Changing to meet the needs of fraternalists.
"Joining Hands To Touch Lives-Fraternalism for the Family and Our Nation'
ESTNIK
SPJST Herald
Official Publication 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 February 5, 1997 ISSN-07458800
VOLUME 85 NUMBER 6
Supreme Lodge elects Matt Vanek chairman for 1997 Supreme Lodge members elected District Six Director Matt Vanek as chairman for 1997 at the January 28 meeting of the Supreme Lodge at the SPJST Home Office in Temple. Brother Vanek replaces outgoing chairman and District Three Director Cyril] "Sid" Pokladnik. Brother Vanek, who lives in Victoria, is a member of Lodge 32, Victoria. He has been a member of the Supreme Lodge since 1974, when he came on to fill the unexpired term of Brother Matt Vanek Paul Sablatura Brother Vanek, who is retired from heavyduty truck sales at International Harvester, brings a broad range of organizational and sales experience to the chairman's position. He is a past SPJST District Six organizer and past vice president of District Six. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4146, American Legion Post 166, Knights of Columbus Council 1329 and attends Holy Family Catholic Church. Brother Vanek also serves as District Four Director of the Farmers Mutual Protective Association (RVOS). Brother Matt and his wife, Henrietta, have five children and five grandchildren. At the same meeting, District Four Director Stanley Broz was elected Vice Chairman. He replaces Brother Vanek who previously held the positon. Brother Broz, who lives in Stanley Broz Lowake, is a member of Lodge 160, San Angelo. He has been a member of the Supreme Lodge since 1973. A semi-retired farmer and rancher, Brother Broz is a director of the Concho Valley Czech Heritage Association, a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9196 in Rowena, a longtime director of the Concho County Junior Livestock Show, an active supporter of the Lowake Community Center, a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 2636 and attends St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Brother Stanley and his wife, Martha, have three children and six grandchildren. —SPJST-
SPJST Expresses Appreciation to Longtime Members Membership in the SPJST begins with the simple purchase of a life insurance certificate. From that point, it becomes a matter of personal commitment. It is that dedication on the lodge scale that gives our organization its depth of character and fraternal balance. May we join in extending our congratulations and best wishes to the many SPJST members who will be achieveing membership landmarks in our Society's centennial year.
Listed below are members who will be receiving their "Age 96" certificates in 1997. As such, these members are entitled to all SPJST member benefits with no further dues or assessments required. Congratultions to all of these special members! Please note that our 1997 75year members are recognized on page three. Our 1997 50-year members are also recognized, beginning on page three and continuing through page five. --SPJST-
Name
Projected Date of Birth
186
Elsie Dusek
August 1, 1901
O TWO O
24 47 47
Alois H. Berka Albina Mikeska Theresa V. Chlapek
June 13, 1901 April 14, 1901 August 9, 1901
THREE THREE
92 167
Ella Praslicka Albina Bartos
May 20, 1901 August 28, 1901
FIVE FIVE FIVE
81 88 114
Karolina Zeman Anna Dolezal Milady M. Walenta
October 14, 1901 May 24, 1901 May 25, 1901
District No.
Lodge No.
ONE
SIX SEVEN NINE
133 999
Emma A. Holly
November 20, 1901
Agnes Pavliska Fannie Vicic
November 16, 1901 December 18, 1901
LOOKING BACK AT 1901
For the United States, the turn of the century was a time of industrialization, urbanization and immigration. It was also a time of political reform as new faces and new forces took control. In the marketplace, laws were passed to improve working conditions and to provide onthe-job protection for workers — especially for women and children. President Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901 following the assassination of President McKinley. Under his administration numerous public policy initiatives, including pub-
lic health and pure-food laws, conservation legislation and state control of banks and railroads were enacted. Closer to home, on January 10, 1901, Texas' first oil well blew in at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont. Several oil companies emerged from this strike, including industry giants Gulf and Texaco. The SPJST, under the leadership of President Joseph Holik, observed its fourth anniversary in 1901. And finally, in 1901, this year's SPJST Age 96 Honorees were born. To all of these special members, the SPJST extends its best wishes.
Sister Julia Holacka Achieves Grand Age of 96
Lodge 54, West member recollects fond memories The SPJST congratulates Sister Julia Holacka, a member of Lodge 54, West, who celebrated her 96th birthday on December 6, 1996. As such, Sister Holacka is entitled to all SPJST member benefits with no further dues or assessments required.
Sister Julia Holacka was born December 6, 1900, in Moravia, Texas, (Lavaca County) to Maria Chromcak Blahuta. Hilscher and Joseph A. Hilscher. Her mother came to the United States at the age of two from Moravia and her father came to the United States at the age of 16 from Austria. Her mother was a 32-year-old widow with five children when she married Julia's father. Three children were born to that union, Julia being the oldest. The other two children are deceased. Her father's later marriage produced five more half-brothers and half-sisters. Julia attended high school at Moravia and Baldwin's Business College in Yoakum, Texas. She married Frank Holacka on November 17, 1920, in Moravia. Julia Holacka Frank and Julia lived in the Cottonwood community near West where they farmed for 52 years. They had four children, Frances, who passed away when she was two weeks old; Margaret and husband A.C. Haberl of West, Texas; Dolores and husband Henry Tobola (deceased) of Grand Prairie, Texas; and Barbara and husband James A. Snelson of Abilene, Texas. Frank and Julia retired from farming in 1972 and moved to West. Six months later, Frank passed away from a sudden heart attack. Recalling her youth, Julia remembers riding a mule three miles to school in bad weather and using a donkey and cart with her little brother. She is still very alert and witty and is always ready with a quick, comical retort. Julia and her husband were active in the SPJST Lodge 54 in West for many years and were on the entertainment committee for 17 years. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Lodge 54 held three(Continued on page 3.)