Florida Estos

THE ESTONIAN SOCIETY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA (KESK FLORIDA EESTI SELTS CELEBRATED THE 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF ESTONIAN INDEPENDENCE

Luncheon Celebration
97th Anniversary of Estonian Independence
Eesti Vabariigi Aastapäev
Saturday, February 21, 2015
11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Countryside Country Club
3001 Countryside Blvd
Clearwater, FL 33761
Telephone: (727) 796-2153
Lunch: $35 per person

More than 70 members and friends of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) gathered for its annual luncheon celebration of Estonian Independence Day (Eesti Vabariigi Aastapäev) on Saturday, February 21, 2015, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the Countryside Country Club in Clearwater, Florida. A special musical program was offered and the ever-popular loterii returned.

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For information about the Kesk Florida Eesti Selts, please contact:
Mr. Rein Raja at (727) 866-2614, raja77@verizon.net
or
Ms. Maare Kuuskvere at (941) 795-6835, jaank@verizon.net

The members of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) kicked off the new year with our regular luncheon meeting on Sunday, January 4, 2015, from 2:00-4:00 pm, at The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge, 540 1st St SE, St. Petersburg, Florida; telephone: 727-823-7767. Dessert included a special treat: a birthday cake for Simona Andreas. Simona is a best friend of Eckerd College’s Estonian student Trine Kasemägi. Simona is a first-year student at Wheaton College (Illinois), and it seems she is their first Estonian student ever. Simona escaped Chicago’s cold winter mid-December to mid-January by celebrating her Christmas vacation and birthday with Trine here in St. Petersburg, Florida. Lisa Mets and Erkki Taada and Maare and Jaan Kuuskvere enjoyed hosting Trine and Simona over the extended holiday period with local activities and holiday meals, and Kesk Florida Eesti Selts was especially delighted the two chose to participate in today’s luncheon.

A little over a dozen members of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) gathered together for our annual verivorst-making party at the home of Maare and Jaan Kuuskvere in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday, December 13, 2014. Members brought their own “sisu” made from their own secret recipes while the intestines and blood were provided by our hosts. This year saw a mix of old and new technology when Triin and Edward Karr introduced Edward’s grandfather’s metal sausage maker. All of us remembered seeing that meat grinder/sausage maker in our homes when we were growing up; where are they now?! Though we know others stuff their sausages with the assistance of electric mixers, we’re still making hand-crafted sausages. Yum! Many thanks to the Kuuskveres for hosting us so generously in their home. Here’s to a delicious Christmas celebration for all!

Have you been good this year? Jõuluvana knows who’s been naughty and nice! Nearly 30 members of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) gathered for our annual Christmas celebration on Saturday, December 6, 2014, at the Magnuson Hotel at Marina Cove (6800 Sunshine Skyway Lane, St. Petersburg, FL; telephone: 727-867-1151). Jõuluvana (Santa) and his very musically talented Päkapikk led us in merriment. Members came prepared with songs and poems to earn their gifts. In the end, it turned out everyone was on Santa’s “nice” list and all guests went home with a holiday gift.

This annual Christmas celebration once again was organized by Maare Kuuskvere and Lisa Mets. Key contributors and collaborators were Triin Karr, Rein Raja, Kaie Põhi Latterner and Erkki Taada.

KFES wishes all happy holidays!

Thirty members and friends of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) commemorated the 70th Anniversary of the Baltic Exodus at 2:00 pm, on Sunday, November 16, 2014, in the Sand Room at the Magnuson Hotel-Marina Cove, 6800 Sunshine Skyway Lane, St Petersburg, FL 33711.  Ms. Elin Toona Gottschalk, author of Into Exile: A Life Story of War and Peace, was the invited speaker. Mr. Al Karnavicius, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania, offered greetings on behalf of the Lithuanian community.

