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SUMMARY OF THE
SPRING ISSUE
Volume 11, No. 1, SPRING
2003
Slovak
Heritage Live
A quarterly newsletter
published by Vladimir Linder
Spring issue was published in
February and it was mailed to 1200 recipients world wide.
My friend Ing. Arch. Peter Bauer
in front of the new Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava
FROM THE EDITOR
2002
was a sad year for me, as I have lost my friend Stanka Bulavová from
Liptovská
Teplička
in summer, my friend Makši Dubrovay in fall and my favorite aunt of my
wife in December. I have been to Slovakia three times and also I visited
Turkish part of Cyprus and Bursa, Turkey with my friends, Folklore group Jánošík
from Svit. Our financial difficulties don’t seem to be fading away as
there are still lots of you not paying your dues on time or forgetting
totally to update your memberships. I guess some of you (the non
payers) are thinking that we are sitting on bottomless pit of money. Well,
to tell you the truth, the Society still owes me over CAD $ 600.00 for
issues published last year and with this issue additional CAD$ 1300.00
will be added to that amount. I would like to recover that as soon as
possible. That will be only possible by you, our supporters renewing your
memberships on time and paying up for the years of receiving the SHL even
though your membership expired....
Our
web pages are breaking record levels. We have received a total of 171636
hits with an average of 5536 hits per day in December.
In January most visits were from: Slovak Republic, Canada, Japan,
Hungary, Poland, France, Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom, United
States, Czech Republic, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Germany, Australia,
Spain, Russian Federation, US Government, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, US
Military, Lithuania, and Denmark.
Vladimir
FROM THE
MAIL BAG
Dear
Vladimir,
If
you ever drive past Bardejov (Kurimka and Lipová
to be exact)
please conduct a minute of silence. This will be for the people that
emigrated from these villages many years ago.
Thank You,
George
Wadsovich
Dear
Vladimir,
Enclosed is a $50.00 check. Please extend my membership for 2 more years.
I look forward to receiving the quarterly newsletter. Your travels help me
to relive some of my journeys to visit my relatives in Malacky, Bratislava
and Brezová
pod Bradlom.
Thanks for helping keep memories alive!
Art Seplak......
MY
WINTER TRIP TO
SLOVAKIA
...At
an average speed of 609 miles per hour and an attitude of 37000 feet we
made it to Frankfurt almost on time a bit over 9 hours. I boarded another
Lufthansa flight to Vienna and arrived there at 2:00PM. I don’t know if
I told you before that in Europe with the exception of the countries of
the European Union, both countries check your passport. When leaving
Austria you go through their passport and custom control, followed by the
same procedure at the Slovak side. They do have passport scanners on the
Slovak side to scan your passport number and information to their
computers and then you go through the customs the customs officer
sometimes asks you if you are bringing anything, but most of the time just
waves you through without asking any questions. A bit different from what
we are used to at USA or Canadian border crossings as sometimes the
questions seem to be endless on both sides. The border crossing to
Slovakia was smooth as usual. In fact I arrived at the Advantage Car
Rental Company headquarters ahead of schedule at 3:15. My car was ready
and I was mobile in few minutes. After unpacking and charging up my cell
phone for a while I went to the V-Klub. It was packed with young students.
Soon after I entered the office of director and my friend Maroš Veselský
I learned that tonight they had a school of folk dancing and they were
teaching folk dances from Zuberec in Orava region, which is in Northern
Slovakia. My friend and folklorist Jano Blaho was teaching anybody who
wanted to learn: Polka, rabbit, and simple dance of this region. After the
training session the musicians kept on playing and students were dancing
and singing songs from many regions. This continued until about 1:00 AM. I
have met many of my folklorist friends here....
A
KOVALCIK RETURNS TO UDOL
Nikolaj and Helena Knap
There
are numerous individuals who are interested in researching villages and
towns their ancestors came from. For some, it is vital to see these places
first hand. Many people in the United States can trace their families to
the Slovak Republic and I am proud to say my name is included in this
category. My family surnames are Kovalčík (under Hungarian
administration the spelling was changed to Kovalycsik) and Vansco. They
came from the village of Ujak, Slovakia (which was renamed Údol in 1948).
