File - Sokol Milwaukee

SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
SUMMER
2016
Edition
Sokol/Sokolice Milwaukee
In this issue
CALENDAR.....2
PRESIDENT’S
CONER……….3
RECOGNITION
DINNER……...3
SOKOL
GYMNASTICS
NEWS…………4
ACCIDENTAL
HERO…….........6
Our 2015-16 Gymnastics Class - Nazdar!
ASO PRES.
JEAN HRUBY
ON RADIO
PRAGUE……...7
The Maypole Dance at Our May Meeting.
(More photos on page 9)
Patrick Dewane speaks to
Sokol at the Norway House.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Executive Board
SUMMER - 2016
2
Kalendář
(Calendar)
President
Sonia Riecan
1st Vice President
John Kozlik
2nd Vice President
Jaroslav Novotny
Secretary
Sonka Tostrud
Treasurer
Ann Cramer
Financial Secretary
General Membership Meetings
First Monday of the Month
7:00 to 9:00pm at the Norway House
HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE
BECAUSE OF LABOR DAY
NEXT MEETING WILL BE TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
GYMNASTICS CLASS
Wednesdays Evenings
6:00 to 7:30 pm at the Norway House
First Class & Registration on September 21, 2016
Harold Kralik
Education Director
Mary Anne Gross
Director of Women
Jennifer Romine
Director of Men
Gerald Novotny
To submit an item for the calendar or an article or letter for
publication or to suggest a
topic that you would like included in this newsletter
please contact the editor:
Gerald Novotny
1409 Iowa Drive
Madison, WI 53704
Phone: (608) 241-9080
E-mail:
novotny01@sbcglobal.net
NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN CZECH & KOLACHE
FESTIVAL, Kewaunee, WI
AUGUST 6 & 7, 2016
For additional information:
JoAnn Vogel @ (920) 682-6615 jvogel@tm.net
Orville Konop @ (920)432-1556 okkonop@aol.com
BAKING SCHEDULED DATES
Norway House
October 15, and 29
November 5
8 am –2 pm
CHECK OUR WEB SITE FOR UPDATES
We are on the web at:
www.sokolmilwaukee.org
Or follow us on Facebook.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
3
THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Nazdar Brothers and Sisters of Sokol Milwaukee
I hope that everyone is having a terrific summer
so far. Hopefully, the summer weather will stay
as nice as it has been. It was great to see many
of you at our annual Spring Fling that took place
in June at Meyers Restaurant. A fun time was
had by all. We had a delicious lunch followed by
the traditional Golden Awards and several
Recognition pins were given out.
Our Golden Award
Members
Golden Family
Kralik family
Golden Shoe
Chapman Family
Golden whirlwind
Mary Anne Gross
Special Thanks to John Kozlik for organizing
this event and Harold Kralik for getting the
recognition pins ordered and presented and
Sonka Tostrud for creating the Golden Award
certificates and prizes. Also, thank you to the
membership for all your nominations this year.
The next regular meeting will take place Tuesday September 13th. We look forward to seeing
you after our summer break. I hope that everyone enjoys this fabulous time of year and is
able to spend quality time with their families.
Have a Safe and Wonderful Summer!!
Sonia Riecan
Golden Volunteer
Matt Wenzel
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
Sokol Gymnastics News
A Year to “Flip” About
4
Silver Ages 8-9
Annika Romine: FIRST on Vault, 6th on Beam and
Floor
By Jennifer Romine
Bronze Level Ages 6-7
FOURTH PLACE AS A TEAM
The season is over, but the memories are not. The
Riana Hoeck: 11th All Around, 2nd on Vault, 4th
opportunities our gymnasts and their families expe- on Beam, 6th on Floor
rienced this year created a year we can “flip” about. Juliana Hoeck: 10th on Beam and Floor
Delila Draeger: 7th on Vault
Annalise Romine: , 7th on Vault, 9th on floor, 10th
on Beam
In our last issue, we shared with you the many programs the national organization provides for our
youth. We take great pride in participating in those
at our local level and have found that Milwaukee
Sokol gymnasts have a lot to celebrate. The latest
competition we participated in was the Central District Artistic Gymnastic competition in Illinois.
