Wednesday 20 January 2016

Year-end Newsletter 2015

Dear Friends,

Seeking good health, visits with family and friends, travel, photography, and working to create a culture of peace has occupied our time in the past year.


The last week of 2015 was a very memorable warm and wonderful vacation in Cuba with family and friends (909 photos). The island is a social experiment promoting an equitable society. Did you know that Cuban police do not carry guns? Why? Because drugs are absent. People feel very safe.

Koozma’s trip to Saskatchewan in summer was an opportunity to show two of his grandchildren (Nicholas and Elena) the places where the Tarasoff ancestors lived, worked and went to school. It was also a time to introduce the children to cousins, uncles and aunts and see my brother John in Saskatoon.

Being an activist, writer and photographer for the annual Ottawa Peace Festival was again a challenge. ‘Peacing together the Canada we want’ was part of a larger frame in which we create an image of the future where we can live in a peaceful world with a friendly attitude to the environment. Our important work continues to ensure that our planet and its peoples will survive.

Reviewing books and plays, answering questions, working on an eBook of Biographies, and with webmaster Andrei Conovaloff (Arizona, USA) has kept Koozma busy. Our mission continues to be to search for truth and a nonkilling future.

With Kristina and her daughter Milena, Koozma visited New York City in the spring. We did a lot of walking — visited the Guggenheim Museum, went to the top of Empire State Building, and visited the World Trade Center site of 9/11. On 57th Street, we took pictures of the famous Carnegie Hall where Kristina in the fall of 1963 danced with the Koutev Bulgarian National Ensemble (State Ensemble for Folk Song and Dance) and toured 25 USA states and Canada.

In this 1963 Program at University of Michigan she performed as a soloist in many dances.

Kristina continues to work part-time on Saturday mornings as Site Administrator with the International Languages Program of the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) Continuing and Community Education Department, serving over 230 students.

Kristina’s daughter Milena teaches music in Ottawa, while Orlin, Kristina’s son in Sofia, Bulgaria, is working as a musician / composer.

Lev continues to teach physics at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in St. John’s. He commutes to Guelph, Ontario as needed; his wife Dorothee Bienzle teaches at the University of Guelph. Their son Jaspar is now studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, while daughter Katya continues to be a good student and a soccer athlete.

Koozma’s daughter Tamara continues to work for Parks Canada, while her husband John travels widely and works for Heritage Canada. Their son Nicholas is studying at Cégep Heritage College in Gatineau, while daughter Elena goes to Philemon Wright School. All are good students and active in sports.

Kristina and Koozma have maintained close contact with family and friends including several Bulgarian families in Ottawa. We were delighted to be guests of the beautiful weddings of the children of friends — Arinka, the daughter of Kalinka and Aram Naltchadjian, and Luba — the daughter of Tatiana and Mike Raytchev. These two events radiate beauty of Love and Happiness to all of us! Direct visits, emails, telephone and Skype connections give us an opportunity to maintain ties across the country and abroad.

Together we wish all our dear friends the best of good health, creativity, love, joy and happiness in 2016.

Koozma J. Tarasoff and Kristina Kristova, 882 Walkley Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1V 6R5, Canada. Emails: kjtarasoff@gmail.com and k.kristova1@gmail.com

Previous Year-end Newsletters : 2014 — 2013 — 2012 — 2011 — 2010 — 2009

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