While searching for clipart of a "grybas", I found this page about mushrooms. It was titled "Polish Mushrooms" and started with an excerpt from a poem. I thought I would put this in here because the poet was Lithuanian, the poem excerpt was about Lithuania, but somehow got turned into Polish.

"Mushrooms abounded-round the fair damsels the young men did throng; Or vixens, as they're hailed in Lithuanian song. They symbolize maidenhood, their flesh no maggot bites And no insect thereon ever even alights. The slender bolete maidens pursued instead, That colonel of mushrooms as it's commonly said, But all hunt for milky caps which, though not very tall And largely unsung, are the tastiest of all!"

The above passage comes from the epic Pan Tadeusz by the great 19th century romantic poet, Adam Mickiewicz, and is one of many literary portrayals of Lithuanian mushroom lore and legend. It is no wonder, for a certain magic has always surrounded grybai in this heavily forested country.

Historically speaking, culinary lifestyles had run largely along economic and class lines. Whereas the nobility feasted on choice meats, rich cakes, and imported wines, the peasantry had to make do with groats, dumpling, cabbage and course breads. Mushrooms were the great equalizer. They held a place of honor on the banquet tables of royalty, but were equally at home in the peasant cottage. they were there for the picking and after a good warm rain, carpeted the forest floor and sprouted abundantly in meadows and at waysides.

To this day mushroom picking remains a national pastime. In a good season, when the weather is right, a family can gather enough for the entire year. what isn^Òt used at once is canned, brine-cured, pickled, or dried for the months ahead. Fresh mushrooms are delicious in soups and stews as well as scrambled eggs, and dried mushrooms are in a class by themselves. They greatly enhance the flavor in soups, gravies, and sauerkraut dishes. Both fresh, wild and domestic, cultivated mushrooms as well as the reconstituted dry variety are often a meal in themselves, usually sautéed in butter or simmered in sour cream.

The statement that mushrooms are all flavor and no nutrition or that they are non-fattening and therefore a perfect diet food is only partially true. Nutritionally they are low in protein, but the contain plenty of vitamin PP, provitamin D, minerals (notably zinc and copper), some B vitamins, and glycogen, a substance that promotes the body^Òs natural functions. They indeed have very few calories and someone who ate nothing but boiled mushrooms would certainly lose weight. But the butter, cream, and other such embellishments with which they are often prepared definitely undermine their low-calorie status.

THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGE IN CZARIST RUSSIA (1795-1918)

After the third partition of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth (1795) the greater part of ethnic Lithuania fell to Russia, only the area beyond the Nemunas River (the future Suvalkai territory) was allocated to Prussia. The politics of the ruling class in both countries were chauvinistic: in the Russian Czar's domain Russianisation was introduced; in the Prussian king's domain, Germanisation was introduced. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the territory beyond the Nemunas River was transferred to Russian rule, though the system there remained different. The most important difference was that feudalism had been abolished there in the times of Napoleon. That is why a Lithuanian intelligentsia arose from the peasantry earlier in this area. But in Lithuania under the Czarist rule no reforms were made and the feudal oppression of the peasantry grew stronger.

Attempts were made to erase the name of Lithuania from peoples' memories. It was called Severn-Zapadskij Kraj (Northwest Territory). It was proclaimed that since early times this was Russian territory, which had only been Polonised and therefore had to be re-Russianised. The Russians ignored the Lithuanian nation and its language as if they did not exist. However, Lithuania did not succumb to Russianisation, it continued to be Polonised, even more vigorously than before. Common adversity drew the Lithuanians and Poles more closely together. The earlier goal of independent statehood was now irrelevant. There could be no question of opposing the expansion of the Polish language in Lithuania. As regards the defence of national interests, the Vilnius 'Poles' were even more aggressive than those in Warsaw. The Polish-speaking Lithuanian aristocracy made a vital contribution to Polish culture. It produced a rich literature (Adam Mickiewicz, Julius Slowacki, Ludwik Kondratowicz, Wladyslaw Syrokomla, etc.) written in Polish, but Lithuanian in spirit. Only a few of that period's intelligentsia (e.g., Ksaveras Logusas/ Lohusz, Kazimieras Kantrimas/Kontrym, Leonas Uvainis) were interested in their ancestral language, though only as an object for study.

