects, significant for Krasnoyarsk, became the main subjects of the meeting with Mayor Eryomin – preserving the memory of commodore Nikolay Rezanov, who is buried in Krasnoyarsk; interaction of US & Russia along the Alaska-Siberia route. As next year approaches, it is important to note how US & Russia were allies in WWII and the Alaska-Siberia route is an excellent example of this. Also during the meeting, N.Sabelnik suggested a sister-city relationship of Krasnoyarsk, suggesting Sacramento, the capital of the State of California; development of various tourist exchange, as Krasnoyarsk region is so vast that there are many possibilities for interesting adventure tours, cruises and, since it is on the Trans-Siberian route to have a stop over for touring of historical places, museums, and other noteworthy landmarks.
     Having just completed a Russian Children’s Art Competition that CRA sponsored as a national contest, discussions were also raised about projects including children and students, whereby US & Russian children can cooperate together in various projects.
N.Sabelnik was especially grateful to Inna Dozortseva, Head of the Department of External Affairs of the Krasnoyarsk city administration and Alexander Yuzhannikov, a prominent leader in the Krasnoyarsk community, professor at the Siberian Federal University, chair of the board of trustees at the Archbishop’s residency and the Church of St.John the Baptist. He is also an elected official of the city council, and has been instrumental in preserving the memory and history of Commodore Rezanov. Both arranged visits to various museums, including the Prelate Nikolay Steamship Museum, the monument to Nikolay Rezanov in the town square, as well as the monument cross at the Trinity cemetery, Museum of History of the Krasnoyarsk Railroad, Victory Memorial Museum and various art museums, which were at the time closed to the public and opened for a special viewing and docent tour by the directors of the museums. N.Sabelnik also spoke at the Siberian Federal University to the graduating class on law and international relations and the English Club to their members, interested, not only on learning the English language, but all the nuances of life in the US.
     A most interesting stop and close to heart was the visit to the St.John the Baptist church at the liturgy on the Feast Day of St.Nicholas (May 22), where she was able to meet with the priest, Father Nicholas and take part in his namesday celebration, as well as meet Archbishop Panteleimon, who himself had just returned from a trip around the Krasnoyarsk region. An interesting piece of history of this church was that it was founded and built in 1866, but in 1920, it was taken over by the Bolsheviks and under the Soviet regime turned into a hospital. One of the doctors during this period was recently canonized a saint, healer of the ill, St.Luke, and the building began restoration to a church again in 1999, and was recently opened again for services.
     Mayor Sergey Eryomin thanked Natalie Sabelnik for the visit and all discussed initiatives: “We are ready to support the ideas, to participate, help with the organization of cultural exchange.”. The city of Krasnoyarsk and Congress of Russian Americans have shared common goals, projects and work for nearly 10 years, but N.Sabelnik’s history goes back further, as many of her relatives live in Krasnoyarsk after returning from China, where they ended up after the revolution, when N.Sabelnik’s family found refuge in Tubabao and were divided once again. SAM_6218

CRA commemorates 250 years Fabulist I.A. Krylov with national children’s art competition.

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This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of prolific Russian fabulist, Ivan A. Krylov.  To commemorate his birthday and his over 200 fables, Congress of Russian Americans held a national Russian Children’s Art Competition.  With over 35 Russian schools from 14 states (and over 70 cities) competing, the competition brought in over 700 pieces of artwork from children in 4 categories:  4-6 years; 7-9 years; 10-13 years and 14-16 years.  After the first phase of the competition, which was held in each school, 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners artwork was forwarded to CRA.  200 pieces of artwork were on display during the exhibit that took place on May 11, 2019 at the Social Hall of the Russian American Women’s League.   The jury was comprised of three local artists, who judged each artwork on various criteria.  According to them, it was incredibly difficult to pick out only 3 place winners in each category, and thus, they were compelled to add an Honorary Mention in each category.  Still, there were a lot of art that didn’t win, but did merit recognition.  It was evident that the children read and studied the fables that they chose and used a lot of creativity to capture the fable in their artwork.   Following the exhibit and competition, Russian American Women’s League, under the leadership of their President, Alexandra Sabelnik-Whooley invited all participants, children, parents, teachers to a bountiful buffet reception in honor of the feast of Easter and to congratulate the participants and winners of the competition.   The winners artwork was on exhibit, the next day at the 88th “Day of the Russian Child” and has been forwarded to Argentina for the international competition which will take place in Buenos Aires, during the regional conference of Russian compatriots of 25 countries of South, Central and North America, as well as Australia and New Zealand.IMG_4119

