`CHANGING TO MEET THE CHANGING NEEDS OF FRATERNALISTS"
"Joining Hands To Touch Lives-Fraternalism for the Family and Our Nation"
ESTNIK
SPJST Herald
Official Organ Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, Founded 1897 BROTHERHOOD
HUMANITY
BENEVOLENCE
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 to: SUPREME LODGE, SPJST, P. 0. Box 100, Temple, Texas 76503 ISSN-07458800
VOLUME 83 NUMBER 9
March 1, 1995
Humorist Ellis Posey to entertain
Incentive Awards Banquet: In celebration of teamwork On Saturday, March 11, the SPJST pays tribute to the coordinated and dedicated efforts of our local lodges. A total of 57 lodges will be honored for their strides in achieving a more effective lodge system. The awards will be presented at the 1994 Lodge Recognition and Incentive Banquet to be hosted by Lodge 80, Holland. Individual recognition will also be accorded to those lodge sales representatives who achieved various production objectives in 1994. Guest speaker for the Awards Banquet will be humorist, author and storyteller Ellis Posey. With the recent publication of his book, The Funny Side of Texas, Posey has reached a new plateau in his 25-year career as a humorous speaker and writer.
According to his biography, Posey mixes a "simple homespun philosophy that audi-
"A total of 57
Happy A ,,niversary Members and friends of Lodge 88, Pokrok Houston joined on February 12, 1995 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their lodge hall at 15th and Beall Streets in Houston. Featured performers included the Lodge 88 Choral, pictured above, and the Lodge 88 Concert Orchestra. More photos on page 7.
at the Local Lodge Officers Workshop to be held on March 11, 1995 at Lodge 177, Academy
lodges will be honored for their strides in achieving a more effective lodge system."
Ellis Posey
ence members take to heart and remember for a long time." Registration for the SPJST Incentive Awards Banquet begins at 2 p.m. immediately following the Lodge Officers Workshop at Lodge 177, Academy. Opening ceremonies are set for 3 p.m. Awards presentations and photographs will take place from 3:15 - 5:15 p.m. The dinner and guest speaker are scheduled from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. —SPJST-
This summer in Washington .
Smithsonian to spotlight Czech culture Amajor portion of the Smithsonian Institution's 29th annual Festival of American Folklife will be devoted to traditional music, dance, crafts, performance and foodways of the Czech Republic and Czech Americans. Co-sponsored by the National Park Service, the Festival will be held outdoors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., June 23-June 27 and June 30-July 4, 1995. The summer folklife festival is the Smithsonian's "museum without walls," held every year on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol building. Initiated in 1967, the Festival is the national and international model for the researchbased presentation of living culture. Traditional craftspeople, artisans, musicians, cooks, and others demonstrate their knowledge, art, skill and wisdom to more than one million visitors from across the nation and around the globe.
Over the last five years, the people of what was previously Czechoslovakia have initiated profound socio-political changes. In 1989, they revolted against decades of totalitarian rule and established Czechoslovakia as a democratic society. Then, in 1993, they voted to create two separate states: The Czech The young lady at right demonstrates the time honored craft of "rag rug" weaving. Visitors to the Smithsonian Institution's annual Folklife Festival will encounter a wide variety of Czech cultural demonstrations and performances. (Photo taken at the Wallachian Outdoor Museum in Roznov, Czech Republic by Victor A. Peter.)
Republic and Slovakia. Following these landmarks of self-determination, cultural traditions are undergoing various degrees of revival and transformation. The Festival will provide attendees with the opportunity to see Czech Republic and Czech American grassroots culture in motion.
The Festival program will include approximately 70 musicians, artisans, craftspeople, dancers, cooks and cultural examplars. Bagpipers, dulcimer players, Easter Egg decorators, corn husk doll makers, "Czech Tramp" and Romany musicians will demonstrate the regional traditions of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. This richness and cultural diversity creates a mosaic reflecting the Czech Republic itself—a crossroad where Eastern and Western, Northern and Southern European traditions meet. Czech-American participants will demonstrate how these cultural practices have been preserved and transformed in the United States. Performances will take place on the National Mall on stages under tents, and in specially constructed areas. The program is being developed as a collaborative effort involving Smithsonian staff and scholars and resource people from both Czech-American communities and the Czech Republic. Scholars will explain the role of music, crafts, food(Continued on page four)