The house of gardener Ivan Sikora is being restored in the Sharkovshchyna district
Marketers are confident that Belarus is a country of apples, and this fruit, loved by many, is as much a brand as, for example, plums and cherries.
Sharkovshchina is ideally suited for the implementation of this interesting idea. It is here, in the village of Alashki, that a large-scale festival dedicated to the birthday of Ivan Pavlovich Sikora is held annually. The district remembers and honors the work of the gardener, who during his lifetime devoted much time to creating an apple variety with increased frost resistance. By the way, it appeared only after the breeder's death and was named in his honor – Pamyat Sikory (Sikora's Memory).
The festival is gaining popularity, and now the district executive committee faces the task of raising the celebration to a new level.
- The brand of our district is the green apple, a variety developed by Ivan Pavlovich Sikora, - notes Lyudmila Stoma, Head of the Department of Ideological Work, Culture and Youth Affairs of the Sharkovshchina District Executive Committee. - Currently, Apple Spas is a local holiday, although last year guests from neighboring districts visited us.
In order to reach the regional level, we submitted an application in the spring to raise its status. We hope that in the future it will also acquire republican significance.
It is noteworthy that a few months ago, the house where Ivan Pavlovich lived became the property of the museum in the village of Alashki, which has about three thousand exhibits. It is planned that it will open its doors to visitors by Apple Spas.
"The house was sold after his death, and only now has it come into our possession. We are gradually starting to restore it," Lyudmila Stoma said. "We know people who were personally acquainted with Ivan Pavlovich, visited him, and remember some details of his daily life. Now our main goal is to restore the house as much as possible and show it to visitors in the condition it was during the life of the breeder-gardener during the Apple Spas festival."
The territory around Sikora's house has already been landscaped. The paths in the old garden have been cleared, gazebos have been installed, and even a well from Ivan Pavlovich's time has been set up.
"This is precisely the place where he spent most of his life, where everything breathes his atmosphere. There are cellars, utility rooms, and good utensils have been preserved," says the head of the department of ideological work, culture, and youth affairs.
In addition, at the museum in Alashki, visitors can purchase a collectible exhibit if they wish and thus start their own collection.
The Sikora museum grounds feature a three-hectare fruit garden, and three nurseries operate there, growing seedlings of varietal apple trees, pears, and berry bushes.
The Sharkovshchyna District Executive Committee has already developed a program for the apple festival. In particular, it includes the consecration of the new harvest, a visit to the Sikora gardener's museum, an apple feast, a competition for the largest apple, the sale of seedlings, sports competitions "Apple Sports," a charity auction of apple pies, literary "apple readings," a competition for the best "apple" photo essay, and a scientific conference of gardeners.