Russian Garden Gazette

Many people are concerned about what is happening at the Russian Cultural Garden. As someone who was given the honor, fifteen years ago, of becoming one of the co-founders and the first President of the Russian Cultural Gardens nonprofit organization, I can tell you the most important thing: the story of the Russian Cultural Garden continues. With the help of volunteers and of everyone who values Russian culture and is willing to preserve it.

For the past two years the Russian Cultural Garden has been led by a wonderful team of talented volunteers. Thanks to their energy, their time, and their enthusiasm, many memorable events were organized and many fine ideas became reality. I am sincerely grateful to each of them for that contribution.

Recently this team decided to conclude its work, and handed over to the remaining members of the Board of Directors the records, the projects, and the responsibility for the Garden’s future. It turned out that we held different views of how it should develop, and each of us went on along our own path. This happens in the life of public organizations, and I regard it with sincere respect — though with regret that so radical a decision was taken.

This whole episode has been an excellent lesson, and it set me thinking … about love. A genuine attachment to your Garden does not depend on whether you sit on the Board of Directors or belong to the inner circle of volunteers. It simply remains.

We do not need a reason to love our Garden. You can love it as a volunteer. You can love it by coming to its events. You can love it by simply walking through the Garden now and then, or driving past. You can love it from far away — with a kind word, an idea, a donation, or a project. Love does not disappear and does not grow smaller, wherever we are and in whatever capacity. That, I think, is why I believe that love for your Garden does not end when your term of office does. The Garden remains. Its story continues. And everyone who has once called it their own remains a part of that story forever.

The history of the Russian Cultural Garden became part of the history of Cleveland long ago. It belongs not to one person and not to one generation. It belongs to everyone who over many years has put into this Garden their time, their talent, their labor, their ideas, their resources, and a piece of their soul. To everyone who has considered the Russian Cultural Garden their own.

In just the same way, everyone who has ever helped to create, sustain, and develop the Russian Cultural Garden will remain a part of its history forever. It does not matter when a person came, which projects they took part in, how many years they served, or whether they held a position in the organization at all. Their contribution has already become part of a common cause — and therefore part of the cultural heritage of our city.

Thank you, so very much!

Thank you to every generation of volunteers, to the members of the Boards of Directors of every term, to the patrons, the artists, the guests, the friends, and to everyone who over the years has helped the Russian Cultural Garden become the place that thousands of Cleveland residents and visitors know and love today.

It is a great honor for me to be part of this story — together with everyone who created it yesterday, creates it today, and will create it tomorrow.

The story of our Garden continues. With the help of volunteers and of everyone who values Russian culture and is willing to preserve it. And that, I think, is what matters most.

Svetlana Stolyarova Co-founder of the Russian Cultural Garden and first President of the Russian Cultural Gardens nonprofit organization Approved by the Founders and the Board of the Russian Cultural Gardens non-profit organization