Official Publication Slovenian Women’s Union of America Uradno Glasilo Slovenske Ženske Zveze V Ameriki I
A Slovenian Easter
Volume 78 Issue 2 March - April, 2006
Picture from Jenka’s Lenten dinner
THE COVER
Photo by D. Mladenovič “Traditional Butarica ”
Slovenian Tourist Board www.slovenia.info
Zarja The Dawn
EDITOR: Debbie Pohar DIRECTOR OF DESIGN: Bonnie Pohar Prokup CONSULTING EDITOR: Corinne Leskovar
EDITORIAL OFFICE: 1696 Illinois St., LaSalle, IL 61301 TELEPHONE: 815.220.0636 FAX: 815.224.1074
PUBLISHER: Slovenian Women's Union of America TELEPHONE: 815.727.1926
Vol. 78, No.2, March/April 2006 Published bimonthly Periodicals Postage paid at Joliet, IL and additional mailing offices.
(ISSN 0044-1848)
Postmaster: Send all changes of address to: SLOVENIAN WOMEN’S UNION OF AMERICA 431 N. Chicago St., Joliet, IL 60432
Communications for the next issue of publication:
Do you have something SWUA-related you would like to share with readers, like an event you want to let people know about or an idea for an article? We would love to hear from you! Please e-mail the editor at pohar4fyaol.com. We reserve the right to edit any article submitted. It is preferable that you submit your idea for discussion prior to writing an article. Articles must be related to SWUA events or members. The deadline for articles is the first day of the month preceding the issue. For example, articles for the May,June issue must h  il by April 1“ Thank you.
CONTENTS
IN EACH ISSUE
From the Editor National President’s Message National Secretary News News from SWUA.org SWUA Scholarship Program
SPECIAL LETTER
Letter from the Consul General
FEATURE STORIES
Slovenian Easter Traditions
- By Corinne Leskovar A Slovenian Tradition at Easter
- By guest writer Damjan J. Ovsec Spring is in the Air
- By guest writers Lea Flis and Loretta Story
IT’S IN EVERY SLOVENIAN
Kid Talk
Kids in the News
Discovering your Slovenian Roots
Men in a SWUA World
To America The Immigrant Experience
LIVING OUR LEGACY
Branch Reports
Feature Branch: 100 Fontana, CA
HERITAGE NEWS
Sodobnost Celebrates 70 Years Legacy of the Written Word - Conclusion Member in the News Ljubljana
- By guest poet Meta Kušar Scholarship Offers Membership Application
Ohio Bus Trip to Slovenia
CULINARY
Entertaining ... With a touch of Slovenia by Jenka
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
12
13
14
18
19
20
28
29
30
34
35
36
37
39
40
From the Editor
Passing the Torch
During the traditional Relay of the Olympic Torch prior to the start of the Olympics, the flame stopped in Slovenia for the first time in 22 years. Received first by Jure Franko, the first Slovenian to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, it later toured Ljubljana in the care of 20 different torchbearers.
THE FLAME ENTERED SLOVENIA between Italy’s Gorizia and Slovenia’s Nova Gorica, where it was handed to Jure Franko, the silver medalist in the giant slalom at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics.
After Slovenia, the flame, which began its tour in Rome on December 8th, traveled to Austria, Switzerland and France before concluding in Turin, Italy on February 10th for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
We recently went though our own torch relay at Zarja The Dawn. Corinne has passed us the torch (Zarja The Dawn) that she managed for many years. As with each Olympic torch, the style and flair are different but there is one constant that must remain, the flame must never go out, it must be able to shine in difficult conditions. The transition is getting smoother every day with Corinne’s help and now the flame is burning inside both Bonnie and me as we continue to provide a publication worthy of our treasured heritage. We are committed to producing a high quality, informational and enjoyable magazine and appreciate your support as we encounter difficult ^ conditions and hope that you are enjoying ^ the new style. - Debbie Pohar, Editor
Letters to the Editor
Dear Members,
Although I can no longer participate I still enjoy reading the Zarja. It is in very good hands. In the twilight of my life I can look back and appreciate all the hard work and considerations made by many dedicated young ladies.I am proud to be a member, long time member and hope that I can enjoy the Zarja for many more years.
Irene S Jagodnik Branch 50
Dear Editors:
Corinne Leskovar is to be congratulated on guiding the new editors in producing a wonderful, absorbing magazine. From the Table of Contents (nice touch) to the Featured Branches (1 and 109), it is loaded with very readable, interesting articles. Branch 109’s web site is informative and impressive (www.twincitiesslovenians.org). Can they really be only one year old? WOW! As always, the social aspects in the branch notes news is my favorite. Several members of Branch 43 have mentioned to me that they are relieved that the Zarja has kept the best sections while expanding the scope of the magazine. Please continue this good job. The results are exciting. Yours for a greater and more glorious SWUA. Yvonne Johnstone Khaldy Branch 43
Heritage Donations:
$200 Branch 43 $100 Branch 2 $25 In Memory of
Margaret Zupančič by Karen Lockard 42 $1000 In memory of Andy Susman by M. Virginia Roland
Received by a cheering crowd, the torch reached the Prešeren Square, downtown Ljubljana. Addresses by Slovenian Olympic Committee President Janez Kocijančič and the Sports Minister Milan Zver pointed to the symbolic value of the flame, in Slovenia for the second time, and its message of peace. The 20 torchbearers, who took the flame across Ljubljana, included famous Slovenian athletes, mostly Olympic medal winners such as rower Luka Špik, sailor Vasilij Žbogar and skier Katja Koren.
National President’s Message
“Working towards the future!”
Dear Members,
It is January 2006 and already there is exciting news. In early January, four National Board members traveled to Slovenia in the name of Slovenian Women’s Union of America. Members making the journey with me were: Bonnie Prokup, National Secretary and Director of Zarja Design; Debbie Pohar, Zarja Editor; Mary Lou Voelk, Culture and Heritage Director.
For about three months prior, countless hours were spent preparing for this endeavor. Slovenian agencies were researched, appointments were made, brochures and a power point presentation, “Living our Legacy” were created. This presentation was our introduction of who we are, our mission as an organization and our main goal, the commitment to the preservation of our Slovenian heritage. Along with this goal, objectives were written for each area of the SWUA: 80th Anniversary, Zarja, New Neighborhood, museum, library, gift shop, web site, youth, and future collaborative projects.
Such an endeavor had never been attempted, but the timing was right. Just a few months prior, the documentary Američanke was shown on Slovenian television. Members from across the USA were featured in this film. Upon learning we were from the USA, Slovenians wanted to talk to us!
While the pre-planning for this trip was intensive and our days were filled from early morning till late, the real work is about to begin. Within three days of our arrival back to the States we were asked to write a feature story for the
	
Kathleen Ferrante National President
monthly SINFO, the magazine of Slovenia, which can be read on-line!
The 12 day trip involved an extremely tight schedule, a coordination that could only have occurred because of the generosity of people. A sincere thank you to Evald
and Jana Flisar for housing us for 10 days. A sincere thank you to Mojca Sosteric and Brane Vidmar of Kompas Travel, and to Mirjam Hladnik who arranged our meetings and made time to accompany us on our visits and presentations. To the many individuals we met and visited, your gracious hospitality and interest was truly appreciated.
As our 80th year comes upon us, we can say this was a rededication to the mission, vision and purpose of our organization. This trip was truly a “Success Story”. We can guarantee this organization that the significance of this trip will become obvious as the months roll by and we come upon our 80th anniversary.
A Happy and Blessed Easter to all!
Kathleen Ferrante, National President
178 Gaylord Drive Munroe Falls, OH 44262 330.688.4949
Welcome to our new members!
2, Maldonado, Evon 2, Maldonado, Mariah 2, Maldonado, Shayla
2, Salgado, Diego
3, Chavez, Nicholas James 3, Chavez, Stephanie Jean 3, Crocker, Maureen
13, Chilcoat, Frances M 20, Augustine, Tony 20, Cashman, Katherine
20, Krause, Bea 20, Plut, Christine
25, Srsen, Paula M
26, Kakabar, Amy 30, Langdon, Carol
33, Blaszkowski, Beverly 39, Osmundson, Mary A 39, Ribich, Bailey 39, Walker, Nina C 47, Hayes, Heather
47, Hayes, Patricia 47, Kovalsky, Alda 89, Argubright, Mary E. 93, Bolce, Natasha 93, Bratina, Margaux 93, Harley, Emily K 93, Pasetta, Vesna
99, Swenson, Jennifer
100, Bellows, Kelly
108,	Orrego, Helena
108, Stalick, Gerald A 108, Stalick, John R
108, Stalick, Robert
109, Haspert, Amanda 109, Haspert, Natalie A 109, Jakel, Jeanne 109, Palkovich, Donald 109, Setnicker, Michael J 109, Setnicker, Norman J
109,	Wood, Nicole M
National Secretary News
Celebrating 80 years of Slovenian-American history with anniversary membership drive.
!
'&
In December of this year our organization will reach 80 years. For most organizations, such longevity is unheard of. Reaching our 80th year has not been easy, there have been many ups and downs. In recent decades it has been an uphill battle, membership has dropped rapidly, and yes, we were dull.
Today, we are seeing a rebirth. Our vision has changed from the earlier founders. No longer are we trying to make the immigrant woman more American. Today it is all about embracing and keeping traditions of our Slovenian ancestors.
Since 2000 we have recruited approximately 1,400 members.
This is more than 1/3 of our current membership. Much of this success is attributed to the excellent membership campaigns that were held. Last year our goal of 500 new members was not reached, BUT 365 new members were recruited. This is the most in decades. For all those who participated, be proud!
In honor of our 80th year a membership campaign will begin now and go on until June 1, 2007. The winning
branches will be announced at Bonnie Pohar Prokup the National Convention and National Secretary 80th Anniversary Celebration.
Our goal for this 17-month period will be 800 new members. If everyone works together I am confident we can achieve this goal. This means approximately 47 new members each month.
How do we get started?
Begin by telling everyone you meet about the SWUA. Let them know we are an organization that was meant for longevity. Remember, longevity is written in our genetic code! Memberships make great gifts, with Easter around the corner a one-year membership can be meaningful and yet affordable, $20.00 for adults and $5.00 for children up to age 18. Just check our Zarja, the New Neighborhood or our scholarship opportunities. Check out the SWUA Heritage Museum in Joliet, IL (exhibits, library, and merchandise), the SWUA and web sites linking Slovenians around the world. This next 17 months belong to the SWUA! It has earned that respect. Now is a great time to give a gift of legacy to your family and friends. Here is how to participate in the 80th Anniversary Membership Campaign. (See details below
-	application is on page 37)
Membership Campaign Information
Contest runs from January 1, 2006 through June 1, 2007. Updates and Winners will be announced in the July/August, 2007 Zarja, the July New Neighborhood and www.swua.org.
Prize Categories
Individual
Any individual bringing in 80 or more members will receive a grab bag from our Gift Shop with an $80.00 value * MUST handwrite on application the family name to credit.
Branch
Any branch bringing in 80 or more members will receive a grab bag from our Gift Shop with an $80 value
Make this quota come through. Embrace this organization by playing a proactive role, 800 new members in honor of our 80th Anniversary!
ZARJA The Dawn Donations
$25.00 Donation
50, Jagodnik, Irene $20.00 Donations
93, Cox, Laura 93, Moorfoot, Laura $12.00 Donation Branch 54 $5.00 Donations
43, Qualls, Isabel Urbanz 102, Brierton, Bonnie 102, Brierton, Sandra
News from SWUA.org
Your SWUA Web Site
The Forum - A great place to chat it up
We’ve created an opportunity for both members and non-members: a chance to chat with people of Slovenian heritage from around the world about all things Slovenian - and other interesting topics as well - at the SWUA.org Forum, http://www.swua.org/forum/. What is The Forum? It’s a well-rounded chat room or message board, where you can discuss various topics by posting messages for other’s to read. It’s a great place to talk about your recent or not-so-recent trip to our homeland, your experiences in a Slovenian home, events you attend (or are planning), food or wine, books you’ve read, or your heritage.
Some of our discussion categories include:
The Welcome Wagon: Post questions to SWUA or share your excitement SWUA Live!: Chat about upcoming or recently-attended events Pots n’ Pans: Food, wine, recipe and restaurant talk
Polka Party: Roll out the barrel...cultural chat on music, dance, dress, folk art, film
It’s in the Genes: Share your family history, research tips, how-to’s, interesting tidbits, experiences
Just Chattin’: Chat about non-SWUA, everyday stuff
Slovenia: Heading to Slovenia or been there? Post your questions or share your experience
If you haven’t visited yourself, please check it out and get a meaty discussion going. Maybe you want to tell others about how you incorporated Slovenian traditions into your Christmas, maybe you’d like to chat with members you’ve read about from other branches, or maybe you’d like to share your first potica-making experience.
We’d like to get our Forum hopping, so if you’re not a tech user, we’re asking you to tell at least one person you know about The Forum this month. Give them a ring on the phone - or copy this article and send it to your daughter, son, niece, nephew, friend or relative. Let’s take advantage of this terrific new part ofSWUA.org and get chatting!
About the Editor: Cummings has been an SWUA member for four years. She has a bachelor s degree in journalism and has been a writer/editor for more than 12 years. She’s been writingfor Zarja and SWUA.orgfor two years. You can reach her at lcc0920(a).ameritech. net with comments or questions.
Leslie Cummings SWUA.org Editor
SWUA Scholarship Program
Scholarship News of 2006-2007
COLLEGE STUDENTS
$1,000 and $2,000 SWUA Scholarships will be available to those attending a college or university full time during the 2006-2007 school year, nominated by the SWUA Scholarship Committee. All applicants must hold a three year paid membership prior to application and “average” students with financial needs are encouraged to apply. For more information and to download application forms visit http://www.swua.org. All applications must be postmarked by DEADLINE MARCH 1, 2006.
Currently, $500.00 Continuing Education Awards are being offered to adults returning to school either part of full time during the 2006-2007 school year. See http://swua.org for further information.
YOUNG SWUA MEMBERS
One of the requirements needed for application for a scholarship is a letter of recommendation from one of your branch officers. Many branches do not offer activities for young people and others are living at a great distance from a home branch. This makes writing a letter of recommendation difficult for an officer. You may want to write to little note to your branch secretary annually to update her on your activities and interests.
THOSE NEEDING A REWARDING TAX DEDUCTION
The Slovenian Women’s Union Scholarship Program is a tax exempt 501c3 which permits donors to claim exemptions on their 2005 tax reports. PLEASE CONSIDER our Scholarship Program as a way of personal involvement in the educational pursuits of our young people.
DONATIONS: December 2005 through January 2006
$5.00 donations: Branch 23, Ely, Mn (+Fran Marolt), Branch 23, Ely, Mn (+Rose Stupnik, +Kathryn Klun) $20.00 donations: Darlene Nemanich (+Rose Lobe), Marge Church (+Gaylord Klančnik)
$25.00 donation: George Edgington, Mother (+Julia Stephan), Aunt (+Rose Scoff)
$50.00 donation: The Josephine Artac Family in memory of Josephine Artac $ 100.00 donation: Branch 2, Chicago, IL - Scholarship Fund $2,000.00 donation: Rose Marie Princ - funding of two SWUA Scholarships
Wishing all SWUA Scholarship donors and promoters a spring-like experience, one of renewal from within. Thank you all! - Mary Turvey, Director mturvey@aol.com
Scholarship Needs Your Support!
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I (we) enclose $ . In honor of
In memory of________
As a Contribution Donor's Name
SWUA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Send to Mary Turvey, Scholarship
----------------------------------------------------------------- Chairman,	52	Oakridge	Dr.
Donor’s Address_____________________________________________________________________________ Marquette,	Ml	49855
City___________________________________State______Zip Code____________________
A Letter from the Consul General, Republic of Slovenia
Drage rojakinje in rojaki, Slovenke in Slovenci, prijatelji Slovenije!
December je najtemnejši mesec v letu in prav zato postane svetloba - luč v tem zimskem času za ljudi ena najpomembnejših stvari. Luč pomeni življenje, ob njej se zbiramo k skupnemu petju, pogovoru. Luč nas poživlja in združuje. Navsezadnje je praznovanje božiča in novega leta tudi v simbolnem pomenu predvsem zmaga svetlobe nad temo, dobrega nad zlim. V decembru smo praznovali rojstvo, nov začetek.