Eight of our young gymnasts competed in this competition. We had new rules and routines to learn and
that made judging pretty tough (and somewhat confusing), but we have a lot of amazing results to
share with you. Congratulations to our gymnasts for
their hard work, dedication, and great attitudes. We
are proud of all of you.
Platinum Level Age 12
Xelena Morad: … first place All-Around
Silver Level Ages 10-12
Rebecca Draeger: 4th on Vault, 5th on Floor
Marissa Kane. : 6th on Vault, 2nd on Floor, 5th on
Bars
Prior to this competition, all of our Sokol Milwaukee gymnasts participated in our own Interclass
competition on April 27, 2016. The evening opened
with a flag ceremony, our anthems, and introductions of judges, coaches, and athletes. Following,
the gymnasts went head over heels in competition.
They really did their absolute best this day and it
was great to see the culminating efforts of all their
hard work and practice. Each one of them should be
proud of their accomplishments and what they have
learned this year. Competition ran very smoothly
and we appreciate all the support of family and
friends.
Our Sokol Milwaukee 2015-16 season closed on
May 17 with our Final Exhibition. What a great
night. Gymnasts showed off their team skills in a
marching routine, respectfully honored the flags in
our flag ceremony and anthems, and celebrated their
successes with a wonderful performance of gymnastics skills. Each level had a chance to demonstrate
what they have learned to music and immediately
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
following received the results of our interclass competition. Their smiles were beaming as they stood on
the podium and received their awards. Congratulations to all our gymnasts. We are proud of all of you.
In between our performances, the gymnasts competing in Chicago had a chance to show off one of their
routines as well. The program closed with a calisthenics routine that included audience participation.
How fun it was to see all our gymnasts and their
families doing the “Cupid Shuffle” together. The
night concluded with an ice cream treat (THANKS
TO OUR FRIENDS AT WESTERN FRATERNAL
LIFE ASSOCIATION) and of course pictures.
Sokol Milwaukee offers so many great opportunities
not only for our gymnasts, but also for our families.
We are one big Sokol family and that’s what makes
us appealing to be part of. We train The “whole”
child as we focus on not only gymnastic skills but
also team building and cooperation, calisthenics,
marching, fitness, track, community outreach, national programs, parties, and camaraderie. It’s an
amazing group dedicated to providing a fun place
for children to learn and grow at an affordable price
for an entire year. Please come back next year and
be sure to bring a friend. We look forward to the
2016-2017 season with more gymnasts to go head
over heels with.
5
Enjoy your summer. We’ll see you in September.
Please see email for further details later this summer. Don’t forget, you can refer us to anyone who
would love this opportunity for fitness. Please send
them my email at jens3miracles@gmail.com . We’re
“flipped” about Sokol Milwaukee.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
The Accidental Hero
1945 found Lt. Col. Matt Konop, a native of
Stangelville, Wisconsin, found himself liberating the
Czech village of Klenci, where his grandparents emigrated from years before. Konop reached the border of Czechoslovakia via Omaha Beach and the
Battle of the Bulge. Years later, after Konop passed
away, his grandson, Patrick Dewane discovered his
grandfather’s record of those events which had been
up until then completely unknown to grandson.
6
We should acknowledge here Mary Ann Gross for
her efforts to bring about the Milwaukee performance and arranging for Patrick Dewane to speak to
Milwaukee Sokol.
Patrick Dewane speaks to Milwaukee Sokol
at the Norway House, Sunday April 24, 2016.
After telling and retelling the story Dewane decided
to turn his grandfather odyssey into a one-man play
and multimedia show. On April 23rd Dewane performed The Accidental Hero to a full house at the
Marcus Center’s Wilson Theater. Milwaukee Sokol
was a sponsor of the event and those who attended
the show were treated to an outstanding performance
that was both an entertaining history lesson and an
engrossing personal story.
The following Sunday, Dewane gave a presentation
on the making of Accidental Hero to Milwaukee
Sokol at the Norway House. Czech treats were provided by Sokol members. Dewane’s talk on the how
he discovered his grandfather’s history, developed
Did you know?
the play and reception to the show received both in The highest peak in the Czech Republic, at 5,259
the US and Czech Republic was equally interesting feet, is Snežka in the Krkonoše mountains.
and thought provoking.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
7
people were ethnic. If they weren’t Czech, they were
Polish, Italian – and everyone was in Sokol, all your
classmates. It was an activity to do after school.
