Changing to meet the needs of fraternalists.
ViSTNIK
"Joining Hands To Touch Lives-Fraternalism for the Family and Our Nation'
SPJST Herald
Official Publication Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order of the State of Texas, Founded 1897 BROTHERHOOD
HUMANITY
BENEVOLENCE
Postmastei-: Please Send Form 3579 to: SPJST Home Office, P. 0. Box 100, Temple, Texas 76503 ISSN-07458800 VOLUME 86 NUMBER 40
October 28, 1998
SPJST STATE VOLLEY AL TOURNAMENT DIVISIONS ADULT/YOUTH
SPIKING AND NON-SPIKING PLAY
Strengthening Ties to the Old Country Many Texas Czechs who journey to the Czech Republic are fluent in Czech and communicate easily with natives. Alphonse Budnik, Jr., left, of Lodge 186, Caldwell, amuses Czechs with jokes and Texas antics. Many Czechs are surprised not only by how well some Texans speak Czech, but also by the regional, Moravian dialects evident in the way they speak. This photo, by Sean Gallup, is one of 109 color photos which appear in Journeys Into CzechMoravian Texas, just published by Texas A&M Press. See related article below and discount book offer on page 2.
Velvet revolution creates new chapter in Texas-Czech history by Sean Gallup
The
Velvet Revolution that ended communist rule in Czechoslovakia also crated a new chapter in Texas-Czech history. Not only did it enable many Texas Czechs to reestablish personal ties to "the old country," but it also began to restore a sense of cultural and geographic origin that for some had become nearly mythic. Though contact between some families continued after the communist takeover in 1948, by placing the two peoples in enemy camps, the Cold War created a rift much deeper than the physical distance between them. Many Texas Czechs were afraid to visit a corn-
munist country; those that did witnessed the stark reality of life under such a system and returned with stories of gray cities filled with sullen faces. For postwar-generation Texas Czechs, the Cold War meant growing up with only a vague notion of a place called Czechoslovakia, a place their ancestors had once known as home but that somehow no longer had its proper place in reality. The barrier collapsed in 1989, and the nature of the old country changed overnight in the minds of Texas Czechs.
(Continued on page 3.)
Though Carol Mraz admits she has never seen a Czech meadow, it nevertheless inspired het choice of fabrics for her own Texas-Czech (Editor's Note: #ctober 25 - 31 is costume which she wars once a Czech Heritage Week in Texas. This year t the Ennis Poika Festival. related article is reprinted, wi ,isMraz, who live in Hcuston for 27 sion, from Journeys into Czecnyears, admits the when she Moravian Texas, published by Texas returned to live in Ennis, she "c e beck to her roots." A&M Press, 1998.)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBEW 4, 1998 BRUCEVILLE-EDDY HIGH SCHOOL GYM REGISTER NOW! CALL THE STATE FAC AT 1 (800) 727.7578
Texas fraternals retain sense of ethnic origin, responsibility The Texas-Czech fraternals are both agents and a reflection of Texas-Czech culture. By providing membership in an organization whose ethnic roots are both unmistakable and encouraged, they provide important confirmation to an ethnic identity that successive generations of Texas Czechs may begin to doubt. And their dual function as both providers of economic security and social membership strengthens the stability of Texas-Czech communities. At the same time, their spirit of cooperative risk reduction, concern for the well-being of their members, and pride in a share ethnic identity is characteristic of the values held by the early Czech settlers in Texas. And though the fraternals have adapted in the face of the declining ethnocultural strength of Czech Texas and have expanded their memberships and increased their assets, they have not lost sight of their ethnic origin and responsibility.
—Sean Gallup Czech-Moravian Texas Today