Sports Festival In Stelpe With Mr. Universe

 
Hurry to order the air tickets. Take your children with you and come to Stelpe. Our festival will be worth seeing and taking part in it. And it's completely free of charge!

On August 21, we will have a Sports Festival with the Mr. Universe 2009 Aivar Visockis giving a bodybuilding show.

There will be both individual and team competitions in Volley, Soccer, Kettle-bell carrying, Pneumatic shooting, Climbing a pole for prizes, and a few more.

For children, there will be an inflatable Python, games and competitions.

It will be possible to purchase refreshments on the site.

The Mr. Universe show is scheduled to 10 A.M. The registration of the teams begins at 9.30 A.M.

See you soon in Stelpe!

 

Rock Festival "Piladzis" Smashes The Eardrums Of Stelpians

 
Stelpe has come to the brink of its first rock festival "Piladzis" with many famous artists taking part. Yet I have quite dubious feeling about this by all means outstanding event for Stelpe community.

When I went past the Erik Piladzis property yesterday afternoon, I saw a metal fence put up all around the area. Workers were cutting grass, attaching gadgets and the air or preparation was there. A solid scope of investment, huge expectancy.

Erik Piladzis, the host of the festival, is the owner of, obviously, the biggest and most advanced private house in Stelpe. Around it, he has planted a beautiful garden that gives joy to passers-by, and now there is also a motor-cross track which is gradually becoming known all over the country. Erik owns also a few shops but they all are located outside Stelpe.

Once he had a shop also in Stelpe but that did not survive. The reason might be too few customers, of course, mainly local people, no one coming from outside. But that shop was also connected with rumor of products being of somewhat questionable quality and most of them unreasonably expensive. So, for an average Stelpian, it looked more like the shop did not survive the competition against the two other shops owned by someone else.

But that's quite a distant past when seen from today. Yet this fact helps to explain in a way as to why I don't feel just happy about the rock festival. And there is a little more background information.

Erik has been applying on a regular basis for the local government elections yet it was long since people voted for him. Being a bright and smart man, he actually never gets elected. Why? Isn't that a clear sign of him having poor support from the local people of Stelpe? Feeling that, Erik has obviously chosen a hard line against those 'envious Stelpians'. And here he goes.

He has made a huge investment into the motor-cross track and put it right in the center of one of the most inhabited areas of Stelpe. What once was a quiet place now needs to endure the harsh noise of the engines. When it comes closer to a competition, the training races may last all day long. I have never heard any questions asked by Erik to Stelpe society how they feel about that, and by what figure has the market price of their houses plunged because of the noise and dust. One might wonder also whether those people have any legal leverage to restrict the endeavors of their neighbor.

Yesterday evening, we heard the festival loudspeakers turned on in the trial mode sounding some gentle melody. It was heard near and far, and the bass line made our windows tremble even though we do not live in an immediate closeness to the site. I often ask this question to myself what those living closer feel.

And that was only with a few lines of some unobtrusive pattern of music. What is this to be like when the real rough rocking guys come? Hold on, Stelpe!

During the festival, there will be also some entertainment for children and adults. But again, with the decent entrance fees, there is little for the local people to do.

Let it be a celebration once there is one. But is it really a celebration for Stelpe or rather against Stelpe? The present course makes me think that even stepping over dead bodies of Stelpians would not prevent this festival from taking place.

More information about the festival:

http://www.last.fm/festival/1596034+Rock+Festival+P%C4%ABl%C4%81dzis+2010%27

The official site of the festival :

www.piladzis.lv

 

It's Electricity That Keeps Us Slaves

Not really out of a very blue but out of somewhat calm windless dome, there came a fork of lightning. It did not really have any other effects than that of leaving us without electricity for 15 hours.

It struck around 8 P.M. yesterday night. After a few moments of confusion, we decided that this was the chance for us to have some rest. And so we took focus on getting the kids to beds and also for ourselves to retire.

Indeed all of us were in beds at 9 P.M. relaxed and listening to the even pace of raindrops on the sill. The kids were furious at the start but calmed down too and were quite happy to spend such a meditative while by the open window breathing freshness and cradling to sleep, the drizzle rustling in the foliage.

There were a few comments on the way from our sons. Power station fell short of fuel, said Dag (6). The fuses need to be checked, Karlis Elmer (7) had his version to explain the status.