Happy Easter!

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Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе!
Конгресс русских американцев поздравляет членов КРА и друзей со светлым праздником Святой Пасхи!
Congress of Russian-Americans would like to wish our members and all friends and loved ones a Happy Easter!

Preserve Victor Arnautoff’s mural in George Washington High School

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The “Reflection and Action Group” appointed by the San Francisco Unified School District has recommended that all thirteen panels of a mural painted in 1935-1936 by Russian émigré artist Victor Arnautoff at George Washington High School be painted out because, in the words of the group’s recommendation, “the mural . . . glorifies slavery, genocide, colonization, manifest destiny, white supremacy… [and]… oppression.”

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However, given Arnautoff’s political beliefs, and according to a recent 2017 biography by Dr. Robert Cherny, Victor Arnautoff and the Politics of Art, the purpose of these murals was to present a counter-narrative to typical high school textbooks of the day and to highlight exploitation and oppression of people of color in the United States.

In other words, through his art, Arnautoff was practicing a commitment to social justice and he was certainly not glorifying slavery, genocide, colonization, manifest destiny, or white supremacy. He was, instead, through his unique depictions of scenes of the life of George Washington, condemning those institutions and ideologies.

Arnautoff created the murals to protest both the genocide of Native Americans as well as slavery and oppression of African-Americans at a time when few openly discussed these aspects of American history. High school curricula in the United States, even today, neglect the history of Native Americans and First Peoples.

As such, the mural should serve as a critical educational tool and destroying or removing it only serves to promote an inaccurate perspective of the artist and his work.

There are several workable options that have been suggested to keep the mural intact and to allow faculty to use it to support their teaching. Erasing this work of art will not serve the interests of the students at George Washington High School and will divide the community.

Sign the petition in support of the preservation of Viktor Arnautov’s mural:

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Russian Charity Ball in Los Angeles

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23 февраля в Лос-Анджелесе под звуки национальных гимнов США и русского «Боже Царя Храни» открылся очередной Русский благотворительный императорский бал. Организатором бала выступило представительство Российского дворянского собрания на западном побережье США. Среди спонсоров: Конгресс русским американцев, Российский имперский союз орден, Русский императорский бал в Дублине (Ирландия), Live Art Plantscapes, Ludmila’s Day Care, New Logica Professional Photo and Video, Medical Aesthetic Center «Royal» и известный бренд водки «Русский стандарт» и компания “Эрмитаж”.

Бал начался с приема гостей, во время которого прибывающие гости имели возможность познакомиться, насладиться легкими закусками и шампанским и ознакомиться с выставкой «Семья князей Голицыных в Лос-Анджелесе», которая была организована стараниями Общества помощи русским детям в память княгини Л.В. Голицыной. Семья князей Голицыных внесла большой вклад в жизнь нашего общества, так княгиня Любовь Голицына была основательницей Общества помощи русским детям в Голливуде, ее муж, князь Александр Голицын был доктором знаменитого русского композитора Сергея Рахманинова. Их дети стали известны в киноиндустрии США, один из них Александр Голицын был членом американской киноакадемии и получил за свою работу 12 номинаций на Оскар, выиграв 3 из них. Его имя в 2011 году было внесено в Аллею славы американского киноискусства. 

