Holland Members Enjoy Catered Meal with May Meeting

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Lodge 80, Holland hosted its bi-monthly meeting at The Hall on 2268. A delicious meal, catered by Oscar Store, was served in honor of Mother’s Day. Pictured here are the contented members listening to the meeting, enjoying a great meal of chicken fried steak with all the sides, and waiting for the door prizes to be announced.

It was a pleasure to have District Two Director Jesse Pospisil and his lovely wife, Linda, attend as seen in the pictures and 75year member Eugene Pavlat and his lovely wife, Charlene.

Jewell Wolf received a special prize for being the oldest mother attending.

—Risa Pajestka

It was an amazing honor and privilege to attend Lodge 88, Houston member Jack Pittenger’s award night on Thursday, May 11, 2023. I was able to personally present the SPJST Larry W. Pflughaupt scholarship to Jack for his outstanding academic achievements. This evening was so special as Jack is Larry’s great-nephew. Congratulations, Jack. Looking forward to seeing you meet your life goals.

—Dorothy Pflughaupt

Lodge 183, Arlington meeting to address sale of property

Dear Members of Lodge 183, Arlington, Please make plans to attend a special called meeting of SPJST Lodge 183, Arlington on Monday, June 5, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the lodge building, located at 3100 Pleasant Valley Lane in Arlington. The purpose of this meeting will be to communicate the April 17 decision of the SPJST Board of Directors to sell the lodge building on the basis of financial concerns associated with the property. All adult members are encouraged to attend. This will also be an opportune time to discuss ideas for the post-sale future of Lodge 183, Arlington.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, you are invited to share your thoughts with us through email at info@spjst.org. Thank you for your kind attention and for your input.^

Fraternally, Brian Vanicek SPJST President/CEO —SPJST—

Lodge 92, Fort Worth Ladies Circle presents May meeting scenes

Lodge 187, Round Rock collects items for children’s home

We discussed landscaping since lots of the trees were damaged earlier this year. It looks like most are coming back very vibrant.

We all would like to give a big yay! to Connie Hoelscher of Round Rock for reaching 50 years of SPJST membership.

Thank you all for the wonderful potluck.

Super sorry that I forgot to send out the April birthdays. Happy April belated birthdays to Lori Sexton, Jena Pachicano, Jordan Pachicano, Luke McCarthy, Greg McCarthy, Linda Lindholm, Jennifer Lilley, Pamela Leschber, Derek Klaus, Gregory Kasper, Raymond Jones, Madelynn Johnson, Thomas

Holan, Eugene Henderson, Ryan Gola, Peggy Deck, Adam Crawford, Cristi Calcote, Jennifer Bowman, Jason Bowman, Colton Barron, Travis Ries, and Talon Bartz.

Happy May birthdays to Dana Alexander, Stephanie Wielder, Julie Vinton, Lance Rohlack, Wilma Peterson, Lance Thornton, Marty McLaughlin, Joy Leschber, Patricia Leonhard, Chris Lamb, Michael Krueger, Roy Krienke, Kimberly Krienke, Christopher Johnson, Matthew Kiley, Blaine Kanak, Jose Gonzalez, Ross Giesenschlag, Marla Gainer, Roland Ramsey, Genevieve Bujnoch, Karen Leschber, and Stephanie Leschber.

The lodge youth joined hands with Star Ranch Community and delivered some needed items to Helping Hands Children’s Home. We collected items for babies and toddlers along with some new teddy bears.

Lodge 142, Houston Members enjoy district five spring social

Next Gathering—June 11

The next gathering will be Sunday, June 11. Hope to see you all! Blessings and well wishes to all, Jennifer McCarthy Youth Coordinator/Reporter/ Financial Secretary

—SPJST—

Lodge 191, Lufkin meets June 5

Lodge 191, Lufkin will meet Monday, June 5, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. at Catfish King in Lufkin.

—SPJST—

Lodge 202, Jourdanton to meet, eat June 4

Lodge 202, Jourdanton will meet Sunday, June 4, 2023, at 1 p.m. for its quarterly meeting. The meeting will be held at Jourdanton Community Center, located at 1101 Campbell Avenue in Jourdanton. Agenda will include regular business items and reports. There will be sandwiches, chips, dips, and cookies furnished by the lodge. There will be a drawing for door prizes.

Hope to see you there.

Fraternally, Valerie Barta, Secretary

—SPJST—

Lodge 258, Seguin next meeting Sunday, June 11

Lodge 258, Seguin will hold its next meeting on Sunday, June 11 at 1 p.m. at Rocket Wings, 380 North Highway 123 Bypass, in Seguin. Mark this information on your calendar and please make plans to join us.^

★ Reunions ★ ★

Reunion notices are published at no charge and as a benefit to SPJST members. First-run announcements may be edited to fit the space. Thereafter, until the week prior to the reunion date - as space permits - notices will be run in an abbreviated form. Please include your SPJST lodge number/lodge name, and your contact phone number. Thank you.

June 3

Kelner family - Descendants of Anton and Alouise Jancak Kelner—at American Legion Hall in East Bernard. Reunion contacts: President William Kelner 979-533-1950; Vice President Donnie Kelner 979-310-3245; Secretary Helen Kelner 830-490-0664; Treasurer Joey Pitman 281-236-7652. Submitted by Helen Kelner, Lodge 28, East Bernard.

June 12

Vajdak family—at SPJST Lodge 9, Snook. For information, call Carla 979-229-3630. Submitted by Carla Welch, Lodge 9, Snook. —SPJST—

“Freedom . . . guard it with your life, America,” often warned well-known Texas Gulf Coast fraternalist and late SPJST Lodge 40, El Campo-Hillje member Karel Matejka, Sr. of El Campo, Texas.

