Volume 101 Number 43
ˇ ´ VESTNIK S P J S T Benevolence
H E R A L D
H Humanity
ISSN —07458800
Cowboy Homecoming Parade
Lodge 202, Jourdanton Youth Club participated in the Cowboy Homecoming Parade in Pleasanton on October 26. State King Sammy Hoggard, District Seven Queen Michelle House, District Seven Duchess Katlyn Polasek, and Lodge 202 youth rode the float. More on page 17.
Home Office Halloween Fun
SPJST Home Office staff members dressed for Halloween on October 31. Pictured are, front, left to right, Sandra Dubcak, Margaret Santana, Karen Franklin, Rudy Constancio, Nancy Miller, Katherine Morris, and Melanie Zavodny. BACK: Lynette Talasek, Susan Shofner, Ruth Hanusch, Gena Weeks, Sharla Pechal, Cynthia Hutka, Brian Vanicek, Frank Horak, and Billye Westlake. More photos in next week’s Vestnik.
N N N N N N N N
Interest Rates.......................................3 Important Dates ...................................3 Readers Write ......................................3 Fraternal Updates................................3 Lodge Section......................................5 In Memoriam ......................................12
H Brotherhood
H H H State King’s Notebook H H H
Big Tex is Heavy!
Visiting Dallas for the Texas State Fair was awesome. I tried many new foods (most were fried), saw African acrobats, and helped run the SPJST booth that rested outside the African American Museum. We were positioned in the perfect spot (right across from the stage) to view the Slovak display of colors in the flags and costumes and enjoy the traditional dances. It reminded me of the 50th anniversary celebration in Houston a few weeks ago where similar exhibitions were performed. Our booth sat up on a little hill just inside one of the main fair gates and caught the attention of visitors walking through the festivities. Directly across from us, the car show exit landed people in sight of the tent and stage. I talked to many people during my three-hour shift, some of whom weren’t knowledgeable about SPJST. I enjoyed sharing the organization’s history, discussing the awesome youth program, and providing information about the fraternal acts we perform
across the state. I was pleasantly surprised to discover many of our booth visitors were involved in the organization already. The kids enjoyed trying to guess the number of candy corn and the bean bag game we sponsored at the booth. Besides running the booth, exploring the Fair later in the day was really fun. We went into the museum dedicated to Big Tex and watched a film on his rebuilding after the fire last year. It was truly inspiring seeing how a lot of people came together to rebuild the legend in time for the State Fair. The museum was interesting, and my sister and I left our farewells on a post-it board as a tribute to Tex. After the museum, we headed toward the African acrobats show. We found a spot to sit in front and enjoyed watching them limbo under a 12-inch stick, do flips while jumping rope, and building human pyramids. We wandered through the truck zone and visited a trailer dedicated to the Dallas Cow-
By 2013-2014 SPJST State King Sammy Hoggard
Inside Th is Week’s Vestnik
Youth Section.....................................14 Vestnik Project...................................15 Czech Culture ....................................19 Advertisements ............................20-21 Lodge Calendar .................................22 Veterans Salute .................................24
November 6, 2013
Page 7
Lodge 32 Victoria celebrates Czech Heritage Month
Continued on Page 18.
N N N N N N N Page 10
Lodge 182 Falls County hosts Farmers Olympics
Page 17
Lodge 186 Caldwell Youth Club makes a difference