Grandfather Christmas Visits the Children's Day Center at the Community Center

On December 21st Grandfather Christmas visited The Children’s Day Center at the community center, built with the financial backing of the “Tulip” Foundation during 2005. The good old man couldn’t arrive with a sled due to the small amount of snow, therefore according to the kids, he arrived via a new “BMW,” and the kids insisted the whole time that that it must not be confiscated by the police.
Despite their anxiety, which was abundant, they received Grandfather Christmas with much joy.

And at least the dear old, white, and tired man from the Lapland looked happy to be among the kids. After this he listened to all the songs, verses, and wishes for health, long life, and abundant crops during the new year. The good old man awarded those present with gifts, in view of the fact that you know, that exactly two days before this, the kids had prepared painstakingly for the holiday, with the traditional holiday baking and the crafting of decorated twigs. His presents were for everyone, but also for the disobedient kids! Of course, after this he got a promise that everyone will work harder during the new year!

Interaction Between the Local Authorities and the Members of the Public - "Community Centers" in the Municipality of Rakovski

This was the theme for which was conducted today, December 20th 2007, a round-table discussion with the staff of Community Center “St.st. Cyril and Methodius,” Town of Rakovski. Those invited to the meeting included the Mayor and Vice Mayor of the municipality, the municipal advisors, the representatives of the community centers in the Municipality of Rakovski, and old and young supporters of the community center idea. The date was not chosen by accident; exactly 99 years ago, on December 20th, 1908, medical technician Giorgi Michev and a group of vigilant intellectuals formed Community Center “St.st. Cyril and Methodius.” With this round-table from one direction stands command of the celebrations devoted to the 100-year anniversary during 2008.
The aim of conducting this event was to inform the newly elected members of the municipal council of Rakovski such that they begin to understand the function of the community center and municipal administration and for the people of the town to be informed of the programs for which the community center works. The challenge for the group, however was to find a way to jointly work between the community center administration, the municipal administration, and the municipal council through the formation of teams for municipal cultural strategy and preparation for the major undertakings of the municipality that ultimately occupy the resources available from structural funds.

A Short Review of the Past Month

From the first week of the month of November and so far the community center has begun a sport-dance club with kids and youth from the school “Hristo Smirnenski,” at the same time during day and night we are teaching English to participants from UniCredit Bulbank, to a class of participants from the Rakovski Police Department, to employees of the kindergarten “Clover,” to children and elderly, and even youth from the folklore ensemble at the community center prepare for the language for the new tournaments during 2008.
This year, and more specifically this month, we participated in one of the final meeting of Project ABLE/which is an idea exchange for library ventures and the finding of connections for collaboration/, as well as participating at the final training as instructors, for those who attempt to pursue connections with colleagues.
But with all of this going on this month at the community center and outside of it, we overslept on stocking up on new literature for the community center’s library through a program of the Ministry of Culture. In the beginning of December we will make a funded subscription to published periodicals for our participation in a competition for the Ministry of Culture supplemental grant.
And how will we begin the new month – with an exhibition, of course – but for those who are curious to discover at the community center on Monday, December 3rd, it will be more interesting to come and see than to read.

The First of November - Day of the Community Leaders

This is the theme of the show/exhibition which was unveiled yesterday for the occasion of the Day of the Community Leaders at Community Center “St.st. Cyril and Methodius.” At 12:00 in front of the community center building, students from the school “Hristo Smirnenski” and young people from folklore ensemble “Slav Boikin” put on a brief presentation for the occasion of the holiday.
The show was devoted to local community leaders – religious leaders, teachers, and cultural activists. It is an occasion for the remembering and learning about our forefathers. With this presentation we barely scratched the surface of the theme for every “honored Bulgarian,” but we supported the beginning of a more finite theme with through the collection and organization of data on the local, vigilant community leaders – our forefathers. At least, we repeatedly began asking the questions “Who is a community leader? How will we define who is sufficiently worthy of the title Community Leader?” We hope that everyone who has seen the show will understand the message we were hoping to convey through the imagery, the buildings, and the texts hung in the exposition – namely that any one of us would be able to be community leaders if we stop thinking inwardly of our own individual wishes, strictly speaking for I, and if we are selfless and contribute to the creation of the future’s history. If every one of us welcomes the responsibility of the future day as his personal responsibility, he will ensure that we have built a genuine, responsible Bulgarian nation, ready to be vigilant and work for a better tomorrow.
All those people involved in the construction of the hospital, the school, and the church after the earthquake during 1928, the people who helped to build the community center – all of them are community leaders. The people who leave something after them of course, because they possess the wish to extend and to build their history – these are community leaders.
We are exceptionally thankful to our colleague and friend Petur Turnovaliski, who collected materials from over the years and researched the history of the local population, and gave us many materials including both pictures and text. Of course we can’t forget our partners from the school and “Zombori” Press in Plovdiv, who kindly worked closely with us for our Folklore ensemble’s trip to France, and helped us now with the organization of the show for local community leaders.