Karel was only 16 years old when the Vimperk, Sumava, Czechoslovakian Freedom Fighter was imprisoned by the Nazis following Germany’s occupation of the Sudentenland at the beginning of World War II.

He spent almost eight years of his youth as a forced laborer in Hitler’s infamous concentration camps.

He was freed in 1946 by General George S. Patton’s United States Army and returned to his Czechoslovakian homeland where he opened a bakery and grocery store.

Karel became outspokenly critical of Post War Russian-imposed Communism that was being forced on the freedom-loving Czechs. Czechoslovakia’s pre-World War II democratic government had been patterned after the United States of America.

After learning in 1948 that his business was to be nationalized by the Communists and the impending threat of imprisonment again “as an enemy of the State,” Karel and his wife, Gizela, escaped overnight to western Germany.

Bishop John L. Morkovsky learned of their plight as displaced European refugees and arranged for the Matejkas to come to Houston in 1950 under the National Catholic Refugees Program.

Karel and his wife were warmly welcomed into the greater Houston American-Czech community including the old SPJST Lodge 88, Houston on Studewood Drive. He was active in the Houston Sokol movement and other benevolent Slavic organizations such as Western Fraternal Life.

The gifted singer and musician had a vast repertoire of authentic Czech folk songs. The accomplished accor- dionist and drummer also loved to polka dance. He formed a Houston band which played at many special celebrations including a downtown El Campo street dance and “All Nations Festival” in 1962 when the city became “Capital of Texas for 24 hours” as designated by “Governor-for-a-Day” Culp Krueger, President Pro Tempore of the Texas Senate at that time and owner of KULP Radio and the El Campo Leader-News-Svoboda.

A member of the SPJST Lodge 88 Choral Group and Drama Club, he was cast in major roles of many Czech language divadlos — theatrical presentations including operettas such as Kmoch’s “Muziky, Muziky” and other entertaining Czechoslovakian dramas and comedies staged at Lodge 88 and in other Texas communities.

Karel was honored in 1999 as one of the founders of the Saints Cyril and Methodius Slavic Heritage Festival, which is one of Houston’s oldest ethnic festivals.

He often expressed his worry that many Americans are apathetic about the precious liberty he and his wife finally enjoyed in Texas.

“We must pay attention or one day, we may lose our freedom here,” cautioned Karel on July 4, 2003, when he single-handedly staged an Independence Day event in El Campo after learning no local public observance was scheduled.

One of his happiest days was on November 12, 1958, when he became a naturalized United States citizen. His Czech citizenship had been revoked by the Communists, but President Vaclav Havel re-instated it in 2000 so Karel held dual citizenship during his final years.

Karel passed away on Friday, June 2, 2006, on his 83rd birthday.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally submitted by Chuck and Joanna Schwartzkopf of Lodge 40, El CampoHillje. “Karel was a very dear person who went through a lot for his freedom,” says Lodge 88, Houston member Mary Krippner who asks that the article be rerun around Independence Day. “We often don’t value freedom as much as we should. I love America, and I treasure Brother Karel’s values.”

Explore

Are all flamingos pink?

Flamingos that live in the wild have at least a little pink. That color comes from pigments in the foods that flamingos eat. If a flamingo is kept away from its natural foods, it will slowly lose the pigments. Then it will be white. In zoos, flamingos eat a special diet that contains pigments to give them their famous color.

How do fish gills work?

Gills do the same job for fish that lungs do for many other kinds of animals, including humans. Animals need to take in oxygen gas for the chemical reaction that powers their bodies. They also need to throw out carbon-dioxide gas, which is a waste product of that reaction. Lungs take oxygen from the air and send carbon dioxide out through the air. Gills take oxygen out of the water and let water carry away carbon dioxide. Fish force water through their gills, where it flows past lots of tiny blood vessels. Oxygen seeps through the walls of those vessels into the blood, and carbon dioxide seeps out. https://kidsactivityzone.com/kool-aid-oobleck/ —SPJST—

Why do heights make us dizzy?

Many scientists who study this sensation of “height vertigo” think that it’s about balance.

Three systems in the body work to balance us: the eyes, sensors in the feet and legs, and sensors in the inner ear. When the signals the brain gets from these systems “agree,” we feel balanced.

But sometimes the signals conflict. As we stand up high, our eyes can’t report the ground’s position accurately. When the brain can’t match up signals from the different systems, it has trouble knowing which information to trust. As a result, we may feel dizzy and disoriented.

Flag Day Fun Facts

Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, but it is celebrated every year on June 14 in parades and festivals to honor the American Flag. President Woodrow Wilson set June 14 as Flag Day in 1916, but it has never been passed as a holiday by Congress.

★ Flag Day occurs on June 14 every year, but it is not an official federal holiday.

★ Even though it is not a federal holiday, many cities and towns hold festivals and parades to honor the American Flag.

★ Flag Day was originally the celebration of the adoption of United States Flag.

★ The first flag was adopted on December 3, 1775. It was the only flag in U.S. history to have no stars. (It had 13 stripes and a field of crossed bars where the stars are now.) ● The flag once had 15 stripes. (The star-spangled banner that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired the national anthem was a 15stripe flag).

★ In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson is recorded as officially setting June 14, as Flag Day. Even with Wilson’s act, on a federal level the holiday was not passed by Congress.

★ The design of the American flag was not made official until 1912. At that time, a governmental order adopted the current design.

★ The nickname for the American flag is the Stars and Stripes.

★ The 13 stripes on the flag represent the 13 original colonies. The colors of