Venta

Venta (pronunciation (help·info)) is a small city in Lithuania in Akmenė district municipality. According to 2005 data there are 3,221 people living in Venta. It is situated alog the Venta River, Kuršėnai - Mažeikiai highway, and a railroad connecting Mažeikiai with Šiauliai (the train station is called Akmenė). This makes Venta better situated than Naujoji Akmenė, the capital of the district.

The town grew after the World War II together with a lime factory which later started to produce bricks. At its peak the factory employeed about 1000 people. The city was formed when Bauskas and Purviai villages were joined in 1966. After the declaration of independence in 1990, the factory faced severe financial difficulties while shifting from the planned economy to the free market. The factory's departments were made into separate companies. Some of those went bankrupt and their buildings were destroyed, others were privatized. In 1999 a public company "Naujasis kalcitas" (English: The New Calcite; it is the only manufacturer of quicklime in Lithuania and it supplies 50-55% of the domestic market) purchased and reconstructed remaining lime burning technology line with rotary kiln. Recently new heating facility that uses natural gas was built to provide heat for the city.

[edit] Culture

A grocery shop in Venta

The city has a high school which was established in 1907. It started with about 20 students. The studies lasted for 4 years and would start in November when all field jobs has finished. Classes were held in Russian. As number of students grew to 40, in 1940 the school moved to a new building and was renamed Dabikinė elementary school. The building belonged to a railroad company and was not fitted for school, but the war prevented the reconstruction. In 1949 the number of students reached 120 and the school was reorganized to a seven year school. The railroad building was too small and the school was forced to rent two other buildings more than 1 km apart. In 1953-54 the school was reorganized again to a high school. In 1960 a spacious new building was opened. At that time school had 330 students and about 20 teachers. In 1972 a new expansion was build with a gym and 14 new classrooms. Now the school employees about 50 teachers. It is known for being active in various projects and for students who do well on various national science olympics.

1961 a public library was established in Venta. It started with 6,150 books and grew to 18,000 in 2000. In 1996 it won the second place in "Biblioteka - kultūros centras" (English: Library - cultural center) contest organized by the Open Society Fund Lithuania. A club "Ventos mūzų malūnas" was established by the library and gathers people interested in art and poetry. Juozas Miltinis (1907 – 1994) was born in what is now Venta.

[edit] Music traditions

Venta music school

Venta music school has a traditional Lithuanian music assemble "Ventukai." Its members are mostly local youth ranging from 9 to 20 years old. In 2004 it became famous after appearing in a popular song contest Nacionalinė Muzikos Lyga, (commonly abbreviated as NML; English: National Music League) on LNK, one of the biggest TV stations in Lithuania. Critics expected that they would be voted off in the first round, but they successfully reached the finals and won the contest on May 29. It received the first prize of 275,000 litas. Later that year they released a CD Keliaujam Su Daina (We Are Travelling With Songs) with 16 fast and happy songs. They are making appearances across Lithuania and in other countries (Latvia, Germany, Italy, etc.) In 2004 they made their 1000th concert in Venta.