Reindeer, the cold pole, ski tracks… A report from not the northernmost, but the frostiest district of Belarus – Gorodok district
In recent months, snow in Belarus has been hard to find, but we still managed. Three hundred kilometers from the capital, in the Horadok district, which has long been nicknamed the Belarusian "pole of cold". There's even a joke about the local weather realities: when they're already planting potatoes in Polesie, they're still stomping through snowdrifts in felt boots in the Horadok region. Snow in these parts, however, is not the only "northern" feature. A deer farm, a modern roller ski track, the coldest place in Belarus, a weather station that recorded record low temperatures – all this is here too. In general, the Horadok district is unique in many ways. For example, it is located outside the natural axes formed by the largest rivers. The Horadok Upland serves as a watershed for the Daugava and Neva river basins. The natural wealth of the district is 162 lakes. And the spiritual wealth is dozens of monuments of ancient history and traditions, old and new, with which these places are generous.
Coach's position: to live in Gorodok and not know how to ski is a nonsense. Andrey Trofimov notes that 80 percent of the local children used to do this sport. And his father, he adds, was a coach at the sports school.
— I also participated. Then I entered the Vitebsk School of the Olympic Reserve. I graduated. I returned home. I like sports. The track is excellent. And everything around is familiar. So I didn't have a strong desire to go far away and change my field of activity.
One "but". Skiing is no longer the only option in the Gorodok district. In the city, Andrey Trofimov informs, football and wushu have appeared... The result is that fewer children are coming to the ski school, but there are also fewer coaches.
— Now I am the only cross-country skiing coach, there are about forty people in the group. Previously, there were four teachers. Our school also has a biathlon coach. He has already recruited two small groups.
Andrey says that not only children but also adults come to ski in Vorobyovy Gory. There are also pensioners. Two of them. The coach claims they are true fans!
— All thanks to the track! It was essentially built from scratch. There was no asphalt, no shooting range. There was just a path, it was rolled by a regular snowmobile. Thanks to the changes, the school has reached a completely new level.
Coach Trofimov truly has something to boast about now:
— My student Timur Laskin has entered the main squad of the national team. He achieved this through hard work and discipline:he does what he is told without question. There are other promising candidates. The next generation is growing!
Andrei Trofimov describes himself as a dedicated coach:
— What I enjoy most is working with children. And I taught my own son – he is a Candidate Master of Sports, now studying at the Mogilev Olympic Reserve College.
— And will your trainees be able to outrun you on the ski track? — I ask finally.
— They already can. And I am very happy about that. It means the work is going well. Although I try to maintain my fitness. Without fanaticism, though.
— It's good for us that there's no snow. Imagine having to clear all this territory.
Gorodok District. Head of the Yezershche weather station Tatyana Kireeva.
Let's clarify right away: this weather station does not forecast the weather. It only transmits data to the synopticians at Belhydromet. However, digitalization only arrived at the weather station four years ago – when the automated meteorological information measuring system Vaisala was installed there. Before that, all data collection had to be done exclusively "manually." Tatyana Kireeva notes that they still perform comparative measurements once a week as a backup.
— I used to work as a pharmacistin, I came here by assignment. But in the nineties, I was made redundant. I retrained. It wasn't that difficult. After all, in meteorology, as in my previous profession, accuracy, meticulousness, and responsibility are important. And I've loved numbers since childhood – and we can't do without them, all meteorological phenomena are described by them. It was interesting to study a new science. We seem to see the same phenomena every day, but there are plenty of nuances. Specialists notice them, ordinary people don't. In general, it will be twenty years this May since I started working here.
PHOTO BY ANNA NAUMOVA.
I make a suggestion: a weather station located in a rural area is, among other things, a kind of call center for local residents, by visiting or calling which one can quickly find out what the weather will be like.
— They used to come indeed. Even more often they called.Especially during severe frosts, when schools were even closed due to adverse weather conditions, — recalls Tatyana Kireeva. — "To gather children? That's irrelevant now. Everyone has a smartphone with internet. As for me, even when I wake up on a day off, I immediately look out the window."
