ˇ ´ VESTNIK S P J S T
Volume 102 Number 20
“Step Up To The Plate” April Top Agents 1st Place Associate
• Certificates Issued • • Earned Premium •
$200 Award Each Category
Wendy Pruski, FIC
Lodge 107, Floresville • District Seven Associate Agents Certificates Issued $50 Award
2nd - Melissa Pew Lodge 206, Tri-Counties (3) 3rd - Susan Skrabanek, FIC Lodge 17, New Tabor (1) 4th - Jerry Sijansky, FIC Lodge 79, Corpus Christi (7)
Benevolence
H E R A L D
★ Humanity
ISSN —07458800
By Nancy Machu • SPJST Lodge 29, Taylor
The Texas Czech Genealogical Society’s Czech Veterans’ Wall of Honor and Military Museum, located in the basement of the SPJST Home Office at 520 North Main Street in Temple, Texas, has on display a number of uniforms which were worn by men and women of Czech descent as they served their country through military service. Uniforms worn by any Czech person, worldwide, are welcome additions to this museum. Among the most interesting is a complete uniform worn by a member of the Czechoslovak army between 1951 and 1953. Milan Knezek was born on October 8, 1929, in Frenstat, Moravia, Czechoslovakia, to Antonin Knezek and his wife, Frantiska Petrasova. This family is from house number 341. Milan’s entire family had extraordinary musical talents which were passed on down to him, and this legacy truly enhanced his experience while he was serving his mandatory two years of service in
the Czech army. He was assigned to a division that entertained the troops as
Joining hands
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well as the public. Milan’s assignment in the army was to be a dancer, and he has performed all over the Czech lands, even after his time in the army was over. Milan’s kroje was in the possession of his daughter, Nina Knezkova Knezek, after his death. On our last trip to the Czech Republic in 2012, Nina told Darwin that she wanted to give him Milan’s kroje, because her dad was very fond of Darwin, who is his second cousin, and she felt that he would have wanted Darwin to have the kroje. Furthermore, she asked that we try to find a place to display it in Texas, so that Czech Texans could enjoy it. This kroje, along with several other photos and military documents, is now on display in the Czech Veterans’ Museum in the basement of the SPJST Home Office at 520 North Main Street in Temple, Texas. More pictures on page 37. —SPJST—
Members across the state participated in Join Hands Day on Saturday, May 3. LEFT: Lodge 81, Needville youth assist at S.P.J.S.T. Rest Home No. 2. RIGHT: Lodge 154, Fort Worth members join hands with Lighthouse Fellowship to plant flowers at Azle Manor Retirement Home.
2nd - Melissa Pew Lodge 206, Tri-Counties (3) 3rd - Susan Skrabanek, FIC Lodge 17, New Tabor (1) 4th - Jerry Sijansky, FIC Lodge 79, Corpus Christi (7)
Important Dates ...................................3 Interest Rates.......................................3 District/Lodge Secretaries..................5 Scholarship Winners .....................7-12 Lodge Section....................................14 In Memoriam ......................................28
May 14, 2014
TCGS Czech Veterans’ Museum inside SPJST Home Office displays authentic Czechoslovakian military kroje
Associate Agents Earned Premium $50 Award
Career Agents (No agents qualified)
★ Brotherhood
Inside This Week’s Vestnik
Youth Section.....................................29 Kraslice Winners ...............................32 Lodge Calendar ............................35-36 Czech Culture ....................................37 Advertisements ............................38-39 Member Services Directory ..............40
Page 17
Lodge 29 Taylor honors longtime members
N N N N N N N Dallas Krouzek disbands
Page 27
Page 34
Lodge 162 Iowa Colony Youth Club cleans up beach