Mark your calendars for upcoming events, plus update on Žaibas dance practices.

September 6 - annual MVSC picnic. Our vice president Živilė Kudzin is the lead organizer for the event. I appreciate her putting effort to think through a lots of details to make sure all of us will have fun. Put the date on your calendar and plan to attend. It is a casual event where we gather for a good company and potluck food. Bring a dish to pass. No special theme, but you can think about salad, finger food, or “buterbrodai” (Lithuanian style open face sandwiches) and “tinginys” (lazybones, traditional Lithuanian dessert).

It is still far out, but we will monitor the skies and will update you in case the weather doesn’t cooperate with us.

SAVE THE DATE - October 7 - Narbutas presentation. Narbutas is a well known Lithuanian office furniture company. The main factory is in Ukmerge. Read a short letter from the founder Petras Narbutas how it all started. To get a taste of what kind of furniture they make, feel free to browse their youtube channel here.

More details and invitations coming soon. This will be an RSVP event.

Žaibas, our Lithuanian dance group, is planning to start practices in the fall. Decisions about specific rehearsals will come at a future date, but will likely continue on Sunday afternoons, though the weekly regularity and schedule is TBD. The goal is to participate in Šokių Šventė, the Lithuanian Dance Festival, in Chicago next July 10-12, 2026.

If you are thinking “maybe I should join this year”, I highly encourage to join us. Practices are fun, great way to exercise, the dance group is very friendly and encouraging community. We are not competitive or professional dancers, we come here because of a community. Instead of scrolling social media on your phone, come spend some time with a good group of people (and improve your polka skills). Trust me, being on a dance floor with several thousand other Lithuanian dancers is a feeling worth those practices!

If you would like to dance, please contact Asta Šepetys astasep@charter.net.

Here is the official Šventė promo YouTube video (in Lithuanian):

Letter from the president

Labas,

I hope everyone’s gardens outside or flowers on windowsills are growing and blooming. Summer is here. While Madison Vilnius Sister Cities board does not actively meet during the summer months, I am writing to introduce myself and share some upcoming ways to get involved.

My name is Milda and I am the president of the MVSC. Daina Juozevicius gracefully led us for so many years and she has a full right to step down from the most active role. Thank you, Daina, and we will see you around.

I have called Madison my home since 2004 when I took my first full time job and moved here from Chicago. I was born in Kaunas, Lithuania and now have spent more years in the States than in Lithuania. During the 2023-24 academic year, I had a Fulbright award and I moved the whole family to Vilnius. Spending one year in Lithuania and participating in all activities (work, school, family, holidays, travel, opening bank accounts) was an extraordinary experience.

I became a fan of Vilnius and even a bigger fan of Madison Vilnius Sister Cities. With all the geopolitical events, promotion of peace through knowing one individual, one community at a time is an extraordinary diplomacy tool available in our hands. As I met with the Board Members in May and discussed ideas for our organization, one theme clearly stood out. Lithuania and Vilnius need to be known, known as a modern country with the fastest internet service, country with a growing economy, a city with beautiful architecture, a city that recycles, a city with well working trolleybus and bus systems. Madison, Wisconsin can also be better known in Lithuania. People say thank you when they step out of a bus, neighbors are friendly, summer theater under the sky (American Players Theater), flagship university, teaching hospital, biotech industry. Whatever makes you tik about Vilnius or Madison, please share it and join our organization. Our communities need to known, one individual at a time. MVSC has been around for close to 40 years and its mission is very relevant to each of us today.

Milda

The Board of Directors

We had the first meeting after the annual banquet and election of the Board of Directors. The Board elected Milda Aksamitauskas as President, Živilė Kudzin as Vice President, Margarita Swissler as Secretary and Ray Bandziulis as Treasurer.

Activities

Contact information. We are restarting a regular delivery of newsletters but we need your help to make sure our materials reach your email inbox. It is important for us to have your updated contact information: name, address, email address and phone number. We will use email to send you newsletters and we want to be sure we have the current email address that you use. Home address and phone numbers are to assure us we know who our members are and we have a way to connect with you if we have specific questions/needs.

By-laws review. MVSC bylaws were written many years ago and kept our organization going strong. This summer and fall there will be a small workgroup reviewing the language and updating of our processes. Like any operating system, it needs a clean up and update.

Youth committee. MVSC is creating a youth committee to engage and grow our next generation of leaders. We are looking for members (highschool or in their 20s) who like Lithuanian chocolate, biking, swimming, hiking, dancing, writing…. We want to hear from young people on what is a fun way to connect with other young MVSC members. Maybe a blind tasting competition of Tinginys? Watching a movie together?

Vilnius committee. MVSC is creating a Vilnius committee to engage residents of Vilnius and Vilnius city administrators.

Fall picnic. Make sure you have marked your calendars for Sep 6, 2025. That is this year’s MVSC picnic date. More details will be shared later.

Narbutas. Narbutas furniture company is well known in Lithuania and has a growing market in the US. They have showrooms in New York and Chicago. In early October, Narbutas will visit Madison. Stay tuned for the invitation to attend the event.

Your action

Fill out Membership Brief Survey. We have shared a lot of information and would like to get some feedback from each of you. If you read the newsletter up to this point, please respond to a really short survey.

Membership survey