Zorinsk Favorites

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Favorite thing: My local friends gave me a poem about their town.
I found it nice, was impressed by it and decided to provide an English translation here.
The poem was written by Boris Gorozhankin, a retired coalminer.
He dedicated this poem to his hometown:
My Town

If I had to choose
What to take as a memory of my town,
I would take Zarechnaya Street with me
That follows the bank of the Lozova River,
And the little birch tree growing next to the rowan tree,
Whose catkins I would present to my sweetheart.

I would also take the spring smell of the ravine,
Where we used to wander with you in embrace,
I would take the clean love that will not deceive us,
And the song of the nightingale in the fog at dawn.

I would take the city’s clean look
When it is dressed in its wedding dress
Of blossoming gardens over the river,
I would willingly take it with me.

I would take some tulips from the coalminer’s greenhouse,
Some chestnuts from Lenin Street,
The smoke of coal waste heaps and of the coalminers' lift
Without which I cannot go on.

Here are my roots and my branches,
My ancestors lie buried in the Donets Land,
And my coalminer friends are in my heart.
How can I live without them
And how can they live without me?

That is why I must confess to you
That I cannot lose touch with my coalminer’s fate.
Coalminer’s blood is in my veins,
Here is my Motherland, my house and my love.

Boris Gorozhankin

Fondest memory: Taking a walk about the town and then having lunch at our new friend's.

Favorite thing: This is a rare picture of Zorinsk vessel on the Danube near the Ukrainian port of Ismail.
The ship’s project is H-3170 and the type is "Zaporozhye".
It was sold by the Black Sea Company to India in 1996 and now sails in Calcutta as “Deneb” (or “Danube”).
The vessel was called after the town for its construction was sponsored in the sixties by several enterprises and the biggest share of investments belonged to the local coalmine.
There was a correspondence between the city residents and the crew who invited the town residents to come aboard some day. It is too late now… The ship is sailing somewhere at the shores of the faraway India.
The picture is taken from Russian Riverships web site:
Russian Riverships

Favorite thing: You can try to call the town council if you at first call the Luganskugol coalmining administration in Luhansk.
Try to call +38 0642 57 62 14
ask them to connect you with Nickanor-New coalmine in Zorinsk and then ask the town operator at the coalmine in Zorinsk to connect you with the town council. It sounds rather complicated, but works quite well.

Favorite thing: The town was founded in 1930 at the same time with the beginning with the operation of “Nickanor” coalmine.
The coalminers’ settlement was at first called after the coalmine.
The old Nickanor coalmine was closed and the new one, Nickanor-New, was built from 1982 till 1998.
Now there are dozens of kilometers of underground tunnels now where coal is extracted.
About 1,700 workers are employed at Nickanor-New coalmine now.

Favorite thing: This building with fur trees can be seen from afar. It is the administrative building of Nickanor-New coalmine.
In the fifties of the last century there was a Stalin bust in the park where I stood to take this picture.
The people’s leader was facing the windows of the administration and keeping an eye on the folks there.

Favorite thing: This street leads to the square with the town club and the war memorial behind it.
As you can see, it is a rather clean and straight road with good asphalt – something to be proud of in such a small town!

Favorite thing: Here you can see my friend with Mr.Victor Kabanov – town mayor in his office.
The mayor even gave us his mobile phone number.

Fondest memory: Talking to the town mayor

Favorite thing: We found advice and help at the town council located in Lenin Street.
We met the mayor and his deputies and had a very good welcome.

Fondest memory: having lunch with our new friends at their place.