Aloja Celebrated the City’s Birthday with a Festive Concert
On 2 February, the people of Aloja celebrated the city’s birthday. At the beginning of the festive concert, everyone gathered was invited to ceremonially sing the Aloja anthem. On the festive evening at the Aloja Culture Centre, performances were given by students of the Aloja Music and Art School – saxophonists Enija Bernharde and Violeta Birkava (teachers Olga Ābele and Jānis Ansons), and a guitar ensemble led by teacher A. Jasjukevičs. The melodious girls’ vocal ensemble “Kamenīte” and the women’s vocal ensemble “Tik un tā” (leader Maruta Gaugere), the ladies’ dance group “Rasa” (leader Liana Ozoliņa), the mixed choir “Ale” (leader Agra Jankovska), the Aloja Culture Centre’s middle-generation dance ensemble “Sānsolis”, and the youth dance ensemble “Resgaļi” (leader Ričards Jerāns) also performed.
In Aloja, honouring local people while celebrating the city’s festivities has now become a tradition—an opportunity to say thank you for the small acts of kindness they have done for one another throughout the year. The evening’s host, Inga Neimane, said: “The life of a city depends on us—the residents, the townspeople. A city without people is an empty place. Do we want this to be an empty place? Of course not, which is why we are here and proud of our city, which is small and green both in summer and winter, because that is how we see it, and that is how the city’s guests see it too! On 2 February, our ancestors celebrated Candlemas, when they made candles themselves, so we will give each recipient of a Thank You a beautiful candle!”
Expressions of gratitude were presented to Rihards Būda (for maintaining, decorating and caring for the city), Olga Ābele (for her selfless, highly professional work in the Keyboard Instruments Department of the Aloja Music and Art School), Edvards Kaļva (for serving as an accompanist and assisting two dance ensembles during rehearsals), Maija Drozda and Maruta Gaugere (for their invaluable work with the “Sānsolis” dance ensemble), Adrija Plūmane (for caring for her neighbour Anna), Zanda Aderniece (for successfully coordinating bus services, her understanding and kindness), Atis Zariņš (for his outstanding bus driving, responsiveness and courteous attitude), Anita Krūmiņa (for the work invested in organising the Aloja EKO site), Anda Bondare (for her help, kind attitude, advice, responsiveness and helpfulness while working at the “Ēra” shop), Jānis Puidītis (for purchasing hockey goals for the Aloja skating rink), Rasma Līsmane and Lilita Līsmane (for their initiative and enthusiasm, and for the time, patience and energy they devoted to researching and documenting the Aloja cemetery), and Dace Kovača (for caring for an elderly mother, her compassion, conscientious work and love of people).
The festivities in Aloja concluded with a festive ball at the Culture Centre.
