 |
1,602 miles
Feb 27 - In
a small park near the reedy shore of Cameron Lake, just down the street from
downtown, is The Erskine Fish. The
town's main tourist attraction is the world’s largest statue of a Northern Pike.
Tourists amuse themselves by posing for
photos with their heads – or their small children – inside the big fish's
mouth.
 |
| Cameron Lake |
In the past,
Erskine's sewage was dumped into Cameron Lake, and its shores were littered
with dead fish. The Clean Water Act of
1970 forced the town to redirect its sewage to a sewer plant near Badger Lake. Today, the lake is much cleaner, and lakeshore
property has been built up with pricy mansions.
 |
| Old Believers cross |
In the late
1990s, Erskine became the center of a community of Russian Old Believers,
estimated at between 50 and 100 families. Around 1666, the Old Believers, or Old
Ritualists, separated from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest
against church “reforms” to the old rituals.
A period of persecutions began, including both torture and executions.
Many Old Believers fled Russia, and scattered around eastern Europe, Canada,
and the US. Estimates place the total
number of Old Believers remaining today at from 1 to 2 million, some living in
extremely isolated communities in places to which they fled centuries ago to
avoid persecution.
 |
| old ritual blessing |
In 1974, the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia issued an ukase revoking the old
“reforms” and asked forgiveness from the Old Believers for the wrongs done to
them. Nevertheless, most Old Believer
communities have not returned to Communion with the majority of Orthodox
Christianity worldwide.
The Old
Believers began moving to Erskine around 1998 in order to escape a farming
crisis and suburban sprawl which threatened their community near Woodburn,
Oregon (about half-way between Portland and Salem). Few pictures of their communal life are
available online.
 |
| car racing on frozen lake |
A highlight
of winter recreation in Erskine is ice car racing. Most of the pictures I’ve seen online look
more like a demolition derby on ice!
This is one version of fun that I could only enjoy vicariously. No, not even virtually, from 1,602 miles
away.
fish image
& info: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2823#sthash.5rAT0PrN.dpuf
lake
image: http://www.ci.erskine.mn.us/
info:
Wikipedia.com
cross
image: http://www.polyvore.com/
ice racing
image: http://musicadict.xyz
No comments:
Post a Comment