В зале приемов, пока собирались гости, играл классический саксофон, атмосфера торжества и элегантности отражалась в нарядах дам и кавалеров. Гостей встречали представители Дворянского собрания и уделяли внимание каждому гостю любезно знакомя всех и приглашая сфотографироваться у стены с логотипами спонсоров бала. 

В адрес бала пришло приветствие внучки Любови Владимировны Голицыной, Марины Васильевны Бидлестон. Марина Васильевна, дочь князя Василия Александровича (1907-1989) и княгини Натальи Голицыной, проживает в Сан-Франциско. 

В своем обращении она отметила, что в наше время такие мероприятия действительно играют важную роль, дело благотворительности и добра несомненно является объединяющим фактором, и все мы должны поддерживать такие начинания. Ее обращение было размещено в буклете,  который получил каждый гость бала.

На балу среди гостей присутствовали президент Общества помощи русским детям (в память княгини Голицыной) госпожа Людмила Петлицкая, президент Конгресса русских американцев госпожа Наталия Сабельник, президент фонда «Здоровье Отечества» господин Владимир Воропаев из Москвы, представитель Royal Stewart Club of Los Angeles господин Антони Мак Алистер, представитель Имперского ордена «Мира и Культуры» господин Лин Дже Чо Занду, издатель русского журнала «Факт» госпожа Люси Алекс, руководитель скаутской дружины из Сан-Франциско господин Михаил Данич, главный куратор Музея-архива русской культуры в Сан-Франциско госпожа Маргарита Меняйленко и многие другие. Организаторы бала очень благодарны гостям из Сан-Франциско, которые всегда поддерживают культурные проекты и начинания в Лос-Анджелесе. 

В этом году один из спонсоров бала впервые предоставил возможность студентам изучающим русский язык и культуру и членам Русского клуба Калифорнийского университета в Лос-Анджелесе стать гостями бала. Было приятно познакомиться с ребятами, большинство из которых изучают естественные науки, такие как биотехнологии или биоинженерию,  физику и химию. Судя по отзывам им понравился бал, и, возможно, это послужит началом привлечения молодежи в работу русских общественных организаций в Лос-Анджелесе. 

Зал был украшен американскими и российскими флагами, а в приемном зале у парадной лестницы разместился большой портрет Государя Императора Николая Александровича. Портрет привлекал внимание всех гостей, и можно было наблюдать, как выстраивалась очередь под портретом для фотографирования. 

После приема предводитель западно-американского отделения Дворянского собрания господин Ф.М. Якимов пригласил всех на ужин. Торжественный зал выглядел очень торжественно и достойно. Гости находили свои места за столами, украшенными  американским и русским флажками и красивой цветочной композицией. Программа началась с гимнов, американский был исполнен небольшим симфоническим оркестром, а второй, «Боже Царя Храни» исполнен госпожой Валентиной Сверинген.  

Госпожа Сверинген, родившаяся в городе русской славы Севастополе, была солисткой Крымской филармонии  и ансамбля песни и пляски Черноморского Флота. Обладательница большого таланта, вот уже который раз показывает, что обладает и большим сердцем, безвозмездно  делясь своим превосходным талантом с гостями бала. 

По старой традиции на бал пригласили русское духовенство всех трех русских приходов обеих юрисдикций. Настоятель Покровской Церкви, кавалер Императорского ордена Св. Анны о. Виктор Цешковский, прочитав молитву, пригласил всех начать ужин. 

Как и принято в русских традициях, организаторы бала позаботились, чтобы гостей потчевали и угощали нескончаемой рекой питья и яств. Блюда менялись одно за другим. Предводитель Дворянского собрания Федор Михайлович Якимов взял первое слово и поблагодарил гостей и спонсоров за участие в благотворительном бале, так как своим участием все внесли лепту в помощь нуждающимся детям по всему миру. 