26.	decembra 1990 je bil v slovenskem parlamentu objavljen izid referenduma, na katerem seje ogromna večina Slovencev odločila za začetek poti do neodvisne države, ki je uradno nastala šest mesecev pozneje, 25. junija 1991.
Dan po božiču je bila torej “rojena” tudi slovenska samostojnost. In ker naš narod nikoli ni bil tako enoten kot ravno v tistih dneh in v mesecih, ki so sledili, se ta državni praznik od lani dalje imenuje “dan samostojnosti in enotnosti”.
Spoštovane in spoštovani, kot živemu udu slovenskega naroda se vam iskreno zahvaljujem za vse, kar ste storili za demokratizacijo, osamosvojitev in mednarodno priznanje naše Slovenije! Ker moje sporočilo ni pravočasno doseglo decembrske izdaje vašega časopisa, dovolite, da vam kot novi generalni konzul Republike Slovenije v tej številki Zarje zaželim uspešen začetek novega leta, veliko zdravja in vse dobro vam in vašim najbližjim, predvsem pa veliko dobre volje in energije pri našem skupnem poslanstvu - ohranjanju slovenske kulture v ZDA in graditvi mostov med obema domovinama.
Dr. Zvone Žigon
Generalni konzul RS v Clevelandu s soprogo Ireno
Dear Slovenians and Friends of Slovenia,
December is the darkest month of the year. Therefore, light takes on a magnificent importance in our lives. Light is life. In the presence of light, we, as people, gather together to converse and sing. Light unites and invigorates us. So in December we celebrated the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. We celebrated light, birth, new beginnings.
On December 26, 1990, the Slovenian Parliament obtained the results of a referendum, in which the vast majority of Slovenian voters agreed upon a path that would lead them to independence. This goal was officially reached and proclaimed six months later on June 25, 1991. The day following Christmas, therefore, gave way to the birth of Slovenia’s independence. Slovenian national unity had never before, or since, exhibited the strength it did during those days and months. Appropriately, the national holiday was newly named last year - Day of Slovenian Independence and Unity.
Dear Friends, you are a vital, living part of the Slovenian national body. I sincerely thank you for all that you have done to support and solidify democracy, independence and international recognition for our Slovenia!
Since my letter missed the December issue of your paper, I, as your new Slovenian Consul General, in this issue of Zarja wish you and your loved ones a good start. May the new year endow you with abundant health, personal satisfaction, good will and enthusiasm in hopes that we may all work together to rejuvenate and maintain Slovenian cultural identity in the United States of America and to build bridges between the two homelands.
Dr. Zvone Žigon, Consul General, Republic of Slovenia and Mrs. Irena Žigon
The Consulate General of the Republic of Slovenia has changed its Consulate General, Republic of Slovenia location. The Consulate General officially re-opened, in it’s new	55 Public Square, Suite 945
location, on February 1, 2006. The new information is:	Cleveland, OH 44113
Phone: (216)589-9220 Fax: (216) 589-9210
Slovenian Easter Traditions
Easter Blessing of Food - on Holy Saturday
“Velikonočni žegen”
In most Slovenian families the highlight of the Easter celebration is on Holy Saturday when the food that has been specially prepared to represent the Passion of Christ is taken to church for blessing. In some cases, it is blessed at home, or at a wayside chapel, or even under a tree, but the act is always ceremoniously conducted with holy water being sprinkled on it in the Sign of the Cross. If it is done at home the father may use three stalks of wheat, dipped in holy water for the blessing. It is an important event, even in the poorest home.
Some history: According to old documents, J.V. Valvsor mentions “kranjski žegen” as early as the middle of the 17th century, but there are regional differences concerning the assembly, content and meaning of of the food that is to be blessed. Valvasor says it is smoked pork meat, salted beef, cooked eggs and “kolač” - a sweet bread, baked in the shape of circle, depicting Christ’s wreath of thorns The content of the žegen from the region called Gorenjska is described by the famous Slovenian writer, Finžgar2:
“Sama lepota, samo skrivnost” -All beauty, AH mystery”
“Everything in the house is washed and cleaned. A table is covered with a white cloth and on it, a round basket, called a jerbas is placed. As the children gather around the table, Mother tells them the story of žegen. ‘First comes the kolač, bread that looks like the yellow wheatfields, and it stands for Jesus’ thorny crown’. Then she brings five boiled eggs. ‘These are the five wounds of Jesus, five drops of his Holy Blood. Let it be revered a hundred thousand times.’ Around the jerbas she inserts three roots of fresh horseradish. ‘Look children, these are the three nails with which they hanged Christ on the cross.’ Then comes smoked ham. ‘This meat will be blessed for it symbolizes Christ’s body, the lamb who died for us’. When the jerbas is filled, mother gently covers it with a hand-made, embroidered cloth. As it stands on the table, the words she has spoken float on the air and the children will remember it for a long time.”
r •*«i*
Village life: In most villages throughout Slovenia, the church bells begin ringing to signify that it is time for the blesssing, There are customs that are so old connected to this, that they cannot be dated.
The žegen basket gets carried to church by the eldest, or unmarried, daughter. As she leaves her home, local boys begin shooting, so that the event is loudly announced for all to hear. The first maiden in the village to return home (it’s a real race) also gets a round of shot-gun fired to greet her return. The significant thing about this is the myth that the first one home will marry that year. Other customs say the harvest will be the best for the farmer whose daughter is first.
Men also carried the žegen for blessing. They would be dressed in their finest, in leather pants, velvet vests and a silk neckerchief. They carry the žegen basket on their backs, covered with the most elaborate cloths. Some carried it attached to a scythe.
According to “Praznično leto Slovencev” 3 every area has its own custom and every family has its own choice for the food. In Tržič, cold veal symbolizes Jesus, the lamb. Sausages stand for the ropes that tied Jesus and a sponge soaked in vinegar which the soldiers gave to Jesus are symbolized by oranges. In Prekmurje, the “vuženiški žegen” includes “potica” made with a filling of ground poppy seeds. Štajerska names it’s žegen bread “bresmec”. They also add a “želodec”, a sausage stuffed into a pork casing. In Bela Krajina they add many ingredients to the sausage meat, such as onions, horseradish, milk and egg yolks. The region of Koroška decorates their basket with a cloth tied into a knot at the top, then decorated with red carnations and sprigs of rosemary, to form a Slovenian bouquet.
The beautiful velikonočni žegen awaits Easter morning when it is consumed as the first food of the day, after everyone returns from the Easter church service. Nothing is eaten before and every crumb of the blessed food is either eaten or preserved, but never discarded.
-	by Corinne Leskovar
Footnotes:
(1) Valvasor - Ehre 11/7 471-472 - Velika noč v slovenski krajini, S 58 (19.4.1930) st. 91 st. 20.;
(2) Finžgar, F.S. - Velikonočna meditacija. Naša zvezda 8 (Ljubljana 1939) 105-106;
(3) Kuret, Niko - Praznično leto Slovencev - Prva knjiga, 192-205, Družina, Ljubljana 1989
A Slovenian Tradition at Easter
The history and modern usage of the butara or butarica.
EASTER SUNDAY
Easter Sunday is the last of six Sundays in the time of fasting. Numerous names appear in different dialects: cvetnica, cvetena nedelja (Zilja), cvetniška nedelja (Soča). At Primorska region oljčna nedelja (Olive Sunday) or oljčnica is widespread (Kras in Goriško), its expression in dialect is oljč’nca (Marezige) while in Istria it is called also ulčenca, ulčnica, voljčna nedelja (Brkini), volčnca (Goriška Brda), ojčinca (Beneška Slovenija). Also well known are the Italian names domenica delle Palme and domenica delle Ulivi.
Meta Kušar (featured Slovenian poet on page 35) as a child with her parents and older brother (holding butara) at Easter time.
The name of Olive Sunday first appeared as early as in 6th century and stems from the testified procession in Jerusalem in 4th century. In the early 7th century people used to take palm trees and other greenery to processions and afterwards they kept them at their homes. This old Christian habit was widespread in Europe from 9lh century on, but it certainly must have replaced an older pagan habit which is known to all the pre-Christian Europe and its ceremonials. They were connected with certain kinds of wholly herbs, namely the trees, bushes, herbs and flowers which allegedly possessed a magic power during that time; it allegedly protected against thunderbolts and other rigors of the weather and promoted the growth of crops, people and animals, it helped with fertility and fruitfulness in general and also kept away evil powers, ill fortune and sickness. Worship of greenery, especially in spring time, was widespread. As a source of (magic) vitality and energy it is connected with the new sun of the spring equinox when in old times old nations celebrated the beginning of the new year and with it the new life cycle. In Christianity the role of greenery worship was taken on by a holy wood as a sacrament that has the same role.
GREENERY AND EASTER SUNDAY BUNDLES
The habit of blessing the spring greenery tied in bundles in churches on Easter Sunday is widespread both in
Slovenia as well as elsewhere in Europe. It represents the memory of palm tree branches that were broken and cast under Christ’s feet in Jerusalem when he was arriving to the city.
PRACTICALLY EVERYWHERE IN SLOVENIA PEOPLE TAKE GREENERY IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER TO THE CHURCH TO BE BLESSED ON EASTER SUNDAY. Different types of bundles exist; they even differ from village to village, also different are the names for tied up bundles of greenery.
Generally known are the names butara and butarica (faggot, bundle) while numerous local names are in use as well. Some names for butare (bundles) imply that originally they were decorated also by biscuits thus they bear the names of pastry (beganica, pegelj, potica, prjatelj, presmec, presta). Nowadays places are rare where they still decorate bundles with biscuits, e.g. in Savinjska dolina. In the vicinity of Šoštanj, however, vejnik is known while in Savinjska dolina these arepušljc, lesena butara, in Koroška among others praselj, cvetovec, cvetnik, in Gorenjska these are beganica, hebanca, hubanca (derived from gubanica, i.e. potica), and in Dolenjska kravji žegen since a little piece of greenery was given to the cows as a medicine. In Istria fašine and palms are known, in Goriško veja, faš, breme vivnik, vejnik, around Idrija bundles are called močerad in Notranjsko šop, oljka.
Peculiar are Ljubljana bundles and Ljubno bundles (ljubenska potica) from upper Savinjska dolina, they are unique in the world. Both kinds of bundles are of much younger origin, the habit is only a little over one hundred years old. Ljubljanske butarice (bundles) are made of just a little live greenery, mostly a tuft of juniper, a twig of box tree or cypress, lately ivy; the main ingredient is colored shavings of wood, rolled or sharply folded and artfully arranged around the bundle from greenery towards the end of the bundle. The colors are diverse, but originally they were the colors of the Slovene flag, which is still quite often. Bundles are sold at flower markets behind the cathedral and also at the food market behind the statue of Vodnik by the producers from the outskirts of Ljubljana.
Even more peculiar is potica from Ljubno. It differs from the rest of the bundles by its appearance / figurality. These bundles represent subjects from everyday life in miniature. In 1996 there existed 96 different kinds: potic, razpelo, križ, škofova kapa, velikonočno jagnje, cerkev, zvon, golob, kozolec, voz, kosa, lestev, jaem, mlin, dežnik, splav pina (vessel for making butter out of cream), ruševec, zajček, riba, harmonica, Štirna (well), etc.
EVERY CONSTITUENT PART OF A SLOVENE BUNDLE USUALLY HAS ITS OWN SYMBOLIC MEANING For instance the shoots of many different trees are put into gorenjska beganica so that later on all the trees and bushes are blessed. A bundle will normally contain seven different kinds of wood, representing seven sacraments. At some places in Dolenjsko the žegen has to have thirty-three one year old birches as a remembrance of Christ’s thirty-three years of life on Earth. The ribbon with which they bind together the young twigs and other greenery represents the bonds with which Jesus was tied. There must be a crucifix on top of it as a sign of our salvation. Belokranjska bundle drenk must contain three one year old leskovke - birches from the same bush and each of the birches must have three buds in honor and as a reminder of the Holy Trinity - sveta Trojica.
After bringing the blessed bundles home people used to stick a leaf or a twig from them behind the portraits of saints; one part of the bundle they used to put into bohkov kot (God’s corner), that was a house altar with a crucifix; they used to put them also to the attic, above the entrance door, and above all other doors, into the outbuildings, on hay racks, into the stables. They also used to put them on the comers of fields and under fruit trees to keep away hail, pests and to stimulate better crops. Even nowadays they put fire to the blessed bundles to prevent hail and thunderbolt in certain places around Slovenia. In the past they were used to chase away also evil forces, above all spells, devils and witches.
Pomurska bundle presmec is a domestic holy object. People walk with it around the entire home; part of it they take to the fields, one part is intended for the bee hive and a little part ends up in granary among the grain. In short, they put it to all places where they keep valuables. They also bring it to the sick so they can touch them. In the vicinity of Lendava they start the Easter bonfire fire with the twigs from the blessed presmec.
From old times, village boys have a contest of who would make the biggest bundle and quite often they stole them among themselves.
Since the independence of Slovenia there has been revived an extraordinary interest for making Easter bundles. Special workshops are being organized, even the governesses in kindergartens teach children how to make Easter bundles. No wonder that an association named Presmec was found in 1995 in the village of Volčina in Prekmurje. In year 2000 they celebrated the important anniversary by making the biggest bundle for Easter Sunday in the world, which, of course qualified for the Guinness book of records. While the usual presmec is 3 to 4 meters high this record winning one was 303.80 meters long! It took 125 people to bring it to the church, who then wound it around the church walls three times, using special stands. One year earlier they made a presmec 51 meters high. The lower part they put up with a car jack while the upper part they installed by a helicopter.
All of the above shows clearly what Easter bundles mean to modern Slovenes. - by Damjan J. Ovsec
Damjan J. Ovsec is a well know writer of Slovenian culture and heritage. He has been published many times and has written many books on this subject, but unfortunately, at this time none of his writings are translated into English.
Spring is in the air...
Two Slovenian women tell of their Easter/Spring traditions. One from Slovenia, one from America, both with many similarities.
Growing up in Slovenia
It was minus ten degrees Celsius (14 in Fahrenheit) when 1 landed at Brnik airport on January 8th. Quite a winter, 1 thought to myself when I again touched ground of our beautiful country on the sunny side of the Alps. That was five and a half months after I left Ljubljana to pursue my dream and live in New York for a while. The city has treated me with enough kindness and respect to fly back soon and continue breathing the Metropolis air. One of the first things that I thought of when I found out that I had been awarded a scholarship and that my assigned study institution was Fordham University in New York was my realization that I would have the chance to experience The City in all the seasons. Watch them changing, passing, and melting one into the other. Autumn went by with its colorful leaves that clothed Central Park in a beautiful rustling carpet. Winter was pretty tame.
I can still feel the excitement running through my veins when I woke up on Easter day as a child in our house in Rožna dolina (The Flower Valley). As we know, the date shifts form one year to the next, so there can be an early Spring Easter or a late Spring Easter. Interestingly enough, all the Easters that are stored in my memory are sunny, with a light breeze clearing the Spring Ljubljana sky. 1 would get up early and my father and 1 would paint the
Easter eggs (there always had to be at least 30 and my grandma always took care of the cooking of what later on turned into “pirhi” or “pisanice”,
(decorated Easter eggs). Dad and I would use paints that mum bought in a local store, violet, red, green, yellow, Lea Flis, Branch 93 but we would also resort to some more traditional methods of egg-painting - we used onion leaves and wrapped then around the eggs, put the eggs in hot water and in a couple of minutes magic happened, marvelous patterns appeared on the eggs and transformed them into something sacred.
While we were busy painting and eating chocolate Easter bunnies (although by doing that we were breaking the vows, not keeping our promise not to eat just before the Easter feast), the smell of Easter dinner was already coming from my granny’s kitchen, filling the house with the scent of a really special holiday.
A typical Easter meal in Slovenia includes ham, horseradish, bread and a special type of nut roll/cake called “potica.” Grandma and mum would work diligently for hours to make everything perfect for this special event.
Each food item that later made its way onto our big dining table symbolizes a particular thing in Catholic tradition. Meat symbolizes the body of Christ, red eggs are His tears, horseradish represents the nails, and the nut cake the crown. My grandmother was a real expert in both making of potica and decorating Easter eggs. She passed away a couple of years ago, but her knowledge lives on in my mother and myself. The making of “pirhi” is in fact a form of art, a type of Slovenian folk art. The skill/craft of decorating eggs and creating magnificent patterns, representing different regions and customs, has been passed on from one generation to the next.
