Russia Connection
After a “Sister City” connection with Detchino was established, Richard and Dema Lunsford invited others to assist and a list of Detchino needs was provided - medical supplies being at the top of the list.
Singer Barbara Mandrell and her husband Ken Dudney were assigned medical supplies. They assembled a large duffel bag of supplies including water filters, medical instruments, sanitary products and other items.
They also provided Bibles and a film about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.The Ice family contributed aspirin, shampoo, deodorant, and makeup cases. L.F. and Carla Perry brought Band-Aids, wash cloths, toothbrushes and soap.
J. Bryan “Doc” Stine, a cheese expert who retired from Kraft Foods to a farm near Burkburnett, brought cheese starter and instructions for using it.
The itinerary called for the Olney party to leave the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on May 8, 1992 at 10:50 p.m. on Lufthansa Airlines and to arrive in Frankfurt on May 9 at 3:20 p.m.
They left Frankfurt in a smaller Lufthansa plane at 4:55 p.m. local time and arrived in Moscow on May 9 at 10:15 p.m. Until the fall of Communism, passengers could only fly into Russia on Russian airlines.
Even though the delegation had a lot of bags, customs officials let them right through. The man in charge of examining their passports kept looking in every direction.
The party later discovered the reason was that there were mirrors everywhere and he was watching for anything suspicious.
Three men, Igor Troyanovsky, Victor Rysikov and a security officer were waiting for the delegation to clear Customs. They had two vehicles to transport the Olney party where they would reside. Soon the delegation was on its way to Moscow, a city of more than 7 million.
The traffic was very light - very few cars, no people walking about and very few street lights, not at all like big American cities. The delegation was greeted warmly by the Director of the Retirement Center and his assistant. This was to be the party’s home while in Moscow.”
In the foyer of each room was a refrigerator with a latenight snack of sliced meat, boiled eggs and fizzy water. Somewhat later, two girls brought tea to the delegation. To the right was a large closet and to the left were two small rooms - one with a lavatory and bathtub and other with a commode. From the foyer, two separate rooms - to the right, a sitting room with a couch, coffee table, television and another small table and to the left, one bedroom with a single bed, wardrobe and table. Each window had a view of small garden plots and trees around the Center.
The group found out later why this place was so nice; only Russians with political connections got to retire there. After a Sunday breakfast of two fried eggs, potatoes, toast, and a beverage, the Olney delegation assembled for a visit to a local Russian Orthodox Church and other Moscow attractions.
To be continued next week