Listed by The Economist magazine as one of the best books of 2013, Into Exile is the story of thousands of Baltic refugees who were lucky enough to escape the advancing Russian tanks in September 1944. “It is about what happens when the Russians come into free countries under the guise of ‘liberators.'”-Author

The Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) helds its annual meeting at 1:30 pm, on Sunday, November 16, 2014, in the Sand Room, at the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove, St. Petersburg, Florida. Nearly 30 members attended the meeting. The assembly elected Mr. Jaan Kuuskvere to conduct the meeting. Materials for the meeting had been emailed to the membership in advance. The Minutes of the 2013-14 Annual Meeting were approved. The Treasurer’s Report for 2013-14 was approved. The proposed budget for 2014-15 was approved. The following were elected 2014-15 officers: Kersti Linask (President), Triin Karr (Vice President), Lisa A. Mets (Vice President), Maare Kuuskvere (Secretary), Rein Raja (Treasurer), and Marju Cabrera (Member-at-Large). The following were elected 2014-15 auditors: Jaan Kuuskvere, Erkki Taada and Tõnu Toomepuu. Annual dues will remain at $15 per person.

Our summer hiatus is over and members and friends of the Estonian Society of Central Florida gathered again on Sunday, October 5, 2014, to kick off a new year of activities by sharing stories of how they spent their summer vacations and to begin planning activities for the 2014-15 season. On this special day, Jüri Toomepuu offered remarks on porikuu (see below). Thank you, Jüri!

Kesk-Florida eestlaste porikuu koosolek

Kesk-Florida eestlaste esimene 2014. aasta koosolek pärast suvepausi toimus eestlastele tuttavas Albert Whitted lennuvälja Hangar restoranis oktoobrikuu esimesel pühapäeval.

Meenutades meie esivanemate traditsioone, selgitas Jüri Toomepuu kohalolijatele, et maarahval ja maausulistel on kätte jõudnud hoopis 12,227-da aasta porikuu. Porikuu oli meie esivanematel rahunemise, vaibumise ja hämardumise aeg. Päikest ja ilmavalgust jääb Eestis järjest vähemaks, seetõttu on porikuu Eestis sügise nägu ja tegu. Mets muutub tasapisi kuldseks ning seejärel läheb raagu ja jääb vaikseks. Lehed varisevad, loodus läheb kulukarva, sajab palju vihma, maa muutub poriseks, tulevad hallad.

Rändlinnud on porikuu lõpuks lennanud soojale maale. Õhtud ja hommikudki on tihtipeale udusse mattunud. Udus ja pimeduses meeldib hingedele Toonela jõgi ületada ja elavate hulgas ringi uidata. Seetõttu kutsutakse porikuud ka hingede ajaks ehk hingede kuuks. Porikuul peeti pidulikult hingede päevi, mil meenutati manalasse lahkunuid.

Meie hõimud, soomlased, kutsuvad seda logakuu. Loga tõlgitult ongi pori.

Vanarahvas Pilistveres arvas, et porikuu laps on hästi kraps ja Räpina rahvas teadis, et kui porikuul veel müristab, siis võib pikka ja sooja sügist loota.

Võib arvata, et porikuu oli inspiratsiooniks ka laulule mida sai tudengipõlves õllelaua ääres õnnetu armastuse lohutuseks lauldud. Laul algas sõnadega: „Tuli sügis, tuli sopp ja pori, ühes sügisega tulid sa, sellest saadik olen ma su ori, nüüd sa läinud, ei sind leina ma!“ Paljudele Floridas oma eluaseme leidnutele ei jää kahjuks muud üle, kui leinata hingedekuul kaduma läinud noorust.

Floridas saavad eestlased aga lohutada ennast sellega, et ilmad on porikuul ideaalsed. Päikesest, nagu Floridas ikka, puudust ei ole, aga see ei kõrveta enam nii palavalt nagu suvekuudel.

For information about the Kesk Florida Eesti Selts, please contact:
Mr. Rein Raja at (727) 866-2614, raja77@verizon.net
or
Ms. Maare Kuuskvere at (941) 795-6835, jaank@verizon.net

The Lithuanian American Club in St. Petersburg, Florida, organized a wonderful luncheon to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Baltic Chain. Invited speakers included Lisa A. Mets, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia; Irene Ezerins, a representative of the local Latvian community; and Algimantas Karnavicius, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania.

