Seattle Sister Cities Cookbook Now on Sale!

The Seattle Sister Cities International Table cookbook is now available! These beautiful cookbooks make colorful presents for any holiday and feature 100 delicious recipes from Seattle’s sister cities, including five from Tashkent!

Local pickup is available in North or South Seattle, or books can be sent via media mail. To reserve your copy, go to https://seattle-tashkent.org/donate/ and click on the $40 family membership, or send $40 at https://paypal.me/stsca. Get your copy before they sell out!

Join us for the 2021 STSCA Annual Meeting!

Calling all STSCA supporters: it’s time for the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association’s Annual Meeting! Join us on Thursday, December 9, at 6 PM Pacific time to hear about our activities this year, including the establishment of a new museum in the revitalized Seattle Peace Park in Tashkent, and about plans to celebrate our upcoming 50th anniversary in 2023.

We’ll have also have Board elections and a raffle for some great Uzbek and Central Asian prizes, plus a preview of the beautiful new Seattle Sister Cities cookbook that includes recipes from Uzbekistan. Register at the link below to join us for this special event!

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkdeqorjMoGdIMQehWpATqWBPNvwoseZTD

Celebrate Uzbek Independence Day with STSCA at our Annual Picnic!

Come celebrate Uzbek Independence Day with the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association! See old friends and meet new ones while you enjoy a festive picnic in a beautiful location!

This year’s picnic will be held on Saturday, September 4, from 1-5 PM at Vasa Park in Bellevue on Lake Sammamish, located at 3560 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE. Please buy your tickets as soon as possible here:

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5203189

While a limited number of tickets may be available at the picnic, we cannot guarantee admission if you have not purchased your tickets ahead of time.

Also, due to the risks associated with the Delta COVID variant, we are requiring everyone 5 and older to wear masks, so please bring one with you, along with fruit or a dessert to share. Please also note that you are participating in the picnic at your own risk and that STSCA is not responsible for any outbreaks or infections that may occur, so let’s keep each other safe!

Buy your tickets now before they sell out here:

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5203189

When you arrive at the park, park your car in the parking lot, then cross the street to the gate entrance to the park. Let the person staffing the gate know that you are here for the Uzbek Independence Day picnic.

Please note that the park does not allow dogs or smoking. Also, if you or your kids would like to swim in the lake, you will need to fill out the Vasa Park swim waiver here:

https://www.waiverfile.com/b/VasaParkResort/ChooseWaiver.aspx

We look forward to celebrating with you! Please buy your tickets now before 1 PM PST on Friday, September 3.

See you there!
–The STSCA Board

STSCA Vice-President Receives “Friendship between Nations” Award from Uzbek Government

Congratulations to our Vice-President Fazliddin Shamsiev for receiving the “Friendship between Nations” award from the Uzbek government. Fazliddin-aka has worked tirelessly to promote connections between Seattle and Tashkent, so this award is very well-deserved!

Join STSCA for Navruz 2021!

Join STSCA for a fun, festive, virtual celebration of Navruz, the Central Asian New Year! Discover how Navruz is celebrated in Uzbekistan and how STSCA traditionally celebrates it. Learn how to make authentic Uzbek plov, a rice and meat dish that is traditionally eaten at Navruz. Enjoy watching colorful Uzbek dances, and dress up in your finest Uzbek fashion–prizes will be given to the best-dressed attendees!

When: Sunday, March 21, 2021 05:30 PM-07:30 PM PST

Where: Online via Zoom. Register here:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUodeihrT4iE907WM3PGLCKPmvWw8JcxGII

This event is free, but donations to STSCA are encouraged. Please consider making a donation here:

https://paypal.me/stsca

Please also note that this event will be recorded. See you there!

Navruz 2021 is sponsored by the law firm of Macdonald, Hoague, and Bayless, which has been fighting for civil rights and representing immigrants in Washington state and beyond for 65 years. 

Join Us for the STSCA Annual Meeting!

You are invited to join us at the STSCA Annual Meeting, on Saturday, December 12, at 8 PM PST on Zoom. Come learn about what we accomplished this year and what we are planning for the future. Help us elect new and returning Board members, and meet our partners in Uzbekistan, who will be joining us live from Tashkent!

Register here to reserve your spot:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUtc-ygpzMiH9YgRr_NRJ2bB1bw7Q5K0IkC

STSCA and Eurasia Academy Present the Bukharacha Dance Ensemble!