Professional…
— In my previous position, I mainly worked with enterprise managers, and they are all of the same type. Now I interact with completely different people: educated and uneducated, well-read and not, with completely different characters, — she describes the main difference between her previous job and the current one. — As a rule, they are simple and modest, but at the same time very colorful. In the village of Khvoshno, for example, lives Galina Ivanovna Kozlova, who, imagine, has been heading the FAP for 50 years.
And the main thing, emphasizes Antonina Koltsa, is that all people are interesting in their own way:
— Many people captivate me. You look at a person sometimes and try to understand: why did he end up in such a state in his life, why does he drink?.. But you start digging deeper — and you will definitely find a psychological reason. But what I will not put up with is when children do not care about their parents, their parental homes, when a son does not work anywhere, drinks his father's pension, and at the same time does not feed himself…
It is practically impossible to find Antonina Koltsa in her office. Except perhaps during citizen reception hours. If she is needed urgently, the administrator will call her mobile. The area is large, 39 villages — there is plenty of work.
— Now, for example, we are visiting cemeteries, and we are visiting villages — we are holding meetings, asking what issues concern people? People like it when we organize holidays in the villages. When we honor jubilarians, talk about each of them, sing songs for them. All this is a great success.
I hear a slight complaint about my journalist colleagues. They say that we show the work of rural council chairmen one-sidedly. We present them as kind people who love people. Antonina Koltsa says directly: you shouldn't just indulge people, you should also demand from them.
Her previous position taught her not to be soft-hearted.
— There are absolutely spoiled people. One drunkard recently complained to me: "When will the light bulb turn on for me?" I replied: "And I have been asking you for two years to remove the collapsing fence, are you listening to me?"? And I won't either. And there are plenty of such cases.
Finally, Antonina Kolts asks to convey words of gratitude to her fellow countrymen from Bychikha. Those who are making their small homeland more beautiful. We won't list surnames so as not to offend anyone. There are indeed many such people. And they are essential.
— And the most important thing for me is when you see the result of work to which you have also contributed. A children's town, an improved park, a stage where concerts are held…
— The local conditions are suitable for breeding deerThe animals feel great here. Plenty of space, bushes for vegetation. The animals are calm here — says the head of the animal husbandry section of the nursery, Andrey Bashkirov, looking around the town's landscapes.
This location is a win-win for another reason. It's only a few dozen kilometers to Russia. This means it's profitable for local hunting grounds to purchase animals for their lands not only from domestic suppliers. However, local residents primarily view the farm as a project that has provided the district with new jobs. It's quite a distance to the nearest collective farm center from these parts.Andrei Bashkirov, who at one time rose to the position of chief engineer of a local agricultural enterprise, also found employment on a farm.
— The house is nearby — only 15 kilometers to it. The salary is quite decent, — he lists the advantages.
— And what other work is there in these parts? — I ask.
— Maksimovsky psycho-neurological boarding house, forestry, school in Dubrovo, village council. In the villages, however, only old people remained.
It is, of course, much easier for agrarians to get into the swing of things and understand the specifics of breeding wild animals. Andrey does not hide the fact that the chief engineer of an agricultural enterprise and the head of the livestock section in the nursery are essentially similar professions. There is, of course, its own specificity. But in any case, one has to deal with animals, equipment, fodder procurement, and veterinary medicine in both cases.
— Although it's easier for me at the nursery. The territory is much more compact, the livestock is smaller... We currently have only 250 deer on the farm.
It would seem like an excellent place for tourism development. It's not everywhere you can easily see wild animals like this. However, as we approached the nursery, our enthusiasm waned. Driving almost two and a half dozen kilometers on a gravel road, albeit frozen, destroyed by logging trucks, is quite a challenge. It's no wonder that local residents don't build castles in the air about developing agritourism here.
— If the winter were snowier, people might have gone. It's beautiful! And people really did come here at first. There were many cars: from the district, the region... But we have other tasks. We are engaged in breeding animals, which means it is undesirable to let people into the territory, into the enclosure. Sanitary requirements! And strangers are a stress factor for deer. The animals don't know where to go. Even I am not always allowed to pet them.
It is no coincidence that several traditions related to the Gorodok district have already become intangible historical and cultural heritage of the country. The flavor is in the details. If it's weaving, then it's openwork. If it's straw weaving, then it's predominantly spiral.
