Вързулица – единственото село без читалище, което има само сграда
Кметският наместник Генчо Йорданов: „Няма хора за състави, 126 къщи са необитаеми”
ВЪРЗУЛИЦА Е ЕДИНСТВЕНОТО СЕЛО В ОБЩИНА ПОЛСКИ ТРЪМБЕШ, А ВЕРОЯТНО НЕ САМО В НЕЯ, КОЕТО от години си няма читалище.
Културната институция се казва „Пробуда” и още фигурира в списъците на културното министерство. Последните промени в регистъра на народните читалища са вписани през 2008 г., когато председател е Генчо Йорданов, а секретар Тотка Кирова. Няколко години по-късно читалищната дейност е напълно изоставена и сега „Пробуда” реално съществува само на хартия. За сметка на това обаче си има сграда на площада, слепена с кметството и строена през 1961 година. В нея всичко е в окаяно състояние, само на първия етаж функционира клуб, където се провеждат изборите и понякога се ползва на празници. На втория има стайче с киномашина, салонът не е отварян от години, библиотека, естествено, няма. На сградата дори не е останала табелата, че това е читалище. Само вътре има оцелял надпис: „Този, който сам не е просветен – не може успешно други да просвещава”. Дори в него има груби правописни грешки, но поне намеква, че това е просветна институция.
ПОСЛЕДНИЯТ ПРЕДСЕДАТЕЛ НА ЧИТАЛИЩЕ „Пробуда” сега е кметски наместник. Генчо Йорданов си спомня, че сградата на читалището е открита, когато е сформирано и читалището. Има си куп други проблеми в селото, за да се кахъри за читалищната дейност.
„То тук няма хора, всички са стари и едва кретат.
Как да накарам някого да участва в самодейност към читалището, така е и с пенсионерския клуб. Сега имаме 126 необитаеми къщи, 20 са срутени, само в 100 живеят хора. С чужденците селото е към 130 живущи. Може да нямаме читалищна дейност, но имаме „алея на чужденците“ – филипинци с три деца, германци с три деца и други. Обезлюдяването съсипа поминъка по малките села, та читалището ми е най-малкият проблем”, казва единственият кметски наместник в общината. И си спомня за самодейността едно време, когато Вързулица е било голямо село.
ТЪЖНОТО Е, ЧЕ И ЦЪРКВАТА „РОЖДЕСТВО БОГОРОДИЧНО” Е В ОКАЯНО СЪСТОЯНИЕ И отваря врати много рядко. Бившето училище в селото е продадено преди години, но новият собственик не прави нищо със сградата. Поне наскоро храсти и дървета в двора на църквата са почистени, в плановете на кметския наместник за тази година влиза ремонт на покрива. Във Вързулица може да няма читалище и пенсионерски клуб, но има асфалт с пешеходна пътека пред кметството, което създава добро впечатление. Има и ремонтирана автобусна спирка, почистено гробище и скоро ще се слага сглобяема къщичка за последно сбогом с покойниците.
Нели СУКОВА
Б.А. В следващия брой ще разкажем как Генчо Йорданов управлява Вързулица четири десетилетия и каква е била съдбата на последното магаре Сиса в селото.
20 г. майка и син успешно управляват ферма за пилета във Вързулица
Hello.
Myself and my partner moved here over ten years ago from UK.
When we arrived heard there was a club room and asked Gencho could we use it for karaoke. He asked “What is karaoke?” We said “Let us use the club room and you’ll see.”
He opened up the from and we set up our music system with only ourselves, Gencho and three of his friends. We sang and drank beer while Gencho and his friends watched. I had downloaded a lot of Bulgarian songs also and eventually, after several drinks and a lot of persuading, Gencho and a friend had a sing.
The following week there were around ten people came to the club room. The next time, more than twenty and so on until we have had forty plus people regularly singing and dancing there, including friends from Maslarevo.
Then Gencho closed the club room for many months for refurbishment. We moved our karaoke nights to Maslarevo where we were hosted outside Penka’s shop at the crossroads. There we regularly had more than seventy people singing and dancing until the early hours most Fridays in the warmer months. Then one person complained and we had to close it down at 10pm as the police came by.
When our club room reopened we started having karaoke, birthday parties etc again. Also in wintertime we went in most evenings with around six to eight old people to play domino and keep warm for an hour or two, with a drink. The old people enjoyed it. Then I was told it was costing a lot of money running the air conditioning unit and I could use the clubroom only once per month. The mayor’s office air conditioning was operating 24/7 , 365 days, even during holidays and weekends.
The condition of the school is a disgrace. It should be law that the owners of empty buildings should be accountable for the upkeep of the buildings and not just let them fall down. Surely the owners are paying council tax? If not, the buildings and houses can be auctioned off to people who would use them and bring life back to villages. In Varna, owners are being told to pay up back taxes or their properties get auctioned.
We bought the derelict house next to our home and within a couple of months received a letter from Polski municipality asking what we were going to do about the condition of the house as it ‘ posed a danger to the public.’ I told them I was pulling it down and will rebuild it. There are houses falling down around the village in far worse condition to that house. I wonder if any of the owners of these houses have been contacted?
I have been told by locals that a lot of empty houses have been bought by the local landowner and will not be resold to help repopulate the village. Some are already falling apart.
There is also a problem with stray dogs getting pregnant time after time. The young German family mentioned have had problems with this, the father was severely bitten on his arm by one dog. There was a dog living outside Gencho’s house for years, aggressive and always having pups. Eventually, I approached him and asked if I could get the dog castrated and stop the problem. He agreed and with the help of an animal rescue charity, we paid for the operation and also rehomed the last four puppies. Now the dog ( we named her Ginger) still lives on the street but she is lovely and calm, comes to our home morning and evening for food and comes for long walks with us and our dog. I have heard that there is money from the municipality for any stray dog problems. Is this true?
I love this village and feel that we have been accepted as good neighbours here, even though we were told that a certain person referred to us as gypsies ! I have done lots of free work for the older people here and we enjoy their company at the shop for dominoes most evenings and are regularly invited to various family functions.
We enjoy growing our own food and have learnt a lot from our elderly Bulgarian neighbours. Their knowledge and way of life should be cared for and cherished, otherwise Bulgaria will end up like UK and other countries, with no cultural heritage or sense of identity.
End of rant.
Also, a few years ago and American friend brought over a group of musicians called ‘ блато злато’ from New Orleans. They stayed at our home.
He saw the empty theatre and said he would pay all costs to refurbish it for the community but was turned down because ” there aren’t enough people here to make it worthwhile.”
I approached the lady mayor of Maslarevo and she thought it would be great to have an outdoor concert in their village which we organised. There was outdoor seating provided and the band played an amazing concert of Bulgarian music and song ( look for them on YouTube! ) followed by Maslarevo mayor’s choral group.
Блато злато were given the key to Maslarevo and went on to appear on Bulgarian TV.