It all started with a hill that Leonid Kuzmin filled in in his own garden. He worked as a school bus driver and could no longer see how children, throwing their briefcases and risking being hit by the wheels, stroll down the slopes of the roads. Whether it’s a smooth and safe slip on Uncle Leni. At first glance, the technology is simple: water the snow well with water, trample and compact it better, repeat these operations several times so that the ice can withstand a large load. “It’s also important that the transition angle is smooth,” explains Kuzmin. The quality of such sliding with turns was appreciated even in the Russian Luge Federation. The thank you letter is kept together with the governor’s medals, letters from the municipality and the “Person of the Year” ribbon of honor. The latter is the result of a popular vote.
For several years now, Uncle Lena’s slides (they are no longer in the garden, but on the former vacant lot on Posadnaya street) attract fans not only from Inskoye and Belovo, but also from neighboring cities and even from regions. During the New Year holidays there was a full house: sixty or seventy cars a day, not counting the collective trips. For example, the district administration brought a group of children from disadvantaged families.
During the day, children with their parents gather on the hill, and closer to night – young people. There is a golden rule for everyone: if you like to ride a bike, clear the hill of snow. Not all, however, follow it. Fortunately, the helpers of the local school always answer, to whom the retiree supplies the necessary equipment.
The “Island of Childhood”, where there are not only slides, but also a skating rink, swings, a mini-field for football and even a toilet, is open to everyone. The host treats guests with hot tea with bagels and cookies (you can and even should bring sweets with you). To do this, he built a warm tea room with a pot-bellied stove. But it is strictly forbidden to litter, smoke, break seeds and ride downhill on metal scooters (to avoid injury). The video surveillance system that Kuzmin installed with the money received for winning the contest from one of the federal television channels helps to maintain order. After that, he was nicknamed Uncle Lenya, a millionaire. The rest of the profits went towards swings and building materials for the tea and football grounds.
– At first I was going to make an indoor skating rink, but the neighbors voted for a rubber-coated sports field. The service of a single client, on instructions from the mayor’s office, prepared a budget, and the contractors have already been identified. The marked paving was laid in three days, the state district power plant provided the old pipes, and I, I consider everything else, myself. He invited only a welder with an assistant to make the upper strapping of the reinforcement. And the fence and the soccer goals are my work. In vain, perhaps, she married a welder at one time,-Kuzmin smiles.
Wife Galina Fedorovna owns a three-story house with balconies, which her husband built for two with his brother in 1988. During the afternoon I drew a project, in April I drove the team to the site, and in July the families settled in the first floor. “Where I live, I build there,” says Kuzmin.
– We lived in the village of Chertinsky. And there was no water on our street for forty years. Even in Soviet times, residents wrote complaints to Moscow and received responses. Therefore, when I put down roots in the Line, I decided to build a water pipe. My character is this: if something catches fire to do, then I will not calm down until the job is done, ”says Kuzmin. – At that time, companies voluntarily supported enterprising citizens: they allocated pipes and equipment, only the system. I made my way to the mines and processing plants, and they met me halfway. In three months, two and a half kilometers of a capital water pipe was laid along our street, which is still in operation.
Already in Inskoye, Uncle Lenya more than once removed unauthorized dumps, attracting the help of the state traffic inspectorate, passing transport and coal miners (the mine provided a loader). And a few years ago, a pensioner repaired the road on his street: he used an old asphalt crumb.
– In order for the coating to be durable, on a hot day I water it with a thin layer of motor oil from a spray gun, then everything should be rolled well, and it turns out almost like real asphalt. For the third year now, we have no dust or dirt on the street. I ordered a grader from the businessman (I bought diesel fuel myself) and leveled it, covered the edges of the roads with rubble. And in summer I don’t forget to mow the lawn. I think that since there are eyes and hands, everything can be done professionally. Too bad I only have two arms and one head. We, of course, appeal to the village administration, but they are ready to serve the highway in the private sector on municipal land only fifty-fifty. And they don’t have the right technology.
P.S.
They say local officials send delegations to Kuzmin to learn from the experience. And when the neighbors complain about the poor quality of the repair of the streets, the authorities answer them: “Go and learn from Uncle Leni.”