To begin with, a little education. Folk master Vasily Simankovich into get up to speed: the spiral straw weaving technology was typically used to make storage containers such as various barrels and baskets. It was an excellent and inexpensive alternative to wood, by the way:
— Straw is a "thermos". It prevents moisture penetration and temperature effects. It is in such straw products that for centuries people preferred to store grain, seeds, legumes, cereals, even flour, and to put eggs and smoked products.
I am interested in how spiral straw weaving became a local brand. It turns out that it has been revived in these parts for ten years now, there is a corresponding club at the folklore and crafts house, and even competitions have been organized.
— There were individual masters in Braslav, in Vitebsk. In the Gorodok region, about ten people now own the technology. By the way, when we started spiral straw weaving, other districts also became more active. For example, they joined in Verkhnedvinsk, — notes Vasily Simankovich.
The desire to revive the folk craft was not accidental for Vasily Pavlovich. The head of the willow weaving club recalls: the interest was actually in all the crafts that existed in the district. But there was special attention to spiral straw weaving: too many such colorful "exhibits" were seen in the villages of Gorodok.
— People's interest in them, by the way, has not disappeared even now. They order small baskets, dishes, and rusk bowls from us. They remember seeing something similar at their grandmother's in the village. "Like from father's house," they say. I was told that my grandfather also wove baskets. I started the same way. And my three children know how to weave. Straw weaving is excellent therapy, psychologists have proven it. Money? What are you talking about?! I do this primarily for my soul. I have a favorite job too. I made a cradle out of straw. And in general, I want people to understand: straw and willow are ours, Belarusian, what we should value.
Sticks in Hand
What is truly hard to imagine without snow is a ski track. There is snow in the local tract of Vorobyovy Gory. Right on the track. Although in small quantities. Mostly artificial, created with the help of snow cannons. But for professionals, this is a sign of luxury. The complex here is truly a sight to behold. Just like the local Raubichi. An excellent support for raising future champions. But the cross-country skiing coach of the Gorodok Children and Youth Sports School, Andrey Trofimov, is still sad: the winter did not please with frosty weather this year.Coach's position: to live in Gorodok and not know how to ski is a nonsense. Andrey Trofimov notes that 80 percent of the local children used to do this sport. And his father, he adds, was a coach at the sports school.
— I also participated. Then I entered the Vitebsk School of the Olympic Reserve. I graduated. I returned home. I like sports. The track is excellent. And everything around is familiar. So I didn't have a strong desire to go far away and change my field of activity.
One "but". Skiing is no longer the only option in the Gorodok district. In the city, Andrey Trofimov informs, football and wushu have appeared... The result is that fewer children are coming to the ski school, but there are also fewer coaches.
— Now I am the only cross-country skiing coach, there are about forty people in the group. Previously, there were four teachers. Our school also has a biathlon coach. He has already recruited two small groups.
Andrey says that not only children but also adults come to ski in Vorobyovy Gory. There are also pensioners. Two of them. The coach claims they are true fans!
— All thanks to the track! It was essentially built from scratch. There was no asphalt, no shooting range. There was just a path, it was rolled by a regular snowmobile. Thanks to the changes, the school has reached a completely new level.
Coach Trofimov truly has something to boast about now:
— My student Timur Laskin has entered the main squad of the national team. He achieved this through hard work and discipline:he does what he is told without question. There are other promising candidates. The next generation is growing!
Andrei Trofimov describes himself as a dedicated coach:
— What I enjoy most is working with children. And I taught my own son – he is a Candidate Master of Sports, now studying at the Mogilev Olympic Reserve College.
— And will your trainees be able to outrun you on the ski track? — I ask finally.
— They already can. And I am very happy about that. It means the work is going well. Although I try to maintain my fitness. Without fanaticism, though.
