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					January 27: Lecture and Reception Come to a reception hosted by Congress of Russian Americans with presentations by Natalie Sabelnik, President of Congress of Russian Americans, and Robin Joy, Park Interpretive Specialist at Fort Ross SHP and co-chair of Fort Ross Bicentennial. Champagne and music to bring in the 2012 celebrations will be shared. Thanks to underwriting by Congress of Russian Americans, this event is free to the public. Held at the Russian Center, 2460 Sutter Street in San Francisco, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM; parking available across the street. *** Homeless in Moscow Fund This holiday season over $1500 (roughly 45,000 rubles) was collected for the Moscow volunteer group "Pelmeshki na Pleshke". Olga (Pavlenko) Schafranek has been working with this group of Orthodox youth during her travels in Russia. The Congress of Russian Americans reached out to Olga to assist her in collecting the donations. The Pelmeshki na Pleshke meet in the kitchen of St. Tatiana's church (at the Lomonosov Moscow State University) every Tuesday evening and prepare a meal for some of Moscow's homeless. Meals are handed out outside a metro stop in the city. For more information about the group please visit www.bezdomnye.org * The First Russian Immigrant-Entrepreneurs- in San Francisco “Unexpected entrepreneurs: business enterprises of émigrés from Russia in San Francisco before the Second World War” – such was the title of the lecture, held on October 8 in the Russian Center, by Maria Sakovich, historian and independent investigator of the history of immigration from Russia. Maria’s forefathers arrived in America with the first wave of Russian immigration, and she herself dedicated many years to gathering materials about the life of the Russian-speaking colony in San Francisco. MORE * Taste of Russia 2011 in San Francisco The annual "Taste of Russia" festival at the Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco was held on Sunday, October 2, 2011. This Festival featured traditional Russian cuisine: pelmeni, golubtsi, beef stroganoff, borscht and piroshki, all homemade by the Sisterhood of the Cathedral, as well as a shashlik barbeque, headed by cathedral priest, Fr.Yaroslav Belikow. Guests were able to eat and drink in the warm Indian Summer Sunday in the yard, or in the two main halls of the cathedral. MORE * “Thank You Philippines” concert by CRA member, Nikolai Massenkoff After 65 years when the communist government took over China and after 65 years of the story of 5,000 Russians taking refuge in the camp, “” on the island of Tubabao, Eastern Samar of the Philippine island chain, the local government of Guiuan took a major step to let their younger generations know of the extra-ordinary page in history that changed and saved the lives of thousands of Russian refugees in China. MORE * CRA invited to speak at Association of American Russian Women A “Round Table of Women of the 21st Century” was held on September 24, 2011 at the Russian Culture Center in Washington DC. The conference was organized by the Association of American Russian Women – President, Larisa Petrenko and Vice-President, Elizaveta Filatova and invited representatives from different organizations and professions from various states to speak on topics of culture, education, business, health, immigration and legal issued. MORE * California State Parks Foundation Conference in San Francisco On September 22, 2011, California State Parks Foundation and Fort Ross Interpretive Association hosted the Russian Influences in California's History: Parks, Work, Play and Civic Engagement conference. The Congress of Russian Americans was recognized by the hosts for its work in promoting the conference and for the continued support of actions against the Fort Ross park closure, as well as for the upcoming 200th anniversary celebration of Fort Ross. The conference was followed by a reception at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco. The Renova Fort Ross Foundation, Chevron, and Russkiy Mir Foundation were the three major sponsors of this conference. * Fifth Regional Forum of Russian Compatriots of the Americas The 5th Regional Forum of Russian Compatriots of the Americas (North, South and Central) was held from the 7th through the 9th of September 2011 in Lima, Peru. 24 delegates from 18 countries of the Western Hemisphere, including USA, Canada, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia, Peru, and other South American countries, as well as Cuba participated in the forum this year. MORE * St. George Pathfinders' Annual Summer Fantasy Ball On Friday, September 2, 2011, the Western American Region of the St. George Pathfinders headquartered in San Francisco reintroduced their yearly tradition of a formal gala ball with the First Annual Summer Fantasy Ball. Held at the Westin Hotel in Millbrae, just south of San Francisco, a venue that lent itself to easy access for attendees who flew in from Southern California, New York and other parts of the United States was well attended by many individuals from different Russian-American communities coast to coast. The