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Become a friend of MVSC on FaceBook!Underwater Archaeology in Lithuania - Matt 
Carter presentation
“Archaeology in the Waters of the World: A Hands-on Perspective on International Underwater Archaeology”.
Thursday, September 9, 2010 at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium, 816 State St., Madison. 6:30 PM, refreshments – 7 PM, presentation.
Please don’t miss this exciting opportunity to see the presentation on Underwater Archaeology in Lithuania.
In 2009, Matt Carter, a scholar of Maritime Archaeology from New Zealand, won a highly prestigious scholarship, and spent much of that year traveling the world…underwater. Besides working at sites in Spain, Mexico, and our own state of Wisconsin, he spent time in the Moletai Region of Lithuania, helping to excavate an ancient village from the bottom of Lake Luokesas.
On September 9, Matt Carter will share his experiences and show a film documenting his scholarship year. Many members of MVSC will no doubt be in attendance – we hope to see you there!
MVSC Annual Summer Picnic Sunday, Aug 1, 2010
Madison Vilnius Sister Cities ignored the heat with a joyful picnic in one of Madison's suburban parks. Vitalijus Stonys barbecued delicious saslyka while the public brought a variety of side dishes. Kids and adults alike were entertained with games and dances by Jolanta Juozaityte and Nijole Semenaite Etzwiler. The favorite game for all was Jurgeli Meistreli.Martynas Levickis in Madison July 2010
Although Madison is a bit off the beaten path for Lithuanian performers, we have been lucky to land some wonderful musicians, the latest being the young classical accordion virtuoso, Martynas Levickis. Between concerts in Chicago, Martynas appeared at the University of Wisconsin Mosse Humanities Building, Saturday, July 10, 2010 at a concert commemorating the State Day of Lithuania. Sponsored by CREECA (Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia), BALSSI (Baltic Area Language Studies Summer Institute), Madison Vilnius Sister Cities, Inc., and the Lithuanian Consulate in Chicago, the concert drew its audience from the local Lithuanian community as well as the staff and students of Lithuanian language studying at the BALSSI course...(read more)
MVSC 2010 Annual Banquet
The event exceeded our expectations. Many thanks to the Madison Club and MVSC board of directors.
See more pictures from the banquet here.
MVSC 2010 April "The Lithuanian Connection" published
Gifts from the Sister Cities
Please stop in at the City County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to take a look at the lobby display when you are in downtown Madison - gifts and art collected by the city from its eight sister cities, including Vilnius are on view indefinitely. Included in the Vilnius display shelf are beautiful "marguciai", Easter Eggs created by a.a. Lou Volodka, longtime member of "Zaibas", Lithuanian Dancers of Madison who, sadly, passed away last year.
Žaibas danced at Madison International Festival March 6, 2010
On March 6th, Žaibas celebrated its 20th performance at the annual Madison International Festival, held at the Overture Center. It was especially gratifying to see two of our little girls featured on the posters, banners and brochures advertising the festival. Under the theme of "Baba, Tell me a Story", Žaibas adult dancers performed four dances, including one with the expanded children group, Žaibutis, who also did a dance by themselves. Many of Madison's Lithuanian community congratulated us on the addition of the children group. But the best comment came from the stage manager, who said, as we came up from the dressing rooms to the Capitol Theater, "Your kids are competing with the Chinese for cute."
Videos of the performance can be seen on YouTube at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE-IKuTUYFs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJQd8tsfJw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZeXOtRqQjU
See more pictures from the Žaibas performance at the festival.
Lithuania's Independence Day 2010
Our traditional Lithuanian's Independence Day Celebration took place on February 16. The event, was co-sponsored by UW’s Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA).
Shumi String quartet played in the beginning of the celebration. The repertoire included several pieces by Lithuanian composers and a special arrangement for the hymn made by the director of the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra specifically for this event.
UW Professor Emeritus Alfred E. Senn was main speaker for this event. His presentation entitled “Independent Lithuania” included highlights from his recently published books regarding Lithuania between the wars and the diplomats (with a local connection) living there. To see the pictures from the event click here (A) or here (B).
