THOUSAND OAKS : Sister Group Reaches Out to Russian City

Two years after establishing ties with a city in war-torn Armenia, the Thousand Oaks Sister City Committee plans to initiate exchange programs with a community in Russia’s heartland.

Ryazan, a city of 600,000 located 125 miles southeast of Moscow, was declared off-limits to foreigners during the Cold War because it housed several military training schools, said Tamara Gorin, a Russian emigrant who now lives in Thousand Oaks.

But over the past few months, members of the committee have been telephoning, writing and faxing residents of Ryazan, the birthplace of Nobel laureate psychologist Ivan Pavlov.

With Gorin serving as translator, they are trying to set up business, cultural and student exchanges. They also hope to send humanitarian aid, including much-needed eyeglass frames for children.

“I know the soul of the Russian people, and because I can’t be there myself now, involved in what’s going on, I wanted to do this,” said Gorin, who came to the United States in 1976.

To cement the sister-city link, organizers plan to invite a Ryazan dance troupe or choir to perform when the Civic Arts Plaza opens in October, 1994.

They would also like to send representatives from Thousand Oaks’ art community to participate in Ryazan’s 900th birthday celebration in 1995.

Thousand Oaks’ first sister city, Spitak, Armenia, has suffered through devastating natural disasters and food and fuel shortages in the past few years, due in part to Armenia’s war with neighboring Azerbaijan.

Vince Melkonian, a member of the Sister City Committee, plans to visit Spitak soon for a two-week trip to assess the city’s needs and gather information about daily life there. Melkonian will also lay the groundwork for a larger Thousand Oaks delegation’s plan to tour Armenia in September.