В этом году средства от бала пойдут в благотворительный фонд «Дуняша», основанного Конгрессом русских американцев для помощи дочери русского священника из Сан-Франциско, Дуняши Быконь.  Она имеет диагноз спинной грыжи и в настоящее время нуждается в лечении.  Другая часть средств будет направлена в Санкт-Петербург, в детский госпиталь по исследованию и лечению раковых заболеваний под патронажем Великого Князя Георгия Михайловича, и остаток средств будет передан в общество Помощи русским детям в память о княгини Голицыной в Лос-Анджелесе. 

Третий Императорский бал привлек большое внимание не только русскоговорящих американцев, но и представителей китайской, шотландской и английской общин, и самих американцев. Бал стал центром культурного и делового обмена. Вдвойне приятно, что забота о детях объединяет и стирает все границы и стереотипы. 

Культурно развлекательная программа состояла из выступлений Ганны Сорбат и Валентины Сверинген, которые в сопровождении фортепиано исполнили классические произведения оперы и русские романсы. Ганна Сорбат, замечательная исполнительница и композитор, которая выступала на сцене с такими звездами и виртуозами, как Денис Мацуев, Джерард Марино, Рассел Брауэр. 

Выступили коллективы русских народных танцев и артистка Московского музыкального театра Станиславского и Немировича Данченко Юлией Жаровой, прибывшей из Сан-Франциско.  Своим выступлением из балета «Лебединое Озеро» она словно обворожила гостей бала, зал затих, и было интересно наблюдать как все следили за каждым движением артистки. Стоит отметить профессионализм и высокие качество исполнителей и диджеев из компании «Event Better» и ведущей вечера Лидии Выдруг. Превосходные выступления всех артистов украшали уникальные наряды в русских стилях. 

Между выступлениями, был поднят главный тост за Президента США Дональда Трампа и Главу Российского Императорского Дома Великую Княгиню Марию Владимировну.

Во время бала проводился аукцион, на котором были выставлены лоты, связанные с историей русской диаспоры в Лос-Анджелесе. Так, среди лотов был портрет композитора Игоря Стравинского работы американского художника.  Настоящая киноафиша к фильму «Король и я» в главной роли в этом фильме снимался Юл Бриннер, он же получил кинопремию «Оскар» за роль в этом фильме. Другой лот состоял из шаржа работы Бориса Шаляпина (сына Федора Шаляпина), который рисовал обложки журнала «Таймс», в своем шарже он изобразил киноактера Акима Тамирова. Все предметы произвели большой фурор, и за обладание ими разгорелась можно сказать настоящая битва.

Во время бала прошла церемония награждения представителей русской диаспоры дипломами и медалями Св. Анны, подписанными Главой Российского Императорского Дома Великой Княгиней Марией Владимировной. В торжественной обстановке из рук предводителя дворянского собрания господина Якимова награды получили руководитель русской школы при Преображенском Соборе госпожа Жанна Гаас, и руководитель русского творческого коллектива народных танцев госпожа Лариса Карлсен. Обе дамы всю свою жизнь посвятили обучению и работе с русской молодежью. 

Приятным дополнением стало и вручение диплома выпускнице 10 класса Русской приходской школы Преображенского Собора госпоже Алине Жеребцовой. На сцену во время вручения диплома были приглашены руководитель школы и класса Алины. Напомним, Алина стала обладательницей II-ой премии в своей возрастной категории, приняв участие в международным конкурсе сочинений, который вот уже много лет проходит по инициативе Российского Имперского Союза Ордена. В прошлом году конкурс был посвящен 100-летию мученического подвига Царской семьи. По поручению организаторов конкурса Алине был вручен диплом и подарок, а также она получила специальное приглашение на прошедший бал. Наши поздравления Алине!

Кульминацией бала стало появление цыганского табора, который развлекал публику и поднял весь зал на танец.   Гости веселились до 3 утра, а у выхода их ждал еще один подарок, последний номер газеты «Русская жизнь».