To commemorate Alfred E. Senn's achievements Madison Major David J. Cieslewicz issued proclamation announcing February 16, 2010 as Alfred Erich Senn Day. See Mayoral Proclamation.
Our first newsletter of 2010 "The Lithuanian Connection" has been published
The Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI) will continue in Madison 2010 June 14 - August 6 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. BALSSI offers intensive Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian language courses. Read more at http://www.creeca.wisc.edu/balssi
Žaibas in Argentina December 2009
A small delegation of Žaibas Lithuanian Dancers made an exciting trip to Argentina, just before Christmas, to participate in South America's Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival. Although an invitation had been extended to all Lithuanian dance groups in North America, Žaibas was the only one to respond and so our dancers were received as very welcome and honored guests. Together with Grandinėlė, a special guest group from Panevežys, Lithuania, our group was wined and dined, entertained and amused, and presented with gifts. Our hosts, the Nemunas Lithuanian Culture and Mutual Aid Society were celebrating their centenary as well as the Millennium of the Name Lithuania, and had presented concerts all throughout the year, culminating in this momentous event. It was held in the city of Berisso, known as The Capital of the Immigrant as it is the home of 19 different ethnic groups. The Festival brought together about 200 dancers. Besides Žaibas and Grandinėlė, there were several groups from Berisso, as well as from Buenos Aires and Uruguay. It was very impressive to see how third and fourth generation Argentineans preserve their Lithuanian heritage. Our dancers, Jolanta Vidugirienė, Elise Etzweiler, Michael Etzwiler, David Etzwiler, and director Nijolė Etzwiler had a wonderful time and came away with very happy memories and lots of Facebook friends.
See pictures from the Festival.
Also watch Movie clips: Clip1 (141 MB); Clip2 (204 MB); Clip3 (52 MB), Clip4 (730 MB), Clip5 (346 MB) and Clip6 (470 MB).
For a better results download files first and then watch.
Kūčios - Christmas Eve 2009
Žaibas and MVSC celebrated an early Christmas Eve with a traditional meal of (way more than) 12 meatless dishes, sharing of plotkelės (Christmas wafers), entertainment by children from babies to teens, a very active Kalėdų Senelis (Santa Claus), and a rousing group rendering of The 12 Days of Christmas. We are grateful to the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ for the use of their facilities, to the board members who worked hard to create such a pleasant day, and to the guests who gathered to celebrate joyfully with us. Click to see more pictures.
Skaitykite Stasės Semienėnės straipsnį "Drauge"-"Savuosius sujungusi šiluma!"
Madison Vilnius Sister Cities, Inc.
and the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania were thrilled November 7th to sponsor a concert by Lithuania’s own Liudas Mockūnas, considered to be one of Europe’s finest jazz saxophonists.
See photo album from Liudas Mockunas visit in Madison.
Read more about Liudas Mockūnas.
MVSC was proud to sponsor Lithuanian visitors to World Dairy Expo 2009!
Visiting this year where four Lithuanian Veterinary Academy graduates:
Dr. Jonas Kutra, DVM, Ph.D., Mr. Virmantas Minkevičius, DVM, Mr. Gintaras Kazakevičius and Mr. Valdas Knatas.
Read more about visitors here.
Visitors from Lithuania attended World Dairy Expo, visited Wisconsin dairy farms and agricultural companies. Had multiple useful business meetings and made new acquaintances.
Four families of Madisonians hosted visitors and had chance to learn more about guests from Lithuania. Our guests toured Wisconsin Capitol and enjoyed exploring Madison city. Moments of their stay at Madison are depicted in this photo album.
"English Books for Vilnius Libraries" project was so successful last couple years that we continuously collecting English books, CDs, DVDs, Journal collections for further shipment to Lithuania.
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We thank all MVSC friends who donated books. If you have books you would like to donate please contact any of the MVSC board members.
We received a Thank you
letter from Antakalnio Library directorRaima Burbiene (in the picture).
In 2008 books were donated to Vilnius Antakalnio library.
In 2007 books were donated to Karoliniškių library.
In 2006 books were donated to Kalvarijų library.
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