Worthy of respect and thanks
The “Klaipėdian Woman of the Year” competition, held to honor Klaipėda women who make our city famous with their work and achievements, who work devotedly for the benefit of the people living here, has earned the appreciation and respect of many Klaipėda residents.
The conditions of the tender do not allow politicians to be added to the list of applicants. This is done to ensure that the tender is not used for political struggle.
The employees of the daily “Klaipėda” noticed that, despite the skeptics’ belief that there will come a time when there will be no one left to claim the title of Klaipėda Woman of the Year, every year there are new names of women in the list of applicants who deserve great respect and thanks, and their fields of activity and merits covers various areas of life.
This year, more attention was paid to representatives of various arts and sports.
Diana Mačiūtė, who became a resident of Klaipėda this year, is the winner of many kyokushin karate competitions, twice recognized as the best trainer of the year, member of the presidium of the sports federation, world and European champion, pedagogue who is able to educate her students in such a way that they become people with a clean soul.
Emphasis is on arts and science
Dances, which require a lot of physical strength and proper preparation, could also be compared to sports.
This year, Rūta Židžiūnienė, the founder of the line dance school “Linedance LT” in Klaipėda, reached the final of the competition. Choreographer, pedagogue, organizer of international line dance festivals, she organizes them in Palanga, Morocco, Spain and thus makes the name of Klaipėda famous outside of Lithuania. It organizes international dance camp for children and adults and WCDF international ranking dance competition.
Klaipėda master of culture, artist Angelina Banytė, whose works can be seen by visiting St. In the Franciscan Church of Assisi, people know more of her works and admire the restraint of this woman.
Theater art lovers noticed and actively voted for Marta Vendland, the founder and director of the non-professional theater ARTYN, who has been actively working in Klaipėda for four years. Her desire to help adults realize their old dreams is especially impressive. She established an art house for this.
During the evening, another creator of the port city – Loreta Narvilaitė – was invited to the platform. A composer whose works are heard by the people of the city during various festivals. L. Narvilaitė, artistic director of the Klaipėda concert hall repertoire, develops the artistic taste of Klaipėda residents by creating a program of four classical music festivals. Every year, she has to select and organize about 200 concerts.
This year, the field of science was represented in the competition by Indrė Razbadauskaitė-Venskė, who encourages young people to be interested in entrepreneurship, marketing, and discover leaders within themselves. This young woman teaches at the international LCC University, ISM and VU Business School, is the chairman of the Klaipėda branch of the Lithuanian Marketing Association, spends a lot of time mentoring in various programs with the Innovation Agency and Junior Achievement programs.
Invited to the castle
This year, the competition was held for the 21st time, traditionally it attracted the attention of the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėdas. The host of the event read his congratulatory speech to the contestants.
This year, the pain of the war in Ukraine, the most relevant for all of us, has not been forgotten. All those gathered observed a minute of silence to honor the memory of those who died in this war.
Traditionally, all previous Klaipėda Girls of the Year, finalists of this year’s competition, the city mayor, patrons of the event, supporters, cultural and artistic figures of the city, politicians, representatives of various institutions are invited to the event.
This time, the celebrations were held in the heart of Klaipėda – in the conference hall located in the castle grounds.
For several years, this evening took place in the Klaipėda Drama Theater, it was also held in the Klaipėda Concert Hall, in the conference hall of the Aurora Hotel and in other most impressive spaces of the city.
More than one guest revealed that they visited the conference hall of the castle for the first time, so they were interested in what the celebration of spring and femininity would look like here.
The evening was broadcast on “Balticum TV”, Facebook account “Dienraštis “Klaipėda”, it could also be viewed on the internet portal www.klaipeda.diena.lt.
The stars are on stage
The event was hosted by Rokas Spalinskas, who worked as a soloist in the Klaipėda State Musical Theater for a long time. The handsome singer also performed a few songs.
“For me, a real Klaipėda resident, this event was more than one of many jobs. I felt a great responsibility, at the same time I must say that it was an honor to host such an evening. I am a patriot of my city, so I was very happy to work on this event. Although now I am a freelance artist and I am more often in Vilnius or Kaunas, it is always very good for me to return to Klaipėda, I do not even consider the possibility of moving to live somewhere else. I always try to do my job responsibly, but the uniqueness of this event forced me to try even harder to make everything go as well as possible. To me, the idea of finding and thanking women who work for the benefit of the people of their city is extremely beautiful, I hope that this event will be alive for many years to come”, said R. Spalinskas.
During the evening, the performer Paulius Barzinskis appeared, the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra musician Kornelija Kupšytė appeared in a new role as a singer.
The star performer of television projects Julija Yegorova gave the audience many beautiful moments.
The Klaipėda String Quartet delighted the audience with their music – violinists Tomas Cinelis and Teodora Morta Staigė, violist Edvinas Kaziukaitis, cellist K. Kupšytė.