As for the Easter food, we were not supposed to taste anything before the food had been blessed. It is part of the Catholic tradition to take the Easter basket with the key food ingredients to a church and have it blessed. It is
I have learned how to see and profit from the beauty and innate order that nature possesses. Especially at the time of the changing of the seasons. When the sky slowly acquires a different shade of blue or grey and the scents in the air change I can always smell the coming of summer or winter or fall or spring. When the scent of spring is in the air, everywhere you turn, you can feel it coming on, the anticipation of the rebirth of Nature.
This delightful spring fragrance seems to posses the same kind of sweetness and freshness everywhere you go in the world. It brings back a lot of my childhood memories, especially the ones tied to Easter and all the Easter related traditions that my family was so keen on keeping and following.
Slovenian Potica
known that the custom of blessing food at Easter arose at the beginning of the 18th century from the discipline of fasting throughout Lent and the special Easter fast during the Easter Triduum. Easter was the first day when meat, eggs, and other foods could again be eaten.
My entire family went to church and when we got back 1 had to wait indoors for a little while because the Easter bunny was visiting and hiding the presents in tree branches and luscious bushes of our garden which were just starting to bloom, bursting with buds. I was so excited when my parents called me and the treasure hunt would start, more chocolate, new clothes, shoes and toys. The bunny was always so generous. I felt blessed and safe and part of something important and consecrated.
This year my New York Easter will no doubt be filled with the scent of potica. Pirhi will decorate my kitchen table; the memories of my childhood will come alive. I will visit my aunt who lives in Queens and we will try to make some of that unforgettable Easter spirit fill up her home then 1 will bring some of that Slovenian Easter back to the Upper East Side.
Soon the preservation of heritage matters more than anything else, the remembering of one’s roots and the
keeping of our grand and great grand parents’ traditions alive. For the sake of future generations as well as for ourselves. To keep ourselves rooted, to feel safe, to feel like we belong. - by Lea Flis
Lea Flis was bom and raised in the Slovene capital of Ljubljana. She is a doctorial student of American Literature at the University of Ljubljana. Currently she is a visiting scholar on a one-year research scholarship in New York City (Fordham University).
Sources (including the photos):
http://www.easter-traditions.com/ http://slonews.sta.si/index.phpid=811 &s=35 http://incentraleurope.radio.cz/ice/issue/64774 http://www.slovenia-tourism.si/sega in navada= 10270 http://www.pinkponk.com
Growing up in America
The first week of Lent, means many things to me as it also does to most of you. 1 recall the days of my youth when Lent was a time of strict fasting and abstinence, attending daily Mass and the Stations of the Cross. All this was followed by the most glorious day of all - EASTER! I didn’t grasp the true meaning of Easter until I was “older”, maybe ten or so. All 1 could think of was the sausage my father was making along with the horseradish. He would also make a small batch of homemade wine for the occasion, which I was always allowed to have a small glass with our meal. My mother would be busy making potica and bread and coloring eggs (which had to be done just so). We would then take our basket of food, which was covered with the prettiest doily my mother had crocheted, to church to be blessed. That basket, along with all the others that were brought, filled the church with the most wonderful aroma.
Mass on Easter morning was a glorious celebration with the choir singing the traditional Slovenian songs. My father was a member of the Senior Choir and I would listen for
his deep, beautiful voice. Everyone was in their Easter finery - soft pastels, bonnets and hats of all kinds, corsages and of course, patent leather shoes - black was my favorite.
Then, the Easter brunch was served! All that wonderful Slovenian food topped off by some really good candy (the kind we didn’t get everyday). We sat around like a bunch of stuffed bunnies when it was all over.
Well, some things have changed, but for the most part I continue to maintain those wonderful Slovenian traditions. I’ve even got my family saving all the shells from the blessed eggs so that I can crush them up and scatter them around the foundation of our home. As youngsters we did this thinking it would bless our house, this is part of my heritage.
Every Slovenian has a heritage and a legacy and it’s up to us to pass this down just as our parents and grandparents did for us.- by Loretta Story, President Branch 24
Kid Talk
Children discovering their roots.
Hi again, this is Babs and I’m being joined by my cousin Johnny. He is staying with my family while his parents are on vacation. We are less than 11 months apart in age and have so much fun together. We are unique to the other children in our family as we are both named after our grandma and grandpa. This is just like the Slovenian tradition of naming your first bom after the mother or father. In my case we skipped a generation but in Johnny’s case he comes from a long line of John’s. Before they came to America it was Janez or Johan.
I had a few people write to me saying they wanted to know more about me. I am a 10 year old girl and love learning about my heritage. I’ve been to Slovenia once and was invited to spend a month there this coming summer so that I can learn the language. One of my favorite gifts I received is an English-Slovenian dictionary that was given to me by Kompas Travel Agency. I bring this out a lot when I feel like learning a new word. This is where I get the words when I do the cross word puzzle below. I hope you are enjoying this game. I am learning as much as I can about my heritage. On several occasions I assisted my aunt with making flancati and krofi, which I love to eat. If there is a family party, the flancati situation can get very dangerous as I tend to eat the whole plate myself, I just can’t control myself when flancati is around!!!
Now, let’s hear what my cousin Johnny has to say: Hi, these past 10 days I have learned a lot about my ancestors. When I heard people talk about where we were from I just thought it was Pennsylvania, but now I know they come from Slovenia - a country in Europe. What was really interesting is how great the timing of my visit is because we are learning about Ellis Island* in school. I was so proud, when my aunt let me take my great-great grandpa’s naturalization papers to school to show the class. No one ever saw anything like this before. We looked at it very carefully and talked about why they departed from France and not Slovenia, which was because of where the ocean is. I had no idea the long journey my ancestors had. I told my teacher that I could bring in a picture of the ship he came over and she said that would be great. I am even liking my new nickname Janez, Slovenian for John.
Slovenian	English
Hren	Horse-radish
Krofi	Jam filled doughnut
Potica	Roll filled with nuts
Zegen	Blessing of Easter food
Jajce	Egg
Jagnje	Lamb
Kosara	Basket
Piscanec	Chicken
Velika noc	Easter
Cerkev	Church
Pomlad	Spring
Klobase	Sausage
Sunka	Ham
Pirhi	Easter eggs
Kruh	Bread
Butara	Olive branch
*Editors note: For pictures of ships and manifests please check out www. ellisisland. ore
FIND THE WORDS
A	Z	F	1	L	L	E	K	R	0	F	1	1	S
V	E	L	1	K	A	N	0	C	B	A	U	s	P
E	G	G	S	L	0	V	S	E	S	N	C	1	0
B	E	N	N	Y	N	M	A	T	M	0	E	T	T
U	N	J	A	J	C	E	R	E	P	1	R	H	1
T	S	E	L	A	A	G	A	L	0	C	K	S	C
A	R	K	W	G	T	X	J	L	M	T	E	U	A
R	M	R	K	N	E	V	E	0	L	K	V	N	X
A	C	U	E	J	K	L	0	B	A	S	E	K	0
1	D	H	R	E	N	F	U	N	D	0	V	A	c
Z	E	D	N	P	1	S	c	A	N	E	C	T	E
I am involved in the following: softball.
basketball,	Babs in Bovec, Slovenia
volleyball, hockey, environmental club, voice lessons, tumbling, piano, drums and band. Recently I finished up with two plays and was selected again to perform in the King and I as a royal child. Wow, do I really do all of this? Yep, and I enjoy every minute of it.
Kids in the News
The Eckert girls, left, are 3 of the 7 children of Susan and Tim Eckert. Sue Terselic Eckert is a Branch 103 member and a past SWU Scholarship awardee. Sue and Tim are Christian missionaries in Niger, West Africa.
Top to bottom: Tabitha (17), Ruthanna (5) and Sarah (8 months) Eckert. All are members of Branch 103.
Tabitha has authored 2 articles that were printed recently in the Religion Section of the Frederick (Maryland) News-Post; our local newspaper. The first of her “letters from Africa” told about Tabitha’s visit to an African family that did not know that she spoke their native language. The second was about Tabitha’s serving as an interpreter-interviewer of incoming patients at a native hospital .She described the sad story of a young native girl who had a badly abscessed leg wound-but whose family could not afford the cost of an operation.
This picture is from the American Legion Americanism Essay Contest Awards. The essay contest was entitled “My letter to a person in the armed forces”. The actual letters were then sent to soldiers serving in Iraq. Alana also won second place in a poster contest sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The theme of that contest was Say No to Drugs.
Front row left to right: Marilyn Rykoskey-Chairman of Contest, Alana Hulse (first place), junior member Branch 108. Back row: Colonel Louis Brune (guest speaker).
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Editor's note to all children:
Babs has provided the directions to her Easter tree that she makes every year on page 38. Babs learned how to make this tree from her mother, who learned it from her mother, thus this has been a family tradition for many years.
Please give it a try and send us a picture of your tree. Perhaps in next year’s Easter issue, your tree will be featured.
If you have any Slovenian family traditions that you would like to share, please send them to us at the editor’s office (see front inside page for email and address information).
Discovering Your Roots
Researching Slovenian Ancestors at the Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Nadškofijski Arhiv)
Slovenia’s Roman Catholic Church has established archives in three regions of Slovenia:
(1) The Diocesan Archives of Koper holds records for villages/ towns on the Adriatic Coast and north to the Austrian border.
(2) The Diocesan Archives of Maribor holds records for eastern Slovenia—north to the Austrian border, east to the Hungarian border, and south to the Croatian border.
(3) The Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana holds records for the central area of Slovenia—north to Austria and south to Croatia.
Rose Marie Jisa, President Ohio Chapter Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc.
This article deals only with the Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana, a repository holding records of approximately 310 parishes in the central region of Slovenia and in the area that was historically known as “Carniola
History: The Council of Trent in 1563 decreed that parish priests, i.e., Roman Catholic priests, must keep records of baptisms and marriages. Additionally, death records were required beginning in 1614. Local parishes keep the original registers in their possession until the last entry is 100 years old. Then, they send these registers to the Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana. However, priests began making duplicate copies in 1835, so visiting your ancestors’ local parish is another avenue to explore. The Archives keeps a regularly updated catalogue of all the registers in the Ljubljana archdiocese.
The Archbishopric Archives hold an abundance of information dating back in some cases to the 1100’s. Most information, however, dates from the 1700’s forward and appears in individual parish registers in manuscript form (Matične knijige) in three different types of official registers: birth, marriage, and death registers. In addition, there are unofficial records called Status Animarums (the Latin term means “state of souls”) which are parish census registers used by priests in their pastoral work. Not all parishes have a Status Animarum on file at the Archives
and not all parishes have birth, marriage, and death registers on file at the Archives or in their parishes as many were destroyed during the wars Slovenia has been involved in over the years.
Location: The address of the Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana is:
Nadškofijski arhiv Ljubljana Krekov trg 1
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Telephone: 386-61-311-994 Fax: 386-61-314-169
“Krekov trg 1” is not a street address—there is no building number on the outside of the edifice as we are familiar with building numbers here in America. Translated, “Krekov trg 1” means 1 Krekov Square. The square is located across the street from the entrance to the building. Actually, the building is situated at the comer of Poljanska cesta and Kopitarjeva cesta across from the southwest corner of Old Town Ljubljana’s open air market (where
the clothes, wooden products, etc. are sold). The Dragon Bridge is just one block north on Kopitarjeva.
Hours of Operation: The hours of operation of the Archives are as follows: Monday: 8 - 3:30; Tuesday -Friday: 8-1:30. The Archives are closed each year from August 1 through August 20. Keep this in mind when making your plans to visit Slovenia!
Visiting Procedures: There is a specific procedure to follow when planning to visit the Archives. First, you must make an appointment. Telephone them at least two days prior to your visit or write a few weeks before you go to Ljubljana. The research room holds only 10-12 people at one time, so it is important to make this appointment. Next, when making the appointment, you can ask to have up to three registers ready for you when you arrive. Registers are available by date, so you will have to indicate the name of the village/town and the dates you want to research, i.e., birth record registers for Črni Vrh, 1867.
Upon arrival at the Archives, proceed to the second floor where you will find the records room. Items you should take with you include paper, pencil, any records you may have, a magnifying glass, a camera, and a hand-held scanner if you have one. (You are permitted to take photographs of pages in the registers-there is no facility to copy any document or record.) However, the Archives staff assistants will make you certified copies of birth, marriage, or death certificates for $10 each. These assistants are available to help you. They speak very good English!
Birth Records: The best register to begin with is the birth records register if you know the date your ancestor was bom. Births to a married couple were usually every two years, so you can go backwards and forwards in the register for the time period you are researching to find other children bom of this marriage. When finding the entry of your ancestor, you will see listed the child’s name, his/her legitimacy status, the full name of the father, the first name of his/her mother, the godparents’ full names, the name of the priest, and sometimes the domicile of the child’s family, i.e. the house number. Godparents’ names can be a valuable source of information to identify specific relationships.
The actual birth date may not coincide with the information you have. Oftentimes, the day the child was baptized is the day indicated in the register as the date of birth, not the date your ancestor was actually born. If the child was born illegitimately, the entry may not appear in chronological order of the register at all! Don’t despair! You may find records at the back of the register as this is
often where illegitimate births were recorded. Also, with illegitimate births, the father’s name appears from the 1600’s to the end of the 18lh century; then they no longer appear. Instead, the father’s name was marked N.N. The mother’s record may indicate “concubine” by her name! If the parents decided to marry after the child was bom, the child’s record had to be “legitimized”. To do this, the father had to declare in writing the following: “I, (name) declare myself to be the father of this child.” There was much discrimination associated with being an illegitimate child, so every effort was made to change the record.
Furthermore, if you know your ancestor was born in Ljubljana and there is no record in the parish birth register, you may want to look at the hospital records for that time. The child most likely was illegitimate and the name was never recorded in the parish birth register.
The oldest birth records in the Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana dates back to 1583 from the parish in Mengeš.
Marriage Records: Parish marriage registers list the following: the date of the marriage, the specific village in which the marriage took place, the house number of the groom, the groom’s full name and his profession, his religion, his age, the bride’s town, her house number, her full name and occupation, her religion, her age, the groom’s father’s full name and his profession, the groom’s mother’s maiden name and her profession, the witnesses’ full names and their professions, whatever documents accompanied the marriage and the name of the priest who performed the ceremony. Records from 1785 through 1815 mention only the bride and groom, their ages, and their witnesses.
In some instances, if no parents’ names are listed for the groom, you can presume he was a widower. You can then search back to find his first marriage, which will likely list his parents’ names and if you cannot find the marriage record in the parish register of the village where your relative lived, it may be that the groom went to the bride’s parish to be married.
Marriage records are important as you can search backwards by generations (20-25 years) to find the marriage record of each generation.
Death Records: Parish death registers date back to 1660. These registers list the date of death, the date of burial, the name, profession, and age of the deceased, the cause of death, the answer to the question as to whether the deceased received extreme unction or not, and the priest’s name. Death records until 1883 were written in Gothic German; from 1884 on, they are written
in Slovenian. Some death records are recorded as national tragedies. For example, in the Cerknica death register, it lists workers who died of a cholera epidemic while working on the Ljubljana-Trieste railway from June to October 1855 and the summer of 1866. There were high mortality rates among children, also.
Status Animarum Records: Priests kept these records for their pastoral duties as mentioned above; these are NOT OFFICIAL RECORDS. You will need to verify information found in these records with the official registers. Priests recorded dates when members of a household first received their sacraments as well as how “acquainted” the parishioner was with Catholic teachings. As the custom went, before Easter, the priest would visit parishioners in their homes and “examine” their religious habits for the year. The oldest preserved Status Animarum is from the latter half of the 18th century.
The usual information found in these records include the name of the village or neighborhood (within a parish), the house number, the house name (hišno ime), the names of the owner and other members of the household, the dates of their birth or baptism, the dates of their first confession and Holy Communion, the dates of their marriage, the place from which or to which they moved, and sometimes the priest’s notes on the behavior of individual members. Abbreviations are usually in Latin, i.e., pater familiae
(father); filia (daughter); B is an abbreviation for bene meaning “good” and M for male meaning “bad”. Both relate to the pre-Easter “examination” as noted above!
