Russian Americans wrapped up Maslenitsa celebrations with traditional festivities to mark the beginning of Lent in the Russian Orthodox Church and to welcome the end of winter and the approaching spring. In Houston, Texas the United Russian American Association held a gathering that included a burning of the Maslenitsa scarecrow known as Kostroma, a ceremony once thought to fertilize the ground for crops. There are an estimated 70,000 Russian Americans in the Houston area, and roughly 3.1 million across the United States, according to the US Census Bureau.