August 6, Lepel /Own. inf./ Chertsy has only two streets. One, wide and central, runs through the village for almost two kilometers. Starting from the Orsha highway, it reaches the neighboring village of Adamovka. After a new microdistrict was built in Chertsy, these two villages have practically merged into one, and only the old names remind us that they are different settlements. The second street in Chertsy is narrow and short, but cozy, always green and full of flowers. It is also adorned with birch trees, which were planted by the pupils of the former school on both sides of the stadium. The street leads to the school, which no longer exists, but only the name remains – Shkolnaya Street, where mainly the local intelligentsia – teachers, who still live here – used to settle. So the name, given to the street much later than the first settlers appeared on it, corresponds to reality.
August 6, Lepel /Own. inf./ Chertsy has only two streets. One, wide and central, runs through the village for almost two kilometers. Starting from the Orsha highway, it reaches the neighboring village of Adamovka. After a new microdistrict was built in Chertsy, these two villages have practically merged into one, and only the old names remind us that they are different settlements. The second street in Chertsy is narrow and short, but cozy, always green and full of flowers. It is also adorned with birch trees, which were planted by the pupils of the former school on both sides of the stadium. The street leads to the school, which no longer exists, but only the name remains – Shkolnaya Street, where mainly the local intelligentsia – teachers, who still live here – used to settle. So the name, given to the street much later than the first settlers appeared on it, corresponds to reality.
The two streets meet near the shop, at the crossroads, which in the village is called "na krizhakh" (at the crosses). This is where it was decided to hold a celebration. Chertsy, even a hundred years ago, was not a village but two estates – of the lords Palchevsky and Kladnitsky. It is interesting that one of the houses where the lords' servants once lived has survived to this day. What a durable building it is! The walls on which century-old buildings stood cannot be broken by any sledgehammer. And then Chertsy is mentioned as a farmstead with twenty-eight inhabitants as part of the Gorodchevytskaya volost of the Lepel uyezd. Only after the October Revolution were the estates transformed into a village, to which people from all over the world came. For a long time, local nicknames – "zaleskie", "baravenskie", "kordyaki", etc. – reminded of this fact.
The village flourished in the seventies of the last century. Although Chertsy was not the central farmstead of the "Novy Shlyakh" collective farm, this role was performed by neighboring Adamovka, the social and cultural facilities here grew rapidly. The local eight-year school was significantly expanded, and there were even plans to make it a secondary school. A school dormitory and a canteen appeared nearby, a new building for the village council was erected with a spacious hall for wedding registrations, and the post office also moved into the same building. The village had a paramedic and obstetric station and a veterinary clinic, a shop and a service centre. Later, a laundry and a bathhouse were added, to which people travelled from all over the district to steam. True, for a long time there was no club, only a library, and young people went to Adamovka for dances. Brick houses for collective farmers were built, and even one two-story building.
A second wave of vitality came to the village in the nineties when Germans began building houses for displaced persons from the Chernobyl regions. Several dozen young families arrived, settling the empty space between Chertsy and Adamovka and giving the settlements a "second breath". Construction workshops sprang up on the site of abandoned farms, small ones, but people found work.
Currently, Chertsy is located on the territory of a variety testing station. A vegetable storage facility has been built here, the old livestock farm is being restored, and cultural institutions are being consolidated under one roof in the former eight-year school building. The paramedic and obstetric station has been relocated here after major repairs, and the relocation of the post office, club, and library is expected.
Admittedly, life in the village is no longer as bustling as it was in the seventies or even the nineties. Perhaps because, especially in "old Chertsy," mostly pensioners remain. However, there are reasons for optimism. The fact is that summer residents are increasingly taking over the baton of the village's revival, buying up old, dilapidated houses and improving them. Gradually, here and there, Chertsy is becoming more cheerful.
Summer residents like it. No wonder, there is such a beautiful, picturesque lake nearby, a busy highway to Orsha and Lepel, and the district centre is within easy reach – about ten kilometres.
According to one version, the local lake was called Chertsy and gave its name to the village with a rather unusual character. Hypotheses are hypotheses, but the village has long needed a general, cheerful, uninhibited holiday that would not only entertain but also unite people.
And so it happened. A bench filled with people, brought to the crossroads, near the shop, was both reassuring and alarming at the same time. Sunday. Meanwhile, it's a working day at the sorting station. What can you do – it’s a necessity. Look, the farmers are also arriving here, right on the hay that a tractor is carrying.
The event organiser is attaching a photo newspaper to the fence. The newspaper is colourful and informative. People immediately jump up from the bench and surround the photo gallery, where many recognise themselves as children. The graduation of eighth-graders from the distant seventies, the families of local teachers, most of whom, unfortunately, are no longer alive. The former collective farm chairman, young – they barely recognised him. And here is almost the entire history of Chertsy during the era of socialism's flourishing! The newspaper was collected bit by bit, some brought photos to the librarian, and she visited others at home. People reminisced about their youth with nostalgia, shared valuable information and yellowed, rare photos from family albums.
Zinaida Vladimirovna is not only a cultural worker but also the village elder; in different years, she was elected as a deputy of the local council. She knows the village's problems and concerns and is at the heart of local life. Who else but her should be the organiser of the village festival! She takes the microphone and addresses her fellow villagers with a greeting. Music sounds. Cultural workers from Lepel, Stare Lyadno, and neighbouring Horak, who already have some experience in organising similar festivals, have arrived to congratulate the villagers.
Afterwards, Zinaida Semyanko will express her sincere words of gratitude to her colleagues-cultural workers for their vociferous and professional support of the concert, which was enjoyed by almost everyone.
With the first chords, people approach the shop. And where does all the people come from! My doubts about the festival's popularity are finally dispelled. At its peak, I count over seventy spectators, who immediately become participants. Some joke – there aren't even that many people in Chertsy anymore as have gathered for the village festival. There is a grain of truth in every joke. The fact is that, like any village, Chertsy fills up with "city grandchildren" in the summer. And here, at the festival, there are indeed many young people, teenagers, and even small children, for whom the cakes presented as a gift by the village council chairman with the words "May your life here be sweeter" were very appropriate…
The Christmas program is presented in the form of a narrative about villagers with sincere words of congratulations and songs in their honor. Yes, yes, this is a very talented and hardworking village, which has produced respected and distinguished people, whom it can rightly be proud of. I deliberately do not mention any names so as not to offend others, unnamed, because each person's destiny is unique in its own way and worthy of attention.
Finally, the audience cannot resist and, to the sounds of cheerful music, start dancing – kicking up dust all around.
Joy and excitement, energy and enthusiasm are transmitted to others, soaring over the village, and at this moment it seems the happiest in the world. Perhaps it really is.
Viktor LYASHCHYNA