Information found in these records may provide information about individuals who married outside the parish or those who moved away, information about the origin of those who moved into the parish; death and burial information about individuals who served in the armies, i.e., a letter from a company commander notifying the family of the death of their son; information about everyone who lived in the household (not necessarily related to the head of the household).
If you know the house number of your ancestors and if there is a Status Animarum available for their parish, check this record first as it may have all members of the family and their birth dates listed! This can save a lot of time in the research process.
Languages used in the official record registers: Priests wrote entries into the official records in Latin until 1770. Then, entries were recorded in Gothic German and finally, in the last decades of the 19th century, entries were made in Slovenian. Some registers were kept meticulously by the priests; others were done in a haphazard manner; and yet others are hardly readable. Hence, taking a magnifying glass is crucial!
Accessing the Archbishopric Archives from America: if you are unable to travel to Slovenia, you can request information from the Archives by writing to them. You can write in English or Slovenian (Slovenian Genealogy Society Inc. members will find sample letters written in Slovenian on the Members Only link of the Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc. web page).
You will need to give them the village/town and at least one of the three—birth, marriage, or death—dates to be successful in your search. Do not expect a prompt response as they have only a limited staff. Send an International Postage Mailer, available at any U.S. Post Office, for the return of any requested records. The Archives will bill you for the certificates they send.
RESOURCES
Goleč, Lilijana Žnidaršič. “Holdings in the Archdiocesan Archive Ljubljana,” A presentation given at the 1st Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc., Conference held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, September, 2001.
Lapajne, Branka. Researching Your Slovenian Ancestors. 1996. Ontario, Canada.
Presenter’s personal visits to the Archbishopric Archives in Ljubljana in 1994, 1998, 2001, and 2003.
Rose Marie Jisa, President of the Ohio Chapter, Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc.
Note: The Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Inc., is a non-profit educational organization organized to bring together those interested in researching their Slovenian ancestry. More information about the Society can be found on the web at www.sloveniansenealovv.ors.
Living Your Legacy
Through Genealogy
This issue I will discuss the potential use of books and periodicals in discovering and documenting your family history. I have used a specific reference to a family member but you can be assured that your family name is probably in print somewhere.
My great uncle, Joseph Plautz, was a veterinarian and notary public in Red Jacket, currently Calumet, Michigan. Bom in Slovenia, he had a colorful history prior to his residence there. He joined the all-volunteer army that entered Mexico and escaped from there sometime before the execution of the Emperor. He returned to Slovenia, married and immigrated to the United States. So it was a great surprise to find references to Joseph Plautz in a variety of books that were written in the U. S. One of the books was “From Slovenia to America” published in 1968; written by Marie Prisland (LC Number 68059201). Josef Plautz and his sons are also mentioned in “Slovene Immigrant History; 1900-1950; Autobiographical Sketches” by Ivan Molek (LC Number 78065725; ISBN: 0960314237). The Chicago Historical Society holds the papers of Ivan Molek. I went there in 2004 to search for letters about my family surnames and found several references and photos which I had copied. I now have copies of the letters my relatives wrote to Ivan Molek and pictures of my relatives that were only available in the book, (http:// www.chicagohs.org) Again Josef Plautz is mentioned in the book “Masinaigans: The Little Book” by Sister Bernard Coleman, O.S.B. and Sister Verona LaBud, O.S.B (LC Number 72085332). Josef Plautz is mentioned in a book, “Memoirs on the Occasion of the Thirtieth Anniversary of Arrival in America” by Frank (Javh) Kern.
I have a copy of the author’s manuscript proof. The manuscript is dated 1937. He also is the author of a Slovenian English dictionary still in print and obtainable from Slovenia. Joseph Plautz is also mentioned in the 50 Year History of KSKJ as indexed by the Slovenian Genealogy Society International (SGSI).
There are also some other books that people have written that can assist you in researching your legacy in America. “The Slovenes of Northern California, 1860-2001” by Donald Kambič (LC Number 2001132997; ISBN: 0940471698) provides information on people who immigrated from the Žumberak and Bela Krajina areas of Slovenia. “Laughing in the Jungle” by Louis Adamic (LC Number 32008633) provides his story of escape from
material that is available through membership. The Society published “Who’s Who of Slovene Descent in United States” written by Joseph Velikonja and Rado Lenček in 1995. The SGSI provides an index of names listed in the Narodni Adresar, a book published in the thirties, which listed prominent Slovenians and Croatians in Canada and the United States. The index is only available to members. They also have created indexes of people mentioned in church directories, anniversary booklets, and histories. They continue to translate articles from the Novi Svet, a Slovenian language magazine.
(http://www.sloveniangenealogv.org/html/indices.htmn
The books I bought I found at http://www.alibris.com , http://www.abebooks.com or http://www.ebav.com. It takes time and perseverance to find them; try searching on keywords: Slovenia, Slovenian and Slovene.
Here’s a little project to commemorate your genealogy quest. I used stamps from the Archbishop’s Archives in Ljubljana, record responses and a cousin’s correspondence. I bought a wood tray from a craft shop and glued upside down wooden flowerpots (you could use spools or balls) to the bottom of the tray in each comer. I then painted the tray white, sanded and repainted. I used Mod-Podge to glue down the stamps in block order, creating a series of squares. I threw a few stamps on top of the quilt of stamps. Sanded and recoated many times. I bought a piece of glass to protect the surface of the tray. Whenever I see my tray, I remember my work discovering my family’s history and legacy. - Adijo, George Plautz
You can send your genealogy questions to Ask George by sending it to “I have some news to submit" found on the website under SWUA eNewsletter. He will attempt to answer these questions via the eNewsletter.
the village of Blato in Slovenia to New York, service in the army and eventually his settlement on the west coast and the formation of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). “Slovenian George Plautz
Heritage 1” by Edward Gobetz (LC Number 78056487) provides information on Slovenians in America. The Society for Slovene Studies (http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~liublian/sss.html') publishes
Men in a SWUA World
Spring Fever: Warm weather, Easter and baseball
Hello again. I’d like to start off by thanking everyone who was nice enough to email a little note, I appreciated them all. So, in response to them I will start this time by telling you a little about myself and how I came to grace this page each issue. It all started about five years ago when I met the most wonderful woman, who was very into her Slovenian heritage and extremely proud of it. Being of German and Italian descent, I got curious about where I came from so I went to my mom and she had a great deal of history and documentation, but on my dad’s side there was very little. Well, that got me thinking and I went onto the Ellis Island web site and programmed my great grandfather’s name and up popped the information, the name was right, the time and dates were right, but to my shock and amazement he wasn’t Italian, that’s right he was a Slovenian. Well before I knew it I was a member of the SWUA and very interested in my new found heritage. That’s when I was offered the chance to give a man’s point of view in the Zarja and I jumped at the chance. So, in a nut shell, that’s how this article started, because I’m a newly found Slovenian and because I think men should be active in the organization as well. Ok, enough about me, spring is here and that means warm weather, Easter and of course the start of baseball season.
Finally, Easter, to me is a time to reflect on its religious meanings and to be with family. It means coloring and hiding eggs and eating too much. What it also means for Slovenian men is a chance for love, that’s right if a lady gives you a red egg, the Slovenian color of passion, she wishes to be with you forever, so keep an eye out for that and I hope you all receive one this year. Well that’s all I have this time, I hope you enjoyed it and I can’t wait to see your baseball predictions.
As always, you can contact me at doomtribe@aol.com and may good luck be yours.
Let’s start with the American past time, baseball. I love the spring, it’s a new beginning and being a Cub fan it’s usually the only time we are actually in the pennant race. So you ask, do they play ball in Slovenia? Well, as a matter of fact baseball is really starting to catch on lead by the efforts of the ZBSS (the baseball and softball association of Slovenia). This year they have more leagues than ever and are putting on clinics all over the country with the help of American coaches. Who knows, it may not be too long before we see Slovenia in some international competitions and maybe even sending players over to play in the major leagues. In that note I thought maybe we could have a little contest and see which of you knows about baseball, it’s easy and should be kind of fun! Here it is, I want you to send me the teams you think will win this year’s Divisions, Wild Card and World Series. Let’s see how good you are, send your entries to doomtribe@aol.com and I'll look through Don’s prize drawer and find something fun for the winner.
Don’s baseball picks for this year:
National League	American	League
West - Dodgers	West - Angels
East - Braves	East - Yankees
Central - Cubs	Central - Indians
Wild Card - Cardinals	Wild Card - Red Sox
World Series - Cubs beat Yankees!
(I know, but I can dream, can’t I?)
/ \
Marie T. Stelow, MS, LCPC
Individual, Couple, Family Therapy
1000 Essington Road	Phone:	(815) 773-2303
Joliet, 1L 60431	Fax:(815)744-1623
V____________________________________________________
Don Baldin, Branch 24 Okloberfest - Munich, Germany
To America... The Immigrant Experience
Book Review: Immigrant Woman
The hard and bitter life of the early Slovene immigrant women in America is the subject of an excellent book, Immigrant Woman by Mary Molek.1 it is a fictionalized biography of her mother - an immigrant woman at the beginning of the twentieth century. She doesn't have a name as her story is meant to be the story of immigrant women in general. As a researcher from the Institute of Slovenian Emigration Studies in Ljubljana, I find this book extremely honest and uncompromising in describing the life of the early immigrant women. Molek describes them and their living condition in a powerful and unconventional way: “Their composite efforts, dedication to work, indefatigable physical and mental labors, resourcefulness, self-pride, and aspirations toward nobler human potential and dignified activities helped to weave the fabric for the affluence that was to be. Not that this affluence necessarily derived to them; they were frequently prime targets for exploitation. In this respect they fared even worse than the Blacks in times of slavery. For, unlike the latter, these twentieth century immigrant women - and men - were indirectly and helplessly ‘bound hand and foot' in the circumstances of the labor and economic structure they had fallen into, and they were not provided with food, shelter, or physical care. Neither were they free in any modern sense. Although no money was exchanged in buying their bodies, the fact that steamship agents banded them on ships and transported them to America made the newcomers as thoroughly bought as anyone in direct exchange for money.” (Molek 1976, p. 5)
Mary Molek’s biographical text on her mother is a poetic “quilt”, a texture rich with the two stories that are told by the author simultaneously: about her mother and herself; about her mother’s struggle to survive and live according to her values and norms and her daughter as an object of this goal; about her watching these values and norms slowly becoming her own. It is
Mirjam M. Hladnik
exceptional for its literary “patchwork” form as well as for the author’s sincere dealing with topics such as the importance of having a male child, marital problems, or the shocking experience upon arrival in America, so different from that of Marie Prisland. Mary Molek quotes her mother saying: “If I had known, I’d never have come. Never left my homeland! The promises he made! The letters he wrote! The country I’d come to! I’d have everything! - This! This isn ’t what he promised me! ” (p. 23) Her mother, who landed in 1908, told Molek about it in the late 1930’s, but she did not publish her mother’s story until 1976.2
The narrative of the author’s mother is full of disappointments and the description of her first days in the new country is a good example. “I remember that first day in America very well. Second day really. I had been riding on the train all night. Across ugly country. Nothing but prairies, dusty roads. Oh, this must come to an end soon, and that beautiful land come. That wonderful part where I was going, not so vast, so uncultivated, so unplanned. There’d be hills, mountains maybe, and lush valleys.
“Then the squeaking wheels came to a stop. There I was, standing on tiptoe. (...) Only when I looked out and saw the pasture land fenced in by barbed wire and cows grazing here and there did I come to. ‘It must all be a horrible nightmare’, I thought. Villages with dilapidated frame houses; ugliness. To think back to the lush beauty of the tiniest of European villages. No! It can’t be that I’ll find myself in one of these. (...) I fumbled to the green bench propped up against the building. I sat down upon it, and I cried like a child. I looked up at your father, and I thought
I	had never known him at all. ‘I - I don’t want to get married!’ I said. ‘I want to go home!’.” (Molek, 38-39)
-	Mirjam M. Hladnik
(Footnotes)
1 Mary Molek was born to Slovene parents in 1909 in Chicopee, Kansas and became a writer who published extensively in several Slovene American periodicals. She translated the work and autobiography of her husband, Ivan Molek, in Slovene.
2 Mary Molek, Immigrant Woman, Delaware, 1976.
BRANCH 1 - SHEBOYGAN, WI
Congratulations Branch 1 on winning the 2005 Membership Campaign - 43 new members!
The annual SS. Cyril and Methodius Men’s Club Brat Fry was held on February 12,2006. This annual event is a major fundraiser for their scholarship fund. Branch 1 had an area assigned to display our Slovenian articles and treasures and of course, membership forms. Our new members, men and women, responded with enthusiasm to help in all areas of this event to make it a successful day. Long standing members also donated their time and talent. As always, the bakers had a wonderful assortment of delicious goodies. What could be more fun than to enjoy the day with family and friends with the taste of brats, sweets and coffee!
Our Bingo Day fundraiser was held on February 26, 2006, again, members responded without hesitation to make this day a success. By vote, current officers agreed to retain their respective positions. New members Mary Bockin and Mary Anne Schellinger will share the duties of “Sunshine Lady.” Check the SS. Cyril and Methodius church bulletin for the dates of future meetings, unless otherwise informed. God’s Blessings to all.
ANGIE FRITZ
BRANCH 2 - CHICAGO, IL
Our January meeting was a fun New Year’s celebration decorated with balloons, streamers and flowers on each table and peppy music. Our IL/IN Pres. Gen Buol installed officers: Pres.-Fran Morison; VP -Eugenia Hrastar; Sec./ Treas. Dolores Puhek,; Rec. Sec.- Geneva Cerjak; Sentinel Elsie Ciszek; Kitchen Com. Marija Rigler & Rich Rakovec. A delicious lunch & tasty desserts were served.
Please keep Barbara Reich’s son, Glen in your prayers. He is a paratrooper in the Elite Guard in Afghanistan.
Congratulations for our new babies: Marija Rigler a granddaughter- Alenka Rus; Geneva Cerjak a great-grand daughter - Isabella Lebar; Ann Bunetta a great grandson-Tyler Bell; Elsie Ciszek a great-grandson- Joseph Ciszek. Members who have been in the hospital: Kathy Lattuca, Mary Muller, Irene Kalina, Mary Malloy and Adeline Dolenc Parziole. Shut In members: Jennie Worth, Eugenie Hraster, Millie Persa, Chris Perman and Ann Bunetta. Shirley Melissa is in Holy Family Term Acute Care & Marie Rom at Brighton Gardens Term Care. Remember all our members with a card, call and in your prayers. We are sorry to report of the death of Connie Taylor (daughter of Geneva Cerjak) Connie was a very talented person, she baked the most beautiful and unusual cakes, cookies & pastries. She also baked for our affairs, as well as, member’s birthdays. We will miss her. Our condolences to her mother, her sister, Karen, brothers Joe & David &
their families & her step-daughter Christie Levy & stepson Scott Taylor their families & all the grand children. Please remember her in your prayer that she will rest in peace.
Our next meeting is March 19th celebrating St. Joseph
&	St Patrick. The April meeting will be on Palm Sunday. We might be surprised to receive some “Butarice”.
Remember the past 80 years and all those who were active in plays and kept Zveza going. Shows such as “Po pa Half’ when Fanny Zibert & Stephie Osterman brought the house down in laughter. “Great Memories” Take Care! LOVE-
DAISY
BRANCH 5 - INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Greetings! A special WELCOME goes out to our new members: Tina Jemigan, Terri Kashman, Mary Louise Swails and Josef Laposa. We hope you will be able to join us at our meetings! Please feel free to bring along others interested in joining!
I hope all of you have marked your calendars for April when Holy Trinity Church celebrates its 100th Anniversary! Watch the bulletin or your monthly Trinitarian for full details on times and places. You won’t want to miss out on any of the events!
Our May meeting will once again be on a Saturday night, with Mass and a pitch-in dinner immediately following. We will hold our semi-annual raffle at this meeting, so watch your mail for info on date, time and of course, those raffle tickets! Please try to join us for what always is a fun-filled evening! If you would like to donate a prize for the raffle, just contact Phyllis or Karen, or just bring it with you! Will let you know the date as soon as possible.
As always, please keep our servicemen and women in your prayers. At this writing, we are preparing to send our son-in-law, Pat, overseas for the third time with his Air Force Reserve unit. Pat is married to our oldest daughter, Katie, and they would appreciate your prayers for his safe return, and the safe return of all. God Bless.
