CSAGSI President's Message

     Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous 2004 to all CSAGSI members,
     Our Society is in good shape as we go into our eighth year on March 9, 2004. We have a growing membership, officers and directors who truly care about our Society, and many volunteers who keep our group moving forward. Our Christmas party was a wonderful gathering of over 130 members, even though we did not have a chairperson or committee to organize it. Our meetings are well attended, our Koreny is being produced and edited, on time, with many wonderful articles submitted by our members, our library has been reorganized and is well attended on those Saturdays it is open, and our finances are in the black, with enough to cover the expenses of our current and future genealogy projects. The Linhart Funeral Home project is finished, and the indexing of the Bohemian National Cemetery records is moving along at a steady pace, thanks again to the many volunteers working on it. Our newly elected officers and directors are learning their duties, and working hard to honor their predecessors.
     Our disappointments of the last year are: 1) Poor attendance of our members at the various Czech & Slovak events and functions; 2) Lack of members willing to be in charge of organizing a committee of willing volunteers; 3) Cancellation of our March 2004 Genealogy Workshop for the lack of a Chairperson and committee; and 4) The lack of Ethnic PRIDE in ourselves and our Heritage.
     All of these disappointments can be traced to our lack of Ethnic Pride. Our Polish and Hispanic brothers have Ethnic Pride. They are working together to foster that pride with their own television and radio stations and programs. They are teaching that PRIDE to their children, thus ensuring that it will continue long after they are gone. Other areas of the United States have PRIDE in their Czech & Slovak roots and heritage; Chicago area residents do not. WHY? I urge you to teach/tell your children/grandchildren about your background, let them know they are Czechs/Slovaks. Tell them of the traditions & customs your parents & grandparents practiced in the “good old days.” Take your children/grandchildren to the ethnic events held in the Chicagoland area. Genealogy must not always be about names, dates, and places. That can be very boring to family members. However, if you can add some stories about those names, dates, and places, and why they are important to you, it will be much more interesting, and more likely that someone in your family will continue your efforts after you are gone. You knew your grandparents. Your children did not, and they never will if you do not introduce them to each other. What do you know about your great-grandparents from talking with your parents? How well do you remember them?
     Our 2004 meeting schedule is: January 31, June 5, August 21, and October 30.
     Other Ethnic events during 2004 are: May 1 - a guided walking tour of Bohemian National Cemetery; May 31 – Memorial Day Services at Bohemian National Cemetery; June 6 or 13 – Memorial Services for Lidice, CZ held in Crest Hill, IL.

Bill Hosna