Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 10, 1990 TAG: 9003102396
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By ELAINE VIEL SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
One could call it a kid's version of "McGlasnost." The youngsters on the receiving end of the burgers, you see, live in the small town of Pavaroska near Moscow.
Both Lisa Rossi, 8, and Lauren Velander, 9, used the word "exciting" a lot as they ate their Big Macs at the Blacksburg McDonald's and talked about sharing a bit of America with their Russian counterparts.
They think the third-graders they correspond with will enjoy their chance at a freebie at the new Soviet McDonald's.
"It made me feel really good," Lisa Rossi said. "They finally have a fast-food place in Russia. They can go to McDonald's. They're going to have a pretty good time."
Maria Rossi, Lisa's mother, came up with the idea of sending McDonald's coupons to the third-graders in Pavaroska.
It was about a month ago, Rossi said, that she saw the news about the opening of a McDonald's in Moscow's Pushkin Square. She said she got "a bee in my bonnet" to put burgers in the hands of the Russian pen pals.
"I thought I'd give it a shot," Rossi said.
"Pavaroska is a small town due south of Moscow," she said, and if the trip to the big city didn't deter the kids, she thought the price might. A Big Mac, fries and a drink at the Russian McDonald's costs about $5 in American money.
Rossi said she called the Blacksburg McDonald's and was put in touch with Mike Grimm, who owns that franchise, among others.
Grimm sent her McDonald's calendars and cookies, Rossi said. Then he got on the phone. He called the international division of McDonald's corporate offices in Chicago and asked about coupons that could be used in Russia.
"Not even a week later" he had them, Grimm said. Written in Russian, the coupons are good for "one free Big Mac."
Maria Rossi and teacher Frieda Baker's third-graders boxed the McDonald's goodies, included some good wishes translated by Rossi, and shipped them off.
"Mr. Grimm has to be commended for such a fine job," Rossi said. The children at Gilbert Linkous "sent him 30 thank-you notes."
Lauren Velander's idea of what her pen pal Ulya and her classmates will think when they open the "McBox" from Blacksburg is similar to Lisa Rossi's impression.
Lauren said they have learned a lot about life in Russia since becoming pen pals. At Christmas, she said, "we did a Russian dance at the school."
Both girls bubble with enthusiasm, their voices reaching the high registers, when they talk about their pen pals.
Lisa Rossi's is Liza, who "has six people in her family."
So far, Maria Rossi said, they haven't heard from their Russian friends. But she and the Gilbert Linkous third-graders like to imagine, in a school in a small town "due south of Moscow," Alex and Dimitri and Natasha's reaction to opening that box from Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
by CNB