PHYLLIS
BRANCH 13 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Very belated Holiday wishes to everyone. I must apologize for missing the last two issues of Zarja. With having absolutely no computer skills, my sister Barbara has offered to put my articles on the computer and email them for me. It is a joint family task now and I thank you Barbara.
We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas luncheon with a delightful group of‘gals’ and delicious food. Our group is small but certainly enthusiastic. Barbara Chiodo brought each of us a lovely container of her homemade Rocky Road fudge. We had our election of officers and the
following ladies have graciously accepted. President: Louise Petrusich, Vice President: Doreen Sustarich, Secretary: Moreen Spencer, Recording Secretary: Beverly Jackson, Auditors: Virginia Sustarich and Ann Sustarich, Reporter: Beverly Jackson.
We are very happy to welcome new member Julie Dearborn. She is the granddaughter of Antonia Kostelec. Please join us at our meeting, Julie. We would love to meet you.
Proud parents, Moreen and Don Spencer report that sons, Kevin and Kenny have made Captain with Delta Airlines. They have been relocated to New York, congratulations. Helen McQuillar had a beautiful 90th birthday celebration. Belated birthday wishes, Helen. We received a lovely note from Sandra Farrell who sent a gift membership to her cousin, Rose Gandy. She lives in Redding, California. Thank you Sandra and welcome Rose. Sandra’s Mother, Agnes Kumick is being cared for at her daughter’s home, Lynn Yager. She has a broken shoulder. Hope you can join us soon, Agnes. Happy Birthday wishes to everyone celebrating in March and April.
Our meetings have become a joyous occasion. We have a mini Pot Luck lunch every month, with favors and table decorations. Please join us, we really have a good time, first Thursday of every month at noon at the Slovenian Hall. Big thanks to the ladies who provide this.
I	received a wonderful note from Dorothy Jamick in Aurora, MN. She celebrated her 80th birthday recently. Also get well wishes to Ann Orazem who had heart surgery. These are dear friends I met at a convention and then continued a friendship for many years.
Wishing all our S WUA Sisters good health and happiness in this coming year. If you aren’t as close to God as you once were, make no mistake about who moved.
BEVERLY JACKSON bchiodo@msn.com
BRANCH 14 - EUCLID, OH
Our reporter, Alice Kuhar, has decided to retire after almost 30 years of writing. We will miss her enthusiastic and informative columns, which often were the first items we looked forward to reading when we opened our “Zarja” magazines. No one can write like Alice, but someone needs to do the work and I have been asked to take on this formidable task. I will need your help with information about Branch 14 members and activities. Please call me at 440-943-3623 or email me at “slodekla87@msn.com” with any news. We all want to thank Alice for her years of reporting and wish her the best in her retirement, may God bless her.
Our annual Christmas party at the Slovenian Society Home on December 6 was a memorable affair as usual. The meal prepared by Sophie Mazi was delicious, and the decorations and favors prepared by the Fran Prijatel family were beautiful. They gave each person a beautifully
made book, which included Slovenian traditions, poetry, quotations, recipes, and prayers. This book is an original compilation made with love by the Prijatel family, and will be a treasured keepsake for many. We must also thank Stana Grill without whom this affair could not go forward. Stana spent countless hours on the phone taking reservations and arranging tables. Again we had a full hall. The raffle went very well, but we missed our number caller, Steve Valenčič, who passed away this year. Also, we lost members Addie Humphreys and Florence Artz.
Hopefully we will warm up by the time the next Zarja issue arrives. Don’t forget to send me information to be used in this column.
PATRICIA HABAT Vice-President and reporter
BRANCH 16 - SOUTH CHICAGO, IL
Forty-three members and guest attended the Christmas Party at Steve’s Lounge. We had 6 members split-the-pot prizes, three monetary and three gift certificates at the local grocers. At the sing-along, Fr. Phil Kiley requested “Češčena si, Marija” and Fr. Clement Oyafema from Nigeria, requested “Silent Night” in Slovenian. The only damper on the party was the snow storm (5 inches) awaiting us as we started home.
Congratulations to Rev. Paul Novak, OSM who was elected Provincial of the Order of Friar Servants of Mary. This order serves Annunciata church (111 th street), Rev. Paul’s home parish, where he attended grammar school and where his parents still belong. He is the son of Frances and Rudy Novak and nephew of Mary Jane (John) Strus and Dotsi (Jim) Rossi.
Our sympathies and condolences to the families of our twin sisters, Julie Vrlich and Bess Ivankovich. Julie passed away Sept. 18, 2005 and Bess, Dec. 02, 2005. May they rest in peace. Please remember our sick and shut-ins in our prayers. They look forward to receiving the “Zarja” every two months. To some it is the only contact with their friends and members.
April hostesses are Tina Sertich, Lena Amicarelli and Vida Kumse.
SYLVIA SPRETNJAK (773) 375- 2278
BRANCH 20 - JOLIET, IL
Congratulations for third place in the 2005 Membership Campaign
Father Tom Paul conducted the installation of our 2006 officers on January 15. We had a fantastic crowd at this meeting. It was great to see some members we haven’t seen recently. We hope that many will come to our future meetings. Everyone enjoyed the buffet dinner provided by the officers. This was followed by a sing-a-long with
21
Judge Penn at his digital piano. Father Paul drew the winning ticket for the Slovenian “Punčka” doll. CONGRATULATIONS ZORA ZELKO!
Events: February 7 meeting: Speaker Courtney Pucel, Client Director of Home Instead-Senior Care, explained the benefits for seniors who are able to stay in their homes. February 14: Theresa Burns and her visitation committee (Bill Burns, Mary Kay Demick, Agnes Dobszyk, Pat Figurowski, Jo & Wally Lustik, Millie Pucel, Jonita Ruth) took token Valentine gifts to home-bound members and those in nursing homes. March 14: The annual “St. Joseph’s Table” is held at St. Joseph Park Hall. Members and friends bring a dish to be shared. April 18 meeting: Guest speaker Jackie Mansholt, Director of Wellness and Promotion at Silver Cross Hospital. April 21-22: Rummage Sale at St. Joseph’s Park hall. Clothing and household items are accepted for this sale.
We extend our sympathy and prayers to the families of Jean Reardon, Bernice Suski, Joe Sterle, our Grape Festival Mayor in 1986, and to those who lost family members: Jan Quillman, her mother; Audrey Chumovic, her brother; Cyndi Kargas, her father-in-law; Stephanie Kovacik, her husband; Dolores Ambrozich, her husband, and Margaret Williams, her uncle.
“ We are the Easter people, and Hallelujah is our song.''’
- Pope John Paul II Želimo vam Vesele velikonočne praznike!
SR. MARLENE AMBROSE, O.S.F. 815-723-1499
BRANCH 23 - ELY, MN
We wish you all the best, especially health, happiness and hope. 2005 closed with plans already in progress, to participate in next year’s SWU MN Day, hosted in Chisholm, MN. A different idea for Minnesota members, that being a Slovenian Museum, instead of the usual fare of our host state branches. We thought it was a great idea, and it didn’t take long for a couple of our members to check out plans and what the Chisholm branch was planning. It looks like many of our members are interested in participating, by either donating items of Slovenian art and tradition, or helping out wherever needed. Anyone of the local branch who may be able to contribute something to the museum, please stay tuned to the next report, or better yet, join us at the monthly meetings. Our branch joined in with other vendors at the well-known Catholic Youth Organization holiday bazaar, held the weekend after Thanksgiving. Some dedicated bakers and sellers attracted customers with delicious Slovenian poticas, strudels, and krofe. All homemade, with pride, along with the ever popular books, “Pots and Pans”, the reprint of “Woman’s Glory, the Kitchen”, and a local best seller “Growing Up Slovenian, Child of Slovenian Parents”, by Margaret Osaben Rawland. The branch is happy to report sales were successful, bringing in over $700! We also wish to
thank those who purchased foods reminding them of the goodies mom or grandma used to make. Again, it was a lot of hard work by a few dedicated people, we thank you for your time and talent.
The year closed with our annual Christmas dinner held at Vertin’s on December 4th. See you at future meetings, and hope you dig through your treasure chest of some Slovenian heritage during the long winter days!
REPORTER, TERESA R. ZAVERL
BRANCH 24 - LASALLE, IL
Dober dan. we owe a world of gratitude to our dear Corinne Leskovar for her many years of service as Editor of Zarja. She brought “Slovenia” into our homes with each and every issue. We wish her much health and happiness in her retirement as Editor.
Our branch is excited to resume our meetings in March and prepare for the coming year. One of the main events on our agenda is our June picnic. It’s getting bigger and better every year. We hope to have a “full house” at our March meeting. It will be so good to see everyone!
In the meantime, have a truly meaningful Lent and a beautiful Easter! And may your hearts be filled with peace and love.
LORETTA STORY Editor s note: Please refer to page 11, as we pulled the rest of Loretta s story’ into a feature article.
BRANCH 33 - DULUTH, MN
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We are pleased to welcome our new Secretary (Financial) Shirley Hoppenyan, and newest members, Pat Turchi, Abby Menart and Paige Hellgren-Garson.
We have been making plans along with the other Minnesota Branches for our Slovenian Heritage Festival, Saturday, September 16 at the Chisholm Sports Arena. Our next meeting will be March 25th at the Rock in Chisholm. A calendar of events for our meetings will be ready soon.
Mary White is our new Minnesota Regional Secretary. She is a very active member of our Branch and is our Vice President. She also is active with KSKJ and sings with the Singing Slovenes, she also was a Marie Prisland Scholarship winner.
Enjoy the spring. I am starting some more carnations, the last ones the rabbits really enjoyed. Hopefully these will survive.
BEV MENART, REPORTER
BRANCH 35 - AURORA, MN
Despite the bitter cold and biting wind, December 4th brought out 14 members for our Pot Luck Advent Party.
WWW.SWUA.ORG
A lovely variety of foods were served and the hostesses, Bernice Ceglar, Gabriella Gorichan and Marlys Rabb decorated the tables in advent colors. The meal and prayers followed our meeting for our sick, deceased and shut-in members. We are happy to report that Ann Orazem is recovering.
Election of officers was held and the slate of officers from 2005 was reinstated except for Sgt. at Arms, Betty Turk who resigned. Ann Hodnik accepted the position. Ann Orazem has given up her reporter position. We thank both Betty and Ann for their long service to SWUA.
We made the announcement that Dorothy Jamnick was selected to be our Member of the Year. Her celebration will be held on May 7, 2006.
The party resumed after the meeting with a bunco game with gifts brought by each member. Our collection for the White Community Health Care Facility totaled $63.00.
ANITA VOVK
BRANCH 39 - BIWABIK, MN
“Kultemi Dan”, Slovenian Culture Day, was February 8th. I hope everyone remembered Franc Prešeren, one of Slovenia’s great poets, by doing something to establish the importance of our culture in the minds of our young children and grandchildren. The Slovenes are one of the most advanced nationality groups in the world. Visiting Slovenia, you see the monument erected in Preseren’s honor. The internet has great articles about other cultural writers. Do some browsing and learn more to celebrate this day. Wouldn’t it be fun to create a “Slovenian Culture Day” to be celebrated like St. Patrick’s Day?
Our December meeting tied up the final expenses incurred with our 75lh Jubilee. We elected new officers for 2006. President, Rosemary Ribich, Vice-President, Eleanor Indihar, Secretary/Treasurer, Vida Lanari, Sunshine Chair, Ann Geržina, Historian, Phyllis Lamkin. 1 will remain reporter. We have two beautiful SWUA banners and we decided to keep one in each branch city. Phyllis Kukar is keeper for Gilbert and Rosemary in Biwabik. If anyone wants to use the banner at a funeral of a deceased member, please let Phyllis or me know.
Plans continue for our Heritage Festival to be held in Chisholm in September. Another planning committee meeting will be held on March 25lh in Chisholm. This is a combined effort of all Minnesota branches in lieu of a 2006 convention. More in a later report.
Thirty-two members enjoyed our January 8lh after-Christmas party at St. John’s Hall. A great meal was catered and our dice game was played. Carol Sherek entertained us with Slovenian music played on her button box.
A funeral was held for 52-year member, Milka Škorjance, on Wednesday. Our branch prayed the rosary and the ritual
was read by Jeanne Korsman. We will miss Milka and her delicious flancati.
ROSEMARY (SERTICH) RIBICH, REPORTER
BRANCH 42 - MAPLE HEIGHTS, OH
In January we lost a long time member, “Mitzi” Glivar Champa, who was listed in the last issue of Zarja as a 50-year member of SWUA. Her death comes a mere five months after her beloved husband, Louis, and closes the book on the John Glivar family, an early Maple Hts. Slovenian pioneer. Mitzi was a one-time Br. 42 Mother of the Year. May her soul and all the souls of our faithful departed rest in peace. Get well wishes go out to Mary Ann Urbančič McNamara on her recent knee surgery and to Bob Kastelic who is experiencing back problems. We miss seeing Bob at our functions and send our best to him and any other ailing members we may not know about. Our Xmas dinner at Sterle’s was enjoyed by all.
Now we look forward to spring and Easter, which is and always has been very special in the Slovenian home. Heavy Spring cleaning always preceded the holiday followed by the traditional baking of “potica” and “šarkelj” sweet bread). We colored eggs on Good Friday and on Saturday assembled all the prepared foods to go into our baskets covered with the same Easter cloth brought out each year for the blessing. This took place at Pavla Hribar’s house until the Slovenian National Home was built in 1937. A priest from St. Lawrence parish would make the rounds of neighboring Slovenian communities to perform the blessing. How sweet it was! Happy birthday to our March and April celebrants and a happy St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s day. Have a beautiful Easter and don’t forget our next meeting on Saturday, May 13th. at 11:00 a.m. at the Maple Hts. Library. Adijo.
LIL SADOWSKI
BRANCH 43 - MILWAUKEE, WI
I	hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and on behalf of all the officers and members of Branch 43, wishes for a very Happy New Year are extended to all. May 2006, bring good health, happiness and God's blessing. Members attending our December meeting were treated to a delicious lunch served by ladies who were celebrating their birthday. Thank you to: Denise Bartlett, Barbara Martinka, Jan Gehm and Mary Pucel. We held the election of officers. Elected for 2006, were: President, Josephine Janezic, Vice President, Yvonne Khaldy, Recording Secretary, Mary Bregant, Corresponding Secretary, Jacquelyn Smith, and Treasurer, Denise Bartlett. Our auditors are Jan Gehm and Theresa Mejcher. Thank you to Ann Konczal and Elsie Gallun the auditors for 2005, they were given red carnations by president Janezic and thanked for their work.
Karen Goodman remains our Sgt. of Arms. A Program Director will be determined at a later date. Everyone arrived in a party mood at our holiday gathering, bearing gifts and wearing smiles. The dinner was delicious and all enjoyed a special treat of cocktail potica courtesy of Josephine Janezic. Thank you, Pepca. Many thanks to all that brought door prizes and raffle prizes. The new officers were sworn in by Jack Kolesari. New members Terri Mejcher Josef Janezic, Tillie Skusek, Anna Driess, and junior member, Karly Rose Bartels were introduced.
With the holidays over it is time to get down to serious business. One New Year’s resolution could be to attend the monthly meetings. Meetings will be on March 22, and April 26, 2006, at St. Mary’s Church, at noon. Our meetings begin with a delicious lunch served by the birthday girls and lots of camaraderie. The May meeting time and place will be announced, as it is our Annual Member of the Year Celebration. This year Tillie Kveder will have that honor. Our June Meeting will be June 28, 2006, and will be at 6 p.m. at St. Mary’s. Hopefully this will allow our working ladies an opportunity to join. Best Wishes to all of our sick and shut ins and to everyone “GOOD DAYS”.
MICI BREGANT
BRANCH 47 - GARFIELD HEIGHTS, OH
Welcome all new members to our Branch. Our next meeting is March 12th at 1:00 p.m. at the Maple Hts. Library. We will be discussing our Ohio-Michigan Convention, which will be October 22nd. Mass will be at St. Lawrence Church at 10:00 a.m., meeting will follow at the Slovenian National Home. We will be discussing the trip to Joliet on April 21 -22-23. Please try to make the trip and see all of the new information accumulated about our heritage. We will be also talking about the Heritage Festival that is on Octoberlst. at the SNPJ-Farm in Kirkland, Ohio.
