Sister Cities Committee thanks community for successful Russian event

Back in May, the Juneau Sister Cities Committee celebrated Russian Victory Day with a late afternoon tea at the Northern Tea House. The event was celebrated in collaboration with CBJ Sister City, Vladivostok, Russia. The tea was a success thanks to the support of the Juneau American and Russian communities:

Thunder Mountain Russian teacher, Svetlan Filkova, organized the afternoon tea, and her advanced Russian students performed several plays and poetry recitations in Russian. Poets Henry Melville and Erika Bergren from Juneau shared their original poetry. To begin the celebration, Kathleen Wayne sang the American anthem and Griffin Young sang the Russian anthem. Roald Simonson shared slides of a trip to St. Petersburg and documenting photographs of the St. Petersburg siege. Advanced Russian students from Thunder Mountain High School performed eloquently and fluently in Russian. Thank you to teacher Filkova for her work with the students and Valentina Gouk and Janna Lelchuk for spreading the news within Juneau’s Russian community. Melville, Bergren and Simonson shared their thoughts about conflict which helped us all reflect on the seriousness of the commemoration. Maria and Ibn Bailey generously donated their time and their business, The Northern Tea House.