Plus or Minus
When we talk about the Belarusian "cold pole," we primarily mean the border town of Yezershche. Here, they remember snow in September and frosts below minus 40 degrees Celsius. The harsh winters are even indicated by the toponymy of the surrounding villages: Studenka, Mekhovoye, Morozovo, Drozaki. And it is here that a weather station is currently operating, recording such "arctic" records. There are two employees here – meteorologist technician Natalia Deribina and head Tatyana Kireeva. However, what is a colorful detail and an informational hook for some is just everyday routine for the meteorologists here. Tatyana Kireeva honestly admits: she wishes these records would go away, and that all winters were as mild and snowless as the current one:— It's good for us that there's no snow. Imagine having to clear all this territory.
Gorodok District. Head of the Yezershche weather station Tatyana Kireeva.Let's clarify right away: this weather station does not forecast the weather. It only transmits data to the synopticians at Belhydromet. However, digitalization only arrived at the weather station four years ago – when the automated meteorological information measuring system Vaisala was installed there. Before that, all data collection had to be done exclusively "manually." Tatyana Kireeva notes that they still perform comparative measurements once a week as a backup.
— I used to work as a pharmacistin, I came here by assignment. But in the nineties, I was made redundant. I retrained. It wasn't that difficult. After all, in meteorology, as in my previous profession, accuracy, meticulousness, and responsibility are important. And I've loved numbers since childhood – and we can't do without them, all meteorological phenomena are described by them. It was interesting to study a new science. We seem to see the same phenomena every day, but there are plenty of nuances. Specialists notice them, ordinary people don't. In general, it will be twenty years this May since I started working here.
PHOTO BY ANNA NAUMOVA.I make a suggestion: a weather station located in a rural area is, among other things, a kind of call center for local residents, by visiting or calling which one can quickly find out what the weather will be like.
— They used to come indeed. Even more often they called.Especially during severe frosts, when schools were even closed due to adverse weather conditions, — recalls Tatyana Kireeva. — "To gather children? That's irrelevant now. Everyone has a smartphone with internet. As for me, even when I wake up on a day off, I immediately look out the window."
Professional…
Mistress of the Village
The absolute minimum temperature of minus 41.5 degrees Celsius was once recorded in the village of Bychikha, where the meteorological station was located until 1955. Now this agro-town is known for other things.— a church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Anastasia the Deliverer from Bonds, which was built with the money of a local resident. The recently opened supported living facility of the Maksimovsky psycho-neurological boarding house for the elderly and disabled. Moreover, for two years now, the local rural council has been headed by one of the "Women of the Year - 2018", the winner in the nomination "Mistress of the Village" Antonina Koltsa. And before that, she was known as the head of the district inspection of natural resources and environmental protection.— In my previous position, I mainly worked with enterprise managers, and they are all of the same type. Now I interact with completely different people: educated and uneducated, well-read and not, with completely different characters, — she describes the main difference between her previous job and the current one. — As a rule, they are simple and modest, but at the same time very colorful. In the village of Khvoshno, for example, lives Galina Ivanovna Kozlova, who, imagine, has been heading the FAP for 50 years.
And the main thing, emphasizes Antonina Koltsa, is that all people are interesting in their own way:
— Many people captivate me. You look at a person sometimes and try to understand: why did he end up in such a state in his life, why does he drink?.. But you start digging deeper — and you will definitely find a psychological reason. But what I will not put up with is when children do not care about their parents, their parental homes, when a son does not work anywhere, drinks his father's pension, and at the same time does not feed himself…
It is practically impossible to find Antonina Koltsa in her office. Except perhaps during citizen reception hours. If she is needed urgently, the administrator will call her mobile. The area is large, 39 villages — there is plenty of work.
— Now, for example, we are visiting cemeteries, and we are visiting villages — we are holding meetings, asking what issues concern people? People like it when we organize holidays in the villages. When we honor jubilarians, talk about each of them, sing songs for them. All this is a great success.
I hear a slight complaint about my journalist colleagues. They say that we show the work of rural council chairmen one-sidedly. We present them as kind people who love people. Antonina Koltsa says directly: you shouldn't just indulge people, you should also demand from them.
Her previous position taught her not to be soft-hearted.
— There are absolutely spoiled people. One drunkard recently complained to me: "When will the light bulb turn on for me?" I replied: "And I have been asking you for two years to remove the collapsing fence, are you listening to me?"? And I won't either. And there are plenty of such cases.
