Some reasons to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Estonian independence in NYC

I don't care if anyone thinks otherwise, these are legitimate reasons to be taking part in the 90th anniversary celebration of Estonian independence in New York City, some of which even bear mentioning a second time:


• It’s the 90th anniversary of Estonian independence. Celebrate the 90th to help ensure that there will be a 91st, 92nd, 93rd,..,100th anniversary celebration in 2018, and so on.

• Edward Lucas will deliver the keynote address in English, real English, not the accented dialect that people this side of the Atlantic call English. More importantly, in addition to having written about Estonia’s successes (and occasional missteps) in the pages of the The Economist, in his blog, and elsewhere in online and print media, Lucas has covered Central and Eastern Europe since 1986, and is in the position to provide unique insight into the region’s current geopolitical climate. His most recent book, The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West, will be released in the United States a few days before Estonian Independence Day.

• “The Singing Revolution” – the documentary film produced by Jim and Maureen Tusty will be playing in New York City for Independence. For those who haven’t yet seen the film, or would like to see it again, this is the perfect opportunity. There will be a showing of the film at a new theater, the Cinema Village in the East Village 10:30am Saturday, February 23rd, leaving ample time to get to the 1pm Independence Day ceremony at Community Church on 35th Street between Park and Madison. If you can’t make it to the theater on Saturday, there will be 2 additional screenings of the film on Sunday, February 24th, at 1pm and 3:00pm**
(It was 4:00pm, but now the official times on Sunday are 1:00pm and 3:00pm)

• There will be performances by Kersti Ala-Murr (soprano-Norway), Jaak Lutsoja, and the band “KIRSIAED” (from Tallinn) during the Independence Day ceremony and dinner-dance afterwards.

• There will be a rousing performance of ‘Isamaa ilu hoieldes’. Maybe not on the same scale as when it was sung by Ivo Linna and others at last summer's young peoples' song festival, but should be inspiring nonetheless.

• The NY Giants won the Superbowl.
OK, this one might be a little bit of a stretch, not really related to Estonian independence, was just looking for an excuse to call attention to David Tyree’s “miraculous” helmet-induced catch. Then again, I can remember a time that Estonian independence seemed little more than a pipe dream, so maybe the connection is not as tenuous as some might think.