The Community Center Brings Together Two Towns

Thanks to the members of folklore ensemble “Slav Boikin” from community center “St.st. Cyril and Methodius”, in Sremska Mitrovitsa, Republic of Serbia during August a new brotherhood of two towns was initiated. Rakovski and Panchevo, Republic of Serbia signed a preliminary agreement for partnership in the presence of the ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of Serbia Mr. Giorgi Dimitrov, cultural attaché Mr. Ivailo Kirov, the Mayor of the town of Panchevo Mr. Sergian Mikovich and Stoyo Fitnev, a representative from the town of Rakovski. These public figures along with all the other guests squeezed into the village of Ivanovo for the holiday St. Vendelin, celebrated locally on October 20th, and the Day of Community Leaders, celebrated by the Bulgarians on November 1st. These two dates were the occasion for the dancers from folklore ensemble “Slav Boikin”, who had invitations to bring a program to the village of Ivanovo. Apart from the extended hour and a half performance, community center members gave books in Bulgarian language for cultural education of society in the village of Ivanovo and Belo Blato. Donors of the literature in Bulgarian language for the two cultural educations of society are Publishing House “Hermes”, “Zombori” Press, Community Library “Ivan Vasov”, the Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv, and Community Center “St.st. Cyril and Methodius”. Memories of the trip, performance, conference, and new acquaintances of the dancers from CC “St.st. Cyril and Methodius” owe probably the most thanks to the assistance of Mr. Frantz Kokov – Mayor of the Town of Rakovski, and the generous support of Vecelin Doshkov, manager of “Hebros Bus” OOD.

News with an Extension...

Today, October 18th, our new friend and colleague John Shryock begins work. After his two-day visit in town during September, now he begins with us as a volunteer from Peace Corps for two years. His assignment is to work with kids and youth in the community center and our partner organization – the newly-renovated school “Hristo Smirnenski”. John will organize free English language classes for beginners; those who wish to be included may call the community center. English classes are already organized together with members of the local Police Department, the school “Hristo Smirnenski”, and employees of Unicredit Bulbank, who expressed a desire to learn the language during John’s two-day visit last month.

After much thunder preparation and work, but again always with successful finish, tomorrow October 19th Folklore Ensemble “Slav Boikin” from Community Center “St.st. Cyril and Methodius” leaves for a two-day tour in the Republic of Serbia. It goes without saying that the young dancers will carry quite a lot of talents to our fellow countrymen living there. The Bulgarian cultural information centers will receive the donation of Bulgarian literature, computers, and a copy machine. Besides their presence and the donation youth members of the ensemble will bring, the ensemble will be part of the creation of a new friendship and partnership between the local governments of Rakovski and Panchevo.

Information on how and who helped this time to gather the donation and the ensemble that traveled to Serbia, how and what occurred there during the weekend will be available here on this blog on Monday, October 22nd.

Once Aagain on Tour

On October 19th, 20th, and 21st the folklore ensemble "Slav Boikin" from Community Center "St.st. Cyril and Methodius" will join in the holiday "St. Vendeli" in the village of Ivanovo, Republic of Serbia.

The invitation was sent from the consul of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Metodi Metodiev. The idea began with this and the initiative of "Zombori" Press and Communty Center "St.st. Cyril and Methodius" for the collection of Bulgarian literature and skill for Bulgarians in the village of Ivanovo.

The idea that the ensemble prepare a one-hour program for the holiday in the village, whose population is predominately Bulgarian Catholics, is connected with the wish from their side for fraternization between the town of Rakovski and the village of Ivanovo.

To the moment of our appeal for the collection of skills and literature we heard back from "Jhanet-45" Press, the Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv, and the Rakovski branch of Unicredit Bulbank. We sent letters of notification and appeal to "Zahari Stoyanov" Press, "Hermes" Press, and the Provincial Administration of Plovdiv. The appeal addressed all those who wish to help support fellow countrymen's initiative for the Bulgarians in the village of Ivanovo, Republic of Serbia.

New Member of the Community Center Team

After the existing partnership between the community center library and the library of Colorado Christian University, thanks to Project ABLE funding from the American Department during 2004, the library team continues to broaden it's contacts and to search for new friends and like-minded peers for new ideas which are and will be realized at the community center. It was in this vein that we, during the month of April, applied to the Peace Corps for the "Youth Development" program for a volunteer worker at the community center.
After a long wait they contacted us and they hadn't kept us waiting for nothing: during the month of September, for two days the the future friend of the community center team will visit with us here. He will move into the town for his prolonged two-year stay around October 20th.

A Journey to France

The folklore ensamble at the community center has returned from a tour in the town of Bezie, in the South of France. Before traveling to the country of wine and wonderful landscapes, on August 9th the ensamble went to Sremska Mitrovitsa, Serbia where they participated in an International Folklore Festival.

After the presentation of the kookeri group and the dance ensamble in our neighboring country, the dancers continued on toward France, where they waited from August 11th to the 15th.

Amongst groups of participants from Italy, Belarus, and Nepal, the Bulgarian group once again one of the most attractive in the city, which draws around one million guests every year carring incomes of 65 000 euro to the local business.

For a series of 5 days with over 3 performances every night, the kookers from the community center in Rakovski chased evil spirits from the streets of Bezie, amongst lines overflowing with cheery spectators and participants in the fiesta, organized for the fifteenth time. At the end they were tired, but full of unforgettable memories and the best feelings from the week in Bezie. On August 16th, the younger members of the ansemble headed to the capital of France - Paris. Like an award for their performance at the Fiesta, beforehand sponsors from "INSA"Ltd (Rakovski), "Masiv-4"Ltd (Rakovski), Printing-house "Zombory" (City of Plovdiv), and the help of the provincial government administration of Plovdiv gave the possibility to the young people of the community center to visit the Arc of Triumph, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower; the last from a list of different culturally significant landmarks like Munich, Vienna, and Budapest.

Even the long way to the dancers home it was a tour full of emotions, positive reports and a lot of impressions from new and different cultures.