A Walk Down Memory Lane: Jurate Kazickas and Sr. Igne Reunite in Putnam
On August 2, the 80th Lithuanian Summer Festival took place in Putnam – a long-standing tradition that brings the Lithuanian community together each year, celebrating culture, faith, and the enduring connection to Lithuania. For Jurate Kazickas, the traditional Putnam Picnic became a special opportunity to walk down memory lane and reconnect with Sr. Igne where the two first met and became friends 72 years ago while attending Camp Immaculata summer camp for girls.
We share Jurate Kazickas’s reflections on returning to the site and witnessing the vibrant continuation of Lithuanian traditions in the United States.
On Sunday, August 2, Putnam celebrated its 80th picnic on the grounds of the Convent of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The congregation was founded in 1918 in Lithuania, its first sisters arrived to the US in 1936 and moved to Putnam in 1943.
I was there on a sentimental day trip to revisit the site of Camp Immaculata for girls, that I had attended way back in July, 1954 but had not seen since!
I was met by Sr. Igne, a force of nature. She is a senior sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor, and an active promoter and supporter of Lithuanian and Christian traditions within Lithuanian communities in the US and Canada. Sr. Igne is a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania by the President of Lithuania in 2020. From 1970 -1996 she led Lithuanian children’s camp Neringa (est. 1969) in Brattleboro, VT and is the author of its curriculum.
Sr. Igne whose name then was Grazina Marijosiute, and I had been best friends during those camp days. Happily, we had stayed in touch over the many years, meeting up now and then in the US and Vilnius.
We walked around the grounds and old buildings and little by little, some memories came trickling back. The dormitory rooms where five girls slept on cots (and hid our comic books under the pillows), the flag pole where each evening we sang the Lithuanian national anthem, the classrooms where I learned how to embroider, weave sashes, play the kankles, perform folk dances, and sing Lithuanian songs. (I still remember all the verses to “atskrend sakalelis”) and of course, to improve my Lithuanian grammar, the language of my homeland. All in all, those four weeks when I was 11 were among my happiest memories.
The Putnam Picnic was a celebration of Lithuanian culture. There was plenty of amber for sale, beautifully crafted woodwork, “Tree” cakes, books, tri-colored T-shirts (notably the iconic Grateful Dead tie-dye). Lunch was served – my favorite kugelis, beet soup, sausage and sauerkraut! Heaven!
But the highlight of the day was the singing and dancing by campers bused in from Camp Neringa’s Vermont location. Choreographer Edgaras Snipaitis from Kaunas in only two weeks had taught more than 130 children to do those classic skipping and twirling moves of Lithuanian folk dances.
I was truly moved by the sight of so many young people, dancing so proudly and exuberantly. I watched them with delight, vaguely remembering my own nervous excitement as a new camper trying not to miss a step on that very same field.
But the picnic for me was more than nostalgia for days gone by. It was a reaffirmation of the love all these people – dozens of families, children, senior citizens – had for the culture and traditions of Lietuva. We all came together that day to celebrate our common heritage.
I congratulate all the hard-working organizers of the Putnam picnic and thank them and Sr. Igne for this joyful – and inspirational – walk down memory lane.