A nation was forming in the spirit "gente Lituani, Natione Poloni" ("Lithuanian origin, Polish nationality) which spoke Polish. Only those peasants who had not lorgotten their ancestral language were not yet Polonised. All efforts were then directed at them. Priests proclaimed that God did not understand Lithuanian and so prayers must be said in Polish. There were even priests who did not allow the peasants to make their confession in Lithuanian. The peasants tried to pray in Polish, but not understanding the language they distorted the words of the prayers to the point of absurdity. At school it was even forbidden to speak Lithuanian during recess. Students who did so were punished. A special "plaque of shame" would be hung around his or her neck which the "offender" would have to wear until he or she caught another student speaking Lithuanian and could transfer it to them.

The contempt for Lithuanian everywhere - on the estates, in church, in school - affected the peasants' psyche. They began to be ashamed of their native language, they avoided speaking it in public places. Supposedly it was suitable only for the kitchen and the stable! At the time the Polish language had social prestige, therefore it was fashionable to intersperse Polish words when speaking Lithuanian. These words were supposed to "embellish" and "improve" Lithuanian. With frequent usage those words gained a foothold in the language. The flow of Polonisms into Lithuanian grew even stronger. Most of those words were unnecessary as there were enough Lithuanian words for the concepts they expressed. A purer form of Lithuanian survived only in those places which were further from the Polonized cities, estates and churches. Paradoxically, the less educated the area in Lithuania, the more correct and pure was the Lithuanian spoken there.

After the revolts in 1831 and especially in 1863, the Czarist government took steps to stop Polonisation in Lithuania and replace it with Russianisation. After crushing the rebellion, Governor-General Mikhail Muraviëv decided to annihilate the Polonisation of Lithuania which had lasted over 400 years. He closed all Polish schools and began opening Russian ones. He increased the number of Russian inhabitants in Lithuania by bringing people from the depths of Russia to replace the deported rebels. Settlements began to be called by Russian names. Muraviëv even tried to change the Latin-based Lithuanian alphabet (already used for over 300 years at that stage!) because he claimed it was "Polish". He ordered that all Lithuanian books be printed in Cyrillic script. But people did not buy these books and they burned those which were given free of charge. In an effort to firmly establish their use, Muraviëv banned the publication of Lithuanian books in the Latin alphabet. Essentially this was a ban on Lithuanian publications, a method used against Lithuanians which was unheard of in the civilised world. This evoked great opposition among Lithuanians: they began printing books abroad and "knygne iai" (book smugglers) smuggled them into Lithuania and secretly distributed them. The knygne iai epoch began - a unique phenomenon in Europe at the time. The ban on Lithuanian publications was extremely detrimental to the Lithuanian nation, its culture and especially to its language. However, the efforts of Muraviëv and his successors to stop Polonisation and in its place spread Russianisation produced contrary results: as the gendarmes were wearing themselves out trying to capture the book smugglers, Polish books flooded into Lithuania and bookstores were filled with them. Polish influence was not reduced, but rather grew stronger. Even though it was not their intention, with its brutal actions the government pushed the Lithuanians further into the Polish sphere of influence.

Though Lithuanian was banned from secondary schools and it was also being driven out of elementary schools, nevertheless, literacy among the peasants continued to increase. They were determined to get some education. Encouraged by Bishop Motiejus Valan_ius, they began forming small secret Lithuanian schools. Teachers called daraktoriai (a distortion of direktorius 'director') traveled from farmstead to farmstead teaching the people (conspiracy!). This was the Lithuanian vargo mokykla 'the school of hardship'. At that time there were more schools of this type in the countryside than there were Russian subjects. This indicates a growing national awareness among the peasantry, their determination to fight for their inherent rights, for their ancestral language. A prevalent custom was to allow the children to attend State Russian schools only after they had learned to read and write Lithuanian in these secret schools. At that time in Lithuania there were three times more people literate in Lithuanian than there were literate in Russian. Irrespective of the press ban and cruel persecutions the number of Lithuanian books increased significantly.Their subject matter also changed: clearly anti-Czarist secular literature became dominant (about 80%).

Along the eastern borders of ethnic Lithuania, in spite of the efforts of the proponents of Polonisation, the Lithuanian peasantry was not so much Polonised, as it was Belarusinised. Apart from "formal" Polish language, two folk vernaculars were used in this area: Lithuanian and Belarusin. The latter, which the Belarusins themselves called "plain language", had many advantages compared to Lithuanian. As a Slavic language it was close to Polish and especially to Russian, so it was useful. Knowing this language one could understand more easily the Polish- speaking priest or landlord and the Russian speaking officials. Poland was far away, but Belarusins were right here: in many places Lithuanian farmsteads were adjacent to Belarusin ones. As they interacted daily with their neighbors, the Lithuanian farmers quickly learned the Belarusin language. Many substrative Lithuanianisms have survived in Belarusin to the present. The Russian government supported Belarusinisation, because they considered this language a Russian dialect.

