Welcome to Madison-Vilnius Sister Cities page!

The event will take place in Great Hall of the Memorial Union on Langdon and Park in Madison, with a banquet and program beginning at 2 p.m.
Details and reservation information will come closer to the date.

To make a great week-end of this occasion,
come to the Overture Center, on the day before the banquet, Saturday March 3rd, to watch Zaibas and Zaibutis perform at the Madison International Festival. Time t.b.a.

Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested,
especially past members of Zaibas and companions of the Chiba trip.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Nijole [netz@g2a.net] 608-356-6549.

Lithuanian Christmas - Kucios where celebrated December 10, 2011.

Madison Lithuanians, led by Zaibas and MVSC, celebrated an early Lithuanian Kucios (Christmas Eve), Dec. 10. Last year we had to fight a blizzard during the event but this time the weather was clear and dry, and guests traveled safely from Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and several towns outside of the Madison area. Since we don’t have our own facilities, we appreciated the use of Lake Edge Lutheran Church off Monona Drive. To make it more Lithuanian we added our own Eglute, Christmas tree, covered with real straw ornaments made by Debbie Kmetz. Everyone enjoyed the delicious Kucios food, all meatless – fish, shrimp, potato salads and pancakes, mushrooms, herring, veggies, not to mention a whole table of delicious desserts. And in Lithuanian tradition Plotkeles, Christmas wafers, were shared as we greeted each other with “Linksmu Kaledu”. The kids always look forward to seeing Kaledu Senelis, Santa Claus, and he did not disappoint them, leading them in games and songs to make them feel at ease. After that it was easy for them to perform for him and the audience of proud parents. From 11 month old Ruduo to 15 year old Ziema, the kids showed themselves brilliant in singing, playing music, presenting poetry, and telling jokes. (A special thanks to Julius Andrusis who helped Santa appear, and to Deidre Vinceveneus who aided the elf, Nikstukas.) To round off the entertainment, Jolanta Juozaityte led both children and adults in a fun variation of The 12 Days of Christmas, e.g. “six Sabonis shooting”, “10 Zaibas dancers”.

See pictures from the 2011 Kucios party. Or Nijole's article in "Draugas".

Madison lietuviai, kartu su “Zaibo” sokejais ir Madison Vilnius Sister Cities, Inc., nariais sias metais svente Kucias anksciau - gruodzio 10 diena. Praeitais metais atvykstantiems reikejo kovoti su stipria puga, bet si syki oras buvo puikus. Sveciai atvaziavo saugiai is Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, ir miesteliu esanciu 10-50 myliu nuo Madison.
Gaila neturim lietuviskos patalpos, bet mus draugiskai priima Astos Sepetytes baznycia, Lake Edge Lutheran Church. Visi sunese skanius Kuciu valgius, pasidalinom plotkelemis, turejom eglute ir smagiai praleidom laika. Valdybos nare Jolanta Juozaityte organizavo juokinga dainavima “12 Kaledu Dienos”, ir vaikuciai nuo 11 men. iki 15 metu graziai pasirode Kaledu Seneliui. O gudrus Kaledu Senelis (Julius Andriusis), juos pirma pakviete zaisti ir sokti su juo, kad jie jaustusi laisviai ir nebijotu pasidalyti savo talentais. Po smagiai pralesitu poros valandu buvo sunku issiskirstyti namu.
Dabar laukiam sekantcio lietuviu susiburimo, vasario 16-tosios proga.

Zaibutis , the youth offshoot to Zaibas Lithuanian Dancers, is participating in the Sauk County Historical Society's Victorian Christmas celebration - 12 Days of Christmas- with a tree decorated in Lithuanian manner. Our tree, 9 Ladies Dancing, is covered with beautiful white straw ornaments made by the girls and their parents, and includes a photo ball of
each dancer in Lithuanian costume. The display continues until Jan.7, at the Sauk county Historical Museum, 531 4th Ave., Baraboo, Wed-Sat, 12-4:00. Although we are biased towards our beautiful Lithuanian tree, we have to admit the other 11 trees are spectacular, and worth the trip to Baraboo.

