Klichko Brothers support SAKA

Ukraine’s world champion boxing brothers Vitaly and Vladimir Klichko are supporting SAKA in its efforts to bring extra comfort to the elderly and provide educational support for students in Kaniv. They have donated two pairs of signed training gloves, which will be the prizes in a promotion, which we have yet to organise, to raise funds.

Of the five versions of the world heavyweight championship title, between them the two brothers hold four. The younger Vladimir holds the WBO, IBF and IBO belts. On Saturday, 11

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October Vitaly returned to the ring after a four-year absence through injury to win back his WBC title from Nigerian Samuel Peter.

Ukrainian sportsmen and women have been generous in the support of our organisation. In 2007 a signed Discovery Channel team cycling shirt was donated by ‘super-domestique’ Yaroslav Popovych, following the Kentish stage of the Tour de France, which passed through Southborough; and Ukrainian-born Great Britain tennis star, Elena Baltacha, donated four signed tennis shirts.

SAKA exhibits at the “Southborough Past and Present Exhibition

The Southborough and Kaniv Association played its part in the well-attended exhibition “Southborough Past and Present”, staged on 12

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September by the Southborough Society as one of the events to support “Heritage Open Days in Tunbridge Wells”. The exhibition created a pictorial history of the past century in our town and was supported by local non-commercial organisations creating awareness of their activities.

SAKA and its sister twinning organisation SHDOFA (Southborough High Brooms District Overseas Friendship Association), which is twinned with Lambersart in France, combined forces to promote the international friendship links of our town. Representatives of both organisations were on hand to chat with a steady stream of interested visitors. There still exists an air of mystery about Ukraine and we were able to enlighten these guests on life in Ukraine, and in particular Kaniv, and spread the word on our activities to bring extra comfort to the elderly and provide educational support for students in Kaniv.

Grand Charity Cabaret

“Grand Charity Cabaret” - 27

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September

Once again SAKA found an alternative use for Christ Church Day Care Centre when it hosted its second annual evening of fun and frivolity to raise funds to help support the victims of the great famine of 1932-33, many of whom are still living in poverty in Ukraine.

Don Buckland, dressed as a cockney rebel, started us off with a rendition of “Brahn Boots” by Weston & Lee describing some rather unusual attire at Aunt Hanna's funeral. Don is chairman of the Bidborough Dramatic Society. Gina Franks, another BDS member, raised the tone exponentially when she sang beautifully “Tell Me Fair Lady” from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro”. Unfortunately the MC’s joke afterwards about Figaro being a fertilizer popular in Vienna in the 18

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century didn’t go down too well.

Next up was David Ward, a very talented member of SAKA, who demonstrated not only his magical abilities but also his virtuosity on the accordion. He didn’t make it disappear but at least one of his balloon dogs did just that and with a bang, before a successful creation was presented to a young member of the audience. He didn’t try to saw any ladies in half but apparently David does have two half sisters!

Terry Langford, from the Paddock Wood Magpies, entertained with his splendid singing. As we discovered last year, Terry is keen on Elvis and his performance of “Girls! Girls! Girls!” this time was legendary. It was then Mike Handcock’s turn to be all at sea when his advances to the lovely Gina Franks were rudely interrupted by the cleaning lady, alias Colette Marsh, in a sketch entitled “You’re Just in Love”. It seems he changed allegiance in the end – it must be an age thing!

Undiscouraged by performing in front of a SAKA audience earlier in the evening Don Buckland made another appearance with “A Pale Young Curate” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Sorcerer”. The musical interlude was followed by Anne Holford, another BDS member, performing a Joyce Grenfell sketch entitled “The Committee”. It seemed all too familiar and yes we’ve all been to meetings like that!

It was about this time that we were beginning to receive news about the impact of the credit crisis on the Japanese banks. To mention just a few of those affected, we learned that the Origami Bank had just folded, Sumo Bank had gone belly up and apparently Investigators have realised that something fishy is going on at the Sushi Bank because customers have reported getting a raw deal.

