Ten fire stations across Latvia, most of them in the eastern part of the country, will be renovated during the next five years in a USD 1.5 million project funded by the U.S. military.

The renovations, funded by the U.S. European Command’s (EUCOM) Civil Military Operations program and administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District, will go a long way toward reducing response times in the entire country, said Col. Intars Zitāns, deputy chief of the State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia.

“Obviously this is going to improve our capability to respond to disasters more efficiently,” Zitāns said during a July 8 groundbreaking ceremony to commence renovation work on the Limbaži fire station, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report. “Together we are stronger and together we can accomplish better things.”

Besides the one in Limbaži, fire stations to be renovated are in Madona, Aizkraukle, Gulbene, Keipene, Liepāja, Līvani, Valka, Ventspils and Strenči. The USD 109,000 renovation in Limbaži and the USD 112,000 renovation in Limbaži are the first in the project. At Limbaži, the contractor will install three new overhead roll-up doors, a heating system, internal and external lighting systems, and paving in front of the new doors. At Madona, the contractor will replace existing doors, upgrade the electrical system, as well as construct a small addition in which large overhead roll-up doors will be installed.

The renovations follow a European Union-funded donation to Latvia of standard European-sized fire trucks, which were too large to fit in many of the older fire stations throughout the country, officials said. As such, all 10 renovation projects will at minimum retrofit larger overhead roll-up doors into the garages to support the new trucks.

“Although the fire and rescue service personnel were doing a fantastic job, they needed some help, especially in fitting new trucks that they were receiving into old garages that were built during the Soviet times,” said Lt. Col. Tom Butler, chief of EUCOM’s Office of Defense Cooperation.

Estonian contractor A/S Koger & Partnerid is employing local Latvian subcontractors and using local material to the greatest extent possible for the Limbaži and Madona projects, according to the Corps of Engineers.

The Latvian center Gaŗezers, located in southwest Michigan, is set to mark its 45th anniversary of providing educational, cultural and recreational resources to Latvians from the American Midwest and beyond.

The center, near Three Rivers, Mich., will mark the anniversary with three days of celebrations from July 23-25, including a concert by Čikāgas piecīši, an art exhibit, an open-air dance and a worship service.

Gaŗezers, situated on Long Lake, began as idea in 1964 to create a summer camp for Latvian Lutheran congregations in the Midwest. The center’s founders created a nonprofit corporation and in 1965 acquired the former Girl Scout property that became Gaŗezers.

The center today is home for a six-week summer high school for Latvian youth (Gaŗezera Vasaras vidusskola), a summer camp for children, camping and trailer facilities, and other activities such as an annual 3×3 culture camp for families.

Gaŗezers includes more than 50 buildings, according to the center’s website. The nonprofit’s net assets at the close of 2008 totaled more than USD 1.5 million, according to the corporation’s tax return. That year, it took in nearly USD 293,000 in contributions.

The anniversary festivities at Gaŗezers begin at 8 p.m. July 23 with a concert by ČIkāgas piecīši. Admission to the concert is USD 15.

Events on July 24 include the opening at 10:30 a.m. of an art exhibit, “Mākslinieks trimdā: Latviešu bēgļu māksla 1944-1950,” focused on the art of Latvian refugees, lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the anniversary concert and open air dance at 7 p.m. The concert, set in the Song Valley (Dziesmu leja), will include performances by the Gaŗezers choir, Dzlmieši, Kīns un Mednis and DJ MGD. Admission to the exhibit is USD 10, while admission to the concert costs USD 25.

The anniversary celebration concludes July 25 with a 10:30 a.m. worship service in the open-air church and a noon lunch, silent auction and talent show for supporters of the Gaŗezers Summer High School. Admission to the lunch and talent show is USD 10.

A ticket to all events costs USD 50 and may be purchased in the Gaŗezers office. Children younger than 12, as well as participants in and employees of Gaŗezers summer programs, will be admitted free.

For further information, visit the center’s website at www.garezers.org.

Eleven students, professors and professionals will be heading to the United States during the next academic years thanks to support from the Fulbright and Humphrey fellowships, the U.S. Embassy in Rīga has announced.

Four students and five scholars from Latvia will receive a Fulbright Fellowship to study and do research and two professionals will receive a Humphrey Fellowship for a year of professional development work in the United States.

Recipients of the Fulbright Foreign Student Fellowship will undertake graduate work at a U.S. university.  Recipients of the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Fellowship will conduct research and lecture in the United States.  Humphrey Fellowship recipients will participate in an internship program and develop their professional skills while based at a U.S. university.

Recipients of the Fulbright Student Fellowship include Zane Čulkstēna, director of the Latvian Contemporary Art Museum kim? (Kas ir māksla?), who will work towards her master’s degree in arts at Columbia University; Andris Rimša, who will study for a master’s degree at Harvard Law School; Baiba Bārene, who will work towards a doctorate in psychology at Purdue University; and Rihards Fedotovs, who will work towards his master’s degree in music at the University of the Arts.

Fulbright Visiting Scholars include Anatolijs Borodinecs, assistant professor of engineering at Rīga Technical University, who will conduct research at the Pennsylvania State University; Andris Sprūds, associate professor of political science at Rīga Stradiņš University, who will conduct research at Johns Hopkins University; Modris Dobelis, professor of engineering at Rīga Technical University, who will conduct research at North Carolina State University; Jurijs Dehtjars, professor of physics and astronomy at Rīga Technical University, who will conduct research at the Norwich University Applied Research Institute; and Zane Zeibote, researcher in economics, who will conduct research at Georgetown University.

The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.  The Fulbright Program has provided more than 300,000 participants worldwide with the opportunity to exchange ideas and observe each other’s cultures and political and economic institutions.  Since 1992, the United States has offered Fulbright fellowships to 196 students, teachers, and senior educators from Latvia.

The Humphrey Fellowship recipients are Vineta Polatside, project coordinator of The International Organization for Migration in Latvia, who will study the prevention of trafficking in persons at the University of Minnesota, and Inga Sprinģe, investigative journalist and lecturer in journalism at the University of Latvia, who will study journalism at the University of Maryland.

The Humphrey Fellowships Program provides mid-career professionals an opportunity to enhance their professional capabilities through participation in a specialized year of graduate-level, non-degree academic course work and professional development activities at selected U.S. universities.  Since 2000, the United States has offered Humphrey Fellowships to six outstanding professionals in various fields from Latvia.

The 11 recipients and alumni of the programs were honored during a recent garden party at the embassy in Rīga.

The deadline for the Humphrey Fellowship Program and the Fulbright Student Fellowship this year is Sept. 7; the deadline for the Fulbright Scholars program is Nov. 24.  Application forms and more details are available by visiting riga.usembassy.gov or the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section at 7 Smilšu St., Rīga.