Australia Day at the Russian Club

29/01/2025

Celebrating Australia Day at the Russian Club of Sydney!

On January 24, the Russian Club celebrated Australia Day. The official national holiday Australia Day is celebrated on 26 January. On this day, January 26, 1788, a British fleet of 11 ships under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip landed in Sydney Harbor. The British flag was raised and the first colony on the continent, New South Wales, was founded.

The first official celebration of this day took place in 1818. The holiday is celebrated by awarding honorary Australians “Citizen of the year” at the Federal level, as well as in ethnic societies at civil ceremonies with concerts.

Such a civil ceremony was organized by the Russian Ethnic Society with the support of the National Australia Day Council at the Russian Club in Strathfield. The large hall of the club was festively decorated, there was a large banner “Australia Day. We’re all part of the story”, certificates of honor were displayed on a large table, and there were many small Australian flags everywhere. The ceremony was hosted by Sofia Dmitrieva.

The ceremony began with the Australian anthem performed by wonderful artists Victoria Karapetyan and Gennady Savkov. Chairman of the Russian Ethnic Society Marina Belkina spoke. She congratulated all the many present on the holiday and declared open the solemn ceremony of awarding our active wonderful people. Dmitry Kotleyev and his daughter Anna performed a wonderful duet known to us for her leading role in the musical "Polyanna".

The organizers interestingly prepared various videos about all the nominees, which were shown before each award ceremony. The Young Citizen of the Year Award 2025 was awarded to the participants of the Youth RusTalk television project. This project began work in 2021. They are currently finalists on Australian television for two prestigious awards from our state's premier and the national television Antenna Awards. Sofia Haven, Alexander Golovanov,

Anton Ivanov, Nikolay Naumov, Neonila Serova, Vasilisa Serova, Tamila are also active participants in our community, take part in various projects, and help as volunteers at many events. The award was presented by Australia Day Awards 2024 medalist Nonna Saakova. The wonderful violin duet Luminous String performed.

Mila Snegurova received the award in the Citizen of the Year Award 2025 category. Mila is an incredibly active woman, her energy is embodied in many areas of our community: an early development studio, a Russian school, theater and volunteering. The award was presented by Citizen of the Year 2024 Natalia Milts, and was received by DoReMix theater director Elena Zapevalova, who last year became an Australia Day medalist.

The next nominee for the Citizen of the Year Award 2025 is Lyudmila Angus. She is known to many as the head of the literary society named after A.S. Pushkin “Burn the hearts of people with a verb” at the Russian Club, which regularly hosts various literary events. Last year Lyudmila published a book on a brief history of the literary society. She is also the head of the Russian library at the Russian Club, where, under her leadership, last year a major reorganization of the library was carried out. The award was presented by Citizen of the Year Award 2024 Dmitry Kotleyev.

The next nominee for the Citizen of the Year Award 2025 is Anna Rotenko. Anna successfully works in a Russian school, in the creative group “Kalinka”, in the organization of Russian scouts. The award was presented to Citizen of the Year 2024 by Victoria Karapetyan, and was received by the director of the DoReMix theater, Elena Zapevalova, since Anna was unable to attend the award ceremony.

The next nominee for the Citizen of the Year Award 2025 is Irina Sviridova. She puts a huge amount of volunteer effort into developing the sport at the synchronized swimming club in Sydney. The award was presented by the actors of the DoReMix theater.

The next nominee for the Citizen of the Year Award 2025 is Alexander Belkin. In 2011, he founded Russian television in Australia and the weekly program “News Time,” which aired on television channels in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Alexander is the director of the film about Russians in Australia “Homeland for Swallows”, he is a winner of international awards, organizer of many television broadcasts for Russian events, director and mentor of the Youth RusTalk youth project. The award was presented by the actors of the DoReMix theater and received by Marina Belkina.

The final nominee for the Citizen of the Year Award 2025 is Evgenia Druganova. She is the founder of the Russian Community Group, a kindergarten with a musical focus, an organizer of concerts and music festivals for children. The award was presented by Citizen of the Year Award 2024 Svetlana Kan.

After Nadia Okumushoglu's musical performance, Nina Levitskaya was awarded the Australia Day Achievement Medallion 2025. Currently, Nina is the president of the Russian Club, in which she has been actively working for many years. She is a bright representative of our Russian community in Australia, working for the benefit of preserving Russian culture, language and traditions.

The award was presented by Citizen of the Year Award 2024 by Olga Shchepotkina, and was received by the club director Ekaterina Kaskina.

Also, the Australia Day Achievement Medallion 2025 was awarded to the Russian Community Hornsby School, which has been helping children learn the Russian language for 14 years. Thanks to the great enthusiasm of the teachers, the school has grown and now has two branches. The award was presented by the Chairman of the Russian Ethnic Society Marina Belkina.

Young Vera and Nina Okumushoglu performed wonderfully with musical numbers. All those present actively applauded these wonderful beginning artists.

After the awards there was an interesting raffle with wonderful prizes from Aboriginal businesses in Australia, and all participants were offered a tea table with unique Aboriginal treats.

Everyone got to try Dreamtime Tuka's zesty Lemon Myrtle flavored cookies. And the Wild Rosella, Cinnamon Myrtle and Native River Mint teas left no one indifferent.

Thank you very much to Marina Belkina and all the organizers and helpers in holding this wonderful and sincere holiday!

Lyudmila ANGUS