Zaibutis - yra vaiku sokiu grupe, kurioje soka 10 mergaiciu.
Siemet Zaibutis dalyvauja Sauk Apylinkes Istorijos Draugijos Viktorijos laiku 12-os Dienu Kaledu festivalyje.
Festivaliui Zaibutis papuose Kaledine eglute. Eglute papuosta siaudinukais, kuriuos ismoko daryti Zaibucio sokejos ir ju tevai, beveik visi amerikonai. Be siaudinuku, eglute papuosta ir foto burbulais pavaizduojanciais kiekviena sokeja apsirengusia tautiniais rubais.
Kaledinis Festivalis tesis iki sausio 7 d. Zaibucio papuosta eglute galima pamatyti nuo treciadienio iki sestadienio, 12-14 valandom Sauk Apylinkes Istorijos Draugijos patalpose - 531 4th Ave., Baraboo.
Musu eglute yra labai grazi, bet reikia pripazinti kad kitos 11-lika egluciu yra nepaprastai ispudingos. Verta atvaziuoti i Baraboo.

3rd Annual MVSC Summer Picnic, 2011

On Saturday, Aug. 6, many of our dear members and friends from near and far gathered at McGaw Park in Fitchburg to continue the MVSC picnic tradition begun by board member, Jolanta Juozaityte. As in the past, Jolanta tirelessly organized the event venue, logistics, food, and games for both children and adults alike. Hats off to you, Jolanta!

In addition to the wonderful dishes that everyone brought to share, a great shish kebab (saslykai) was served (special thanks to MVSC President Milda Aksamitauskas, and brave chef James Kudzin for how well they turned out!)

For shade, we were lucky to have the park shelter reserved and for relief from the heat, water sprinklers were set up on the lawn for the children to play in – children of all ages, that is. Sports events included volleyball and tossing around footballs and soccer balls; Jolanta taught the picnic goers some exciting and funny games; some “Zaibas” and other dancers got the crowd involved and on their feet for a few Lithuanian folk dances.
It was a beautiful day to spend a few hours with old and new friends, and to share great food and company of 55 people. We hope to see many more of you next year!
The next day, Sunday, MVSC board member Gediminas Vidugiris organized a canoe/kayak trip, which began at “Rutabaga” in Monona. About 12 adventurous people took part in enjoying another great summer day, this time on Lake Monona. Rumor has it, some participants unwittingly spent time in Lake Monona.
Next summer, maybe we’ll find a mountain to climb!

Please see more pictures from the picnic here.

The Annual MVSC Banquet for 2011 was held May 21 at the Madison Club.

The food, a Lithuanian-inspired menu that included wild mushroom soup, pork loin, and napoleon torte, was delicious. The view overlooking Monona Terrace, was very pleasing. And the program, a talk by guest speaker, Prof. Alfred Senn was not only educational but very entertaining. Prof. Senn spoke on the "Passions of Lithuanian Basketball", with interesting details of his own involvement in transactions of notable Lithuanian basketball players with NBA teams.Read Prof. Alfred Senn talk " The Passions of Lithuanian Basketball" here.

MVSC President and hostess, Milda Aksamitauskiene, also amused the audience with witty remarks and a raffle in which she was aided by Ditas Adomenas and Michael Etzwiler. On a more serious note, Pres. Milda introduced an audio recording by the US Ambassador to Lithuania, Ann Derse, who was to be the guest speaker but had to cancel due to a medical emergency at the Embassy. The recording, of exceptional technical quality, explained the US relationship with Lithuania and included news of several new projects, including an expanded high school student exchange program.See US Ambassador to Lithuania Ann Derse letter to MVSC.

Most enjoyable was the audience itself. Guests included not only long-time MVSC members but younger Lithuanians living in the area, which now stretches to Milwaukee, as well as visitors from Chicago, and several new members. Only in German can we express the full feeling of the evening: it was very gemutlicht.
See 2011 Banquet Pictures.

Zaibas danced at Madison International Festival, March 5th, 2011.

Zaibas Lithuanian Dancers and Zaibutis Lithuanian Young Dancers performed at the Madison International Festival, at the Overture Center March 5th, 2011.

Lithuania Independence Day Celebration February 17th, 2011.

Madison Lithuanians celebrated Vasario-16, Lithuanian Independence Day, on 2 occasions. On Feb 16 itself, the Zaibutis Young Lithuanian Dancers held their own celebration with Lithuanian dances,food and games. They also had their faces decorated with yellow, green and red flags and flowers.

