“Girių versmė” is still gushing – Marijampolė county newspaper

Kazlų Rūda literati and artists’ club “Girių versmė” will turn 32 years old on May 24. Many still remember that sunny day in the spring of 1991 in the old library building of Kazlų Rūda, where our group of ten creators was warmly welcomed by Vida Makarevičienė, the librarian who worked at that time. The catchy title of the first gathering, “Spring Reawakens the Soul,” and the call to contribute was heard.

by the way, Teofilijas Žemaitytė, Juozapa Feiferienė, Vladas Buragas, who participated then, are no longer there… Those who joined the club’s activities later: Domicelė Stankevičienė, Eugenija Grigaitienė, Aldona Spūdiene, Agnietė Jankauskienė, Vida Mašanauskienė, priest Juozas Barkauskas, Antanas Enčius, Ona Arminienė, Algimantas Vaičiulevičius have left for eternity. , Hermenegilda Palionienė, Valdemara Vaitkevičienė, Antanas Čerapokas, Ona Kvedaravičienė.

It is not necessary to think that the end of existence has come for this non-governmental organization, rechristened association. While preparing interviews with local luminaries, I realized that there are still many undiscovered talents in the Kazlų Rūda region. I met Roma J., Gražina K., Lina S. They are still timidly treading creative paths and paths, but they are undoubtedly creative personalities. And that the spring of creativity is gushing, refreshing, timeless, can be confirmed by the meeting of club members and poetry fans on March 18 in the cafe “Fan shade”. After all the adversities and restrictions, even 17 people got together…

St. For us, Joseph’s Day is the celebration of the “First Ring” – snowdrops bloomed, which delighted the souls of Juozapa Feiferienė, Juozas Barkauskas and native Juozas Ardziauskas. I would also like to deny the rumors that the “Girių versme” club no longer exists. If it weren’t for illnesses and family concerns, 16 more people would have come to the meeting that day. Only some recently settled in Kaunas (maybe it’s strange, because now many are moving to villages…), others live in Marijampole, Plutiškės.

And the fact that the club had to give up the “guardianship” of VMI and the Register Center is natural (after all, no one pays a salary for writing prose and poetry, author’s books are published at their own expense, projects and publication of collections were previously supported only by Marijampole county and municipality). We are not going to release more sets, that’s why we gave up all dependencies. It’s easier to live and create this way, now the most important thing for us is meetings, communication, sharing creativity. Without morals, lessons, and criticism, we grow and improve by listening to each other,” Vitalija Kavaliūnaitė-Filipova, the head of the club since 1991, thinks and explains.

It is true that “Girių versmė” was depressed. It, like the whole world, was exhausted by the pandemic, and today the smoke of war is painfully suffocating in the sky of Europe. But the fountain of poetry, it turns out, is still flowing. The gathering of writers in the cafe “Parčių pavēsė” is indeed a testament to this. Apparently, in this period full of anxiety, poems should not be of concern, but Valeras Plioplys, a good friend of “Girių versmė”, who came to chat with the creators of Kazlų Rūda, who have been seen for a long time and have not yet been forgotten, expressed a positive attitude towards poetry.

“You can’t rush through life just crossing everything over your shoulder, making war, demanding, building, destroying, judging – a person needs poetry, because it softens, warms, refreshes, comforts, calms everything,” he said.
And the writers of “Girių versmės”, some with a touch of patriotism and nationalism, like Onutė Kupčinskienė, others with a bit of wit and satire, like Onutė Velepolskienė or Liudas Bielskus, the third with the help of lyricism, like Ramutė Sarapinavičienė, let us feel with their verses that poetry is really uplifting, cleanses feelings and soul. Sisters Edita Judickienė and Jurgita Grikietienė (Žalenekaitės), Violeta Liaudenskienė, Danguolė Reinertaitė-Smirnova also shared their creative thoughts at the meeting.

Since everyone was sincerely happy at the meeting, it became clear that “Giriu Versmė” is still pulsing, that it wants and can grow, as it grew in the most beautiful years of its existence.

Birutė SARAPINAVIČIENĖ