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Mara Pelecis

ALA Congress 2024: In Portland, and at our place - WCLEC!

Updated: Oct 21


What an amazing time we had at American Latvian Association (ALA) Congress in Portland!


Latvians from near and far gathered together for seminars, workshops, and unforgettable evening events. One evening was spent at the Oregon Latvian Center, where attendees enjoyed a reunion performance by “Dzintars” and the combined Portland and Seattle Latvian choirs, under the direction of Egija Claire. The music was tied together with fascinating stories from Aivars Saukants, Brigita Ritmanis and Lolita Ritmanis.


As part of the conference, there was a panel discussion about cinema on both sides of the ocean, featuring our Kursa alumni Lolita Ritmanis and Arturs Rusis, along with Staņislavs Tokalovs from Latvia and Renate Kenney from the Latvian Foundation. Kursa also had a moment in the spotlight during a presentation about our curriculum and goals, complete with a short film that shared Kursa's history on Kursa's 50-year anniversary program, through archive materials (available on YouTube soon!)




On Sunday, we traveled north to the West Coast Latvian Education Center (WCLEC), where guests went for an afternoon walk around the lake, explored buildings and classroom facilities, and enjoyed a “Poetry afternoon” with Viktors Pupols and Maija Riekstins, along with other guests. In the evening, we enjoyed locally sourced oysters and chanterelles in a grand meal that also featured a performance by Seattle's folk dance group “Trejdeksnitis.”




It was a great pleasure to welcome members of ALA, PBLA and the Latvian Foundation, as well as special guests – the Ambassador of Latvia to the United States Elita Kuzma and the Ambassador for the Latvian Diaspora Zanda Grauze.


Thank you to everyone who contributed their skills and time, we couldn’t have done it without you! Special thanks to Ieva Dexter, Māra Linde, Karl Grendze, Marisa Turaids, Daira Popalardo, Andra Staško, Giselle Peralta, Mikelis Kramens, Iveta Ava and all the helping hands. Thanks also to Trejdeksnitis (Silvija Holmquist, Tija Iles, Sandija Linde, Aleksa Overby, Edīte Stūrīte, Datza Tamane, Lūkas Tamans, Markus Staško), Zinta Pone, Ēriks Kīns, Artūrs Rūsis, Bryn Riekstiņš, Ilze Riekstiņš, Maija Riekstiņš, Daina Birnbaums Lūsis, Jānis Šulcs, Andrea Drougas/Kūlītis, Mikus Pelēcis, Imants Holmquist, Renāte Kenney, Ingūna Galviņa, Emily Steinblums, Ingrīda Jansons, Vēsma Pūharte, and all the WCLEC friends and volunteers who helped make this possible!


Sveiks, sveiks, sveiks no Kursas! 






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