A.P.P.L.E. has experienced some changes this year. Our general director, Vaiva Vebra, has become a Vice-Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania. We are very proud of this accomplishment. Her work with A.P.P.L.E. was a contributing factor to the decision to invite her to this post.

Because of this change, we now have a new General director. Her address is below. Also, please include our A.P.P.L.E. home page address. Our web pages are both in Lithuanian and in English. As I started them with the idea of publicizing our work in USA, it was started in English. I am in the process of translating a lot into Lithuanian for our students and associates in Lithuania. On most pages, the Lithuanian and English are direct translations, therefore, one can study the language as well as see many pictures of Lithuanians, Lithuania, and A.P.P.L.E. people on these pages.

Here is the new address for our organization:

This question has come up several times in various places on the internet and I do not think it has been answered. Many of us from the Northeastern part of the United States have fond memories of Lakewood Park, especially those of us of Lithuanian ancestry. August 15th was the day, actually the Sunday closest to that date, when Lithuanians from big cities and small villages gathered at the park to celebrate our heritage. Everyone came. The night before tables were "staked out" for various families. If you came late you had to fend for yourself.

The memories are fading now, but I always remember that day when everything and everyone was Lithuanian. I really didn't know why we took such pride in our ethnicity, I just know we did, it was there for everyone to see and to share. Lithuanian music, Lithuanian dances, costumes, amber, flags waving, Lithuanian sausage that was stuffed at home a few days before, kugelis made for the occasion , the inevitable blynai (the correct Lithuanian form : we called them 'Nblinis') hot out of the (unbeknownst to us then) cholesterol producing grease of the huge iron frying pans.

The rides for the kids, the lake to swim in and cool off on a usually hot August afternoon. What could be better and why did it die? Or did it die? Lithuanian day is somehow not the same when it is indoors in a mall, but the tradition continues. But where is Lakewood Park? What happened to it?

The carousel was restored and can be seen at the Van Andel Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Where are the other rides? They too are distant memories. 15 years ago the park closed, a park that was opened in 1916. In 1914, on those hallowed grounds the first Lithuanian Day took place. August 15th was the day " a real holiday for the Lithuanians of the region " mines closed, shops closed, and Lithuanians celebrated.

For 70 years Lithuanians celebrated, appropriately enough, the last event held at the park was Lithuanian Day in 1984. What happened? Why did it stop? It wasn't only the Lithuanians who celebrated there, the Bavarian Festival was held there, the Irish used the park. What happened?

Did our "Great Melting Pot" society finally kill off the pride people had in their roots? Did society change so much in the 60's and 70's to blunt our desire to be who we were? Festivals are still held, but on a much smaller scale ; there will never be a Lakewood Park Lithuanian Day celebration any more. Our children have left the fold to go out on their own and their own is not our own any more. "Our" park died, our churches are dying, but I know our pride in being Lithuanian isn't.

Sorry Lakewood , we miss you. Our pride in our ancestry will live on without you, you will be a fond memory as long as those of us who knew you tell about you. New technology is taking over, our pride is shown in different ways, we can visit Lithuania, we can talk to our brothers and sisters on the internet, on the phone, they can come to visit us, we can go visit them. How proud we are to say, like the Romans of old: "I am Lithuanian".

So, where is it now? The Friday, August 14th edition of the Pottsville Republican finds the celebration alive and well in the Schuylkill mall, in Frackville, PA. Never heard of it? You should have. Frackville is also the home of the Lithuanian museum, Schuylkill county is the home of Anthracite Council 144 of the Knights of Lithuania, a very active council indeed. through their efforts, the Republican displayed a huge picture of Marguciai and klumpes on the front page of the county Life section. The following week there was a picture of Bernice Mikatavage, Annie Margolis and Anne Sikora with a straw and linen wall hanging with amber. Thank you, Council 144 for all your efforts. Small towns do indeed make big news.

"The most heroic child on record is Ausra Sakalauskaite of Budronys village in the Kupiskis region. She is the youngest person to receive the Lithuanian Order. 'Well I can state that she is the youngest person in the world who received a medal,' said Navaitis.

