On Monday, January 2, 1933, in the hall of the Russian-American Citizens Club, the concert and ball of the Russian Humboldt Park School was held. It is necessary to know that this school was organized only a few months ago, but as a result of the energetic efforts of the organizers of this school, its chairman, A.F. Bernov, and others, and also because of the earnest work of P.V. Swatikova, an experienced and energetic teacher, the school is solidly established, and, considering the short period of time, has produced excellent results. The children who before this could not converse with their parents in their native tongue, can at present read, write, and even give declamations in Russian. When the children recited their declamations, the happiness of their parents was evident. The parents could hardly believe that in such a short 2time their children could learn to read, write and recite in Russian. But it is a known fact that it is much easier to teach children than adults; they need only a good and energetic teacher and the Humboldt Park School has one in the person of P. V. Swatikova.

Now, a few words concerning the evening and the concert program of this school. The day that was selected for the concert was not a fortunate choice because it was the second day of the New Year, but nevertheless, because of the particular sympathies and great interest in the school, many of the public attended and the concert met with great spiritual and financial success.

The program of the evening consisted of two parts: in the first part the school children appeared with their declamations; the second part consisted of musical numbers. The whole program was performed entirely by children with the exception of the choir under the direction 3of V.V. Shumkov, which was also formed entirely from the youth.

In the declamations the following children appeared:

Boria Bernova............."The School"

Eugenia Bernova............."The Swallow"

G. Dubenets............."The Field"

E. Dubenets............."The Little Orphan"

Ivan Kozak............."The Morning"

A. Rybak............."Sliding Down Ice-hills"

4

Dan Chepelevich............."The Fir Tree"

Sophie Shapel............."In The School"

V. Shepelevich............."The Cloud"

Stephen Shuran............."The Winter"

V. Shuran............."The Beggar"

E. Blunevich............."The Bells"

All the children held themselves erect on the stage, and recited fairly well, and some of them very well, True some of them spoke with an accent. To correct this flaw, P.V. Swatikova must work a great deal.

5

If we take into consideration the fact that the school has operated only a short period of time, we must admit that P.V. Swatikova has worked a great deal with the children and has succeeded in obtaining bright results, for which she deserves praise and gratitude. P.V. Swatikova is a teacher in many Russian schools, and everywhere we heard the finest testimonials about her.

The second part of the program was musical. Participating were the following young artists:

Eugenia Bernova, eleven-year-old pianist, who successfully performed two numbers: "The Minuet"--Paderewski, and "The Hungarian Dance #5." She received hearty applause and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

6

I. Kopskii, young violinist successfully played a solo on the violin and a Ukrainian song "The High Mount," for which performance he also was rewarded with satisfactory applause.

Vasiliy Lisitskii gave an excellent solo performance on the saw, "Stenka Razin," accompanied by the young pianist, Valeria Shepelevich. Again Vasilii Lisitskii played on the new instrument, "Flexo-Tone," and again gave an excellent performance of a couple of Russian songs to the accompaniment of the same pianist.

The young violinist, I. Kopskii, and the pianist, V. Shepelevich, played "The Volga Boatmen" very beautifully. Afterwards V. Shepelevich gave a piano solo.

7

At the end of the program the choir of young people, under the direction of V.V. Shumkov,appeared. The performance of Shumkov's choir produced a real sensation. When the curtain arose, there appeared before the audience a living picture, consisting of a group of forty people, all fine, cheerful Russian youth; the audience noticed at once that excellent discipline was maintained. The appearance of the choir on the stage was greeted by the audience with long and loud applause.

Before beginning to sing, V.V. Shumkov, director of the choir, gave a short but very sentimental speech in which he welcomed the young Humboldt Park School, thanked the chairman of the school, Mr. Bernov, the teacher, P.V. Swatikova, and other leaders of the school for their great work in organizing and supporting the school. In conclusion V.V. Shuakov appealed to the guests and pleaded with them to support Russian culture, Russian art, in order to raise it to its proper height, 8and asked them to help the Russian schools to educate the younger generation in the Russian spirit, and help to strengthen the ties of relationship between the younger Russian generation and the older.

After that the hall resounded with the melodies of their own Russian folk songs. The choir sang in order and harmoniously. The audience listened to the choir very attentively.

The melodies of their own Russian songs somehow transported for the moment many of the elders to their faraway native land, to their own fields, to their own villages. In the eyes of many of the elders appeared tears arising from the recollection of the long distant time. The choir directed by Shumkov offered four folk songs: "Len, Len zeleniy" (The Flax, Flax, The Green Flax), "Veysia, Veysia Kapusta" (Twine, Twine The Cabbage), "Zeleniy Lug" (The Green Meadow,) and "Kudeyar" (Kudeyar--legendary figure).

9

All of the songs were sung excellently, and the audience rewarded the choir with loud and endless applause. The most outstanding figures in the choir were L.P. Zentsov, tenor (formerly the soloist of the "Kuban Cossack's Art Choir" of S. Sokolov), and M. Fanek, soprano (the soloist of V.V. Shumkov's choir). In the choir there are also many young people with good voices. In general the choir of V.V. Shumkov, in spite of being very new to our colony, has already achieved first place among the others. The choir itself attracted the attention and respect of the colony and promises to be in the future one of the outstanding units representing Russian art among other national groups. Let's wish the best success to that young choir.

After the concert there was dancing until late in the night in which the young as well as the old participated. The refreshment room sponsored by the committee of the school anxiously attended to the guests.

10

In general, the evening of the Humboldt Park School was adequate proof that our younger generation is not yet separated from us, the older generation. They occasionally support Russian traditions, joining in Russian cultural and artistic activities.

Congratulations and our gratitude to those parents who endeavor to teach their children Russian culture and art, and educate them in the Russian spirit.