CSAGSI President's Message

Dobry den,

     As I write this brief note in early summer I am hoping you’re preparing for a wonderful summer of activities. Perhaps you are being a tourist, traveling the United States or the world. So many fantastic things to do and see.

     If Czech or Slovak events are your favored activities there is an array of places to go in June, July or August. I envy anyone traveling to an

annual Czech or Slovak festival held in one of our states - congenial folks, wonderful music, tasty ethnic food, and displays of our heritage. For

example, by the time you read this the Czech American Congress Festival, was held July 30 in Brookfield featuring the Bohemian American Concertina Association, the United Moravian Society, and the Besidka & Mladost Dance Groups. Another fairly close festival was held June 17-18 in Phillips, Wisconsin, and another in Cedar Rapids, IA. Wonderful experiences. I suggest you try to catch some of these next year along with many other festivals from east to west.

     Two members of our society, Evelyn Krenek Fergl and Marjorie Sladek Stueckemann traveled to the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice to attend the SVU (Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences) World Congress. They gave a presentation there about Chicago’s Bohemian National Cemetery in the program titled “Czech and Slovak Culture in International and Global Contexts.”

     When you are reading this message our society will be preparing for its coming August meeting in LaGrange. Hope to see everyone there for this

excellent program on the Eastland Disaster.  We will also install our newly elected Directors for the society: Ray Capek, Dolores Benes Duy and Evelyn Krenek Fergl. We heartily thank outgoing directors Robert Baumruk and Richard Hartzel who have faithfully led and guided our society since its founding in March 1996. A big thank you for your generous and devoted service to the society.

     Two genealogy projects which continue to be worked on by our society are the publishing of all the interments and entombments at Bohemian

National Cemetery (Chicago) and translating the very important historical Czech book “Dejiny Cechu v Chicagu” written by Rudolf Bubenicek in 1939. The translator is Karleen Chott Sheppard. These long-term projects are coordinated by Special Projects Chair George Rokos and involve many CSAGSI members.