Terry Langford stepped up to the podium for a second session. He was to be accompanied this time by Pat Jay but he was unfortunately still stuck on the M25. Nevertheless Terry carried on manfully. The finale was provided by Gina Franks with “I’m Just the Girl who Can’t Say No” from Oklahoma. Gina’s piece, and indeed all the singing, except for Terry who had his own equipment, was accompanied by Erica Counsell on the piano. Erica did a tremendous job and in recognition of her stoicism the SAKA committee may want to consider the services of a piano tuner before next year’s event!

A welcome fish and chip supper was once again produced by the Wei Lin’s Fish Bar in Western Road. Rhona Handcock and granddaughter Sally Andrew had prepared an excellent choice of desserts, so no one went home hungry. The Mayor of Southborough, Cllr. Colin Bothwell, presided over the Grand Draw for which tickets had been on sale throughout the summer. Thanks to all those who sold tickets, those who bought them and those who provided prizes, we were able to raise £393 and a further £120 was made as a result of the social event, which made good publicity for SAKA as well as producing a lot of laughter and enjoyment. Congratulations to the hard-working committee and those who participated in the cabaret.

This event is now a firm and successful fixture in SAKA’s calendar so make sure you don’t miss out next year. You won’t find a better value evening anywhere!

Robert Prance.

Support our supporters!

Without the support of those commercial organisations who donated prizes, we would not have been able to have staged such a successful Grand Draw. When making purchases, always keep these names in mind:

SEAFRANCE – Channel ferry services

Pantomime Productions – “Cinderella” at the Royal Victoria Hall this Christmas
Bidborough Dramatic Society – The comedy “Tons of Money” at the Bidborough Village Hall November 13

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– 15th.

Southborough Butchers

The Grand Draw

Full list of prizewinners:

1

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prize Seafrance Channel crossing for 5 plus car. Andrej Kotlarcyzk, Bidborough
2

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prize Family ticket Cinderella Pantomime Brian Dobson, Tunbridge Wells
3

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prize Family ticket Cinderella Pantomime Colin Bothwell, Southborough
4

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Prize Ticket 4 persons “Tons of Money” by Peter Johnson, Crowborough
Bidborough Dramatic Society
5

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prize Fold-up luggage set Anne Holford, Bidborough
6

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prize Framed Print– St. Peter’s church overlooking Daisy Fletcher, Southborough
cricket on Southborough Common
7

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prize Picnic hamper Mandy Dier, Crowborough
8

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prize Southborough Butchers’ voucher David Coward, Southborough
9

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prize “Jack the Ripper” book Debbie Cole, Bidborough
10

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prize Fold-up case Elizabeth Calladine, Tonbridge
11

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prize Swiss chocolates Rowena Morris, Southborough
12

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prize Chartwell table mats Michael Holman, Tunbridge Wells
13

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prize Leather handbag Audrey Constable, Pembury
14

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prize Condiments set Robert Prance, Southborough

Article from the Dnieper Star

Grand Charity Cabaret

Sun shines on SAKA Fete & Barbecue

Members worked hard to put together a worthwhile event on Saturday 16

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August and the weather was kind to us. Southborough Mayor, Councillor Colin Bothwell, performed the official opening reminding people that this was the second year we had held such an event and that this year we were raising money to help poor, elderly people in Kaniv. We were all delighted to have Anya with us on her first visit to England from Ukraine. She had been a pupil at School Number Six when the President, Chairman and their respective wives first visited Kaniv in September 2003. Now she is well into her course at University in Kiev.

Our publicity before the event was better this year but attendance was probably a little down on last year. However we were competing with “Super Saturday” in Beijing so we can be well pleased that a reasonable number of the general public spent time with us and that 20 of our members came either as helpers or customers. Tombola proved the most popular stall but, books, bric-a-brac, plants, games, teas, a raffle and ticket sales for the Grand Draw all helped us reach a very respectable profit on the day. A number of people found the exhibition about the Great Famine of 1932-33, when between 7 and 10 million Ukrainians are believed to have starved to death, most interesting. Copies of the Supplement which accompanied the display are available from the Chairman (01892 528495) on request.