Congress of Russian Americans presented the CRA Youth Recognition Award to two young ladies, MORE * Russian Sailing Ship Pallada Vists San Francisco** Full-Rigged Ship Russian sailing ship Pallada came to San Francisco Bay On August 19. Pallada, now on a four-month round-the-world journey, dedicated to two events - 270 years since the Bering Expedition and discovery of Russian America (namely Alaska and the Aleutian Islands) and 50 years since Yuri Gagarin's flight into space, reached San Francisco for a four day visit. The journey started on July 1, 2011 from Vladivostok, the port of its registration, under the command of Captain Vasily Ivanovich Sviridenko. Over 120 cadets from the Kamchatka Peninsula MORE *** Archbishop Justinian visits the Russian Center Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of Patriarchal Parishes in the USA visited the Congress of Russian Americans on August 1, 2011 and met with its President, Natalie Sabelnik. She acquainted him about the organization, its history and the goals of the Congress, the primary one still being that of conveying the correct perception of historical Russia, its policies, culture, and traditions. She also told him about the Congress' current programs such as: aid to needy and sick children and orphanages in Russia, support for the "Village Churches" project, MORE * San Francisco - St. Petersburg AIDS Eye Medical Mission This year's mission took place and was accomplished in June 2011 as a collaborative effort of the Congress of Russian Americans, the Seva Foundation and the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) Department of Ophthalmology. The goal of the Mission was to help eliminate AIDS-related blindness by sharing expertise by American medical team from San Francisco with AIDS medical experts in St. Petersburg, Russia. The HIV epidemic represents a nearly existential issue for Russia because majority of people infected with HIV are under the age of 30. MORE * Heritage Celebration at Fort Ross The annual Fort Ross Cultural Heritage Day celebration was held this year on Saturday, July 30, 2011. A liturgy, officiated by Archbishop Justinian of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Father Andrei of the St.Nicholas Cathedral in San Francisco and other clergy, and opening ceremonies including directors and staff of Fort Ross, Consul General of Russian Federation, Vladimir N. Vinokurov started the day in the early morning. Festivities throughout the day, included MORE * Russian Americans of Greater Cleveland Celebrate a Festival of Food and Culture St.Sergius of Radonezh Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma, Ohio (Suburb of Cleveland) held its first Russian Festival on the weekend of July 30 & 31st, 2011. The festival was sponsored in part by the Congress of Russian Americans, the Russian American Cultural Society of Cleveland, Russian Life magazine and other local businesses. Even though it was its first such festival it turned out to be a tremendous success – socially and otherwise – due in part, to the enthusiastic support by a growing Russian American community in the Greater Cleveland. Plans are under way to make it an annual event. MORE * 2011 Graduations at Russian American Schools This year Congress of Russian Americans gave its traditional support to Russian-American youth by participating in graduations at Russian-American schools. In these events CRA gave congratulatory letters and complementary membership in CRA to all graduates and a Gramota and a stipend to graduates that received a Gold Medal. The Gold Medal recipients in 2011 were Aleksei Bolshakoff and Nikolai Shmelev from the Church of AllRussian Saints in Burlingame, CA and Anastasia Mushtaeva and Antonyi Priyemshev from the Ss. Cyrill & Methdy School in San Francisco, CA. CRA congratulates all graduates for their fine achievement in their completion of Russian studies in grammar, literature, history, and scriptures. * Russia Days in Chicago CRA participated at the recent Russia Days event that took place on 6/13 2011 at the Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago. Various dignitaries, including the Russian Ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and Prince Pyotr Galitzine attended this celebration. A program of Russian song and dance featured the Golosa Choir (folk songs of Siberia, sung by a group of Americans from the University of Chicago), Joffrey Academy of Dance and Russian Cathedral Ensemble (from Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in Des Plaines) sang both sacred and Russian folk songs. Lydia Swenton, CRA director on the CRA national board, and secretary of the Chicago Chapter represented CRA at this celebration which, according to Aleksandra Efimova, Master of Ceremonies and co-chair of this event, would be the first of annual Russia Days in Chicago. * 2011 marks the 270th anniversary of the Vitus Bering Expedition and discovery of Alaska and Aleutian Islands. CRA met with organizers of various special events planned to commemorate this year, which includes the arrival of the Russian sail training ship "Pallada" at Fort Ross and San Francisco and the Russian international relay swim team that