Preiļi Welcomed Participants of the 17th Gathering of the Latvian Brotherhood of Orders

On 18 July, the Preiļi Municipality Council met with the participants of the 17th gathering of the Latvian Brotherhood of Orders.

The opening of the event took place at the Preiļi Cultural Centre, where those present were addressed by the chairman of the Latvian Brotherhood of Orders, Juris Griķis, Maruta Plivda, and Aldis Adamovičs, a member of the 12th Saeima.

The participants of the gathering received a blessing at the Roman Catholic Church of Preiļi from Jānis Bulis, Bishop of the Diocese of Rēzekne–Aglona, and Jānis Stepiņš, dean of the Preiļi Catholic parish. A musical greeting to the guests of Preiļi was performed by the “Latgale” teachers’ choir of Preiļi Municipality (conductor Edgars Znutiņš).

Solemn speeches were delivered and flowers were laid at the monument to the “Mother of Latgale” in the church garden and at the monument to political repressed persons. In front of the Preiļi Cultural Centre, against the backdrop of the national flags, the participants of the event were captured in a joint historical photograph, which everyone could take with them at the end of the gathering.

The trip to Jasmuiža, the land of Rainis’s early years, took place with guides accompanying the group. Specialists from the Tourism Information Centre and the Preiļi Museum of History and Applied Arts, together with young people from the municipality, told the guests about the history and present-day life of Preiļi Municipality. In Jasmuiža, everyone was welcomed by the brass band of the Preiļi Municipality Cultural Centre (conductor Oļegs Koļesničenko).  Patriotic  and cheerful melodies sounded from time to time throughout the event. In the museum park, accompanied by speeches and songs, everyone planted an ash tree in memory of the 17th gathering. The staff of the Jasmuiža Museum introduced the participants to the exhibition devoted to our national poet Rainis and to P. Paulāns’s ceramics kiln. The hospitable hosts of Jasmuiža treated everyone to a delicious lunch soup, while the women’s vocal ensemble of Aizkalne Parish (leader Lilita Livdāne) created a cheerful atmosphere during lunch by performing folk melodies and singing humorous verses about the event’s participants.

In the second half of the day, the event continued in Preiļi – first with some enjoyable shopping at the “Preilis” stores, as everyone wanted to take home the delicious “Čedars” and “Preilis” cheeses produced by AS “Preiļu siers”; later, participants visited the P. Čerņavskis House Museum and viewed exhibitions created by the Preiļi Museum of History and Applied Arts.