Volume 100 Number 18
ˇ ´ VESTNIK S P J S T
Benevolence
H E R A L D
★ Humanity
ISSN —07458800
★ Brotherhood
May 2, 2012
Join Hands Day is this Saturday
Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen Visit SPJST Car Show
Lodge 87, Temple Youth Club members Colton Ammons, left, and Ryan Davidson check out Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen—two of the 191 vehicles entered in the SPJST Car Show at the Bloomin’ Temple Festival held April 21 in Downtown Temple. The car show benefitted the Czech Heritage Museum and Genealogy Center.
SPJST lodges across the state will participate in Join Hands Day this Saturday, May 5. Georgia and Luther Bockman hand out American Cancer Society literature and SPJST material supplied by Lodge 179, Warrenton Sales Agent Ricky Weyand at the stew supper held recently in Ledbetter. SPJST Lodge 179 partnered with the Ledbetter Homemakers Club to raise funds for the American Cancer Society and Ledbetter Volunteer Fire Department as a Join Hands Day project. More on page 13, and see Join Hands Day projects listed on pages 19 and 20 of this week’s Vestnik.
Preserve Czech Heritage for Future Generations. Please Donate $10 Today. By Mildred Holeman Czech Heritage Museum and Genealogy Center Board Member Lodge 88, Houston
As I walked into the Czech Heritage Museum and Genealogy Center, located at 119 West French Avenue in Temple, I looked around at the farm equipment which was used by the early Czech immigrants to eke out a living in America. They cleared thousands of areas of wooded land for cultivation. Their tools were crude, and the work was hard and strenuous. The
Museum tells a story of how the early Czech settlers survived in a sometimes unfriendly environment and yet gave to the United States many of its intellectuals, artists, doctors, lawyers, astronauts, and scientists. Czech soldiers fought and died in every war in which the United States has been engaged. They learned the English language and blended in, but at the same time, they managed to maintain their own heritage. Because of their sacri-
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Interest Rates.......................................3 Important Dates ...................................3 Convention Corner..............................4 Lodge Section......................................9 Reunions ............................................19 In Memoriam ......................................20
fices and determination, we now enjoy our freedom and the fruits of their labor. Without a Czech city attorney in Dallas named Henry Kucera, you could never have flown in and out of Love Field. It was quite a feat at that time to get it passed all the red tape and built. Kucera’s knowledge of municipal laws dubbed him as the best city attorney in the country. Many other brilliant Czechs have contributed greatly to the United States,
Inside This Week’s Vestnik
Youth Section ....................................22 Vestnik Project...................................23 Czech Culture ....................................27 Advertisements.............................28-29 Lodge Calendar .................................30 Vestnik Graduate Form .....................32
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Lodge 13 Dime Box hosts casino fundraiser night
and we must preserve their memory for future generations. There is a statue of a little Czech girl standing in the Museum, and I marveled at the beautiful hand work on her dress. The women were a hardy group, having to sew all the clothes, do the cooking, tend the children, work in the fields, can food for winter, made quilts, and other jobs to keep their family comfortable. We have displays of their work. All this deserves to be preserved for future generations. If you haven’t visited the Museum,
Continued on Page 3.
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Lodge 84 Dallas honors longtime members
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Lodge 154 Fort Worth hosts Easter picnic