Romanian literary evening featuring 1st year anniversary of ALICE & Friends Circle™
On
Friday (May 3’19) I was very happy to
gather with a group of dear friends at a public library to celebrate the
current spring time as well as the 1st Year Anniversary of ALICE & Friends Circle™.
Our
evening together began with a round of brief introductions around the circle,
as new friends are joining us. Also, we all were pleased to have with us again
two guests of honor – Dr. Ovidiu Grecea together with his wife. Dr. Grecea is Consul
General – Head of Mission and Plenipotentiary Minister of Romania, and he
brought us a renewed message, re-emphasizing the importance of effective communication
and co-operation, reminding as well that the good we do now will benefit the
next generation/s to come. Heart-warming indeed!
Further, our program continued with a number of presentations featuring the current spring season. Additionally, each of my guests that evening shared with the group the relevance of our gatherings; in essence, what does it mean for each of them to put aside few hours, once in a while, to meet with the group to discuss subjects that are not necessarily part of the everyday talks, such as poetry, literature, biographies, arts, cultural trends, personal life changing experiences & much more. All the thoughts my friends shared openly that evening really made my heart sing, realizing once again how blessed we are to be able to have genuine heart to heart conversations & brain to brain discussions, in this consumerist world, when a significant number of people are focusing more on ‘having’ rather than ‘being’.
Subsequently, our conversations were followed by a traditional Romanian song (called 'La multi ani!'), time when we raised our glasses with (non-alcoholic) champagne, toasting for togetherness, happiness, good health, prosperity and peaceful longevity!
After that I was truly honoured to receive from Dr. Grecea the Romania’s 100 anniversary medal for my continuous community work, which reminded me that
Further, our program continued with a number of presentations featuring the current spring season. Additionally, each of my guests that evening shared with the group the relevance of our gatherings; in essence, what does it mean for each of them to put aside few hours, once in a while, to meet with the group to discuss subjects that are not necessarily part of the everyday talks, such as poetry, literature, biographies, arts, cultural trends, personal life changing experiences & much more. All the thoughts my friends shared openly that evening really made my heart sing, realizing once again how blessed we are to be able to have genuine heart to heart conversations & brain to brain discussions, in this consumerist world, when a significant number of people are focusing more on ‘having’ rather than ‘being’.
Subsequently, our conversations were followed by a traditional Romanian song (called 'La multi ani!'), time when we raised our glasses with (non-alcoholic) champagne, toasting for togetherness, happiness, good health, prosperity and peaceful longevity!
After that I was truly honoured to receive from Dr. Grecea the Romania’s 100 anniversary medal for my continuous community work, which reminded me that
coming
together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress and working together is
a success.
While
at this page, I would like to say that the success of “Alice & Friends”
initiative is something I’m happy to share with my loyal and supportive friends
who are part of this circle…my success is their success and their success is my
success. Unity is strength.
Then we continued our evening together with another Romanian traditional custom, called ‘egg tapping' (aka 'egg knocking') since the May 3’19 is also known as the ‘Bright Friday' (being the next week after the Orthodox Easter)…again, another joyful occasion to honor our roots, our traditions and our ancestors.
Last but not least, we also commented on two coming local holidays – Mother’s Day (on May 12'19) & Father’s Day (on June 16'19) extending our greetings.
As usual, we concluded our evening together with a large variety of light refreshments we each brought for the occasion, good camaraderie, as well as prolonged conversations among beautiful friends, with good hearts, whose common denominator is the passion for arts, culture as well as heritage and ancestral traditions.
We all had a great time together and once again, I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to all these dear friends, who at the end of another long week they each took the time to join the group for few hours to share thoughts and to enjoy the companionship of each other, which I find truly heart touching.
Until our paths will meet again on this wavelength, I’m sending along a new bunch of best wishes to each of my friends for a wonderful rest of spring!
Sincerely,
Alice
Then we continued our evening together with another Romanian traditional custom, called ‘egg tapping' (aka 'egg knocking') since the May 3’19 is also known as the ‘Bright Friday' (being the next week after the Orthodox Easter)…again, another joyful occasion to honor our roots, our traditions and our ancestors.
Last but not least, we also commented on two coming local holidays – Mother’s Day (on May 12'19) & Father’s Day (on June 16'19) extending our greetings.
As usual, we concluded our evening together with a large variety of light refreshments we each brought for the occasion, good camaraderie, as well as prolonged conversations among beautiful friends, with good hearts, whose common denominator is the passion for arts, culture as well as heritage and ancestral traditions.
We all had a great time together and once again, I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to all these dear friends, who at the end of another long week they each took the time to join the group for few hours to share thoughts and to enjoy the companionship of each other, which I find truly heart touching.
Until our paths will meet again on this wavelength, I’m sending along a new bunch of best wishes to each of my friends for a wonderful rest of spring!
Sincerely,
Alice
Mesaj primit înspre publicare din partea Domnului Dr. Ovidiu
Grecea* şi al Doamnei Liliana Grecea
Draga Alice, La Mulți Ani, încă o data, pentru acest
destoinic și interesant proiect pe care l-ai gândit, muncit și transpus în
practică, împreună cu niște personalități adevărate și reprezentative ale
comunității românilor-canadieni din Vancouver. A fost o reală plăcere pentru
mine și soția mea Liliana, nu neapărat ca oficiali de la consulat, ci ca niște
oameni normali, cu simț românesc și dragoste de țara lor, cu respect față de țara
care i-a primit și în care muncesc dar mai ales, față de aceste minunate doamne
și minunați domni care se străduiesc să păstreze filonul indestructibil al
ființei românești, pe aceste meleaguri canadiene. Interesant este faptul că,
“Alice & Friends” nu este un grup strict elitist sau închis, azi ne-am
bucurat că tânăra generație s-a arătat interesată și participativă, la atât
de sincerul, frumosul și dătătorul de speranțe, subiect/tematică din
această seară minunată, “primăvara” în sufletele, percepția, amintirile și
exprimările celor prezenți iar “pruncul” de 1 an, botezat “Alice & Friends”
a început să meargă pe propriile-i picioare, să reușească a se exprima și
impune, ca un viitor pilon existențional și reprezentativ al comunității, al
iubitorilor de cultura, de reflexie și de respect față de România și Canada.
Noi încercăm să transmitem un mesaj cât mai direct și profund, cu condescendența
și dorința de bine față de românii-canadieni din provincia British Columbia, de
a se regăsi, reevalua și iniția formulele organizatorice și de manifestare
propice, ca o comunitate puternică, unită, cu adânci tradiții în Canada și care
în multiculturalismul și oportunitățile de afirmare de pe aceste meleaguri, să-și
regăsească chintesența funcțională și adevăratul nivel de reprezentativitate,
față de celelalte comunități integrate în societatea canadiană. Comunitatea românilor-canadieni
are un potențial enorm și valori deosebite, de necontestat, important este ca
acestea să se adune și să acționeze pragmatic, concret și eficient pentru
binele comunității și al tinerei generații. Felicitări, mulțumiri, mult succes
și cu speranțe de bine, te îmbrățișăm cu drag, Liliana și Ovidiu Grecea
*Domnul Ovidiu Grecea este Consul General şi Ministru Plenipotenţiar al României la Vancouver
Time is not measured by clocks, but by special moments.
This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, featuring Romanian culture.
