2000

January 14, 2000. Old Russian New Year’s Celebration.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko was our featured guest.

January 16, 2000. Poetry Reading by Yevtushenko at the Palladium Theater:
“From Pushkin to Yevtushenko”

In the spring of 2000, Russian Heritage helped sponsor the celebration for Peter Demens, the Russian aristocrat who came to America in 1881, and founded and named our city St. Petersburg. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Peter Demens on May 1, 1850.
1. Russian Heritage put up a new historical marker in Demens Landing, explaining the significance of Demens’ contribution to the city. We received approval from Mayor David Fischer, the City Council, and the Florida State authorities, and the marker was installed and dedicated on May 1, 2000.
2. A major Demens Symposium was jointly sponsored by Russian Heritage and Eckerd College on May 1, 2000. Taking part in this program were three generations of Demens’ descendants: Peter Demens Tolstoy from California, and Gene and Greg Demens from British Columbia. Two scholars from Russia contributed: Professor Igor Bogachek from St. Petersburg, and Inna Povedskaya, the curator of the Demens Exhibition in Tver. Finally, there were presentations by local scholars: Professor Ray Arsenault, Bill McKee, Bill Parsons, and Anatole Sokolsky.
3. Russian Heritage raised $5,000 (with the help of a matching grant from John Galbraith) to support an exhibition in Russia on Demens: “From Vesegonsk to Florida”. It first appeared in Tver, and later traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, and Vesegonsk in the Tver region, where Demens once lived.
4. A local exhibit on Demens, “The People and Places of Demens” was featured at the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

March 14, 2000. Russian Pot-luck, Songfest, and Game Night.

April 11, 2000. Annual Meeting and Election of Officers. The Year in Review.

This was also the year we were recognized as an official “non-profit” organization by the IRS and the US Post Office.