plans to make a record swim across the Bering Strait from Russia to US. The Pallada was built 20 years ago in the Polish seaport of Gdansk and has a crew of cadets from marine institutes of Russia. MORE * CRA 9th Annual Fundraiser Reception Congress of Russian Americans' fundraiser/reception on Saturday, May 7 was a great success with a large turnout at the "Chateau Bleu" in San Francisco. "Chateau Bleu" was built in 1901 for Baron von Rothschild and designed by the same architect as that of "Petit Trianon", the site of numerous CRA fundraisers in the past. "Chateau Bleu" has stood amongst some of the most beautiful buildings in the elite district of San Francisco and served different purposes throughout the last century, including a residence, a school, a restaurant, a guest house, retirement home and now again a private residence. MORE * CRA-Russian Center Lecture Series History of Russians in America, Part I, was presented by historian Anatol Shmelev, at the San Francisco Russian Center on January 21, 2011. The presentation was organized by the Congress of Russian Americans and all donations were to benefit the Museum of Russian Culture. The lecture was in English, an important consideration for attracting those who did not speak fluent Russian but were interested in the history of ethnic Russian settlers in America. MORE * Fourth Regional Conference of Russian Compatriots of Americas The 4th Regional Conference of Russian Compatriots of South, Central and North America was held on July 9, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. Delegates from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, as well as Canada and the US attended the conference. Also, attending were Archbishop Justianin of Naro-Fominsk, the Administrator of the Patriarchal parishes in the USA, Consul General of the Russian Federation, Andrey K. Yushmanov, and members of the Department of work with Russian Compatriots at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. CRA President, Natalie Sabelnik, a member of both the Council of Russian Compatriots of the US and the Council of Latin & North America, represented the Russian American diaspora on the West Coast. Of particular interest to the attendees was the recent news of Renova's sponsorship of Fort Ross and the success of keeping the park open year round. These conferences provide opportunities for Russian community leaders to share their knowledge and expertise, and often to find ways of working together. CRA was selected to be the link between Russian American organizations in the US and those in Latin America. The site of next year's conference was proposed for either Chile or Peru. ***** ***** May 29, 2010 Graduation at Ss.Cyril & Methodious High School in San Francisco The 58th graduating class of Ss.Cyril & Methodious High School in San Francisco, at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin of All Those Who Sorrow included 9 graduates - Ariadna and Olga Baranov, Nikolai Dale, Feodor Gorodiloff, Nadezhda Osokina, Anastasia Triantafillidis, Anna Sapozhnikova, Elena Shikalova, and Natalia Tillbrook. The graduation was held on Saturday, May 29 at the school's hall. The Congress of Russian Americans sent congratulatory letters to each of the graduates, along with complimentary membership to CRA. The 4 Gold Medal winners (A.&O. Baranov, A.Triantafillidis & E.Shikalova) also received special acknowledgement and recognition (stipends). *******
			CRA recently launched a Facebook page which can be accessed now. While visiting please make sure to click on the LIKE button to ensure regular updates. *** 2012 is the year for celebrating of the 200 anniversary of the Fort Ross founding. Numerous commemorative events to be occurring throughout the year are scheduled here. In 1812, on a stretch of the Pacific Ocean eighty miles north of San Francisco, Russian explorers established Colony Ross, Russia’s deepest vanguard into North America. Colony Ross was settled to produce food to support the Russian settlements in Alaska, as well as to expand the valuable sea otter trade. Although the Russian American Company stayed for just three decades,their contributions to early California society were vast – they built California’s first ships and windmills, introduced glass-paneled windows, created the first brickyard, catalogued the local flora and fauna, completed detailed maps and were, by today’s standards, among California’s earliest entrepreneurs. Fort Ross is an excellent example of the best of California and what it has to offer the world: a rich history, diverse cultural legacy, beautiful nature, and dedicated people. * National Museum of the American People Congress of Russian Americans is one of the more than 140 organizations that represent 59 different American ethnic, minority, nationality and genealogical groups who have come together in the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People to advocate for the establishment of a National Museum of the American People. The Museum would be devoted to telling the story of the many peoples who have migrated to the United States, from the earliest arrivals 20,000 years ago until the present. Democratic Virginia