This medium sized village near the Poprad River is not far from the
town of Stará Ľubovňa. The village itself rests at the top of a
hill and it swings around in the form of a “U” shape. I was extremely
fortunate that my older family members talked of “Ujak” (Údol) and
always made this notation on all official documents. After my grandfather,
Michael Kovalycsik, and other older family members passed away, I began to
compile extensive records. I researched, gathered and categorized data.
After all this I then incorporated it into numerous genealogy binders
regarding my family and the village. As time went on, I decided that while
it was wonderful to have this wealth of records and information, a return
to Údol would assist me in ways no paper record could. Experiencing the
village first hand and the people who resided there was an absolute
necessity if I was going to continue such extensive research....
Greek
Catholic Parish
Údol, 062 45 Plavnica
SLOVAKIA
REQUEST
FOR FINANCIAL HELP
In
Údol, November 17, 2002
Our
church of St. Demeter was built in 1866. Since then it resisted physical
attacks during two World Wars, as well as during two centuries of outside
weather conditions, as we live in area of Slovakia where winter and fall
seasons are the longest seasons of the year. Until now we have made some
small alterations to our church but now we are in the need to perform
larger repairs as the condition of our church requires it.
This year we have changed windows and we are planning to replace the roof,
as the original roof is being destroyed by corrosion and it is leaking,
thus damaging the inside ceiling and walls of our church. Not of lesser
importance is to bring a natural gas line into the church for heating. In
winter months the temperature inside the church is -5 degrees Celsius,
which is about 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Not taking to account the cold
during the services, the walls and windows are attacked by mildew, which
is result of the heat precipitation breading in cold church.
These necessary repairs as well as others that dignity of our church
requires, we can only perform if our financial resources will allow us.
The people of our parish are helping not only by physical labor, but also
by financial collections with whatever they can. All these repairs are
financially demanding so we can handle them only with real difficulties
and are very slow.
That is why we are asking you for financial assistance for our church of
St. Demeter, that we will need for the roof change and putting natural gas
heating in.
You can send your financial help directly to our bank account of our
parish:
Slovenská Šporiteľňa
0103863116/0900 name of the account Gréckokatolícka cirkev farnosť
Údol
God
Bless You for Your kindness.
With
deep respect Father Marek Belej
Administrator of Údol parish and believers from Údol
Greek Catholic Parish
Údol,
062 45 Plavnica
SLOVAKI
A
BISHOP
JÁN VOJTAŠŠÁK
1877-1965
By: Mons, Doc. ThDr. ICLic. František Dlugoš, PhD
CHILDHOOD
AND STUDIES
Born
November 14, 1877 in poor Orava’s village in Zákamenné, called at that
time Zákamenno-Klin, to good, honorable and most of all believing parents
Anton Vojtašák and Mária, nee Klimčík. His parents were modest
small farmers but rich in spiritual treasures. They accepted every child
the God blessed them with. They had 11 children, from whose Ján was the
seventh He went to elementary school in Zákamenné and two years in
Stankovany. From 1889 he studied at gymnasium in Trstená in Orava, later
on at higher gymnasium in Ružomberok where he graduated. From 1895 he
studied theology and he completed in Priest’s seminary spiritual
formation in Spiš Chapter.
CHAPLAIN AND PRIEST ROLES
After
successful completion of theological studies to his big happiness he was
ordained to priesthood. He accepted is ordination from hands of Diocese
bishop Paul Smrečány in the Spiš cathedral of St. Martin in Spiš
Chapter on July 1, 1901. In years 1901 to1903 he was a chaplain in Horná
Zubnica (now Poland), in 1903-4 chaplain in Kvačany in Liptov region,
1904-5 chaplain in Zubrohlav, later in Ústí above Orava, 1906-8 in Tvrdošín,
in 1908-10 in Veličná, where he became a priest in 1910. In
1919 he was named the director of bishops office and later also to a position
of lector of theology seminary at Spiš Chapter....
THE NEW SLOVAK
NATIONAL THEATRE
I would say that the area of the
theater takes over about 4 average city blocks. The square footage of the
building is 503202 square feet. There
will be two theaters side by side connected with a corridor in the middle.
