How Estonians fooled the occupying Soviets

The Estonian Cultural Garden was dedicated June 19, 1966. Each year, the Estonian community and friends gather to celebrate Estonian Victory Day (Võidupüha) and St John's Day (Jaanipäev).

Toomas Tubalkain served as MC and introduced speakers including Lithuanian Honorary Consul Ingrida Bublys, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Estonian Garden delegate Erika Puussaar.

Erika Puussaar and Toomas Tubalkain

Estonian Garden Group

Estonian Garden Monument

Here’s how they fooled the occupying Soviets. (from our Ambassador Toomas Tubalkain).

Victory Day is the day Estonia won its final battle in the war of independence on June 21, 1919.  St. John's Day is always celebrated as midsummer on June 24th.  Victory Day and midsummer are linked through history.  But during the Soviet occupation, Victory Day was banned, but midsummer (a pagan holiday) was allowed.  Estonians decided to celebrate the two together, without informing anyone that Victory Day was being combined with midsummer celebrations.  

See the Estonian Victory Day celebration

Estonian community on passing of Sen. George Voinovich

Erika Puussaar, a Director of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation and delegate to the Estonian Garden, told how grateful the people of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were to Senator George Voinovich for his work to get the Baltics into NATO.

http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/estonian/estonian.htm and http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/latvian/latvian.htm and http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/lithuanian/lithuanian.htm

Bliny contest at Cleveland Russian Maslenitsa

The Russian Cultural Garden, part of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, hosted their 2nd annual Maslenitsa celebration.  The 2016 event was at the Rockefeller Greenhouse indoors because of the weather.

 This is the best bliny (crepe) contest with judges Ken Kovach, Sheila Crawford, Debbie Hanson, Erika Puussaar and Bob Rotatori. http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/russian/russian.htm

Russian community in Cleveland