Pioneer Camp "Constructorul"

The Constructorul (Stroitel/Сторитель or Builder) Pioneer Camp sits in the Codrii Forest outside Condrița! The name indicates likely affiliation with a construction industry enterprise or trade union, a common pattern in the Soviet camp network where sponsoring organisations named facilities after their own sector. The camp has a documented connection to the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Soviet Moldova was the first republic to receive the Olympic torch relay: on 5 July, Romanian athlete Nicolae Martinescu handed the flame to Soviet runner Pyotr Bolotnikov at the border. A newsreel filmed at Constructorul records the camp staging its own "Little Olympics" in the relay's honour:: a miniature opening ceremony conducted according to Olympic ritual, with a torch, a theatrical address from Zeus casting out the vices that obstruct sport, and pioneer children lining the road in red neckerchiefs to cheer the runners through. The ceremony was filmed and preserved; the camp made it into the official record of the relay's passage through the Moldovan SSR. Check out the unique footage from that ceremony here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJpM107hDoM&t=64s