Mayor Sergei Eremin met with honored guests of Krasnoyarsk August and Irina Schaefer, who came to Krasnoyarsk for the celebrations of the City Day. The Shaefer family live in the USA and are active participants of the international project to preserve the memory of the legendary “Alaska-Siberia” Air Route, which was used to ferry aircraft from the USA to the USSR during the Second World War. For his work August Schaefer was awarded a letter of thanks from the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk.

During the meeting, Mr. Schaefer told the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk Sergei Eremin about his plans to donate several exhibits related to the American part of ALSIB to the future Krasnoyarsk Museum of the North. Irina shared her memories of how, in May 2017, her husband and she went to the city of Fairbanks (Alaska) and laid a memorial wreath from grateful residents of Krasnoyarsk to the monument to Soviet and American hero-pilots of the Alaska-Siberia Air Route.

Krasnoyarsk Mayor and the Schaefer family also discussed cooperation in the field of robotics. August Schaefer congratulated the residents of Krasnoyarsk on the fact that next year the Russian robotics championship will be held in our city, which will be organized jointly with LEGO Education. During the discussion of the future championship, there were proposals to invite an American team in Krasnoyarsk, as well as expert judges from the United States, and perhaps even invite the founder of the most prestigious world robotics championship held in Detroit (USA) every year, famous inventor Dean Kamen.

August and Irina Shaefer regularly come to Krasnoyarsk. Irina was born and lived for a long time in Krasnoyarsk and her relatives live here.

“Krasnoyarsk is really getting younger over the years. By the nature of my work, I traveled a lot, visited many countries and cities, but it is in Krasnoyarsk that I always feel at home,” admitted August Schaefer.

At the end of the meeting, Mayor Sergei Eremin thanked the Shefer family for their personal involvement and participation in matters important for our city: “Thank you for supporting the projects related to our common past and future. We really have a lot of points of contact. Our city is ready to become the capital of the robotics movement, along with Detroit. Last year, Krasnoyarsk teams were lucky enough to take part in the final international tournament in the United States, so we’ll be glad to see American schoolchildren at our festival. It is important for us not simply to hold a robotics championship, we have a broader view and focus on the creation of a Competence Center, a separate educational center where experts from all over the world and students from all over Russia will attend master classes and training sessions. We hope to communicate more often, to exchange ideas and to bring to life all our plans.”