History of Rauboniai Culture House

History

A couple of decades ago, when I started to look into the history of the Raubonys Culture House, I found a document in the archives of the Pasvalys Culture Centre: 'On 14 September 1957. Order No. 98 By decision of the Executive Committee of the Pasvalys District Council of the DŽD, as of September 15th of this year, the reading rooms of the clubs Pervalkai, Vileišių, Telžių, Saločių, Kraštų and Ąžuolpamūšio were closed.
To transfer the assets of the new cultural houses to be set up, namely the reading rooms of the clubs of Oaks, Krasti and Telsiai, to the Rauboniai District House of Culture, to be opened from 1 October this year.

For the first decade of their activity, they were housed in the former Raudonpamūše Manor House (Figure |). Genovaitė Pažemeckienė remembers: "They set up a hall there, made a stage, and held rehearsals, dances and other events. They used to come from Pasvalys to show films. In the summer there were outings, musicians Povilas Narbutas, Jonas Patkauskas, Algis Mockūnas would play, and many people, both young and old, would gather. Dance groups were very popular at that time. (Fig. 2) We used to go to Pasvalys to perform at the Song and Harvest Festivals (Fig. 3).

I remember how we used to go to other villages in the collective farm truck to give concerts. They would put benches in the trailer of the truck, we would sit down and be happy to be transported." Later, the House of Culture moved to the old collective farm office in Raubonys, and now it is the site of the Tatula vingiai agritourism farm. On 9 February 1969, a new House of Culture was opened, which is still in operation today.

Aldona Jankauskienė: "At the end of 1965, we, girls who love songs, started rehearsing in the building of the Mūša collective farm office. We chose the songs ourselves. Mykolas Armonavičius played for us. There was also a library there, so in the summer the leaders also taught us folk dances. Of course, without specialist leaders, the repertoire of songs and dances was small. We were delighted when at the end of 1966 Romualdas Jacinkevičius, a very talented and patient teacher, began to work as artistic director.

He has worked intermittently at the House of Culture for a long time. He had also formed a village band. We used to rehearse in the office after work, because the manager would come in the evenings. The performances took place in Raudonpamūše, in the hall. Genė Grigaliūnaitė was the director at that time. On weekends there were dances, and many dancers, young people from the local and neighbouring villages, would come. In the summer, outings took place in Raudonpamūše, in the park, or in Ąžuolpamūše, in the meadow by Jiešmens.

In 1968, the current cultural centre in Raubonys was built. The conditions for rehearsals and concerts have become much better. Men also joined in. A band was formed again. It was a tradition to celebrate Midsummer at the Oak Mound (Fig. 4).

Banga Likpetrienė, who used to work at the House of Culture, remembers: "My husband, Algirdas Likpetris, had a musical family. My grandfather, my mother, my brothers were musicians. My husband played the armonica and accordion with ease. The elder brothers, Antanas and Vytautas, loved to play and sing. Vytautas played the violin. All of them were self-taught. When the village band was formed, my husband, Algis Ranonis, Antanas Simsonas and others played. The leader was Romualdas Jacinkevičius, a teacher of great memory. When my children grew up, I was invited to sing in a women's ensemble. I am grateful to the teacher who taught me to love song. Life as a villager was not easy in those days, but after hard work, people would come together to celebrate. We celebrated important dates, performed on the occasion of Mother's Day, at report meetings, and took part in district song festivals.

The subordination and name of the House of Culture has changed many times. Initially, they belonged to Raubonys district, then to Saločiai district, then to Pasvalys district culture department, then to Saločiai municipality. The Culture House used to have a director and an artistic director. Over the past 60 years, 25 directors and 26 artistic directors have changed. The first director of the House of Culture was Povilas Kavaliauskas and the first artistic director was Antanas Tamašauskas. The Raubonys section of the Pasvalys Culture Centre has been staffed since 1983 by Gražina Paškevičienė, a cultural events manager, Lidija Zagorskienė, an artistic director, who has been working in the Raubonys section of the Culture Centre since January 2007, and Lukas Simsonas, an events organiser, who started working in the Culture House in December 2019.

