June 21, 2008 - 1:00 p.m. Jaanipäev/Võidupuha - St. John's Day/Victory Day celebration at Mäeotsa - 32113 Olson Ave. in Mission, B.C. Please follow Lougheed Hwy. to Wren Ave. then northward to Olson Ave. and turn right at Olson Ave. to the end through the gate. The link for the map does not show that Olson Ave. continues eastward off Clay Street where Mäeotsa is located.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl... June 22, 2008 - 6:00 p.m. Surnuaiapüha jumalateenistus. Kell 6 õhtul - Cemetery Service
July 4, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. Estonian Society Friday night Concert at Meie Kodu by the Kiili Early Music Ensemble from Estonia. With soprano Eve Kopli. - Konsert Kiili vanamuusika ansambel koos sopran Eve Kopliga. $15.00 per person.
July 11, 2008 - 7:30 p.m. The Ellerhein Girls Choir from Estonia in concert./Kontsert: Tütarlastekoor "Ellerhein"
August 9, 2008 - Talgud VES - work day
August 16, 2008 - Suvepidu - summer picnic and family day at Mäeotsa
August 28, 2008 - Deadline for submission of material for the next "Postipoiss"/Postipoisi sügis numbri kaastöö tähtpäev
September 26, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. Sing-along evening/VES Lauluõhtu
October 12, 2008 - Orthodox Church Service
October 18, 2008 - Work Party/Talgud
*August 26-30, 2009: West Coast Estonian Days, hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle.
MEIE KODU
For many bypassers this may be just another landmark at 49th and Oak but to the Estonian Community it is the pulse of communal gatherings.
Leafing through a 30th anniversary album of the EELK which covers a period beginning September 24, 1950 when J. Sikkal was the esimees and Laine Viitre was abiesimees, it travels in time to circa 1980 where at the back of the booklet it depicts photographs of its congregational members, exhibiting pages of familiar faces in their younger years still with us and those who have moved away or passed on.
Looking at the above photograph it makes me wonder how many thousands of Estonians holding hands with their children or elderly parents have climbed up and down the steps to attend weddings, confirmations, church services, funerals, annual general meetings, Estonian Independence Days, and other such events, most of which would have been followed by open-faced sandwiches and coffee in the downstairs hall.
Meie Kodu is and has been our community hub and we are drawn here week after week, year after year, decades upon decades like moths to light. As a people forced to abandon our homeland it’s important to have such permanence and continuity. One of Meie Kodu’s best features is its safe central location; for folk-dancers the upper hall’s wooden floor has the right amount of spring in it to protect ankle and knee joints; the Estonian Society library is the cosiest of little rooms; and the small church chapel has an unequalled sense of beauty and intimacy.
Having spent ten years in community activities under this roof, I certainly want to see it kept in tact as long as possible. There are many more memories to create. We need to do everything possible to maintain and hang on to the Estonian Church Foundation as it is the essential glue and the core of our community spirit. Mäeotsa is a luxury to have but Meie Kodu is just what the words convey, Our Home.
©
Eva Vabasalu Popular English first names by rank:
http://www.birthdayalarm.com/S... Meie Kodu Estonian Community Ctr. 6520 Oak St. Vancouver, BC V6P 3Z2 Tel. 604-263-4783
Eesti Kultuuri Ühing Kanadas - EKÜK, Society for the Advancement of Estonian Studies - SAESC, Juta Kitching, Chair Telephone 604-874-1696
Webpage link: EKÜK
Eesti Selts
Estonian Society, Thomas Pajur, Chair
Liikmemaksud/Membership dues:
Family/Perekond $30.00 Single/Üksik $20.00 Pensioner/Pensionär $15.00
Tel. 604-542-0223
VES Library
Visit:
http://www.estonianevents.com/...