On Februrary 17, 1995, when Ausra was three years old, her house caught fire. She took her seven-month-old brother from bed and brought him 300 metres from the burning house. She received the "Cross of Saving People from Death" from the Lithuanian president.

DIVIDED ON SECURITY
by Paul Goble

Both the points of agreement and those of disagreement are likely to make it increasingly difficult for the three Baltic governments to maintain a common position on their efforts to join NATO and the EU and for the West to treat them as a single bloc, rather than as three very different countries.

Earlier this summer, the Estonian Saar polling company interviewed 1,000 adults in each of the three Baltic countries to determine popular attitudes toward a variety of security questions and to find out how people in each think their governments should proceed.

Commissioned by NATO and the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, the poll revealed a remarkable pattern of agreement and disagreement along national lines.

Huge majorities--76% of Estonians, 81% of Latvians, and 72% of Lithuanians-- believe that their countries would not be able to effectively defend themselves in the event of a military attack. And most also believe that the West would be unlikely to help them in the event of such an attack.

According to the poll, only 23 percent of Estonians, 15% of Latvians, and 15% of Lithuanians are confident that Western countries would provide military assistance. Instead, small majorities in all three believe that the West's assistance in such circumstances would be limited to diplomatic activities.

Such judgments about the willingness of the West to help, however, apparently do not disturb most people in these three countries. Indeed, the Saar poll found that more than 95% of the residents in each country were convinced that their state does not currently face any real military threat from another country.

But that is where the unanimity ends and the differences begin. According to this poll, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians disagree on the nature of the threats facing their countries, on whether they should join NATO, and on what mix of international memberships they believe would best meet their security needs.

Estonians believe that the greatest threats to their security come from abroad, but Latvians and, to a lesser extent, Lithuanians believe that the greatest security threats are domestic ones. Only 35% of Estonians believe that they face a domestic security threat, while 62% of Latvians and 45% of Lithuanians hold that opinion.

According to the Estonian director of the poll, Andrus Saar, this pattern reflects what he called Estonia's more balanced pattern of economic development, one in which there is much less variation among sectors, as compared with the situation in the other two countries.

The three nationalities also diverge, if somewhat less dramatically, over the value of NATO membership for their countries. A bare majority of Lithuanians [51%] support the idea of joining NATO, with only 25% opposed to that step. In Estonia, 43% want to join the Western alliance, but 25 percent are opposed. And in Latvia, only 37% support the idea of membership, with 29% opposed.

But perhaps most interesting are the differences among the three peoples on the approaches they believe would give them the greatest amount of security. Some 30% of Estonians believe that membership in both NATO and the EU would provide the best guarantee, while 29% think neutrality would be the best stance.

Among Latvians, 29% believe neutrality would be best, with 26% favoring membership in both NATO and the EU, and smaller percentages backing membership in only NATO or only the EU.

Finally, 26% of Lithuanians believe NATO membership would give their country the best chance for security, with 23% backing neutrality and 23 percent backing membership in both the Western alliance and the EU.

Obviously, these numbers could quickly change if the geopolitics of the region change or if national leaders expand their own efforts to promote particular security agendas.

But the differences this poll reveals suggest that the three countries are likely to move in increasingly different directions and that the international community, long accustomed to thinking of them as the undifferentiated Balts, is going to have to respond to that development.

A continuing distinction between Lithuania and the other two Baltic States is that it remains more dependent on trade with Russia: 22 percent of its exports went to that country during January-April, while the corresponding figure for imports was 24.4 percent. The corresponding figures for Latvian trade with Russia during the same period were 17.4 percent for exports and 13.6 percent for imports. Some 8.3 percent of Estonia's exports went to Russia, while 8.5 percent of its imports came from there.

Most Lithuanian macroeconomic indicators are highly favorable. GDP in the first quarter of 1998 was 6.9 percent higher than in the same period last year, reflecting an acceleration of economic growth from 1997's figure of 5.7 percent. Sales of industrial production were up by 9.4 percent during the first six months, almost double last year's 5.0 percent.

While production has boomed, consumer price inflation has subsided, reaching 6.1 percent in the 12 months to June, compared with 8.4 percent in the year to December 1997. Another favorable macroeconomic indicator is the budget deficit, which as of May was on target to meet the goal of 1 percent of GDP, which was agreed to with the IMF. That deficit fell from 4.5 percent in 1996 to 1.8 percent last year.

