HERALD Official Organ of The Sla conic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas. Founded 89 BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 54 — NO. 19
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE, SPJST, P. 0. Box 100, TEMPLE, TEXAS
FROM HE EDI OR'S %ASK An Interesting Paradox We Czechs in Texas, in endeavoring to preserve some of the Old World customs and traditions, frequently run into news and information that is both amusing and provocative. Such information, in this instance, seems paradoxical. Webster's definition of paradox is: " . . . an opinion or statement contrary to received opinions." Here in Texas each year various groups, organizations, etc., feverishly pursue the arts, customs and traditions of the Old Country, notably Czechoslovakia. We lay great stress on the dancing of the beseda, costumes, etc. Although there are sections of Czechoslovakia that stage annual folk dances, complete with costumes (ex: Straznice), there is evidence that this is not practiced as fervently as in decades past. In the urban areas of that country, the young people don't seem to go for it at all. The strongest centers of such activity seem to be the rural areas, notably Slovakia, a mountainous region. The paradox is that while we are diligently pursuing these Old World customs, the young people of Czechoslovakia have "gone modern" and regard some of these practices as "old-fashioned." Back in November, 1965, Steve Valcik, editor of the all-Czech publication, "Hospodar," also printed here in West, published the results of an interview
he had conducted with a doctor-scientist, studying in the US in his particular technical field, as part of the cultural-educational exchange program. One portion of the interview, especially one paragraph, surprised, indeed, astonished me. "Question: You know, doctor, that we have about 10,000 Czech families here in Houston, and, if we really tried, we could have the strongest Czech social life here. Have you been to other Czech communities? Have you had the opportunity to see and judge how our young Czech people are entertaining themselves?" Answer: "It was somewhere in Central Texas, near Waco, in the small town of Elm Mott, where a large crowd of Czech people gathered in large numbers of automobiles, at a nice lodge hall. The program there impressed me more than the night at the hall in Houston. There I saw, for the first time in my life, dancers dancing the beseda, a review of beautiful Czech or Moravian native costumes, a short Sokol (gymnastic) exhibition, and then more Czech songs, waltzes, polkas, etc. I realized that the people practice traditions impressed upon them by their forebearers when they arrived in this country. The old timers have died out, and their children, those who are presently active, have maintained the type of entertainment that existed some 50 or 60 years ago. I realized how strong these impressions must have
been, and that even though most of them now speak only English and have embraced everything else American in every way, they still devote much time and effort to this sort of activity that stems from the country of their ancestors'." The doctor's statement, " . . . for the first time in my life . ." is what really caught my attention. Here was a native of Czechoslovakia, born and raised there, who saw the beseda danced for the first time in America — in Texas! (The event was SPJST Lodge 66's Czechoslovak Spectacular, held in September, 1965). The doctor was by no means being sarcastic or critical. He was expressing genuine surprise — and admiration. Surprise No. 2: One of America's leading weekly news magazines recently reported .on the woes of Eastern European governments in trying to indoctrinate their young people. "In short, many students in Eastern Europe are surprisingly like US campus rebels. In Prague a fortnight ago, 400 educators, including a dozen Westerners, met in a conference sponsored by the Czechoslovak government to talk about why the culture of the existing regime fails to grab the kids. Part of the answer sterns from restricted literature and limited travel, and being bored with propaganda. 'It is a fact,' said one Czech student, 'that the only attractive currents for our generation