One is the Opera with a capacity of 901 seats and the other is Drama
Theatre with total capacity of 649 seats. There is also theatre studio
with capacity of 160 seats, restaurant for 132 people, espresso for 27
people, libresso for 44 people, and a Club that can accommodate 108
guests. The final cost of building the theater will be in the neighborhood
of over 4 Billion SK which is over US$ 102 Million at the today’s rate
of 1.00 US$=39.00 SK. It is expected that the theatre will be finished by
April 2004. The problem is financing and they still need over 600 million
SK to finish it. I got first hand tour of the whole complex and I must
tell you I was really impressed. Opera and Ballet Theatre has 7 servicing
floors and the stage stack is 12 story’s tall. There is a main stage
with removable turning stage, rear stage, and two side stages. They are
all movable and the whole scene can be transported from any of the three
stages to the main stage. The chairs of the auditorium are individually
air-conditioned in both theatres. The Drama Theatre has 6 servicing floors
and the stage stack is 10 story’s tall. Main stage is all-hydraulic and
there are two additions side stages. Shared areas for both theatres are
the entry hall and the cloakrooms, service areas and the woks of together
with the founding stone, the spring...
LECHAYIM!JEWISH
SONGS
Is
the latest CD produced by Igor Bázlik. You will find 15 Yiddish, Hebrew
and Ivrit songs on it sung by Ervin Schönhauser.
Igor
Bázlik
,
was
born, and will die, like anybody else. The fact that I was born in a
family that lived for music and the arts was a gift of God. He located the
place in the centre of the small country of Slovakia, which, like many
other small countries, makes a man endowed with talent look for a point of
departure‑one’s own point of departure‑in a maze of
everything that surrounds him. I know a genius is not born very often but
I do not feel to be one, I only want to use what was given to me from
above and by my parents and to enhance its value and transform it and
continue transforming it into something useful and beneficial.
If I have succeeded (at least in part), I must thank my mother, father,
uncle also a composer (Tibor Andrašovan),
my professors at the Conservatory and at the Academy of Performing Arts,
Slovak Radio and Slovak Television (where I worked at times as a musical
director and conductor) and others who accepted my activities‑I can
consider it my luck and my own satisfaction that I was born and have
worked with the people among whom I could, with more or less success, work
and develop.
My cooperation with Ervin Schönhauser
gave me, however, something new, not yet known to me (I can remember the
war time when my parents were hiding a Jewish Family in their cellar) and
I am glad that fate has brought me also to a way which has resulted in
Jewish songs in my arrangement, in my production, and my guidance of the
singer and the orchestra the way I saw them.
Igor
Bázlik...
Several
book reviews by our correspondent Miroslava DulovÁ
HOTEL
FIM
Is
located in the center of Demänovská
Valley; straight below the main entrance into the most beautiful and well
known Slovak cave Jaskyňa Slobody-The Cave of Freedom. Its elevation
is 800 m above sea level and its elegant sports character will satisfy the
requirements of most demanding clients. It offers luxury accommodation and
boarding services together with variety of supplementary services for
spending the leisure time. It is the nearest hotel to the city of Liptovský
Mikuláš with complete rehabilitation relaxation center (swimming pool,
dry and steam sauna, whirlpool, massage and fitness center). All hotel
services are designed to suit the guest’s ideas of comfortable summer or
winter family holiday. Business representatives and managers can also use
the capacities of hotel not only for business meetings and dining but also
for rest and relaxation. Hotel spaces are also suitable for organizing
courses and seminars...
For FREE sample issue of
The Slovak Heritage Live Newsletter
please send in or email your postal address to:
Vladimir Linder
3804 Yale Street
Burnaby, BC,
Canada, V5C 1P6
Phone/Fax:
1-604-291-8065
This limited time offer is good
only in North America
GO
TO SLOVAK HERITAGE LIVE MAIN PAGE
vlinder49@shaw.ca
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 2003
3804 Yale
Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced,
republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without
the express written permission of Vladimir
Linder. All rights
reserved.
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