It has long been known that people need more than just bread to be satisfied - they need a good night's rest and leisure time. That is why many Raubonians were eager to take part in art activities. Some devoted their free time to singing, others to dancing and acting. For many years, a village band was active in the House of Culture, adding variety to many performances. (Fig. 5) In the past, the Culture House had a director and an artistic director. In the last sixty years, 25 directors and 26 artistic directors have changed. The first director of the House of Culture was Povilas Kavaliauskas and the artistic director was Antanas Tamašauskas.

The longest-lasting ensemble was the Women's Vocal Ensemble, which was formed and performed between 1966 and 2006. The ensemble consisted of 8-15 singers (Figure 6). The ensemble actively participated in various events and outings of the cultural centre. The leaders of the ensemble were Romualdas Jacinkevičius, Saulius Savickas and Ligita Špokauskienė.

In the past, folk performers were organised into ethnographic ensembles. Since 1983, such a group has been active intermittently in Raubonys (Fig. 7).In November 1999, the older villagers began to gather again for folklore ensemble rehearsals, to learn to dance and sing. The first programme was presented in spring 2000 at a birthday party. It was a great success and it was decided not to disband but to continue the activities. The longest-lasting women's vocal ensemble was the Women's Vocal Ensemble, which was formed and performed between 1966 and 2006. The ensemble consisted of 8-15 singers (Figure 6). The ensemble actively participated in various events and outings of the House of Culture. The leaders of the ensemble were Romualdas Jacinkevičius, Saulius Savickas and Ligita Špokauskienė.

Young people, especially girls, have always loved to sing, and have formed a number of vocal ensembles that have taken part in many events. There were also excellent soloists who delighted with their performances. The girls took part in the youth music festival “New Faces” and were well appreciated. Young people also loved to dance, gathering for rehearsals, creating dances, coordinating their stage outfits. In 1996 they took part in a dance festival at the Pasvalys Cultural Centre and in 1997 in the first dance festival “Batukai smailianosiukai” in Diliauskai. For several years, children's and youth folk dance groups were active intermittently, appearing in many concerts at home and on trips.

In the past, discos were very popular and took place every Saturday. The leaders of the discos were active guys, they arranged their own sound and light equipment, chose good music, and the young people loved the discos they organised, with over 100 young people coming from all over the district to attend.

The House of Culture organises a number of events each year: concerts, festivals, exhibitions, afternoons, evenings, meetings, etc. Some events have become traditional - Midsummer, Theatre and Mother's Day celebrations, the international crafts and art festival “Wool Days”, Christmas tree for children, Thanksgiving evening, etc. The annual Summer Festival attracts the largest number of participants. Every couple of years, there are meetings of local residents, which also attract interest and attention.

„Gyvenimas — scena,
o scena — gyvenimas...“

Prieš dešimtmetį, švenčiant kultūros namų įkūrimo 50-mečio jubiliejų, kolegė Natalija Mikašienė perskaitė prasmingus ir įsimintinus žodžius:
„Kultūros darbuotojai — tai žmonės, galintys dvasine prasme išlaisvinti mus iš jausmų sąstingio. Jie jautrios širdies ir poetiškos sielos žmonės, sugebantys savo veikla užkrėsti kitus. Jiems gyvenimas — scena, o scena — gyvenimas. Kultūrinis gyvenimas lyg banga — tai kyla, tai leidžiasi, linkiu Jums likti tos bangos viršūnėje“.

Žinoma, labai to norėtume, todėl kviečiame visus prisijungti, kad kartu keliautume per gyvenimą su daina širdyje, šypsena lūpose, gera nuotaika ir bendryste. Drauge kurkime ir puoselėkime kultūrinės veiklos tradicijas, mielieji mėgėjų meno mylėtojai!
Nuoširdžiai dėkojame visiems, esantiems kartu.