“I started in fifth grade and stayed on all through
high school. When I went to college I wasn’t as inThe Sokol gymnastics
volved in Sokol, but when I had children of my own
organisation – motto: a I went back to it.
ASO President Jean Hruby
Interviewed on Radio Prague
Ian Willoughby –Radio Prague
sound mind in a sound
body – became an important element in the
Czech National Revival
when it was founded in
Prague in 1862. A mere
three years later it went
international with the
establishment of American Sokol in St. Louis,
Missouri. Today American Sokol is still going
strong, and has its first
ever female national
president, Jean Hruby. Ms. Hruby is also involved in
countless other Czech associations in her native Chicago and when she came into our studios I began by asking about her own Czech roots.
“I am third and fourth generation Czech-American.
My family came over in the late 1800s to Chicago.
“My parents grew up in Czech neighborhoods. Both
are Czech, obviously. Then they migrated to another
town, called Berwyn, Illinois.
“I grew up with Czech roots: Czech food, a Czech
bakery, Sokol, playing music and doing arts.”
When you say “Czech town”, what exactly do you
mean?
“So as an adult I took an interest in it and started
working for the organisation.”
As a kid, what did you get from going to Sokol?
“Sokol was friendship. It was family – it was a family organisation. I received leadership skills, discipline.
“At Sokol today we still teach the same skills. The
whole concept is that a strong mind in a strong body
makes for a better person in the rest of life.”
Was there a golden era for Sokol in the US?
“We had very strong years all through from the very
beginning to the 1980s.
“But I think that for us the golden era was when the
walls came down and Sokol was given back to the
Czechs themselves.
“When that happened, when communism came down
and we were able to celebrate with the Czech and
Slovak people, that was the golden era; because
Sokol was back, solid, around the world.”
Sokol was repressed by the Communists [in Czechoslovakia]. Did the US Sokol play a role in keeping it alive,
even at that great distance?
“Well, from the beginning, let’s say from WWI,
WWII, and during all of the different challenges that
were happening in Europe, American Sokol kept
“There were 10 districts in the Chicago area that had Sokol alive for all of those years.
names like Pilsen. It was a little village, but even
“As long as there was Sokol going on in America, we
having the name Pilsen… my parents were from that
knew that we could help bring it back when things
area.
got better.
“It was heavily Czech immigrated – they built Czech
“And they did; Sokols got their buildings back.”
companies and it was a small little Czech village.”
“Chicago was the most populated Czech community
outside of Czechoslovakia for many years.
Tell us about your own beginnings at Sokol.
“I started at Sokol when I was five years old. It was
just required. It was a way of life. In the town, most
How was the reunion, if I can call it that, between the
US Sokol and the revived Czechoslovak Sokol after the
fall of communism?
Continued on Page 8.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
8
them and had the name changed to Spartakiada.
Continued From Page 7.
“That first slet [gathering]…”
That was in 1990, right?
“Yes. It was in the city of Prague. And for our people it is something that most of them will never forget.
“As you marched – and I’m going to get emotional,
this happens to me all the time, because I’ve participated in these events – and saw the eyes of the
Czech people, especially the older generation who
lived through all of the difficulties of war and communist times, even Lidice, and remembering all of
these things… the Sokols cried when the American
Sokols marched in the parade.
“You’d be marching past and somebody would look
you straight in the eyes and say, Thank you.
“They executed Sokol leaders because of their stance
of trying to keep Sokol and not give it up.”
“Sokol was more than just the sport or the building
for the Czechs. I think to be able to come here personally and experience it and to know that they feel
also that we are the same…
“We are brothers and sisters to them, just like if we
had been living here.”
Was it also amazing for you and your colleagues to see
Prague? I guess many of you must have been seeing it
for the first time.
“When I first landed in Prague, the very first time,
when I put my two feet on Czech soil, it was amazing. I cried. You start to feel your roots.
“We say in American Sokol it’s just like a sunflower
– the roots are in the Czech Republic, but the sunflower grows in America.”
