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North Lake Tahoe Bonanza (Incline Village, NV)
Posted on September 1, 1999

By   Keith Sheffield

Four Russian community leaders will be visiting Incline Village and other areas on the North Shore today through the Labor Day weekend.

The Russian visitors, who are making their first trip to America, will spend several days observing different levels of government in small towns and cities and how Americans conduct their daily lives.

A whirlwind schedule is planned for the diplomats today which has them stopping by the Washoe County Justice Court, the Chamber of Commerce, the Incline Village General Improvement District, and the homes of their host families.

Having the Russian community leaders visit the Tahoe area, as well as other regions of the United States, mirrors a visitors program that started after World War II under the Marshall Plan, said John Danielson, improvement district general manager.

Danielson and Tim Callicrate, improvement district trustee chairman, will be just a couple of the Incline Village community leaders the Russians will meet.

Incline's visitors are able to come to Tahoe through the Open World Russian Leadership Program.

The program was launched by James Billington, the U.S. Librarian of Congress, James Collins, the U.S. Ambassador, and the United Methodist Church.

Some 2,000 Russian civic and political leaders are expected to visit U.S. cities by Sept. 30.

Visiting leaders are Artur Arturovich Chubur, Nikolay Mikhaylovich Perepechin, Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Semenov, Lyudmila Petrovna Oreshnikova.

Chubur, a deputy of State Duma - a parliamentary body - is the youngest of the group at age 33. He is interested in the areas of human services, public management and general government, and theoretical aspects of government.

Perepechin, age 52, an industry committee chairman, has interests in solving economy problems and hopes to establish contacts with American business.

Semenov, age 40, is interested in public finance, as well as public management and general government. In Russia, he's the head of a permanent commission and has professional interests in municipal self government, and Russian civil society.

Oreshnikova, age 48, is the only woman in the group. She works in the Kazan city administration and is Chubur's assistant.

The Russian leaders will be traveling to Carson City Thursday, where they will meet with Gov. Kenny Guinn, Nevada State senators and assemblymen, and later traveling to the South Shore, Kings Beach, Truckee, and Reno.

[Permission granted by North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. ]

[Reprinted with Permission]

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