Estonia makes gift to the Estonian community of Upper-Suetuk
14.07.2006
12.07.2006
A delegation from the Estonian Embassy in Russia took part on 6 and 7 July in festivities
marking the 105th anniversary of the concert band of the ethnically
Estonian village of Upper-Suetuk, located in the Krasnoyarskkrai in Karatuz region.
Representatives from the embassy conveyed the announcement to the village of a
monetary gift made by the Estonian government.
At the 6 June session, the Government of the Republic of Estonia
approved an application, submitted in conjunction between the Ministry of
Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to allocate 150,000 Estonian
kroons for the purchase of a microbus for the Upper-Suetuk band and school and
to support local life in general.
The Upper-Suetuk band was founded in 1901 and has been conducted for the last
few decades by village elder Ernst Lell. The musicians of the Port of Tallinn
conducted by Heldur Saade also took part in the anniversary concert.
Estonia also donated the
funds for a purchase of woodwind instruments for the band, made by Port of Tallinn band leader Heldur Saade and
Mati Põdra of the Saxon Wind Instrument Players Society.
The embassy delegation was at the event at the behest of the village council
and was received by Vladimir Saar, the chairman of the Karatuz region.
With a population of nearly 300, Upper-Suetuk is the largest village outside Estonia in
which Estonians make up the largest ethnic group. Estonians have lived there
since the 1850s. Since 2000, a member of the Estonian public service has been
working in Upper-Suetuk as a teacher of the Estonian language and culture.