The next day, MVSC held a commemoration featuring guest speaker Nancy Heingartner,granddaughter of the U.S. Consul to Kaunas 1926-1928, Robert Heingartner.

Nancy and her father visited Kaunas in September, following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. They used as their guide the diary he kept during those years, which has recently been edited and published by Prof. Al Senn. The book is a remarkable window on the diplomatic society of that time, and Nancy read from it as she showed photographs of people the consul knew, as well as buildings then and now.

In addition to serving as Outreach Coordinator for CREECA, Nancy administers UW - Madison’s Baltic Studies Summer Institute, BALSSI.

For those interested in reading Consul Robert Heingartner’s fascinating diary, you can find the book on Amazon.com and other online book sellers:

"Lithuania In The 1920s: A Diplomat's Diary" by Robert W. Heingartner, Alfred Erich Senn (Editor); Publisher: Rodopi (Nov 2009).

MVSC and Zaibas 2010 Lithuanian Christmas-Kucios.

The weather forecast was frightening – blizzard conditions, freezing rain, and up to 20” of snow expected, but Wisconsin Lithuanians took advantage of a short window of clear skies and clean streets and met to celebrate an early Kucios. The event, sponsored annually by Madison Vilnius Sister Cities, Inc. and Zaibas Lithuanian Dancers, is always a happy occasion for Lithuanians in the Madison area. This year, despite the weather, they were joined by families from Chicago and Milwaukee, many of them connected with Milwaukee’s Nauja Karta (New Generation) Lithuanian School. One of the Milwaukee fathers, Julius Andriusis, played the most important role of the party -Kaledu Senelis- Santa Claus. With the help of MVSC board director Deidre Vincevineus as Santa’s elf– he invited all the children present to play games with him and to perform for him.
Delicious food, good company and laughing children -it was a very enjoyable afternoon, followed unfortunately by a snowstorm so strong that the trip home for many was a scary ordeal. But we survived to do it all over again next year.

Lithuanian school “New Generation” opens in Milwaukee

http://www.naujakarta.com

On Sept. 25, 2010 the first Lithuanian school in Wisconsin opened its doors in Milwaukee. A large crowd of Lithuanians interested in Lithuanian language, culture and history met at the school. For this year, the school has registered 12 children and 9 adults, all wanting to study Lithuanian language, literature, music, song, and dance. Read more.

"Draugas" article.

Underwater Archaeology in Lithuania - Matt Carter presentation.

On September 9, 2010 members of MVSC joined WI historical society and Madison public attending Matt Carter presentation “Archaeology in the Waters of the World: A Hands-on Perspective on International Underwater Archaeology”.
Part of the presentation was dedicated and to Matt's work in the Moletai Region of Lithuania, helping to excavate an ancient village from the bottom of Lake Luokesas.

MVSC Annual Summer 2010 Picnic

Madison Vilnius Sister Cities ignored the heat with a joyful picnic in one of Madison's suburban parks. Vitalijus Stonys barbecued delicious saslyka while the public brought a variety of side dishes. Kids and adults alike were entertained with games and dances by Jolanta Juozaityte and Nijole Semenaite Etzwiler. The favorite game for all was Jurgeli Meistreli.

Martynas Levickis in Madison July 2010

Although Madison is a bit off the beaten path for Lithuanian performers, we have been lucky to land some wonderful musicians, the latest being the young classical accordion virtuoso, Martynas Levickis. Between concerts in Chicago, Martynas appeared at the University of Wisconsin Mosse Humanities Building, Saturday, July 10, 2010 at a concert commemorating the State Day of Lithuania. Sponsored by CREECA (Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia), BALSSI (Baltic Area Language Studies Summer Institute), Madison Vilnius Sister Cities, Inc., and the Lithuanian Consulate in Chicago, the concert drew its audience from the local Lithuanian community as well as the staff and students of Lithuanian language studying at the BALSSI course...(read more)

Read Bio of Martynas Levickis

Martynas Levickis web site: www.levickis.com

MVSC 2010 Annual Banquet

The event exceeded our expectations. Many thanks to the Madison Club and MVSC board of directors.