I woke after 12 hours having paid back to myself the far-gone debt of sleep. My wife Sandra was up a little earlier but still quite revitalized. The boys slept their full, and all of us had a nice day today.

When the electricity came back at 11 A.M. today, we felt rested and accustomed to a degree to the state of not having it. I had already managed to take home a few bucketfuls of water from the neighbor's well. The good old gas range was dusted and set ready for operation.

With a breathing space like this, we conclude that all the electrical gadgets have enslaved us to the degree where we do not understand how much we lose being this type of slaves.

And how does, after all, the power supplier dare to allow us such a longer than usual space of freethinking?

Song and Dance Festival of District Vecumnieki (Vecumnieku novads)

Yesterday the first Song and Dance festival of the newly established District Vecumnieki (Vecumnieku novada 1. dziesmu svētki) took place on the open air stage in Vecumnieki. The chair Vecumnieki District Council (Vecumnieku novada Dome) Rihards Melgailis mentioned in his speech the concurrence of this event with the first anniversary of the district. He said also that this was a historical event being the first big gathering of the district people.

For the judgment of the spectators, the new would be anthem of the district was presented. Composer Česlavs Batņa, text Gina Viegliņa-Valliete. It was performed by a joint choir under the conduct of Česlavs Batņa.

Picture: The final dance with Skaistkalne Brass Orchestra (Skaistkalnes pūtēju orķestris) and joint choir in the background
The imposed from the above territorial reform that has led to this artificial unification is still considered by many pointless, expensive and doing no good to the majority. Yet no big mistakes made so far by the local government plus the hereditary shyness and conformity of the Latvians allow this formation to exist on.

Whatever you may think of the political aspect, the Song and Dance Festival is a big celebration and was received as such by the people gathered in this beautiful place by Lake Vecumnieki.

Impressive enough were the joint dances performed together by people from different communities, the band playing a sticky melody. The choirs sang their soul out, and carried away the audience. We are, after all, quite well off when it comes to the musical resources.

Picture: Young Stelpe dancers in action
Among others, we could watch the performance of Stelpe children from the folk dance club led by teacher Lāsma Skābuliņa. It was long since they were bashful beginners earning much applause at every performance even so because they were overcoming fear and determined to do their best. Owing a lot to Lāsma's persistence, they are now brisk and nimble dancers able to give much positive emotions to the spectators.

No wonder they were chosen for participation in the country-wide Song and Dance Festival which is a big honor for everybody. On a high level culture forum of the district, the message was presented as a 'tragic news' meaning that the dancers from the small community of Stelpe had outperformed the groups from the bigger communities where there are high-schools and clubs available.

Only us - the stelpians take pride and rejoice.

Picture: My wife Sandra and son Dag watching the concert
The concert was quite well attended even though a little below the expectations. For an event of this scale, on a bright sunny day like this, I would have anticipated streams and streams of people heading towards the scene. Yet, on my way there, I saw next to nobody. And there was enough space in the parking too. My fear about not being able to find a place was just in vain.

Picture: Skaistkalne Brass Orchestra (Skaistkalnes pūtēju orķestris) led by Jānis Kalniņš

Guests - The King Boys

Young people can be really expressive on the stage when there are good teachers and enough determination. The King Boys - Emil Mangulis (11), Jurgis Silins (13) and Kristaps Sherps (11) from the city of Ogre are trained by Linda and Arthur Mangulis, and they rehearse 4 hours a day to be able to perform like they did in Stelpe.

Linda said that they should be in fact called The King Boys and (girl)Friends since there were also three young ladies Linda Perkone, Una Valaine and Dagne Vitola as backup voices, but they did also their independent performance. Patricia Blome (11) played saxophone and performed a complex piece of ballet containing acrobatic elements like splits and back-bends. Emil's little sister Laima Mangule (5) sang for us too.

Picture (from the left): Laima, Patricia, Linda, Dagne, Una, Jurgis, Kristaps

The boys not only sing but also dance, dribble basketballs, ride scooters and are doing all that in a perfect harmony with what they are singing.