Rep. Jim Moran and Republican Tennessee Rep. John Duncan introduced legislation in July that calls for studying the creation of a National Museum of the American People without any federal taxpayer funds. The bill had 10 other co-sponsors. CRA Washington, DC representative John Stepanchuk took part in a press conference on Capitol Hill with the Congressmen, along with members of other organizations representing America’s many ethnicities. MORE * May 29,2011 Congress of Russian Americans National Board is pleased to announce the addition of Mr. John C. Stepanchuk as CRA Washington DC representative. Mr. Stepanchuk has many years of U.S. Department of State experience, his previous positions included former Deputy Economic Counselor with the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia, Consul General with the US Consulate in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and Economic Counselor for the US Embassy in Athens, Greece. Mr. Stepanchuk, a foreign policy analyst, graduated with a B.A. in political science from Boston University, and has an M.A. in International Economics: International Law from John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and an M.A. in Strategic Studies from the U.S. National War College. * The CRA National Board joins the Fund for Assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in its appeal to help the victims of the recent disastrous earthquake in Japan. According to the available information there are Orthodox Churches in the disaster area as well members of the Orthodox parishes among the victims. More detailed information about what is happening and how to help can be found in these links. http://fundforassistance.org/ http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/eng2011/20110319_enwadjapan.html * July 10, 2010 Неопубликованное интервью — жертвы войны 1941-1945 гг. Помещаемый текст интервью старшего научного сотрудника Санкт-Петербургского университета, кандидата исторических наук Кирилла Михайловича Александрова представляет результат исследований по истории войны между Советским Союзом и нацистской Германией в 1941 - 1945 гг. — войны, беспримерной по количеству жертв и тяжести лишений русского народа, который оказался между молотом и наковальней в этой схватке, не на жизнь, а на смерть, двух тоталитарных режимов. Интервью было приурочено к 65-летию окончания войны. Редакция портала КРА благодарит Кирилла Михайловича за разрешение поместить текст его интервью. Полное интервью... * June 29, 2010 CRA protests the inclusion of Stalin's bust in the US National D-Day Memorial Congress of Russian Americans strongly protests the inclusion of Stalin's bust as part of the US National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. While Stalin is a historical figure of World War II, the inclusion of his likeness in this memorial is out of context as his involvement in D-Day planning and operation is indirect and only minimally relevant. Our main objection to any display of Stalin's likeness is based on his brutal human rights violations record. His crimes against his own people and humanity are of epic proportions. It would be a horrific affront to the millions of his victims, living and perished, and their descendents for many generations to come. The memories are still too fresh, the wounds are still healing. Inclusion of the bust in the memorial is akin to rehabilitation of Stalin's reputation. Just last week Stalin's statue was removed from the central square in his hometown in Georgia to be replaced by a memorial to his victims. Let's remove Stalin's bust form the US National D-Day Memorial as well. * Hertz car rental discounts for CRA members are available now! By presenting Discount Card CDP # 18922475 you can obtain discounts on various rentals. * Press release March 29, 2010 The National Board of the Congress of Russian Americans condemns the executors and all those who are behind the cowardly act of terror of unspeakable cruelty committed in the Моscow subway. We express our deepest sympathy for the victims and their families. Главное правление Конгресса Русских американцев осуждает исполнителей и всех, кто стоит за трусливым актом террора непрвзойденной жестокости, совершенным в московском метро. Мы выражаем наше глубокое сочуствие пострадавшим и их семьям. * Press release APR 20, 2009 On U.S. - Russia relations. Signs of the changing relations between the United States of America and the Russian Federation gives hope to Russian Americans that the United States will develop its policy toward Russian Federation on the basis of understanding and respect for each country’s interest – the U.S.’s as well as Russia’s – based on pragmatic considerations of mutual interests of both countries. We are convinced that cultivating friendly relations with Russia will serve the interests of the United States and especially its security. We believe that there are no unsolvable disagreements between the two nations, on the contrary, there are many potential areas for mutual cooperation. Therefore, the United States’ policy emphasis should be on cooperation rather than on confrontation. MORE ***	88

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