Wages have been booming, along with the economy: the average gross monthly wage reached $249 in May, compared with $199 a year earlier. This may explain why the unemployment rate has been higher during every month this year than in the corresponding month in 1997. However, by June the difference was negligible, with the rate that month of 5.5 percent only slightly above June 1997's 5.3 percent.

Large current account deficits have been a hallmark of the Lithuanian economy. As economic growth turned positive in 1995, the current account imbalance rose from $94 million (2.2 percent of GDP) in 1994 to $981 million in 1997 (a high 10.3 percent). This trend continued into the first quarter of 1998, when the deficit was $514 million, up $118 million on the same period last year.

Such deficits have been commonplace in rapidly growing transition economies, especially ones with fixed exchange rates; the litas has been pegged at four to the dollar under the currency board introduced in April 1994.

The Bank of Lithuania is currently undergoing a transition to a normal central bank, a three-stage process scheduled to be completed next year. For example, under the currency board, the bank is not allowed to provide overnight loans to commercial banks. In April, as part of the transition to central banking, it set the interest rate it will charge on such loans.

To retain confidence in monetary policy, the fixed rate for the litas against the dollar is to remain valid at least until 1999, when the currency will be tied partly to EU currencies; by the end of 2000, the litas will be pegged to the Euro.

Although the current account deficit is high, the Bank of Lithuania's foreign reserves have risen steadily, reaching $1.2 billion in June (further augmented by privatization proceeds in July), compared with $939.6 million in June 1997. Another encouraging sign is the rapid rise in foreign direct investment, which was a cumulative $1.1 billion at the end of June, compared with $727.6 million in June 1997.

The IMF's Executive Board in July praised the government for increasing excise taxes, improving tax collection and the budget process, privatization successes in banking and telecommunications; and creating an Energy Pricing Commission. The board called for further fiscal tightening to limit the growth of expenditures and to put the Social Security Agency on a firmer footing, especially by raising the retirement age.

These are the standard recommendations that the fund would make to any successful economy in transition. A more interesting question is how vulnerable Lithuania will prove to contagion from the financial turbulence in East Asia and especially Russia. Large current account deficits under fixed exchange regimes are often an indication of such vulnerability.

The key issue is whether Lithuania will be able to manage the transition to central banking under a fixed exchange rate or whether it will be forced to allow its currency to weaken, as the Czech Republic did in spring 1997 and Russia on 17 August 1998. In this context, Lithuania's high trade dependence on Russia is worrisome, since the weaker ruble will probably further increase the Baltic State's already large trade deficit with that country.

The author is a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria.

1998.08.23. Port Bragg, California, USA. The Peaceriders from different countries - Lithuania, Germany, Russia, Turkey and Poland - gathered in Seattle on 6 August, Hiroshima Memorial, to start the Great Millennium Peace Ride around the world. In one and half years our international and intercultural Peace Ride Team of cyclists will visit 46 countries including North and South America, Africa, Europe, Middle East and finally Asia. To celebrate the new millennium the ride will arrive in Hiroshima, Japan, on 1 January 2000.

Most of us, an international and intercultural group of eleven people, a woman and ten men, - got to know each other only on the trip. The first three weeks have been challenging. We had to get organized with our team work , to plan the route for the next days, buy and cook food, fix bikes and not get lost. In the first three weeks, we made over 1000 miles along the coast of the Pacific at the same time sharing our ideas with local people.

We want to meet people interested in our cycling experiences and ideas on peace, and invite all enthusiasts to join this international event. Our aim is to bridge the gap between cultures and traditions, and share views and understanding on our different ways.

Cycling is peaceful, for it does not create any threat, and the Peace Ride is open to anyone who wants to join our international group and make friends on the way, also for any distance and time.

Sigitas Kucas
International Coordinator

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has officially established an international commission to examine war crimes committed during the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Lithuania. Presidential adviser Julius Shmulkshtis told Reuters on 7 September that the commission's main function is "to investigate the World War Two period and the immediate aftermath in order to come up with answers to various questions concerning Jewish and Lithuanian genocide." The commission will be headed by parliamentary deputy Emanuelis Zingeris. Earlier this year, the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia agreed to set up commissions in their countries to investigate the events of 1939-1991, especially during and after World War II. JC

This section is to acquaint you with some of the not for profit organizations helping Lithuanians and Lithuanians who have a business with whom other Lithuanians may do business.