Our Mass for Living and Deceased Members will be on June 25th at 10:00 a.m. at St. Lawrence Church. Please try to attend. We will also be talking about ways to make money for our branch. Birthday wishes go out to all our March and April members. March members: Catherine Barta, Barbara Culkar, Mary Kastelic, Joyce Rozman, Margaret Ryhs, Olga Sray, Mildred Stautihar and Brandi Wallace. April members: Mary Gorišek, Dolores Hrovat, Samantha Spellacy and Rose Vatovec. Best wishes to all. See you at our March meeting.
KATHERINE WALLACE
BRANCH 50 - EUCLID, OH
Our branch will commemorate its 75th anniversary on September 15, 2006. Plans are already underway to celebrate this great occasion. The SWUA announced a
reprint of “Women’s Glory,” the 1951 cookbook as a commemorative keepsake to celebrate their 80th anniversary. This special book is available at the home office for $20.00 (plus $2.00 shipping).
Discover Joliet, Illinois’ bus trip - from Friday, April 21, 2006 thru Sunday April 23, 2006, please see flyer in this issue of Zarja.
Alice and Tony Signorelli celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in November,
2005. Their children are Laura (Frank Zevnik),
Deanne (Tony Paolucci),
Lynn (Rick Fiore) and Anthony (Cheri), and ten grandchildren. Alice is a long time Branch 50 members as are her sisters, Josephine Wutchiett, Mary Blatnik, and France Kajfez, our treasurer.
The anniversary cake was an Anne Tomsick creation.
President Rose Mary Toth has again been designated as chairwoman of our second annual SWUA Fall Festival, which will be held on Sunday, October 1st, 2006. at the SNPJ farm in Kirtland, Ohio. The theme is “Keeping Our Slovenian Heritage Alive.” Productive meetings of several branch members have already taken place, more information will be forthcoming.
It is with great sorrow that we report the passing of Alice Debeljak, on November 12, 2005, Mary Kovalan on January 4, 2006, and Helen Zak on January 21, 2006, rest in peace. Recuperating from back surgery is Stella Koporc, best wishes and prayers for her recovery, and please remember to keep all our members in your prayers.
Mark your calendars for our next meeting on Wednesday March 22, 2006 (4lh Wednesday) and our “Wearing’ of the Green” tradition. Other upcoming meeting dates are April 26, May 24, and June 21s1, 2006.
Remember to email me your news, and photos are always welcome too! Respectfully submitted,
ANNE TOMSICK ciavnow@vahoo.com
BRANCH 55 - GIRARD, OH
Greetings! It’s been several months since I’ve written for Branch 55, mainly because I spent the last four months studying in London, England with the Notre Dame London program. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the annual SWUA Christmas Party, which took place on December 7,2005. Once again, the party was celebrated with AMLA Lodge 42 at Little Peppino’s Restaurant in Girard. Several members attended and were able to enjoy a night of delicious Italian food, Christmas carols, and camaraderie.
Alice and Tony Signorelli
This picture was taken at the Christmas Party 2005. From left to right: Anka Krakora, Milka Kregar, Virginia Bestic, Rose Juvančič, Nettie Juvančič, Maria Selak, Joan Twaddle
Traditional Slovenian Sv. Miklavž cookies were served at the end of the party to honor our Slovenian heritage.
In Branch news, member Virginia Bestic announced that her grandson, Aaron Bestic, is currently studying in London through the Dennison University study abroad program. Another grandson, Adam Bestic, has obtained an internship with MTV in New York City. Adam is currently a student at Youngstown State University.
Branch 55 president Maria Selak announced that her daughter, Andrea Selak, will be graduating from Harvard Business School this June with her MBA. Maria’s son, Mark Selak, a Second Lieutenant in the USMC, is currently undergoing training at The Basic School in Quantico, VA. He will be graduating from the program this June, and then preparing for flight school in Florida. Maria is currently busy planning a wedding, as Mark will be getting married June 17,2006 to Miss Molly Hartman. Congratulations to both of them!
Details of upcoming spring events are still in the planning stages but all members will be notified when the dates have been set. That’s all for now. I wish everyone a pleasant and enjoyable Spring! God Bless.
MONICA SELAK
BRANCH 89 - OGLESBY, IL
Greetings to all - as we begin a brand new year, here’s wishing you all good health, new members, and a fun year. Let me introduce our incoming officers for 2006. Marilyn Argubright, Chaplain; Mitzie Banich, Treasurer; Barbara Bruch, Reporter and Secretary; Darlene Wasilewski, Vice President; and Alice Ebner, President. Thank you and welcome to all of you, looking forward to a great year. A great big thank you to our out-going President, Nancy Henkel for a job well done. We will miss you as our leader but look forward to your enthusiasm and input. As we look forward to a new year, we welcome our brand new members, Jean Eiten and Joan Peart. Jean and Joan are the twin daughters of Branch 89’s Molly Rodriguiz. To my knowledge, Jean and Joan are making history, because they are the only twin sisters ever in ZARJA THE DAWN - MARCH/APRIL 2006
Branch 89! Thank you so much for joining us.
We are so happy and proud to have you aboard! To all of our members living away from us, we think of you so often and wish you well. To our shut-ins, please know you are in our thoughts and prayers. And now it is time for me to pass on the torch of Zarja Reporter to our new Secretary/Reporter, Barbara Bruch. I have enjoyed my time with Zarja, but now it is time for me to pick up new responsibilities for Branch 89. It’s been so nice. Peace to all.
ALICE EBNER
BRANCH 93 - NEW YORK CITY, NY
We met on Sunday, January 29th for a Scrapbooking event. Many thanks to Tea Rozman-Clark for the great idea and to Vesna Straser for providing our meeting place and refreshments. Tea arranged for Deanne D’Aloia, an independent consultant for Creative Memories, to give us a presentation. Deanne shared her expertise and enthusiasm for scrapbooking. It was quickly apparent that scrapbooking ties in with genealogy research! Deanne explained that photos stashed away in boxes all have stories and those stories need to be documented for anyone else who might look at the photos. We all have photos where we no longer know the names of the people in the photo, the date it what was taken, the location, the occasion, etc. It is important to jot down this information and preserve memories for our own enjoyment and for future generations. But we were told to use a grease pencil on the backs of photos as pen or pencil can ruin photos. We were also told that not every photo is a good photo, so use the good photos in a scrapbook and throw the bad ones away. And a very good reason to scrapbook? Most of us have stored photos in magnetic photo albums, in time the pages yellow and the glue on the pages wears off. The scrapbook pages we were shown are acid-free to last a lifetime.
Scrapbooks can be created for new babies, weddings, special occasions and, of course, cherished old family photos. We were all given catalogs and some orders were placed
Branch 93, scrapbooking event
From left to right: Jordan Duffin and her great grandmother Eunice Kernz Supan, both SWUA Branch 89 members and Cole Duffin making apple strudel.
immediately while others need time to think over the project they want to start and what supplies they will need. We look forward to seeing some of these scrapbooks at future meetings! Any SWUA branch members who have questions about scrapbooking can contact Deanne at deanneDAloia@aol.com.
BRANCH 99 - LEMONT, IL
Congratulations Branch 99 for second place in the
2005	membership campaign
The news for March is headlined by the fact that our branch will again have three cooking demonstrations this year. We hope our younger members and daughters and granddaughters of members, will come and learn how to do some of our favorite Slovenian foods.
This year we will have DEMONSTRATIONS by our expert bakers, so the number of “students” can be extended. The kitchen at the Slovenian Cultural Center will be the place and the dates are: March 18, September 30 and October 14th, in the afternoon. The charge for each demonstration is $10 per person.
We know you will enjoy learning how to make POTICA (September 30), KROFKI (October 14) and EASTER BUNS (March 18). All our teachers are experts. Call for your reservation: C. Leskovar, 1 773 275 1115.
The March meeting date is the 26th at 2 p.m. Hope to see you there.
CORINNE LESKOVAR
BRANCH 100 - FONTANA, CA
Our Christmas dinner took place on December 10, with a lovely turnout of 30 members and guests. Rosemary Mlakar arranged for our group to see the country western group “Riders in the Sky” Christmas show at a local theatre. We had a great meal at a restaurant within walking distance from the theater. Some of our members remembered the accordionist in the group as a former member of the Frankie Yankovich Orchestra, Joey Miskulen. He even played a polka during the performance. It was most entertaining and really put us into the holiday spirit.
We discussed the officers for 2006 and chose our “Member of the Year”. Chosen to be our “Member of the Year” was Dorothy Jernejčič. You will hear more about her in future editions of the Zarja. After many years of service to the Branch, Anne Kapel decided that she needed to step down and let someone else handle the presidential duties of our group. So, we are fortunate to have Mary Lou Vidergar, our very active vice-president to take over. Mary Lou Jensen, then accepted as vice-president. Rosemary Mlakar will continue as secretary.
Almost every time we meet, we welcome someone new to our midst. We thank Mary Lou Jensen for bringing a newfound Slovenian friend, to our event.
We send New Year’s greetings to the members who can no longer attend because of distance, age, or illness. Coming to mind is Jean Kurilich who is now in an assisted living home with her husband. Jean was a very active member and officer of Branch 100. Pauline Buzan, one of our currently active members had a serious auto accident just before Christmas and is recovering and in therapy. Prayers and good wishes to these and to all of our members and their families for a very healthy and happy 2006.
JEAN KOCI, REPORTER ajkoci@cox.net
BRANCH 102 - WILLARD, WI
Our meeting held December 3,2005 was attended by 12 members and 2 guests.
Betty Fraid was our delegate at the SWUA Wisconsin State Convention that was held in Milwaukee, September 25th. Our branch will host the convention in 2007.
Pat Sixel was nominated for Mother/Woman of the year. Pat has been a member for many years, starting as a junior member.
In 2007, Willard will be celebrating the 100lh Anniversary of its settlement. A big celebration is being planned. This announcement is being made early so people can get some input into what’s going on.
Our prayers are for John and Jane Govek. John has M.S. and Jane recently has found out she has bone cancer. John is the son of Frank and Jean Govek, long time members of our branch. Frank and Jean now reside with their daughter Carol in South Bend, Ind.
We have 2 new members, Bonnie Brierton and her daughter. Bonnie is the daughter of Vicki Krultz.
AGNES DEBEVEC
BRANCH 103 - WASHINGTON, DC
In the previous issue of Zarja, we stated that the installation of officers was to take place on the first Sunday of January at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Unfortunately, we had to postpone it to the first Sunday in February. No meetings were held in January, February and March, but we will start anew, hopefully, with many fresh ideas for the coming year, on the first Sunday in April at our new meeting place at St. Ann’s Church, 4001 Yuma St., NW, Washington, DC.
We have already started planning for our Annual Social, which will be held on November 11, at a new location, Christ the King Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. Please mark the date on your calendar and plan to come. We would love to see you, as we are going to celebrate our
41st anniversary as a branch. Further details will follow.
Congratulations to the new editors of Zarja, of course with Corinne’s indispensable advice and assistance. Their enthusiasm shines through in the innovations.
Although Dr. Stane Sustersic was not a member of Branch 103, he was certainly an honorary member with a place in his heart for our group from its inception. He passed away suddenly in December 2005. We will remember his eager participation in all of our events and the many persons he convinced to come to our dances and socials. He will be remembered for his enthusiasm, helpfulness, support of our Slovenian heritage in all its forms, and his never saying no to our requests. May he rest in peace.
MIMI MEJAC
BRANCH 108 - OLNEY, MD
The first meeting of the year was held in January with a luncheon and Installation of Officer’s ceremony, highlighting unity among members and dedication to preserving our Slovenian heritage. Installing Officer, Lynn Koiner led the ceremony by reading each of the officer’s privileges and responsibilities to direct and guide Br. 108. The officers for 2006 are as follows: President, Bernadette K. Fitzsimmons, Vice President, Florence Englehardt, Secretary/Recording Secretary, Eveline K. Lawrence, Treasurer, John Klansek, Program Chairperson, Lynn Koiner, Auditors, May Kokal and Nika Kovacic, Historian and branch photographer, Erika K. Roda, Sergeant of Arms, Marge McFarland. Officers and members present joined hands to make a circle symbolizing teamwork and support, followed by reciting together the Our Father (Oče Naš) prayer in Slovenian. All members received a beautiful Slovenian motif bookmark designed by May Kokal. Details were finalized for the Pustna veselica, Shrovetide Masquerade Festival, a Slovenian style Mardi Gras celebration. We hope our guests have a fun-filled evening of merrymaking, food and music and learning about the Slovenian customs observed during Pust.
On Sat. March 11, we’ll march for the third year in a row in Slovenian national costume for the St. Patrick’s Day parade at the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, MD. Join us in the parade line with or without costume, or just come and be a spectator and support SWUA as it is announced on the Reviewing Stand. After the parade we’ll have a luncheon meeting at a restaurant in the Washingtonian Center complex.
Vesele velikonočne praznike! Happy Easter!
Don’t forget to check out our Heritage Museum gift shop on the web at www.swua.org
BRANCH 109 - TWIN CITIES, MN
Seth Hawkins, curator of the Julian H Sleeper House Museum and organizer of the unofficial Slovenian museum in St. Paul, hosted a reception for the Honorable Samuel Zbogar, the Slovenian Ambassador to the United States on Sunday, January 22nd. After some brief welcoming remarks by Dr. Hawkins, Ambassador Zbogar greeted some fifty Slovenian guests, many from our Twin Cities Branch 109. Mary Vidas, our Branch President presented the Ambassador with gifts representing our state of Minnesota: Native American wild rice, an ethnic cookbook representing the different nationalities in our state and a souvenir towel illustrating the symbolic Minnesota loon. .The Ambassador noted that Minnesota is home to some 25,000 people of Slovenian ancestry. This number is rather important because in the audience was U.S. Senate candidate, Amy Klobuchar who remarked to “Gospod” Zbogar that if elected she would be the second Slovenian in the United States Senate. Dr. Hawkins then escorted Ambassador Zbogar and Honorary Counsel, Ken Zapp through the Slovenian Museum, which houses a variety of Slovenian artifacts.
In addition to the informal socializing, some of the invited guests joined in “Slovensko Petje”(Slovenian Singing) of traditional Slovenian folk songs. Two members of the Singing Slovenians accompanied them: Frank Bucar and Denny Anderson. We wish to complement Dr. Hawkins for being a very gracious host as he shared a variety of Slovenian wines such as Goriška Brda along with other Slovenian delicacies. Special credit to Frank Medved who made the potica for this celebratory event.
In place of our regular February meeting, Miro Medved and his wife, Karen hosted a Slovenian music sing-along. This informal event was open to members and friends interested in learning to sing Slovenian songs. In the next issue we give you all the details of Slovensko Petje.”
NORM SETNICKER 651-777-6106 Normas 188@msn.com
SWUA 109 members with Slovenian Ambassador, (left to right) Mary Ann Set nicker, Norm Setnicker, Ambassador Zbogar, Maty Bernard, Karen Medved and Jim Bernard.
Feature Branch: 100
Branch increases membership with providing cultural events.
Branch 100, Fontana and all of Southern California, is happy to respond to the invitation to share some ideas with other branches for publication in the Zarja. It is an honor to be able to take part in this program and to share what we do.
We are a very small branch that covers a very large area, making us unique.
Because of this, our members look forward to meeting one another just two times a year. These times are very special to us, as our meeting in the spring is to honor a member who has shown love of family, culture, and heritage, and has contributed to the community in one way or another. The other special gathering is during the Christmas holidays when we have a meal and either a party or an event that we attend as a group. One of the most memorable times in the past few years was our three day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, a great time for camaraderie!
Junior members Natalie Mlakar, James Koci, and Ellen Koci
In addition to our two regular events each year, the branch members support groups or individuals who come from Slovenia such as artists, musicians, and athletes. These exchanges are noticed by people who might not otherwise pay attention to a regular business meeting or luncheon, but if something cultural is offered it arouses their interest. For those attuned to athletics, such as gymnastics and bicycling, Slovenians have much to share, and it is extremely exciting to see the participants excel in the major meets and races. We have a group of members who are always on the lookout for a “Slovenian Connection” when talking with casual acquaintances, or even strangers. Everyone knows that we are Slovenian, or at least “Slovenian at Heart” and that we love our heritage. These acquaintances
often become active members when they are invited to attend our luncheons and special events.