“For them I think we were bringing hope and democratic values. And we brought back a way of life for Are there analogous organisations in the States? For
example, some Polish or Ukrainian organisation?
them which they thought was gone forever.”
“Sure. We still have in America the German Turners
– we call them the American Turners. Also there’s
the Polish Falcons.
“The Sokols and the Turners were the first to establish organized sport and gymnastics in the US, over
150 years ago now – we just celebrated 150 years.”
Roughly how many members does Sokol have in the
States today? And who are the members?
“We have around 4,500 members. But all those
members have family: children, etc.
Photo by Barbora Kmentova
“We also have other activities happening in our
Sokols, so we definitely have more than 10,000 participants that may use our gyms.
But it must also have been amazing for people like you
being able to come here in great numbers and being
“In American Sokol our original gyms, our facilities,
able to celebrate and all that kind of thing?
were in older neighborhoods, obviously, and those
“Sure. As an American, if you’re not living that horrible way of life – maybe it wasn’t horrible for everybody, and I don’t want to characterize it, politically – but for people who did suffer, you don’t really
understand that until you come and see it for yourself. To see it in their eyes and talk to people – and
have them tell you how Sokol was taken away from
neighborhoods have changed demographically as
regards ethnic groups.
“I’ll give Chicago as the example. In many of our
units we have Hispanic, Asian, African-American
and other ethnicities that are part of our system.
They are not all Czech.
Continued on Page 9.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
SUMMER - 2016
9
Continued from Page 8.
raised over USD 40,000 in non-profit fundraising
“About 50 percent of our membership is still Czech, through a gala weekend that we held. That is the
start of a capital campaign to hopefully bring bigger
but the other 50 percent is not. It’s a multicultural
and better things. “
melting pot.”
Do they have to learn some Czech? Or at least
shout, Zdar, or whatever it is you guys shout?
“Of course. We keep with our salutation at the end
of every class. We start every class lining up with
discipline, and we end every class with a, Nazdar,
and the class responds, Zdar. ’
“Of course it has come into question from our own
members saying, Why do we have to continue this?
But we choose to continue these simple Czech traditions. Because one, it is keeping Sokol alive as what
Sokol was. And two, it’s no different than if you
take a taekwondo or yoga class – at the end of a yoga class, people say, Namaste.”
I was one time at the Sokol in New York on the Upper
East Side and one thing that struck me was that the
property must be hugely valuable in that area. Do you
ever come under pressure to maybe sell up and buy a
cheaper place elsewhere than your old centers?
“Of course. It’s very well known in New York that
the Sokol building there is a big asset to the organisation, and of course people want to buy it. They are
approached all the time by the city, by private investors, and promised, We’ll keep you there, we just
want to build above it.
“I’m very proud of our members at Sokol New York
are holding steadfast to keeping that building historically original and for the purpose that it was built –
by the people who gave their money, their blood and
their own services to make that building what it is to
this day.”
Looking to the future, what are the biggest challenges
facing American Sokol?
“The biggest challenge is nothing different than for
any other non-profit organisation: It’s funding. It
costs money to keep buildings up to date, up to code.
It costs money for programs and to continue what
we’re doing.
“Right now we are still a very heavily memberfunded organisation and this year was a big year for
American Sokol with the 150th anniversary. We
“We are working on new library and archive museum and looking for a building – and hoping to come
up with other ways to sustain the organisation into
the future, financially. I believe having a building –
a museum and a library – is something that people
will donate to, as opposed to just donating to the organisation.”
“This library and archive not only will provide a national center for the national office, and not have to
rely on membership, but will provide a legacy for
the American Sokol history and the preservation of
our story. We are working on making sure there is a
trust and a legacy for that.
“In case anything ever happened with the organisation and there wasn’t any funding, the story and the
history will have a place forever in the US and in the
Czech Republic.”
Sokol/Sokolice Milwaukee
7507 W. Oklahoma Avenue
Milwaukee, Wi 53219
(Located in the Norway House)
A Sound Mind in a Sound Body… Sokol Gymnastics is for Every body.
REMINDER
Our next membership meeting
will be on
TUESDAY
September 13, 2017
7:00 pm
(not on Monday)
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!