Our thanks go to Direct Catering, who once again supplied the ever popular BBQ and most of all to all the helpers who did such a splendid job and made the event a very pleasant social occasion.

SAKA Fete and Barbecue. 11.30am – 3.30pm. Saturday 16th August 2008

Klitshko Brothers Supporting SAKA

Ukrainian World champion heavyweight boxer,

Vladimir Klitshko

and his brother

Vitaly

, the retired ex-champion, are supporting SAKA. They have donated two pairs of sparring gloves, which they have signed. We will shortly be arranging a promotion featuring the gloves in order to boost our Association funds, enabling us to invest in new projects to improve facilities in Kaniv for students and the elderly.

Ukrainian sportsmen and women have been generous in the support of our organisation. In 2007 a signed Discovery Channel team cycling shirt was donated by ‘super-domestique’ Yaroslav Popovych, following the Kentish stage of the Tour de France, which passed through Southborough; and Ukrainian-born Great Britain tennis star, Elena Baltacha, donated four signed tennis shirts.

Summer Fete rescheduled

Saturday, 16th August 2008

The date of the Summer Fete and Barbecue at Gallards Close has been put back two weeks. Full details will be notified shortly

Open Gardens Day

This was very much a new venture for us, so we were a little apprehensive as to its potential success, especially as the weather in the days beforehand had made preparations quite difficult. However the owners, all SAKA members, of the three gardens in Southborough and the residents of an interesting community garden were prepared to take a chance and open their gardens to members and friends. The weather on the day was kind and each of the gardens was delightful in its own special way. It was a typically English occasion with visitors eager to ask questions, chat with one another, admire the beauty set out before them and to appreciate the work that had been put into each garden to make it attractive for them. A very pleasant social occasion on a fine June afternoon just had to finish with the serving of traditional English cream teas on the lawn of the last garden of the tour. Everyone was agreed that the afternoon had been very worthwhile and a positive success. Thank you to all those who had helped to make it so.

We continue our policy of giving good value for money at all our events and at the same time to make very reasonable profits at both the above events. The funds raised at the Beetle Drive and the Open Gardens Day will go towards our objective for 2008 of making life just a little more comfortable for some of the poor elderly folk living in Kaniv

Beetle Drive at the Ark, Gallards Close

The Beetle Drive attracted sixteen people, mostly members plus a few guests. This was the third such event we have organised and to those members who have not yet attended one, we suggest you come along and surprise yourselves just how enjoyable they can be. No-one begrudged the fact that our hard-working events organiser was the winner – after all she does draw magnificent beetles!

Dates For Your Diary

Saturday, 2

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August 2008

Summer Fete and B.B.Q. at Gallards Close

Saturday, 27

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September 2008

SAKA Summer Soiree

(Prize winners for the Summer Draw will be drawn at this event)

The Great Famines in Ukraine 1932-1933

On the flight home from Ukraine following my second visit I read a magazine article by Myroslava Barchuk outlining a story of an event I knew absolutely nothing about. It shocked me as I’m sure it will shock you if you read it. It shocked me too that, having studied history to some depth at school, I knew nothing about a terrible tragedy which killed between seven and ten million people in a European country. I determined to do whatever I could to raise awareness of the awful famines which only seventy years before had led to such slaughter in a country often referred to as “The Bread Basket of Europe”.

To appreciate why our Association is important and must continue to grow in numbers and understanding I believe we need to comprehend what Myroslava Barchuk means when he writes, “It is increasingly horrifying to realize that millions of my fellow Ukrainians who were imprisoned physically and spiritually murdered by the Soviet regime, who were killed by the Famine of 1932-1933, were not just the victims of a terrible injustice – they were the carriers of truth, mercilessly destroyed.”

