Sokol/Sokolice Milwaukee 17 Listopad 1989!`

SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Fall 2014
Fall
Edition
2014
Sokol/Sokolice Milwaukee
17 Listopad 1989!’
25th anniversary of the velvet revolution
In this issue
CALENDAR .
…...2
PRESIDENT’S
CORNER……...3
VELVET
REVOLUTION
TURNS 25……..4
GYM PROGRAM
UPDATE…........5
Rest in Peace
Len Borkowski,
Victor Green and
Henry Tonar…...6
MOVIE SERIES
……………….....7
GENEALOGY
GROUP………..7
DILL GRAVY
RECEIPT……...7
See page 4 for a few reflections on how Czechs and Slovaks view the
Velvet Revolution after 25 years (can it really be that long?).
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Executive Board
Fall 2014
2
Kalendář
(Calendar)
President
Sonia Riecan
1st Vice President
John Kozlik
2nd Vice President
Harold Kralik
Secretary
Sonka Tostrud
Treasurer
Ann Cramer
Financial Secretary
Gerald Novotny
Education Director
Mary Anne Gross
Director of Women
Jennifer Romine
Director of Men
Gerald Novotny
Monthly General Membership Meetings
First Monday of the Month
7:00 to 9:00pm at the Norway House
December 1, 2014
The theme for the December meeting is
Holiday Traditions
GYMNASTICS CLASS
NOTE CHANGE TO WEDNESDAY EVENINGS
Wednesdays 6:15 to 7:45 pm
CZECH –SLOVAK MOVIE SERIES
1:30 at the Norway House
Sunday January 25, 2015
THE OLD BELIEVERS (PIEMULE), 1992
Sunday April 26, 2015
OBČAN HAVEL (CITIZEN HAVEL), 2008
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:
BAKING SCHEDULE
8:30 am - 2 pm
Wednesday November 19
Thursday November 20
Friday November 21
Monday November 24
Gerald Novotny
1409 Iowa Drive
Madison, WI 53704
Phone: (608) 241-9080
E-mail:
novotny01@sbcglobal.net
SOKOL CHRISTMAS PARTY
December 13, 2014
Serb Hall
Note: We are back on the web at:
www.sokolmilwaukee.org
Or follow us on Facebook.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Fall 2014
3
of fun. Please see or talk with an area chair if you
are available or call me at the number above. If
you’ve never volunteered at our Folk Fair, now is
the time.
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
****Save the Date alert****In December we have
our exciting Holiday Party on December 13th at
Serb Hall. The event is sure to be a fun time. Let’s
make this year a record breaking turn out year. If
you have any questions about the Holiday Party,
please contact Harold Kralik.
Nazdar,
Brothers and Sisters of Sokol/Sokolice Milwaukee,
It’s hard to believe it is already November and
soon the Holiday Folk Fair will be upon us. This
year’s theme is “Celebrate the Culture of the Artisan”. The food of the year is soup. Donna Roeber
is your Holiday Folk Fair Chair, and your area
chairs are Ann Cramer, for the food booth, Joylyn
Kralik, for the sales booth and Sonia Riecan and
Sonka Tostrud for the Cultural Booth and Directors
of the Czech-Slovak Dance Group.
We are all looking forward to a successful, cultural, profitable and fun Folk Fair. The Sokol Gymnasts, who I have had the privilege to watch practice twice now (and they are looking like a good
group of kids) will be performing, as well The Moja –Vlast Czech - Slovak Dancers, who will be performing both on the main stage and in the Tanzhaus(the former Music Pavilion). The schedules
can be found on the Holiday Folk Fair web site at
folkfair.org. We hope everyone will attend and
support Sokol.
We do have tickets that we are required to sell.
They are $10 in advance. Please call me at (414)
313-3063 if you need tickets and I will make sure
they get to you. Also, if you are interested in working at any of the booths, we need you and it is a lot
As we move closer to Thanksgiving I as your President have a lot to be Thankful for. I am ever so
thankful for each and every one of you and those
who were members in the past and those who have
passed on. Our organization would not be here today if each and every one of you had not contributed to it and going forward. Although it will be a
challenge we your executive board are dedicated
and working on ways to grow Sokol so someday
Sokol Milwaukee will celebrate 200 years.
Finally, on a personal note I am very thankful to be
your President and hope to make you proud. Lastly, but certainly not least I would be remiss if I did
not mention how thankful and blessed I feel to
have a healthy, sweet baby boy, Tristan Milan who
will be 4 months old already at the Holiday Folk
Fair and who has brought me incredible joy and
wonder and a lot less sleep. As you sit down with
your families this Thanksgiving know that you are
part of another very important family Sokol/
Sokolice Milwaukee and your family is very
Thankful For you.
