Azerbaijani Cultural Garden dedication at the new Azerbaijani Cultural Garden, 761 MLK Jr. Blvd, at Noon on Monday, May 12, 2008.

To read more, see Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Robert Smith, Azerbaijan Cultural Garden opens Monday with bowl sculpture.

Bill Jones of the Cultural Gardens Federation tells me that ground was broken on April 17, 2008 for the Serbian Cultural Garden. Interestingly, a hidden drain or culvert has prompted the shift of the Garden’s infrastructure a bit to eliminate the conflict.

Work continues across the street on the Azeri Garden (still slated for May dedication). This this part of MLK Jr. Blvd. is quite a construction zone. Passersby will assume that the Gardens are in surprising growth spurt as indeed they are.

On a separate note, Latvian President Dr. Valdis Zatlers, his wife, and a good portion of the Latvian administration will be in Cleveland for the Annual American Latvian Associations Congress which the Cleveland Latvian community is hosting this year. A large group of these Latvian government officials and US government officials (no doubt from the State Dept. and Secret Service in part), along with local political figures, will be at the Latvian Garden April 26 at 10:30 AM to mark this internationally important site, and to call attention to the Cultural Gardens.

If you can’t be there, do watch your local TV station’s Saturday evening news and the PD, among others for reports of the visit. News of the convention itself will be in the news from Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27.

We are privileged to count the Latvian community as a part of the Cultural Gardens and applaud their outstanding efforts to call attention to the Latvian Garden and the Cultural Gardens, in turn. Meanwhile, we’d give our proverbial eye teeth to have our own ancestorial countries’ top executive in our Garden. The Latvians show that anything is possible.

Drop Bill an email if you want to learn more: sekoj1@sbcglobal.net