Ukraine will be marking the 75th Anniversary of the Famine this year. There will be exhibitions, conferences and meetings. Much material will be published and S.A.K.A. will focus its fund-raising activities on trying to make the lives of the poor, elderly in Kaniv a little more tolerable. Amazingly there are some survivors of the Famines, who managed also to live through the “Patriotic War” of the 1940’s and the Chernobyl disaster. I hope you will be able to help us in our endeavours.

I have copies of the magazine article to which I have referred as do the Prime-Minister, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Our Member of Parliament, Greg Clark, hopes to put down an Early Day Motion about the 75

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Anniversary and I am very grateful for his support. Please contact me if you would like to read the article. New Committee Member, Mike Bailey, has read the article and wrote as a result “This makes very sad and disturbing reading, however, it has made me even more determined to help the Kaniv people in any way I can, and am pleased to be a member of this Association. My personal thanks for what you and the Association are doing for our Kaniv friends, I’m happy to be on-board.” That’s good to know Mike and we’re pleased you are on-board.

/ Mike Handcock

The Pearl of the Night Crimea

The Crimean peninsula is an extraordinary corner of the globe, with its inimitable variety of animals and exotic plants. The Crimea attracts everyone by its fabulous beauty and a great number of sights of historic value.

But not all people who have ever been to this peninsula are able to unveil its greatest mystery, its pearl which has been the reflection of eternal beauty in itself for many centuries. It is the Black Sea.

At the beginning of the 5

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century B.C. Herodot, having seen it, claimed: “Pont Evksinsky (this is the ancient name of the sea) is the most marvellous of all other seas.”

Furthermore, it is a unique sea as it is the only sea in the world which saltiness equals the one of human blood. What is more, a great number of myths are connected with the Black Sea. For example, a myth of a widely known Gold Runo takes its sources in this sea.

Travelling over the Black Sea, it is impossible to avert your gaze from the magnificent beauty of cliffy coasts. You begin to feel yourself a particle of nature.

When night comes, a real fairy-tale begins. The sea becomes quiet and welcoming. And the Moon, that has recently appeared, shines tender on the surface of the water. All the life of coastal cities of the Crimea is reflected in twinkling lights on the surface of the sea. You become full of feeling that the next moment you will fly!

The stars appear in the sky one by one and brightly twinkle with one another whilst the sea below splashes in its turn.

It is enough to approach the nature of the Black Sea at night to understand the profoundness of Shakespeare’s words: “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

/ Tanya Mitina

Editor’s Note:-

This article was inspired by a visit Tanya made to the Crimea last Summer.

Chairman’s Message

Some job changes we made at the committee meeting in February as amongst other things our current Vice Chairman, Colin Bothwell, is due to become Town Mayor of Southborough in May and will then become our President.

Bob Marsh will become our Vice Chairman and we hope someone will come forward to take over his present role as Hon. Treasurer. If this is a task you are willing to take on then please contact either Jackie or myself.

Colette Marsh has taken on responsibility of Events Organiser from Elaine Lawrence.

Mike Bailey has taken over Colette’s job as Membership Secretary – his address is 8 Gallards Close, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 0NB.

We are most grateful to Trevor Poile, who during his term of office as Town Mayor has been a thoroughly supportive President of our Association attending nearly all of our functions helping in a host of big and small ways including opening the Fete and B.B.Q. So thank you Trevor for being an active President and for your support of the Euro-youth Project in Council.

If you haven’t yet paid your £3.00 subscription please send your cheque made out to S.A.K.A. to Mike Bailey. At the time of writing we had 29 paid up members.

Katy Lavender has a very busy school year ahead and is unable to continue as our Youth Representative, we thank her for everything she has done. We now need a new Youth Representative and would welcome anyone who feels able to take on this role.

A copy of the minutes of the AGM is attached showing details of subscriptions etc.
Mike Handcock