I have not lost my Komsomol fuse

Yes, you hand over this Deutsch!

NOW, education for adolescents is put above all, it seems that the whole future depends on academic performance (although this is not the case). But it was completely different in the 70s, when Victor was finishing school. He studied well, he could have done better ... But the interests of the collective farm were higher.

- Victor, we need to finish mowing, go out to work in the meadows, - Mikhailovich, the foreman of the field brigade of the collective farm "Zavety Ilyich", burst into the boy's house. - The dates are on.

A tenth-grader could only show ... a German textbook: exam in 3 days.

- Yes, you will hand over this "Deutsch"! - shouted Mikhalych. - Come on, harness the horses and mow.

It's nothing you can do. As the famous poster said: "The party said: it is necessary, the Komsomol answered: yes!" Victor was going to the meadows. He harnessed two horses (they can still do it) into the mower, where a knife was set in motion from the wheel. The capture of a horse mower is only one and a half meters, by today's standards, nothing at all. But then there were no others. Procurement of feed had to be done.

Of course, he was not the only one working - the guys from the village worked together with him, spent their leisure time together, often after work. They arranged races and competitions among themselves, or even simply: they unharnessed a pair, sat on a horse without a saddle - and in the Kirikovsky club. And as they have a rest, so work hard!

Or he went to harvest grain, sometimes to the Golovkovskoye field.

“There are houses there now, and I still remember how I used it to harvest bread on my combine,” recalls Viktor Aleksandrovich. - They planted a lot of things there: potatoes, turnips, and corn ... Now you won't believe it.

Another case is indicative that the school was not as important as the collective farm. There was then a very strong football team in Kirikov, in which Viktor also played. And once there were regional competitions. The physical education teacher of school No. 1 Nikolai Fokin, where Viktor studied, was already sure of victory ... But the guys did not defend the honor of the school - they played for their collective farm. The next day, the physical education teacher did not even let them go to class. How dare you do that ?! And how to explain to a person that school is good, but native Kirikovo, your own collective farm is more important ...

And Victor played football until he was 45 years old.

Forces are good for the cause

Victor's unbridled energy has not gone anywhere over the years. He graduated from vocational school, went to the army, but dropped out of the evening department at the technical school, although there was only a year left to finish my studies - I realized that all my strength should be given to my family.

- I wanted to work, I wanted to earn money, to get good money, - explains Viktor Aleksandrovich. “But there was also some kind of responsibility, a feeling that you had to do your job well. This is not like many now: they did it - and okay, at least the grass won't grow after you. And we were worried about the result, the harvest. They worked conscientiously.

At that time, combine operators were paid well, but they earned this money with very hard work. It is difficult to imagine now that someone in a harvester would thresh without air conditioning in the heat. And at that time - Viktor Nagornov still found it - old "SK-3" were walking around the fields. So they did not have a cabin at all, one tarpaulin on top so that the head would not get baked. “You put on your glasses - and forward, towards all the dirt and dust. You come home from the harvest all already black. Nothing, immediately jumped into the pond to rinse, and then go home. And the next day it’s the same, ”the agronomist recalls with a laugh.

But the motivation to make money was not selfish. After all, in the early 80s, Victor married a fellow villager Klavdia Sergeeva, their daughter and son were born. And just out of monetary interest, they do not become leaders.

The glorious path of Viktor Alexandrovich also began through the pages of our newspaper. Every year his photo flashed as the best young tractor driver according to the results of the sowing campaign, as an excellent combine harvester. In the 80s, he was even given a challenge cup named after Hero of the Soviet Union Grigory Noskov for eternal storage - only young machine operators who became the best for several years in a row were awarded this honor! He also received a record threshing, was even one of the five best combine operators in the region. But over time, all this began to lose its former value ...

Not all life is behind the wheel

Unexpectedly Victor realized that he had reached his development ceiling. He was the best combine harvester on the farm - and it was difficult to grow further. The strength appeared to do something else ... And he decides to enter the Gorky Agricultural Institute to study as an agronomist.

However, when he graduated from the university, he did not immediately take up the post. After all, the chairman of the "Testaments of Ilyich" was Angelina Nikolaevna Baldina - a tough person, but fair, economic. She loved order and harmony in everything, she knew every corner, every person in her lands. And, of course, she could not immediately entrust him with the post of chief agronomist. But she appointed him the foreman of the tractor-field brigade. This, one might say, is a small chairman - he is in charge of people, equipment, fuels and lubricants, he distributes everyone to different areas. Victor worked like this for 2 - 3 years. And then Baldina summoned him to her office: “Viktor Alexandrovich, take the post of chief agronomist. I think you have grown up already. " “I am glad for the trust, I will not let you down,” he replied.

So Viktor Nagornov became the chief agronomist in "Testaments of Ilyich" for a long decade and a half. Together with the farm, they went through the 90s, almost without noticing the problems.

- Everywhere they said: it's bad there, it's bad here, they don't pay wages here ... We were never delayed in payments. Not much, but paid, - he says. - Angelina Nikolaevna did not sell a single tractor, not a single machine during the difficult years - she was a real manager and business executive. Already with her departure, the collective farm began to fall apart ...

The next stage in the life of Viktor Nagornov came when he realized that he needed to look for a new job - "Ilyich's Testaments" were about to be ordered to live long. He was invited to work at the Fruit Nursery, which was a definite promotion. After all, as the workers themselves joke, this is a real "field of miracles": not only grain and fodder crops are grown here, but also fruit trees, berries, seedlings ... All this, too, to some extent turned out to be under the jurisdiction of the chief agronomist. And there were so many experiments: I wanted to breed chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, oyster mushrooms, and even ... California worms! There are some experiments to remember.

This year is even easier

And NOW Viktor Aleksandrovich is the chief agronomist of "Fruit nursery", an honored man. In his collection of awards - the Order of Labor Glory III degree, the medal "For Labor Valor", the VDNKh medal - for a record harvest of oats of 47 centners per hectare. Lives in his native Kirikov. He loves when his grandson and two granddaughters come to him, whom he is sincerely proud of. They all have their own talents: some also football, some gymnastic, some vocal and dance. But everyone has more than enough energy. They love to look after his subsidiary farm: he also has guinea fowls, and rabbits, and whoever does not! Yes, and it's not far from Sundovik to run to swim. Everything is the same as in his youth.

And at work, the main issue is the same as in all other farms - the lack of personnel. There are very few machine operators left, and even fewer are willing to work from morning to evening without days off. But it's good that this year we bought new equipment, found money for additional fertilizers and chemical treatment.

So this year it’s easier to work, and a decent harvest is expected. Harvesting is not far off, and Viktor Alexandrovich looks at the field with hope.

Severin OVCHINNIKOV
Photo by the author