Happy Fall Season and Happy Thanksgiving,
Sonia Riecan
President of Sokol Milwaukee
Sonia Riecan,
President of Sokol Milwaukee
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Fall 2014
VELVET REVOLUTION TURNS
TWENTY-FIVE
November 17th is a day of remembered by Czechs
and Slovaks as the start of the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall police
violently put down a student protest in Prague. This
touched off strikes and protests that saw hundreds of
thousands people demonstrate against communist
rule. By the end of the month the communists agreed
to hold elections and in December Vaclav Havel was
elected president of Czechoslovakia.
4
President Zeman Pelted with Eggs
at November 17
Velvet Revolution Event
Security guards move in with umbrellas to protect
President Zeman from tomatoes.
Velvet Revolution Memorial in Prague.
Twenty-five years later an opinion survey finds that
61 percent of Czechs viewed the Velvet Revolution
as a positive development. While in Slovakia, only
58 percent of citizens viewed ending of communism
in the same light. When considering the present state
of the country 48 percent of Czechs say that they are
satisfied as opposed to 47 percent who are dissatisfied. Seventeen percent say they would like to see a
return to communism while 77 percent are opposed.
Only 14 percent of Czechs are satisfied with the economic situation in the country however at the same
time 68 percent consider their standard of living to be
good.
These articles are based on information from Radio Prague.
A wide variety of commemorative events will be
held in November. However President Miloš Zeman
had a tough time of it at a ceremony marking the beginning of the student protest. Zeman was shouted
down and pelted with eggs and tomatoes. The president of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska, was by contrast
cheered. Demonstrators held signs complaining of
Zeman and his predecessor Vaclav Klaus.
Zeman has been criticized lately for remarks downplaying the police reaction to the 1989 demonstrations, what seemed to be pro-Russian remarks concerning Ukraine and for using profanity in a taped
interview.
Appropriately, on January
25,2015, we will be showing
the documentary film Občan
Havel (Citizen Havel) which
features scenes with Miloš
Zeman and Vaclav Klaus as
well as Mick Jagger and Bill
Clinton.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Fall 2014
5
Gym Program
Update
Our gym program has undergone a number of changes this
year. Jennifer Romine has ably
taken the lead in directing the
program as our Women’s Director. Her sister Lisa
Hoeck (another of the fabulous “Zeman Girls”) has
also joined us a gymnastics instructor.
Former student Tabitha Rasch
has joined our teaching staff
after attending a two-week
American Sokol instructor’s
camp this summer in Cleveland. Outside of Sokol Tabitha is a student at Luther High
School in Greendale.
New Instructor - Tabitha Rasch
We have moved our gym program to Wednesday
evenings. Although we lost some gymnasts as a
result of the change in day we have gained others
and enrollment now stands at 28 boys and girls.
HOLIDAY FOLK FAIR FLASH!
We will be performing on the stage of
the All Nations Theater for the 12:45 pm
Young Peoples Showcase. Come out and
cheer for our young Sokol gymnasts.
Parents join in Halloween gymnastics activities
Lisa Hoeck, Gerald Novotny, Jennifer Romine, Jamie Donald
However much remains the same. Jamie Donald
and Gerald Novotny return as instructors. And
marching and calisthenics remain a focus of our
program and we will be performing again in youth
program at the Holiday Folk Fair.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Fall 2014
6
The obituary below is from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. A longer
memorial highlighting his teaching
career, awards and publications can
be found at the Organization of
American Historians web site:
Www.oah.org.
In Our Memory
We need to recall three passed members. Our
remembrance of Len Borkowski is sadly much delayed. However we can report that Sokol received a
nice letter of thanks from the Wauwatosa Historical
Society for our memorial gift. This obituary appeared was printed in the Milwaukee JournalSentinel.
Borkowski, Leonard L. "Len" May 20, 2014, at the
age of 89. Beloved husband of Frances. Loving
father of Robert F. (Lisa) and Mary (Steven Jr.)
Musinsky. Dear brother of Donald (Antoinette).