Member of the Year 2005 - Teresa Mlakar being congratulated by Branch President Anne Kapel, (right)
One of the easiest ways of gaining membership and interest is through our own families. Mothers enroll their children and grandmothers enroll their grandchildren. Aunts enroll their nieces and nephews. The SWUA Scholarships are a very attractive incentive for membership for our young people. These awards will further instill the pride of heritage in our youth. The younger generations find interest in the “New Neighborhood” which they can receive via email even while away at school. A nice feature of this media tool is the fact that we can all participate by asking questions or giving information that we feel will be of interest to others. Our own “Zarja” has many articles of interest, as well. We look forward to new and exciting additions to these fine publications. Branch 100 sends its best wishes to all and thanks you for this opportunity! -Submitted by Jean Koci
SODOBNOST Celebrates 70 Years
The oldest Slovenian literary magazine celebrates the occasion with a two-hour gala.
SODOBNOST, journal for literature and the arts, the oldest Slovenian literary magazine and one of the three oldest in the whole of Europe, recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. The
occasion was marked by a two-hour gala academy at Slovenia’s major arts center, Cankarjev dom, and was attended by Dr. Janez Drnovšek, president of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Vaško Simoniti,
Slovenia’s Minister of Culture, ambassadors or their representatives of 14 countries including USA, many other dignitaries, and a huge crowd of supporters of the magazine. The cultural program included speeches by the Minister of Culture, Dr. Vaško Simoniti, and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine, author and playwright Evald Flisar, as well as poetry readings in a number of languages by 13 leading Slovenian poets (Ciril Zlobec, Meta Kušar, Josip
Osti, Milan Jesih, Ivo Svetina, Aleš Debeljak, Milan Dekleva, Maja Vidmar, Milan Vincetič, Boris A. Novak, Uroš Zupan, Aleš Šteger and Veno Taufer). Dr. Janez Drnovšek presented awards for the Best Slovenian Essay of 2005 to dr. Miha Pintarič, Aleš Šteger and Mitja Čander. Between readings, guests were entertained by the internationally known String Quartet Feguš. The program was followed by a reception at Lily Novy Club, also in Cankarjev dom. Also attending the celebration and the reception were Kathy Ferrante, Seven of the 13 poets appearing at the 70th anniversary of Sodobnost: from left president of SWUA, Bonnie Pohar to right: Ciril Zlobec, Meta Kušar, Josip Osti, Milan Jesih, Milan Dekleva, Ivo Svetina, Boris A. Novak.
70th anniversary of Sodobnost from left to right: Tone Peršak, president of Slovenian P.E.N. Center; Dr. Vaško Simoniti, Minister of Culture; Dr. Janez Drnovšek, President of the Republic of Slovenia; Evald Flisar, editor-in-chief of Sodobnost since 1998.
Prokup, national secretary of SWUA, Debbie Pohar, editor of Zarja, and Mary Lou Voelk, director of the Slovenian heritage museum in Joliet, Illinois. The event attracted a considerable news and TV coverage, and was rated a great success. SODOBNOST is a monthly (with up to 200 printed pages per issue). A special anniversary package is available to new subscribers: the first six issues of the current year free of charge, the next six issues only USD 75, annual subscription thereafter only USD 150.
Subscription address: sodobnost@,guest.arnes.si.
Kathy Ferrante, Debbie Pohar and Bonnie Pohar Prokup talking to Metka Peserl, a nominee for the Best Essay of the Year Award.
Legacy of the Written Word
Conclusion - By Mary Lou Voelk
Ivan Cankar
[e van' tsan'kar]
Ivan Cankar was born in Vrhnika, Slovenia, about 10km from Ljubljana. The son of a poor tailor, he was the 8"' of 12 children. Determined to make a change in his life’s course, Cankar moved to Vienna to study architecture and supported himself as a free-lance writer.
In 1907 Cankar returned to Slovenia and became a political activist. His 1913 speech entitled “Slovenians and Yugoslavs” advocated that both peoples should have national autonomy, posing the national question of Slovenian emancipation within a union of the South Slavic peoples.
Cankar is considered one of the most important fin-de-siecle European writers.
*fin de siecle (fann duh see-ek-luh)
French for “end of the century.” Refers to the end of the nineteenth century and is used to describe the periods of despair and unavoidable change. American Heritage Dictionary, 4"' Edition, 2004, Houghton Mifflin. (Today’s analogy: Y2K!)
Next to France Prešeren, Ivan Cankar is the most famous writer of Slovenia. Cankar is best known for his short stories, novels, dramas and poems. His works had social, national and moral themes. Most notable are: The Ward of Our Lady of Mercy (Hiša Marije Pomočnice); The Servant; Jerney and his Rights (Hlapec Jernej in Njegova Pravica) and Grešnik Lenart (The Sinner Lenart).
A museum in Vrhnika bears his name. The Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Center opened in Ljubljana in 1981. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens, displays a bronze head of Ivan Cankar. This was the work of Rudolph Mafko, the only Slovenian sculptor in the United States. Ivan Cankar is featured on the 10,000-SIT Banknote of Slovenia.
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France Prešeren
The year 2000, in Slovenia was called the Year of Culture and/or Prešeren Year. The festivities began on Culture Day (February 8lh), the anniversary of Prešeren’s death. Festivities continued throughout the year, ending in a celebration on December 3rd, the date and the 200th anniversary of Prešeren’s birth.
France Prešeren was born in Vrba, a village near Bled. His father was a peasant fanner and fruit grower. France was the 3rd of eight children. His mother, Mina had high aspirations for her children. Her wish was that they break into the middle class and leave the farming behind. She had the priesthood in mind. Mina taught her children to read and write, and at an early age sent them off to various uncles who were parish priests. While the sons were educated, the daughters worked as housekeepers for their priest uncles.
France was sent away at 8 years of age, returning only for short periods. Uncle Joz, a priest near Grosuplje, schooled him for two years. The remainder of his education took place in Ljubljana, where he excelled in the classical languages and their translations. While in Ljubljana he made the acquaintance of those who would become part of his adult life, most notably, the “little monk”, Anton Martin Slomšek.
During this time France realized the priesthood was not his calling, it was law that interested him. He moved to Vienna where he entered law school. In 1828 he received his law degree but was unable to open his own practice because authorities disliked his free thinking. Prešeren spent most of his working life as a clerk in a Ljubljana law office. In 1846 he opened a law practice in Kranj. By this time he was a “sick and dispirited” man.
PreSeren’s life was riddled with sadness. His spumed love affair with heiress Julija Primic and the death of a friend plagued him throughout his life. Prešeren fathered 3 children with his mistress, but never married. Considered a drunkard, philanderer and a social out cast, Prešeren refused to have his portrait painted. The image on the 1000-SIT Banknote is a likeness that was done after his death.
France Prešeren (1800-1849)
Although Prešeren published only one volume of poetry in his lifetime (Poezije in 1848), he left behind a legacy of works printed in literary magazines. Some of the most important lyric and epic poems are:
Sonetni Venec (Garland of Sonnets, 1834) is a collection of 15 sonnets, considered a masterpiece, the most eloquent, sensitive and original works written in Slovenian. This work is dedicated to his greatest love, Julija Primic and consists of an interplay of love for his sweetheart and love for his country. Krst pri Savici (Baptism at the Savica Waterfall, 1836> was an expression of national consciousness. Slovo od mladosti (Farewell to Youth) expresses the fact that the carefree youth passes so quickly. "Zdravljica ” (A Toast) expresses equality and coexistence among nations and is set to music as Slovenia’s national anthem.
■ .
\ y ~	—/	7
\ '
Zdavlijica from censored Prešeren’s handwriting
Prešeren, a man acclaimed nationally and throughout Europe as one of the top European Romanticists, holds the position of “national poet”. “Dr France Prešeren, a lawyer and freethinker, a bohemian and a man with an eternally indomitable spirit.” proved the Slovenian language is equal to other European languages.
Prešeren died a dispirited man, but 200 years after his death, he lives on in the Slovenian consciousness. The Prešeren Prize is Slovenia’s highest award for artistic achievement. There is a museum in his honor in Vrba. a Prešeren Grove in the Kranj cemetery, and the Prešeren Monument in the center of Ljubljana. This monument, unveiled in 1906, is a popular meeting and gathering place for Slovenians.
Two pieces of poetry by Prešeren follow:
“The Unmarried Mother"
France Prešeren
What was the need of you, little one,
My baby dear, my darling son,
To me - a girl, a foolish young thing,
A mother without a wedding ring?
My father cursed and beat me,
My mother in tears would entreat me;
My friends would blush and pass me by,
Strangers pointed at me on the sly.
And he who was my own true love -Your father by the will above -He wanders God knows how far from here.
Shamed because of us, poor dear.
What was the need of you, little one,
My baby dear, my darling son ?
But whether there was need or no,
With all my heart I love you so.
There seem to open azure skies Whene 'er I look into your eyes;
And when on me you sweetly smile,
All I 've suffered is gone for a while.
May He, by whom the birds are fed,
Joy and blessings on you shed!
Whether there was need or no,
With all my heart I love you so.
“A Toast” “Zdravljica”
France Prešeren
Note: First and seventh verses are the Slovenian National Anthem
The vintage, friends, is over,
And here sweet wine makes, once again,
Sad eyes and hearts recover,
Puts fire in every vein,
Drowns dull care Everywhere
And summons hope out of despair.
To whom with acclamation
And song shall we our first toast give?
God save our land and nation And all Slovenes where 'er they live,
Who own the same Blood and name,
And who one glorious Mother claim.
Let thunder out of heaven
Strike down and smite our wanton foe!
Now, as it once had thriven,
May our dear realm in freedom grow.
Let fall the last
Chains of the past
Which bind us still and hold us fast!
Let peace, glad conciliation,
Come back to us throughout the land!
Towards their destination
Let Slavs henceforth go hand-in-hand!
Thus again
Will honour reign
To justice pledged in our domain.
To you, our pride past measure,
Our girls! Your beauty, charm and grace! Here surely is no treasure To equal maidens of such race.
Sons you ’II bear,
Who will dare
Defy our foe no matter where.
Our hope now, our to-morrow -Our youth - we toast and toast with joy.
No poisonous blight or sorrow
Your love of homeland shall destroy.
With us indeed
You ’re called to heed
Its summons in this hour of need.
God’s blessing on all nations,
Who long and work for that bright day, When o ’er earth s habitations No war, no strife shall hold its sway;
Who long to see That all men free
No more shall foes, but neighbours be.
At last to our reunion -To us the toast! Let it resound,
Since in this gay communion By thoughts of brotherhood we ’re bound. May joyful cheer Ne ’er disappear
From all good hearts now gathered here. A short story by Cankar follows:
Mav Hanniness by Ivan Cankar is taken from the book “Dream Visions''. It can be found in the Slovenian Heritage Museum Library in Joliet. The book is presently out of print.
“Dream Visions'” was translated from Slovenian to English by Anton Družina, edited by Edward and Milena Gobetz, assisted by Myra Jerkic, Ruth Lakner and Anthony Zupančič. Illustrator is Lillian Brule.
Thank you to Dr. Edward Gobetz for permission to publish the Cankar short story in Zarja.
May Happiness - Ivan Cankar
Innocence, purity, and gay exuberance of a child’s soul are but thin white veils under which slumber all the black passions of mature man. But this is an old story. Yet when one beholds these passions displayed in all their grossness before him, he is frightened to the core. The sign of them fills his soul with such strange sadness and apprehension as his first doubt in the existence of God. It destroys in him his accustomed serenity, deprives him of his confidence, and makes him feel weak and helpless, as if he had lost the very ground from under his feet. In this strange fright he re-examines his own soul and discovers, to his great amazement, that all the baseness, which he had so vigorously condemned in others luxuriantly, flourishes in his own breast.
Early one Sunday morning I set out for the mountains. It was in the month of May. The sun was warm, and the morning pleasant. Slowly the white mists rose from the ground and dissolved in the air. A small pilgrims’ church gleamed on the mountain, and a pleasant tavern stood beside it. In front of the tavern grew a cluster of chestnut trees, and under them stood a number of huge tables. The tavemkeeper appeared in the doorway, glanced at the sky and smiled.
“I hope that it will be a fine day,” he said. “A large group of school children are coming from the city, and this outing means so much to them. I think that I can hear them already.”
I, too, could hear them shouting in the valley. They sounded like a flock of sparrows twittering in the briars. The tavemkeeper returned to his duties, and I looked down the road, which wound over the steep inclines like a white silken ribbon.
Like a shower of apple blossoms, the children came into view. And all of them shouted and screamed and laughed in gay exuberance. First the white dresses of the girls appeared in the distance, then the golden tresses emerged from the haze, then deep exclamations of the boys broke out above the general twittering, and finally individual faces became distinct, all of them flushed with radiance.
Presently the children descended upon the tables like a cloud of blossoms. There were more than two hundred of them. Some sat on the benches, others wandered about the tavern, and still others scattered over the mountain. But all of them chattered and shouted excitedly. Their eyes sparkled, their faces beamed, and their voices were full of gayety. Yet, in spite of this universal exuberance,
their hearts were peaceful. Their joy was so genuine that it strangely reminded me of my own unhappy youth, prematurely seasoned with the bitterness of poverty.
The children had coffee and buns for breakfast. Most of them ate standing up, shouting and chattering like magpies. Their teachers sat at a special table, some distance away. Quietly the teachers sipped their tea and seemingly paid no attention to their charges.
After the breakfast the children swarmed, like ants, away from the tables, shouting and playing and chasing one another. Soon they split into small groups and wandered about the mountain. On this bright Sunday morning a ray of spring reached into their hearts and filled them with boundless joy. It made them forget the stuffy tenement house, the narrow, dusty streets, and the gray, drab walls of the slums. A pure, warm sun, full of joy and gladness, reigned in their hearts, a sun of innocence, generosity and love.
A refined gentleman sat at the table across from me. He was well dressed, and a long black beard streamed gracefully down his chest. But he was not happy. And the moment he saw the children, he became pensive, stroking his beard with his genteel hand. But he never smiled, not even when a group of excited little girls strayed right up to him, their eyes sparkling and their lips smiling.
Persistently the gentleman studied the children. And when he saw a large group of them chasing one another around the tavern, he arose, walked with measured step to the door, and stopped, looking over the children with that same pensive, almost sorrowful look as before. But he stood among them as solitary and aloof as an iceberg, impervious to their joy.
“Children,” he unexpectedly broke out. But the tone of his voice was cold and unfriendly. It revealed a deep but well disguised antipathy toward them. It was obvious that he abhorred youth and innocence.
“Children,” he called again.
As I watched him standing among them, cold and calculating, a dark shadow of suspicion passed over me, something like a deep but incomprehensible fright.
“What does he intend to do?” I pondered, for I felt that I should warn the children not to go near him.
Slowly a group of children gathered about him, but they remained shy and uncertain, for there was nothing about him to win their confidence. Finally, the gentleman raised his hand and threw a handful of coins among them.
In that instant a strange, frightful change took place in the children. The gay spring vanished, their smiles passed away, and the radiance faded on their faces. With an ingenious stroke the gentleman snatched that white veil from their souls and exposed their greedy, licentious nature in all of its stark nakedness. The black magician touched the sweetly scented rose with his magic wand, and the rose turned to a weed.
As soon as the coins fell to the ground, the children piled in a heap of greedy individuals. And this heap rolled over the dusty ground like a steam roller. Envious sobs and threats, jeering laughter and inhuman grunts were the only distinguishable sounds that came from them. And these grunting cries sounded like a mob of stockbrokers at the international exchange. True, the external form differed, the stakes were smaller, and the institution less venerable. But the spirit was there; the essence was the same - a different garb on the same putrid body.
The gentleman threw the second handful of coins among the children and the third one, but each time in a different place. Instantly the clump untangled in one place and piled up in another- the ball of greedy, lustful humanity rolled now to this side, now to that, wherever the black magician willed it.
The fierce struggle for gold so exhausted the children that they gasped for breath, all of them drenched with perspiration. But they did not stop pushing, they did not
give up the struggle, for their lust was not tired, their greed was not short of breath. As I watched them grabbing for the pennies and pushing one another away, I felt that their fury would rage the whole day, that it would last until they slumped to the ground in a swoon, their mouths foaming and their fists threatening one another.