Join the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association and Eurasia Academy for a unique cultural evening with the Bukharacha Dance Ensemble–all the way from Bukhara, Uzbekistan! The event will take place online on Saturday, November 28, 2020, from 8-9:30 PM PST.

The Bukharacha Ensemble is part of the Bukhara Regional Branch of the State Philharmony of Uzbekistan. They develop and popularize the best forms of Uzbek classical and folklore music, as well as the art of performing national dance.

Don’t miss this special event, in which we will enjoy getting to know the members of the Ensemble and watching them perform. Register ahead of time here to reserve your spot:

https://zoom.us/…/tJwsde2orT8vGtXr5XDVomEF9ZOwrnELKjaE

STSCA Dance Performer Emiko Nakamura Wins Prestigious Ethnic Heritage Council Award

We are thrilled to announce that our very own Emiko Nakamura, whose colorful Eurasia Academy dance ensemble is the highlight of STSCA’s Navruz celebrations, is a winner of this year’s Ethnic Heritage Council Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Award–congrats, Emiko! The award honors excellence in ethnic performance and leadership in the community in the traditional cultural arts, and Emiko is very deserving of it, as she has singlehandedly been the driving force for teaching Uzbek and Central Asian dance in the Seattle area for over 30 years. She is also a passionate cultural ambassador who shares her love of Uzbek culture and dance with children and adults from many different backgrounds. Read about Emiko’s accomplishments, as well as about the other award recipients, here:

Ethnic Heritage Council Announces Recipients of the 2020 Annual EHC Awards to Ethnic Community Leaders and Artists

Join Us for Navruz 2020!

Note: Based on King County Public Health guidance regarding large gatherings during the coronavirus epidemic, we have decided to cancel this year’s celebration; if you have already purchased a ticket, you will receive a refund from Brown Paper Tickets. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation in helping to keep the community healthy!

Please join us for our 22nd annual Navruz celebration on Saturday, March 28, 2020, at the Vasa Park Ballroom in Bellevue. The event will be full of fun with delicious Central Asian food and entertainment! Join us for a festive meal, dancing, fashion show, and more as we usher in spring!

DETAILS

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2020
Time: 3 PM – 7 PM, or until the dancing ends!
Location: Vasa Park Ballroom, 3560 W Lake Samammish Pkwy SE, Bellevue WA 98008
Parking:There is ample parking right by the ballroom.

Please bring fruit and/or dessert to share.

TICKETS

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR AND THAT ANY ON-SITE TICKETS WILL COST EXTRA. PLEASE PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW TO GUARANTEE YOUR SPOT!

Tickets are available for purchase here:

https://navruz2020.brownpapertickets.com/

The cost for this event is $25 for ages 11-64; $10 for seniors 65+ and children 6-10; and free for ages 5 and under. Please contact us at navruz@seattle-tashkent.org to inquire about our ticket pricing for disabled people.

Your company can also reserve a VIP Table for 10 people at $500. The VIP table includes centrally located premium sitting and a specially reserved table, allowing members of your company to sit together without hassle. For VIP reservations, please email navruz@seattle-tashkent.org.

You must present a PRINTED ticket to be admitted, so please print your ticket ahead of time and bring it with you. Rakhmat!

In Memoriam: STSCA Founder Professor Ilse Cirtautas

We are deeply saddened to share with you the loss of our Founder Emeritus and long-time Vice-President, Professor Ilse Cirtautas. Professor Cirtautas, known to many in the Uzbek community as “Ilse-opa”, was instrumental in the founding of the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association, and was a fierce advocate for Uzbek-language studies and exchanges during her many years of teaching at the University of Washington.

Professor Cirtautas first traveled to Tashkent in May 1972 to do research at the Academy of Sciences, where she surprised the Uzbeks with her familiarity with the Uzbek language and customs. While in Tashkent, she met with the deputy director of the Uzbek Friendship Society, with whom she discussed the possibility of establishing a sister-city relationship. After her return to Seattle, Professor Cirtautas learned that in November of that year Tashkent had accepted Seattle as its sister city. She met with Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman, who asked her to serve as the first member of the Seattle-Tashkent sister-city committee.

She returned to Tashkent many times over the years, both as a representative of the committee and to support academic exchanges and library institutions. She passionately promoted the use of the Uzbek language, brought numerous Uzbek scholars to the University of Washington, and founded a scholarship program for UW students to study in Tashkent. 

Ilse-opa will be deeply missed, but her legacy will live on through the continued work of the STSCA and the many, many people, both in Seattle and in Tashkent, whose lives she touched!