Brother-in-law of James (Patricia) Vespalec, Patricia Armbruster and Frank Vespalec. Further survived by other relatives and friends. Visitation on
Friday, May 23, 2014, at St. Bernard Catholic
Church, 1500 Wauwatosa Ave., Wauwatosa,
from 10 AM until the time of Mass of Christian
Burial at 11 AM. Burial to follow at Holy Cross
Cemetery. Memorials to St. Bernard Catholic
Church or The Wauwatosa Historical Society ap-
Victor Greene was only a member for a few short
years. He had an idea to study the history of the
Czech and Slovak folk costume designs, or “kroje,”
as they were brought here by immigrants or modified in after arriving in America. Other commitments and illness prevented him from carrying out
the project.
Greene, Victor R. Passed away on September 5, 2014,
at the age of 80. Beloved husband of Laura Greene
(nee Offenhartz). Loving father of Jessica Greene and
Geoffrey (Gayle) Greene. Cherished grandfather of
Harrison, Emma and Alice Greene. Dear brother of
Patricia (Herbert) Lesow Greene and the late Stanley
(Virginia) Greene. Funeral service to be held on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 1:00 PM at Congregation Shalom,
7630 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Fox Point. Burial to follow
at Mound Zion would be appreciated.
We also note the passing of long
time Sokol member
Henry Tonar.
Tonar, Henry "Hank" Age 84, passed away on Thursday,
Oct. 30, 2014, at home with his family by his side. He was
born on July 23, 1930, in Cudahy, WI, the son of Larry and
Bessie Tonar. He married Constance Hass on Feb. 14,
1953, in Milwaukee. He served in the U.S. Army during the
Korean War. Hank and Connie started Hallmark Drywall in
1972, in Madison, and together they were in business until
their retirement. They spent their retirement years summering in Minocqua and wintering in Arizona and Florida.
Hank enjoyed his hobbies of Bocce Ball, woodworking and
golf. At his 50th high school reunion he told friends his
greatest accomplishment in life was "surviving, raising five
daughters". Hank is survived by his daughters, Karen (Rick)
Grosse of Madison, Patti (Gary) Hellenbrand of Waunakee,
Lori (Tim) Julson of Stoughton, Jayne (Bob) Lindauer of
Verona, and Kathleen Tonar of Milwaukee; grandchildren,
Adam (Emily) Grosse, Jason (Julie) Grosse, Ali (Curtis) Daggett, Megan (Kilby) Willenburg, Lindsey (Joe) Gilbert, Jamie
and Kelsey Hellenbrand, Ashley, Andrew, and Katie Julson,
and Danielle and Tyler Lindauer; and 14 greatgrandchildren. Hank is further survived by his brothers,
Bob (Mary Ann) Tonar and Charles (Doris) Tonar; sisters
Emily Landgraf and Betty Jane Kramer; and many cousins,
nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his
wife, Connie, his parents and parents-in-law, Bill and Lee
Hass; brother, Edward Tonar; sister, Alice Ross; and nephew, Dave Tonar. A memorial mass will be held at ST.
JAMES CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1128 St. James Court, Madison, at 3 PM, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014.
SOKOL/SOKOLICE
Fall 2014
MOVIE SERIES AND GENEALOGY
MEETING
In the afternoon on
October 26th we presented the movie
“Everything is a Present” about a survivor
of Terezin Nazi
concentration camp in
Czechoslovakia to 20
viewers which is
about an average
crowd for our
movies .
7
community of ethic Czechs, descendants of immigrants that came to the Romanian highlands in 1822
and have preserved their language, culture and national identity. Filmed over a ten year period, the
movie documents the harsh lives of these isolated
people.
In the morning prior the genealogy group met and
enjoyed a demonstration of strudel making by Ann
Cramer. I did not attend the genealogy session but
managed to snag a piece of strudel which was
delicious! A similar number of people attended the
morning session.
Receipt for Dill Gravy
Under the heading of “news you can use” here is a
receipt for dill gravy submitted by Ann Cramer.
Our
next
It would be nice if more people took advantage
of the educational opportunities Sokol provides.
Consider attending and inviting your friends to
upcoming events on our calendar.
2 1/2 - 3 cups beef stock
1/2 dill chopped fine
1/2 c vinegar
1/2c sugar
1/2 c sour cream-maybe more
corn starch and water for for thickening
adjust to taste.
movie will be shown on January 25, 2015 at 1:30
pm. Three documentary films by Czech director Jana Ševčíková are packaged under the title “The Old
Believers.” We will be showing “Piemule,” about a
Boil a 4# chuck roast with celery, onions, and carrots
for the stock.
Serve with boiled beef and dumplings.
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.
This Milwaukee Sokolice
Junior Girls team took a first
place in 1940 at a meet in St.
Louis.