Picture (from the left): Jurgis, Emil, Kristaps. Arthur Mangulis in the background.
After the concert, the young artists joined games and competitions that were organized outside the school.
Watch a small video here:

Illuminated School and Alley in Stelpe

Tonight it happened - the elevation of the school got its illumination, and the newly installed lanterns in the alley leading to the school were lit too. It didn't look too bad. I would rather say it looked good.
The news is good by all means. But not quite as good as it may sound from the first glance. The lights on the school walls are equipped with the movement sensor. It means that the school house won't by far reach the status of the tiny spark that lights the path of the traveler. It will rather be like a kind of an electric eel who would light up its beautiful sides only when you happen to run into it.
But the alley lanterns will be lit only on special events, celebrations and parties.
Nevertheless, everything looked really unusual and beautiful tonight. Even a few cars turned into the alley and made it around the school so to have a closer look.

English Club Party at Roger and Valerie's house

We were 37 altogether in the Club practicing English twice a week. Some have found a job abroad and traveled away. Some others need to dig their garden so they can get a harvest of vegetables for the next winter.

When we came together for the year finishing party at Roger and Valerie Hazeldens' house, there were only the toughest seven of us, not counting myself.

The girls had prepared the things for a barbecue. The hosts in their turn had made four different traditional English dishes including the apple-pie with custard, which was especially warmly received.

To the great satisfaction of mine, I watched all the girls talk to Valerie and Roger, which would not have been even possible when they first came to the club. And that - only after some three months of studies!

The learning in the Club was based on the following principles:

1 No language can be learned. It needs to be "let in" through the "seven gates" - eyes, ears, nose and mouth - and skin.

2 Coffee or tea helps both to relax and stay focused.

3 No need to worry if you remember next to nothing after the first classes. We have to come across things at least 15 times to be able to call them our own.

4 Teacher is for serving coffee, tea and candies while the class is practicing.

5 Everything needs to be on the blackboard.

Be ready - we will be back in the fall, said the girls when we were saying good-bye to each other after the party.

Last IT Lesson ... Yippee

Did you know I was teaching IT beginnings three hours a week here in Stelpe School? It is not because I wanted to do that especially much. In fact, I have more than enough to do with my present partners Software Innovation in Norway. Yet this time Yes was the only possible answer I could give the head teacher Dagmara Venclova when she asked me to to be the IT teacher. Having one was crucial for the very existence of the school, and it was important for all of us - stelpians - to keep the small country school of ours going even through the time of recession and short-sighted decisions.

We learned together, all of us, and discovered quite exciting things about the office programs, felt a little what drawing in Paint means, built our first websites, registered our first mailboxes, learned how make the first steps into the Internet by publishing a blog.

Now the year is over. I would wish the school to find a good, talented, enthusiastic IT teacher for the next year. But since it seems on the brink of the impossible to find one for only 3 - 4 hrs a week, I am afraid I will have to continue this beaten track.

Lighthouse Party with Friends from England

Every year around the Easter time all of us in Stelpe School are waiting for our friends from South Yorkshire Jean and Ian Sykes, Joyce and Mick Mumford to come and be with us at least one joyful afternoon.

This year they came a little later because the Volcano had canceled the flights. But they came nevertheless when the ash cloud had cleared up a little, and they did their activity for the children who enjoyed it very much.

The guests had carefully prepared for every child a set of assembling parts for a cardboard lighthouse with an inscription in Latvian "Jesus is the Light of the World".

Pastor Mick told us a story about an English girl Grace whose memory is honored for more than two centuries because she risked her life and went in a small boat to save some sailors when there was storm in the sea.

Grace was a daughter of a lighthouse keeper. On a morning after a stormy night when the storm was still strong, she saw a few sailors standing on a rock far in the sea. They had survived a crash of their ship. Grace ran to her father and convinced him to take a boat and go to rescue those men, and she went together with him. It was really dangerous, all the more because there were a lot of underwater rocks in that place. Yet they managed to reach the sailors and save them.

The pastor reminded us also that there is another story from more than two thousand years ago when Jesus came not to risk His life but to give it to save the people.

The English friends joined the children as they were building the lighthouses, and helped the smaller ones where there a high precision was needed.

It is a settled custom to give Jean her happy birthday greetings since her birthday often coincides with the visit. Not this year, though. But we still took the opportunity while she was here.


In order to make the "party" even more enjoyable for the children, our friends had provided some dainty snacks - fruit, nuts, juices.