At noon the children left the mountain. But not one of them was sorry to leave, for in their struggle for gold they utterly forgot the excursion, the spring, and the sunshine. They left the mountain with hate in their breasts, with anger and malice toward one another. And all of them were scratched and disgruntled. From morning till noon the children changed from innocent, carefree, and generous youngsters into a band of ruthless grabbers of gold, utterly blind to the beauty of nature, devoid of sympathy for their fellow men, and heedless of common decency. In this brief span of time, they matured into a ripe, modem society.
When the children departed, I went to ask the black magician why he had done such a thing. But he looked sardonically at me and smiled. “Are you any different, Sir?” He asked. “Truthfully, did you not feel, at least for an instant, the urge to join them? Did you not feel the impulse to grab a few pennies for yourself? Ask your conscience, consult your soul-then go and make your code of morals.”
This happened a long time ago in a strange, distant land, but I could never forget it. And in these dark days I appreciate its meaning much more keenly than I did then, for it sheds so much light upon the present world events. This, it seems, is that dark shadow, that gloomy pall which hangs so ominously over our civilization.
A Member Living Her Legacy
Featured in Mesabi Daily News, Biwabik, Minnesota
Shelly (Sherek) Berts, member of Branch 39, Biwabik, Minnesota, was recently honored with a front page news item in our local paper, The Mesabi Daily News, regarding her busy life making our special Slovenian delicacy, potica. It was fitting that the article appeared on Christmas Day since so many of us were enjoying potica with our own family dinners that day. It reminded us of the article “TASTE OF SLOVENIA” that appeared in The Chicago Tribune with Corinne Leskovar of SWUA a few months ago. This was another tribute to the recently established “Culinary Society” and limited edition of Woman’s Glory and the Potica charm/pins.
Shelly’s deceased mother, Dorothy (Delak) Sherek was a SWUA member for several years. Dorothy taught her daughter the art of making potica and Shelly continues to make it in memory of her mother.
She now has a kiosk at the Weihnachtfest, a lighting festival that is celebrated in Biwabik annually on the first Saturday of December. People stop by to taste the delicacy and rarely does one walk away without purchasing a loaf. She begins baking her 10" loaves in October so they will all be ready for the holidays. Good job, Shelly, you are another member LIVING THE LEGACY.
Meta Kušar
“I know that people aren 't looking for poetry - in the last ten decades poems have come to resemble nightmares. There is enough to worry about as it is. Day and night.
I	would like to persuade you that you have time for poetry in spite of all this. If you won’t give it (poetry) room in your heart, you ’II fill that space with something else. Will that something be sunny enough?
Each poem contains a part of you, of us. I believe in connectedness. I believe that we care. Because everything is One. ” - by Meta Kušar
Ljubljana - by Meta Kušar
With what force he leapt into the stone garden. Knocked over the atlas. Strewed weeds everywhere. Driven by furious gods.
He knew,
he knew about the galaxies,
about the galaxies bonfiring all heritage.
His flower beds gave him sustenance and the fire and the fire nourished him.
Clay softened the blows, the blows of history, history which gave out happiness, kept floods at bay,
floods which would engulf beds of tall flowers.
If flowers walk under a waterfall, they break.
How much can one bear!
Heavenliness invades time and again and that moon, polished and broken.
Translated by Ana Jelnikar & Stephen Watts
Meta Kušar, famous Slovenian poet
S kakšno silo je skočil v kamniti vrt.
Prevrnil atlas. Razsul plevel.
Nosila so ga besna božanstva.
Vedel je,
vedel je za galaksije, za galaksije, ki so kurile dediščino.
Gredice so ga držale in ogenj in ogenj gaje hranil.
Glina je omilila udarce, udarce zgodovine, zgodovine, kije pošiljala srečo, zadrževala povodenj,
povodenj, ki bi zalila dolge grede visokih rož. Če stopijo rože pod slap, so zlomljene.
Koliko človek zdrži!
Nebeskošt vdira kar naprej in tisti mesec, zloščen in strt.
Apartment for rent in Ljubljana
TEZAK FUNERAL HOME
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Licensed Producer: Richard K. Tezak (815) 722-0524 American Slovenian Catholic Union (KSKJ)
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Apartmaji in depandansa
News Items
SUMMER VISIT TO SLOVENIA FOR ADULTS AGE 20-27 AND OF SLOVENE DESCENT
The Student Organization of the University of Ljubljana (SOU) is organizing a summer visit to Slovenia in July 2006. Participants should be between the ages of 20 and 27 and be of Slovene descent. The program will last around 12 days.
In previous years it was organized as a guided tour and covered some of the most famous cultural, historic, and natural attractions in Slovenia.
This year’s program will be a bit different. As in previous years, SOU will cover all the costs of accommodations, transportation in Slovenia and food for two weeks. Participants are responsible for paying for their own airfare/transportation to Ljubljana, Slovenia, and personal incidental expenses while on the visit. Extra activities in the program are optional and will be paid by participants.
During the two week visit, all the participants will get to know the important parts of our organization and our university. We will meet many students that are active in SOU, discuss the possibility of cooperation between our universities. As in previous years, we will visit some of Slovenia’s cultural attractions. Most of the time we will be based in Ljubljana, getting to know our university and Student Organization of the University of Ljubljana.
Anyone who is interested in this summer’s visit can contact me at this email address: Souliubliana@vahoo.com
Regards from Slovenia
Živa Jezernik, Student Organization of Ljubljana University
BRANCH 20, JOLIET, ILLINOIS, OFFERS THE FOLLOWING SCHOLARSHIPS TO ITS MEMBERS:
Adult Continuing Education Scholarship:
Must be at least 21 years of age and pursuing advanced or continuing education
High School Scholarship:
Must be a graduating eighth grader who has been accepted to attend one of the Catholic high schools and is enrolled for the fall 2006 semester
Or a current high school student who wishes to continue in a Catholic high school or is planning to transfer from a public high school to a Catholic high school
Scholastic ability must be shown as well as an evaluation of the applicant’s character and code of behavior. For detailed eligibility information and application forms, contact:
Branch 20 Scholarship Program William L. Bums, Jr.
1109 Plaza Drive Joliet, IL 60435-3844 Phone: (815)725-5319
Applications must be received prior to April 15,
2006
Great Annuity Rates!
5-year Guaranteed Interest
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7-year Flexible Annuity	1-800-843-5755
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AMERICAN SLOVENIAN CATHOtIC
2439 Glen wood Ave.,
/;
UNION
, IL 60435
Slovenian Women’s Union of America Slovenska Zenska Zveza v Ameriki
Membership Application
Yes! I want to join the S.W.U. I want to preserve and promote the legacy of our Slovenian-American heritage. As a member I will receive the publication, ZARJA-The Dawn; I can affiliate with branches and events across the country and best of all, I will come in contact with fellow Slovenes.
Please type or print legibly. Choose type of membership:
I I Junior (Birth to	18), Annual Dues $5.00	Q Adult, Annual Dues $20.00
Name and Middle Initial___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Street Address________________________________________________ City/State/Zip_____________________________________________________________
Phone/Fax_____________________________________________________ E-Mail ____________________________________________________________________
Date of Birth_________________________________________________ Do you speak Slovenian?____________________________________________________
Please describe your Slovenian ancestry___________________________________________________________________________________________________
How did you hear about us?  S.W.U. member  newspaper _________________________________________ website________ other
Applicant’s signature:___________________________________________________________________________________ Date:
Branch Affiliation No. (if known)_________________________________________ Location:	________________________________
Please make checks payable to the Slovenian Women’s Union of America and mail to:
SLOVENIAN WOMEN’S UNION OF AMERICA, 431 North Chicago Street, Joliet, IL 60432 (815)727-1926 email: swuhome@msn.com webpage: www.swua.org
Please allow four to six weeks for membership processing.
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Slovenian Easter Tree
This is an easy project for us kids to make. * Parental supervision is recommended.
Kompas Travel
For your travel in Slovenia
What You Need
• Fallen tree branch (look for one with several little branches)
• White or pink spray paint
• Newspapers
• Paint bucket or other large container
• Styrofoam
• Easter grass
• Slovenian Easter Eggs
How to Make It
1. Lay the branch down on the newspapers. Spray paint the branch. Let dry.
2. Turn the branch over and spray paint again. Let dry. You may need to apply additional coats.
3. Place styrofoam at the bottom of the container.
4. Cover the top of the styrofoam with Easter grass.
5. Decorate with Slovenian Easter eggs.
6. Enjoy your Easter tree.
need in travel
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Shop securely on-line at www.HomeFromSlovenia.com
Or call (203) 775-0853, or email lnfo@HomeFromSlpveriia.com for our Free Catalog
Discover Joliet, IL
Friday April 21st - Sunday April 23rd, 2006
Spend some time away from home for an exciting 3 days in Joliet, Illinois. On the way to Illinois, stop in Middlebury, Indiana at Das Dutchman Essenhaus for a fabulous Amish-style lunch. After lunch, browse the quaint shops with unique gifts awaiting your discovery. Then, try your luck and enjoy your group’s “exclusive” stay at The Argosy’s Empress Hotel and Casino. You’ll find over 1,000 hot slots and 50 table games aboard the moored barge casino as well as an indoor pool and whirlpool at The Empress Hotel located across the street from the casino. The next day, discover some of Joliet’s gems and take time to shop at the Joliet Mall. Afterwards, tour the Slovenian Women’s Union Heritage Museum, established to preserve the rich ethnic heritage of Slovenian homeland & to honor the immigrants who settled here. Then attend mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. As an option, top off the evening, join in the fun at Tommy Gun’s Garage, Chicago’s Original Speakeasy & musical comedy revue “wit da gangsters, da flappers and you’s!” The next day, enjoy brunch at the Tippecanoe Place Restaurant, circa 1880, and originally the home of Clement Studebaker, the founder of the Studebaker car. Don’t get left “bee”hind, sign up today!
This package includes:
Round-trip motorcoach fare
2	nights at The Argosy’s Empress Hotel & Casino A total of 4 meals to include:
2	deluxe continental breakfasts at the hotel Family-style lunch at Das Dutch Essenhaus Restaurant Brunch at the Tippecanoe Place Restaurant A Casino Bonus of 50% off Casino Buffets (Lunch and Dinner) Tour of the Slovenian Women’s Union Heritage Museum Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Shopping time in Joliet, IL
Cost of this tour per person: $399 Single $279 Double $239 Triple $219 Quad
Price is based on 30 passengers
OPTIONAL: Dinner & entertainment at Tommy Gun’s Garage in Chicago ($55.00 per person)
Departing at 8:00 AM & Returning at 8:30 PM from Euclid Public Library, East 222nd St. Departing at 8:45 AM & Returning at 8:00 PM from Solon Community Center, Rt. 91
Deadline for reservation is Friday March 17th, 2006
For more information Call Kathy Ferrante at (330) 688-4949
Name:
Reservation Form Roommate:
Address Phone #
City:
Check #:
State:
Zip:
______________________________________________  Amount:
Tommy Gun’s Garage in Chicago = extra $55.00 Yes No_____________
send to: Kathy Ferrante 178 Gaylord Dr.
Munroe Falls, OH 44262
Please make checks payable to: Slovenian Women’s Union Branch 47
ENTERTAINING..
With a touch of Slovenia - by Jenka
Today’s menu has a spring feeling to it.
Greetings again, I have heard that you, the reader want to know more about Jenka. Well, rest assured that I am a full blooded, 100% Slovenian with many years of cooking experience. However my first cooking experience was a bit of a flop, it was when I was a child and decided I could bake a cake without help. Things were going well until I used cornstarch instead of powdered sugar to make the frosting. Fortunately, I didn’t give up and I got much better at both cooking and entertaining! Now back to my name, much like Cher, I am known only as Jenka!! So, now let’s get to this issue’s meal.
Today’s menu starts with a nice endive and red leaf salad garnished with fresh tomatoes and topped with a vinegar dressing. After salad, a baked Tilapia fish with mashed potatoes smothered in cucumber gravy and some fresh asparagus sprinkled with bread crumbs. Finally, for dessert, a delicious schmom topped with some special strawberries. This wonderful meal should be accompanied by a white wine, but remember in Slovenia meals are traditionally begun with a chilled champaign.
1 have another family story; this one involves my father walking to school as a child in Slovenia. It was during Lent; when all good Slovenians know that eating krofi after Fat Tuesday is a serious offence, at that time believed
A Lenten Feast
Baked Tilapia Fish
8 boneless pieces of Tilapia
2 Sleeves of Ritz crackers-crushed Juice of two large lemons
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take fish and dip into the lemon juice and cracker crumbs. Take breaded piece of fish and place it on a nonstick baking sheet and place into the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove and place on serving dish using fresh parsley as garnish.
Serves 6 people
even to cause death. So, as the story goes, on his way to school he spots two krofi lying on a lawn, though again believing that if he eats them he will die, he can’t resist the temptation. Being from a poor up bringing in a household usually short on food he is very hungry and quickly gathers them up and places them in his pocket and carries them around all day trying to decide whether or not to eat them. This is quite a dilemma in his young life, on one hand he has his faith and fear of death on the other his hunger. Finally his hunger wins out and he decides that God would not want him to starve and he eats the delicious krofi. Obviously he didn’t die or 1 wouldn’t be here to tell you the story! Well, until next time, enjoy yourself and eat well!
Asparagus
2 large bundles of fresh asparagus Va stick of butter 1 cup bread crumbs 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 cup water
First, place asparagus into a large simmering pan with the lemon juice and water and simmer until it can be easily pierced with a fork (approximately 15 minutes) remove and place on a serving dish. Next place the butter and bread crumbs into the same pan and mix until brown, then sprinkle over asparagus.
Vinegar Salad Dressing
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup white vinegar 1/3 cup sugar lA teaspoon salt Va teaspoon pepper Va medium onion
First, shake all ingredients except onion together, then add the onion and let sit overnight. Pour over and mix with salad.
Cucumber Gravy
1 -2 large cucumbers 1 medium onion thinly sliced
5 heaping teaspoon flour Va cup vinegar
1 cup ice water
6 tablespoons butter
1 /2 teaspoons of sugar Dash of pepper
Pare and slice cucumber and onion thinly, then add salt and let stand in a warm place for 2 to 4 hours. Next melt butter and add flour and sugar, stir until very brown. Then combine cold water and vinegar then slowly add to mixture. Now, squeeze the cucumbers and onions to remove excess liquid and add to mixture. Finally, cook for fifteen minutes, add pepper and serve over mashed potatoes.
Schmorn
2 cups flour 4 eggs- beaten 'A cup sugar 2 tablespoons vanilla Pinch of salt Milk (enough to make paste) Oil as needed
First mix everything but the oil together, it should look like a pancake batter. If too thick add another egg. Next pour mixture into a frying pan that has approximately 1/8 inch of hot oil. Fry until slightly brown, turn over and chop into pieces and dust with powdered sugar. Then, if you’d like, serve with strawberries flavored with Grand Marnier.
DS
II 54 7882006
Show us your SLOVENIAN
A contest for all members!
Sponsored by:
Zarja the Dawn - “The magazine that meets your Cultural and Heritage needs ” Grand Prize winner will receive $50.00; gift prizes for 2nd and 3rd place
Send in a photo and 200 words or less and describe why vour garden is the best. Winner’s photographs will be featured in ZARJA the Dawn September/October 2006 issue and on our web site: www.swua.org
How many of you remember the gardens of our past? Those of us lucky enough to live in a “Slovenian” neighborhood may still remember strolling down the street and noticing the beautiful gardens. Each was different, yet all brought something special to the neighborhood.
I remember many lovely and unique gardens. My favorite belonged to my grandmother’s friend. A pretty white picket fence led to-a huge garden of red raspberries. 1 loved when Grandma took me to visit - she always let me eat the raspberries! 1 also remember a house through the alley, which had a beautiful rock garden, including an outdoor pond! And ho\y could I forget my uncle’s vegetable garden. To this day the garden remains absolutely perfect, complete with railroad ties around its perimeter, yet not a weed to be found.
You see, gardens come in all forms, whether they grow raspberries, flowers or vegetables, or even-contairi rocks! Each is beautiful and unique in its own way.
Do you have a garden you’d like to show off? We want to hear about it! Get rewarded for your hard work—tell us and you could win a prize!
Send entries by July 10. 2006
Email: wprokupfc aol.com
Mail:	Bonnie Pohar Prokup
3119 Carrie Street Peru, IL 61354
Photo Curtesy of the: Slovenian Tourist Board www. slovenia. info Photograph: by Bobo Volčji Potok Arboretum