Spring is Here!

Happy New Year!             Happy Spring!

IMANTA is 65! It was founded on March 4, 1947 by Viola Baker, Konrads Dobele, Alfreds Janitens, John Jones and Juris Toms, and was registered as a society on March 8th of that year. Its goal of connecting and helping Latvians in Edmonton has been true all these years. We are the oldest, still-active Latvian organisation in Canada, thanks to the enthusiasm, dedication and efforts of all members, volunteers, friends and Board members, past and present. We are planning to celebrate this anniversary in November. Congratulations to founding member Viola Baker, who celebrated a wonderful 90th birthday in February.

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, March 31st, at 3pm at the Lithuanian Hall at  11629 83 Street. We have a selection of Latvian movies on loan from the Latvian Embassy and will show one after the meeting while refreshments are served. After our November event, there were many positive comments about using this Hall.

Please remember that seniors can phone Yellow Cab and use taxi vouchers for transportation to meetings, doctors’ appointments or any other event. Our transportation program is well-used and we are able to offer it through our casino funding. If you need vouchers, please phone Ena at 780-468-2728 .

During the cold days of the international Ice on Whyte Festival in January, some of our members met Sandis Kondrats, a participating ice-sculptor from Latvia. From Edmonton Sandis travelled to Lake Louise to take part in the next ice-sculpture festival. His amazing work can be seen at http://www.sand-is.com and http://www.sandissue.com

Fun fact: In their February report, TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) listed Riga as number 2 of the top 15 new destinations to explore.

Imanta has supported several local organizations over the years. We review donation requests twice a year, in May and in November. If you are involved with a non-profit group,  please contact us at imantaedmonton@gmail.com for an application form.

 The Lithuanian community needs volunteers to help with their next Casino in early July 2012. As we support their casino, they also help by working at our casino and it’s a good way to get to know your cultural neighbours. Please consider signing up for one shift and contact Jim McDonald at jrmcdonald@gmail.com

We were saddened by the passing of  Antons (Tony) Sondors in January 2012. His family is in Latvia and he is mourned by friends here.

 Looking ahead:

• Next Latvian church service in Calgary at 1pm on April 15th at St. Edmund’s Anglican Church, 8340  34 Ave NW, with Rev. Rasma Caune from Hamilton, followed by social afternoon.
• Ligo in June, details to be announced
• Latvian Song Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 4-8, 2012. For info visit www.latviansongfest2012.com
•  A big thank you to our online contributors! Remember to follow us on Facebook or at http://www.imanta.ca

Other links:
www.latviansonline.com
www.lnak.org