Some children were surprised that they were allowed to take the lighthouses home.

Everyone thanked the guests really warmly and asked them to come again next year.

Norwegians Visit Families in Stelpe, Invite Children to Visit Norway

From year to year have Hanne and Kåre Ruud from Norway been coming to visit Stelpe. Their vision is to support the families with children, who struggle hard to send the children to school, provide them food and clothing. Together with their generous friends in Norway, Hanne and Kåre have been supporting about 10 families for several years. Seven Stelpe children have had the possibility to visit their beautiful country.

This time they turned in to see us just for three days on their way back from Tilzha Boarding School in the east of Latvia. Though the time was short, they managed to see quite many friends here, and paid a visit to the school.

Two schoolgirls got an invitation to visit Norway for two weeks this summer.

We took farewell from Hanne and Kåre this morning, and by now we have received a message that they are safe home in Norway. We had a nice time together, and we hope they will come again soon.

The Families' Fire

We would hardly have come to this enjoyable event in Vecumnieki if some Stelpe people had not written a letter and registered us for the nomination contest of the families of the District of Vecumnieki.

This was the 4th annual Families' Fire where the people who consider the Family as a value come together. They have a little barbecue party with games for children and parents, and the winners of the nominations get awards. There are such nominations as The Largest Family, The Best Father, The Best Mother, The Courageous Family, The Helpful Family and a few more.

Behind this celebration, there stands a charity named Saulgriezes (The Sunflower). They work to help families to solve their problems, provide premises for coming together, organize family holidays, etc.

The chair of the organization is Olga Cernisova-Sturiska (holds the microphone). While on the party, we heard a lot of praise towards her determination and her tremendous involvement.

There were games for the children.
Our children won this cuddly owl. (From left: Dag, Tereze, Karlis Elmer)


After the party, there was a wonderful concert of the Erins family who had recently won the third place in a state-wide family song competition. Their program was lively, joyful and the same time, I think, really deep because it was professing love to our homeland and a strong family as one of the most important values that any nation needs.

The Thank You Party

"YOU GET BY TAKING, YOU GET BY GIVING... BY GIVING GOTTEN IS TRULY YOURS"

RAINIS (Latvian poet)

Last Friday Stelpe celebrated the local people who have selflessly helped somebody in the community. Among them, there was Svetlana Vaģele, the medical person who is ready to help any time, be it storm or rain, or the deep of the night. Dzintra Polika is the person in charge of the surroundings of the school. She grows flowers and plants at home in order to bring them later to the school and decorate the area. Andris Kalniņš is an ecological farmer. He gives the school meat grown in healthy environment. There are other people who make themselves useful in many different ways. There are people who donate potatoes, pies and other food to the school to help keep the lunch cost as low as possible so that each and every child would be able to take that advantage of being at school - at least one warm meal a day.

The sponsors and guests had a party of delicious sandwiches and salad. Busy as most of them are, they had some calm moments to sit down and talk to each other.

Thank you to Roger and Valerie Hazelden, who are involved in fundraising for the school and social activities. Many people in Stelpe know them and love them because of their warm and supporting attitude whenever their helpful hand might be of use.

Linedancers performing for the guests of the party. They have learned their skill during a couple of months in the interest group led by Lāsma Skābuliņa. They dance for their own joy, and never say no when invited to give joy to others.

Also the life of Stelpe pensioners has become much more multicolored since there is ... hmm ... recession all around. They come together and do crafts, discuss issues, celebrate special dates, and they have vision for even more daring things. But now they greet with flowers the key persons who help them be organized - Kristīne Rulle and Sandra Neliusa.

A vocal group from Skaistkalne shared with us wonderful songs.

The head of Stelpe Pagasts Elmārs Jukonis often does more than his position requires to support the school or listen in to the needs of the people living here. So, along with all the other people being celebrated, he gets a bunch of roses and kisses from charming ladies.

There school hall was full. Many people came along and said that they would like this type of celebration be established as a tradition.

A girl from the Skaistkalne vocal group sings a beautiful Russian song about how a rainy day does not spoil the joy of meeting each other.

Dagmāra Venclova, the head teacher, reads a poem.

Dagmāra the head teacher is herself one of those dedicated and generous people, so this celebration is also for her.

The final song sung by Kristīne Rulle and other Stelpe artists.