Spring ushers in birthdays of a number of members of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts). At its regular monthly meeting on Sunday, April 6, 2014, members punctuated their luncheon meeting with a birthday cake in honor of the celebrants. The luncheon program featured KFES member Jüri Toomepuu, who discussed his book recently released in Estonia: “Eesti lähiajaloo kolm põhiprobleemi, kolmkümmend kolm lahendust”. Congratulations, Jüri!

The Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) is now on summer hiatus. Due to early travel schedules, the May picnic has been canceled. We look forward to gathering together again on Sunday, October 5, 2014. Happy summer and safe travels to all!

Members of the Estonian Society of Central Florida (Kesk Florida Eesti Selts) celebrated a special week from March 12 to 17, 2014, with Estonian musician/writer/tv personality/talk show host and now playwright Mihkel Raud who was in St. Petersburg, Florida, for the international premiere of his play American Monkey.

Members of the local Estonian community rolled out their own version of a red carpet to welcome Mihkel and Liina Raud and daughter Mirjam to the community. A dinner party was hosted by Estonian Honorary Consul Lisa Mets and her husband Erkki Taada the evening the Rauds arrived. On Thursday, Mihkel Raud was a distinguished guest speaker in the Introduction to Acting Class taught by Professor Antonia Krueger at Eckerd College. On Saturday, following a “talk-back” at the theatre, an opening night after-party was hosted by Tõnu Toomepuu, President of the Estonian Society of Central Florida, and his wife Robin, at their home.

On Saturday night, March 15, 2014, Mihkel Raud’s “American Monkey” opened to a sold-out theatre. Mihkel Raud beamed with joy to see the production rewarded by the audience with a standing ovation. The play received support from the Estonian Ministry of Culture through its program “Estonian Culture in the World.”

Reality television in all its varieties seems fueled by the viewing audience’s thirst for acts of humiliation. When will it stop? Likely not until we take our eyes off the screen and take time to examine ourselves. “American Monkey” forces us to do just that. In 90 minutes in the theatre. For the rest of the night at home.

“American Monkey” turns the table on the usual scheme in reality television talent shows, characterized in this play as a modern version of Rome’s Colosseum. The play begins innocently enough like any other TV talent show but soon contestant Fred takes charge. It turns out he has a more personal motive in mind when he comes to his audition. He isn’t there to convince the judges to advance him to the next round; he’s there to get even. In any other play, the audience would serve as passive spectators to the scenes; in this play, we can’t watch without becoming drawn in ourselves. This is a dark comedy; we feel uncomfortable; we’re grateful for moments that give us permission to laugh. We’re complicit in the horror; in fact, we’re given a chance to vote. The moral dilemmas we watch the characters face are ones we should be facing ourselves.

The freeFall Theatre is known for taking risks and producing edgy plays and this is its first international premiere. Fabulously talented actors Patrick Ryan Sullivan, Stefanie Clouse and John Lombardi were archetypical judges completely convincing in their roles. Chris Jackson as Fred earned a well deserved ovation.

The theatre’s award-winning director Eric Davis learned about the play from Broadway producer Sharon Carr and decided to bring the play to this highly respected playhouse in Florida. Industry readings of the play were held in September 2013 at New York City’s Primary Stages Rehearsal Space. Rewrites continued in St. Petersburg with contributions by director Eric Davis and playwright Natalie Symons.

After the play closes in St. Petersburg, what’s next? I would love to see this play picked up by college theatre programs around the country—places with auditoriums where audiences cross generations.

A preview of the play was published March 10, 2014 and a review was published March 17, 2014, in the Tampa Bay Times by performing arts critic Stephanie Hayes (tampabay.com).

The freeFall Theatre, located at 6099 Central Avenue, in St. Petersburg, Florida, is staging Mihkel Raud’s American Monkey from March 14 to March 30, 2014. For the run of the show we have arranged discounted ticket sales. To purchase tickets, please call freeFall Theatre at 727.498.5205 and let them know you are part of the “Estonia” group.