Stelpe is a place in Latvia, 55 km southeast from Riga. The community life is rich in cultural, sports and other events. Some of them are shared here as seen from the point of view of the Nelius family.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Jānis Paukštello Giving Concert In Stelpe School

The greater the person the humbler and more open they are. Actor Jānis Paukštello has been a Latvian theater megastar for nearly four decades. Today he gave a concert in Stelpe School. Not only Stelpians but also people from nearby communities had come to watch. Everyone felt lifted up and charged with new energy from the concert.

"I'm old, behind the times and happy," says Jānis Paukštello about himself. He recited poems about our homeland Latvia, sang old favorites, the most popular of which was Cielaviņa "The Little Wagtail" introduced to Latvian public by himself in 1982. He had come to Stelpe together with his wife Elīna who was also the driver.
Jānis has met a lot of suffering in his life, both physical and emotional. But he has always stayed strong, full of humor and energy. "I feel that people thirst for positive emotions, and my responsibility being an actor is to give them to people" - this is how Jānis Paukštello has been commenting on the show he was performing in Stelpe.

"An elderly man with a doubtful occupation who needs to start thinking of the time when he will be leaving the room feet first while Cielaviņa (The Little Wagtail - a song closely associated with himself) is being sung, and that by his own self, is for the time being still available live..." - this is how Jānis Paukštello wanted me to introduce him to Stelpe spectators.

Flowers as a sign of appreciation of Jānis Paukštello's talent were given to him by the grateful fans and spectators.

UPDATE: Yesterday (Monday) our local newspaper "Bauskas Dzīve" (Bauska Life) published an article and a photograph of mine. You can find it also on their news portal: Bauskas Dzīve


 UPDATE 2 : Today (Friday) we walked, the whole family, in Bauska. My son Dag paid attention to a TV screen and said: "Hey, is this not Jānis Paukštello?" And it was him indeed together with his wife Elīna. It felt so personal and different seeing them on TV when we had just met them in person in Stelpe School.

Monday, September 3, 2012

First School Day - September 3

September 1 traditionally is the first school day in Latvia. So the phrase "The first of September" is often used with meaning "First school day". That is why we say that we had September 1 today even though it is 3rd already.

There are 71 schoolchildren in Stelpe School this year.

The opening ceremony took place in a freshly remodeled hall. Remodeling was possible due to the hard work of head teacher Dagmāra Venclova together with the local government of Vecumnieki. The hall is now beautiful, and the acoustics are incredibly good.

Another specific thing was the celebration by the staff of my wife Sandra's 50th anniversary. She got a lot of flowers from her colleagues and students, and heard a lot of appreciative words. When the official part was over, we had a little party in her classroom.

Liana Symonenko (Лиана Симоненко), volunteer worker from Ukraina, sang "Крылатые качели" (The Winged Swings) together with her fellow volunteers from different countries.


Valdis Rusiņš is a member of Vecumnieki Municipality board where he often supports the cause of Stelpe School. Apart of that, he supports the school privately giving funds for a number of needs. After being thanked by head teacher Dagmāra Venclova, Valdis Rusiņš was given the floor.
Sandra Neliusa being greeted by head teacher Dagmāra Venclova
Big and small lined up to greet teacher Sandra Neliusa with flowers
  Those who begin the school today - with their teachers Iveta Grantiņa (left) and Ilze Lukša
 Teachers, students and guests
 Sandra Neliusa and head teacher Dagmāra Venclova
 Schoolgirls' quartet
 Class 8 - the one where the class teacher is Sandra

Sunday, September 2, 2012

More August: Sports Festival, Gladioli Party

The XVI annual Sports Festival of Stelpe took place on August 18


 
 

On August 21, the pensioners club "Dižstelpe" (The Great Stelpe) gathered for a gladioli party at Visvaldis and Ilga Viņķelis, our loved gladioli and irises selectioners