I love when the event is spiritual.
Saulius Šiaučiulis, one of the brightest traditional jazz pianists in Lithuania, became the biggest star of the evening.
“I have participated in the Klaipėda Girl of the Year honoring evening before. It’s a very meaningful competition, and I’m very happy with its versatility. So many different areas of life are reflected in it that even women doing simple everyday work are noticed. Everyone is very delicate, I’m glad that female artists got a lot of attention this year. I love when the event is spiritual. This year, the event was very successful, not overcrowded”, said maestro S. Šiaučiulis.
He praised the organizers that there was only water on the tables in the official part, and the feast was waiting for the guests in the second part, so the performers could feel the attention of the audience.
S. Šiaučiulis also praised the host’s work, calling him not only a good singer, but also a great host, while also praising the event’s director Tomas Jašinskas.
“There were very good highlights. The television staff worked very well, they are professionals in their field. The performer Julia Yegorova was especially great, she not only has a good voice, but also looks great on stage. I am grateful for the fact that the organizers invited me”, said S. Šiaučiulis, a veteran of the scene.
Traditionally supports the competition
The organizers of the “Metų klaipėdietės” competition would like to thank the honorary patron of the competition – the real estate management company “Mūsų vikas” and its manager Rimantas Cibauskas.
For several years, the main sponsors of the event have been the company “Švyturys GO nealkoholinis” and the Sea Freight Company BEGA.
The sponsors of “Klaipedietė of the Year” are the company “Parsekas”, which provides environmental solutions and services in the port, the international shipping and logistics company DFDS, and the cardiology clinic “Testas”.
The partners of the event are the integrated holding of wood processing companies of Lithuanian capital “Vakāru maišės grupė”, the dental clinic “Vaidenta”, the medical center “Lorna”.
The impressive bouquets presented to the women were composed by the florists of the company “Graži gëlė”.
The technical service of the event was provided by “Pro DJ”, the broadcast was provided by “LiveVideo”, directed by “Teorema Teataras”.
Mission: R. Spalinskas said that it was an honor and a pleasure for him to host the gala evening of “Metų Klaipėdietė”. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Star: maestro S. Šiaučiulis participated in the Klaipėda Girl of the Year nomination evening not for the first time. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Surprise: K. Kupšytė not only played the cello, but also sang. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Charisma: J. Yegorova charmed the guests not only with her singing, but also with her inner strength. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Classics: the guests of the event were pleasantly surprised by the Klaipėda String Quartet. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Reda, Rimantas and Rugilė Cibauskas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Diana and Tadas Shirvinskas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Regina and Aloyzas Kuzmarskii. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Algirdas Valiulis. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Nijole and Niels Hansen. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Loreta Laurinavičienė and Violeta Beresnevičienė. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Eglė Radzevičienė and Loreta Bosienė. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Jolanta Juškevičienė. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Irmina and Virginijus Jurgelevičiai. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Dainius and Aušra Vēsa. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Olga Žalienė and Rūta Židžiūnienė. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Vidas Milkevičius, Justė Šiuipienė, Tomas Jašinskas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Aistė Kundrotaitė and Dovydas Bajoras. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Irena and Valentinas Greičiūnas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Daiva and Artūras Razbadauskai. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Aldona and Gedvydas Grigaliūnas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Jūratė and Irmantas Rekašai. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Indrė Razbadauskaitė-Venskė and her husband Tadas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Rūta and Žilvaras Židžiūnas. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Martha and Albert Vedland. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Angelina Banytė (right) with her sister Kristina. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Loreta Narvilaitė. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
Acknowledgment: S. Idzelevičieni, the first Klaipėda Citizen of the Year, is still highly respected. Photo by Vytautas Liaudanskis and Matas Baranauskas.
They have already become Klaipėda citizens of the year
in 2003 – Skaistutė Idzelevičienė,
in 2004 – Klaudija Bobianskienė,
in 2005 – Aldona Grigaliūnienė,
in 2006 – Olga Žalienė,
in 2007 – Kristina Vintilaitė,
in 2008 – Žaneta Norkuviene,
in 2009 – Inga Grubliauskienė,
in 2010 – Nijolė Hansen,
in 2011 – Loreta Bosienė,
in 2012 – Jurga Karčiauskaitė-Lago,
in 2013 – Dalia Kanclerytė,
in 2014 – Janina Tulabienė,
in 2015 – Aldona Kerpytė,
in 2016 – Jolanta Česienė,
in 2017 – Galina Kučinskienė,
in 2018 – Loreta Laurinavičienė,
in 2019 – Skaistė Svidraitė,
in 2020 – Jūratė Rekašienė,
in 2021 – Maya Tarachovskaya,
in 2022 – Sofija Kanaverskytė.