Finally, Antonina Kolts asks to convey words of gratitude to her fellow countrymen from Bychikha. Those who are making their small homeland more beautiful. We won't list surnames so as not to offend anyone. There are indeed many such people. And they are essential.
— And the most important thing for me is when you see the result of work to which you have also contributed. A children's town, an improved park, a stage where concerts are held…
My Beasts
The locals prefer to whisper about the bears and wolves that inhabit the forests of Gorodok. Such proximity is dangerous for them. Who they are definitely not afraid of here are deer. These animals live not in the wild, but in a nursery that appeared on the site of the former village of Shandry.— The local conditions are suitable for breeding deerThe animals feel great here. Plenty of space, bushes for vegetation. The animals are calm here — says the head of the animal husbandry section of the nursery, Andrey Bashkirov, looking around the town's landscapes.
This location is a win-win for another reason. It's only a few dozen kilometers to Russia. This means it's profitable for local hunting grounds to purchase animals for their lands not only from domestic suppliers. However, local residents primarily view the farm as a project that has provided the district with new jobs. It's quite a distance to the nearest collective farm center from these parts.Andrei Bashkirov, who at one time rose to the position of chief engineer of a local agricultural enterprise, also found employment on a farm.
— The house is nearby — only 15 kilometers to it. The salary is quite decent, — he lists the advantages.
— And what other work is there in these parts? — I ask.
— Maksimovsky psycho-neurological boarding house, forestry, school in Dubrovo, village council. In the villages, however, only old people remained.
It is, of course, much easier for agrarians to get into the swing of things and understand the specifics of breeding wild animals. Andrey does not hide the fact that the chief engineer of an agricultural enterprise and the head of the livestock section in the nursery are essentially similar professions. There is, of course, its own specificity. But in any case, one has to deal with animals, equipment, fodder procurement, and veterinary medicine in both cases.
— Although it's easier for me at the nursery. The territory is much more compact, the livestock is smaller... We currently have only 250 deer on the farm.
It would seem like an excellent place for tourism development. It's not everywhere you can easily see wild animals like this. However, as we approached the nursery, our enthusiasm waned. Driving almost two and a half dozen kilometers on a gravel road, albeit frozen, destroyed by logging trucks, is quite a challenge. It's no wonder that local residents don't build castles in the air about developing agritourism here.
— If the winter were snowier, people might have gone. It's beautiful! And people really did come here at first. There were many cars: from the district, the region... But we have other tasks. We are engaged in breeding animals, which means it is undesirable to let people into the territory, into the enclosure. Sanitary requirements! And strangers are a stress factor for deer. The animals don't know where to go. Even I am not always allowed to pet them.
Straw as a Brand
And there is plenty of warmth in the "northern region." Ethnographers have a field day here.It is no coincidence that several traditions related to the Gorodok district have already become intangible historical and cultural heritage of the country. The flavor is in the details. If it's weaving, then it's openwork. If it's straw weaving, then it's predominantly spiral.
To begin with, a little education. Folk master Vasily Simankovich into get up to speed: the spiral straw weaving technology was typically used to make storage containers such as various barrels and baskets. It was an excellent and inexpensive alternative to wood, by the way:
— Straw is a "thermos". It prevents moisture penetration and temperature effects. It is in such straw products that for centuries people preferred to store grain, seeds, legumes, cereals, even flour, and to put eggs and smoked products.
I am interested in how spiral straw weaving became a local brand. It turns out that it has been revived in these parts for ten years now, there is a corresponding club at the folklore and crafts house, and even competitions have been organized.
— There were individual masters in Braslav, in Vitebsk. In the Gorodok region, about ten people now own the technology. By the way, when we started spiral straw weaving, other districts also became more active. For example, they joined in Verkhnedvinsk, — notes Vasily Simankovich.
The desire to revive the folk craft was not accidental for Vasily Pavlovich. The head of the willow weaving club recalls: the interest was actually in all the crafts that existed in the district. But there was special attention to spiral straw weaving: too many such colorful "exhibits" were seen in the villages of Gorodok.
— People's interest in them, by the way, has not disappeared even now. They order small baskets, dishes, and rusk bowls from us. They remember seeing something similar at their grandmother's in the village
"SB".