ST. PETERSBURG -- Last Sunday may have been big in Liverpool or in New York's Central Park around Strawberry Fields, but here in St. Petersburg the sentiment was just as deeply felt. John Lennon's birthday has never passed without a feast of vodka, music and love since the days the Beatles were still together.


One of the city's biggest arenas, Yubileyny, remodeled and cleaned up for the Goodwill Games, was the site for this year's celebration. Sponsored by a Belgian beer manufacturer, it featured the cream of St. Petersburg's rock 'n' roll scene.


The man behind the invariably recurring celebrations is Kolya Vasin, the ultimate John Lennon and Beatles fan.


I first heard of Kolya when I was in my first year of college in a city outside the "big" life of the capitals. A friend and former classmate, only recently an excellent high school student and scholastic gold medalist, came back to our hometown after being kicked out of an institute in Leningrad. He had spent his only semester there in 1971 plunged up to his ears in the newly emerging rock scene, oblivious to things as boring as classes. He came back loaded with fantastic stories and myths, one of which was about a character in Leningrad who was corresponding with John Lennon himself. Corresponding with Jesus wouldn't have struck us in the same way.


I met Kolya 10 years later in his small apartment in the outskirts. I was brought there by members of Aquarium for George Harrison's birthday and I found myself in a museum. Every corner was filled with Beatles memorabilia.


I had changed since 1971. So had my childish adoration of the Beatles. His adoration of them had not. I left almost envious of his ability to preserve intact the ideals of early youth.


Now, 13 more years have passed, and he is as unshattered as ever. Unrelenting and inexhaustible, he finds more outlets for his devotion.


His museum has been relocated to an office in a famous building at 10 Pushkinskaya. The Beatles' birthday celebrations that he had started have grown from underground gatherings to highly visible events.


Now Kolya, a guru in his own right, ever surrounded by the flow of fellow fans, presides over a committee to build nothing less than the John Lennon Rock 'n' Roll Temple in St. Petersburg.


For about a year in the early '90s, inspired by the fall of the hateful communists, he campaigned in the City Council for a street in the city to be renamed Ulitsa Johna Lennona.


With the years, the passion sometimes appears more ostentatious than naive. Almost inevitably it has acquired a bitter taste of indulgence.


I am no longer envious. But still, I like to drop in once in a while to share a sip of vodka and a toast to the beloved songs of our youth.