Czech and Slovak Cultural Center

American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Tuesday September 20 that the CSPS Sokol Hall is a finalist with 25 Minnesota metro-area historic sites for part of a $1 million grant. Sokol submitted its project, air conditioning for the hall and accessibility to its stage, for Summer 2012 and the hall’s 125th anniversary.

You can be a Sokol partner in preserving our hall by contributing your vote! Your Facebook vote will count toward either guaranteeing our project, or toward impressing the committee in awarding grants. You can vote once a day, everyday, until October 12. Please share this request with your friends/Friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, strangers!

The organization with the most Facebook votes is guaranteed funding for their project. The remaining 24 Twin City metro-area nominated historic sites will be evaluated by an advisory committee which will disburse the remainder. By voting you also qualify for a drawing for Delta travel tickets, and for every new “like” PIP is donating $1 to the Minnesota Zoo.

You can vote once per day via the Facebook site:

1. Go to the Partners in Preservation Facebook page:
   http://www.facebook.com/PartnersinPreservation
2. Click the LIKE button on the upper right.
3. Click on the VOTE item on the left menu.
4. Click on C.S.P.S. SOKOL HALL, the 4th name on the alphabetical list below the map.
5. The 1st time you vote, click GET STARTED in the blue box under the information.
6. Click ALLOW.
   (Your email/Facebook will not be used by either American Express or the National Trust)
7. Click VOTE FOR THIS PLACE in the blue box under the information.
8. Click CONFIRM.

Thank you! Wish Sokol luck, partner with us and vote! We will be reminding voters with CSPS Sokol trivia in the days ahead…

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Masopust is a traditional Czech Carnival (Mardi Gras Style) before Lent. The Czech Heritage Partnership has organized and sponsored a revival of Masopust in the northeast Iowa region.

Dear friends,

how much would you pay to tell me to GO JUMP IN THE LAKE and actually have me do it? How about if I tell you I’ll do it in Minnesota in February?

I’m writing to ask for your support. On February 26, 2011, I have committed to grin and “bear” it for the athletes of Special Olympics Minnesota by participating in the South Metro Polar Bear Plunge.

I know — you’re probably getting cold just thinking about it! But the cold that I’ll feel is only temporary; the positive impact we’ll have on the lives of over 7,000 Special Olympics Minnesota athletes with intellectual disabilities will last a lifetime!

I’ve set a personal fundraising goal, and I need your help to reach it! So no, I’m not asking you to take the Plunge (although I’d love you to join me!), but I AM asking if you’ll make a donation to Special Olympics Minnesota on behalf of me taking the Plunge. Any amount would be appreciated — it all goes to a wonderful cause, and every little bit gets me that much closer to my goal.

Support me at www.plungemn.org/plunger/blankabrichta. If you want to learn more about the Plunge, visit www.plungemn.org to find out all the chilly details.

Thank you!

Blanka

P.S. Think warm thoughts for me as February 26 approaches. I’ll do my best to make my supporters proud!

Dear members and friends of the CSCC,

Our 2010 Annual Meeting for the Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota will be held on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. at 383 Michigan Street in St. Paul, MN. You are invited to come and meet other CSCC members, get together with the Board of Directors, and help shape the future of the Center! Our meeting will commemorate two important Czech and Slovak holidays: the Oct. 28 Czech State Day and the Nov. 17 Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day, observed by both nations.

The business portion of the meeting is expected to be brief, with a report on the latest happenings at the Center, as well as our general position. We will also elect four members to the Board of Directors. If you would like to run for any positions at the CSCC, please contact Don Pafko, nominations committee chair, at pafkova@aol.com or call us at 612-234-1231.

Following the business agenda, you are invited to stay for a talk by retired U.S. foreign service officer Kenneth Scoug on his reflections of the Prague Spring events of 1968 and the aftermath.

As per tradition, we will close the meeting with a screening of a classic film from our library of Czech and Slovak movies.

We are also pleased to announce that the CSCC is waiving all membership dues for this program year. We hope that this initiative will encourage more individuals and families to join the Center and participate in our activities. Therefore, in lieu of your membership fee, please consider making a completely tax-deductible gift to the Center online at http://cs-center.org/donate or by mailing us a check.

Because of the support of our members, we are able to continue securing additional and matching contributions from sources that include the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The support that you and others provide us allow us to continue our quality programming, including concerts, lectures, book clubs, meet-ups, and more! For more information on gifting to the Center, please contact me at 612-234-1231 or visit us on our website at http://cs-center.org/.

We look forward to seeing you soon at our events. Thank you again for your support!

Yours truly,
John Moravec, President, CSCC

NAFSA’s Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLS) Knowledge Community is very excited to announce the creation of a new award honoring research excellence.

The “Award for Innovative Research and Scholarship in Internationalization” will be given for the first time by TLS at the 2010 Annual Conference in Kansas City. The inaugural award winner will be Prof. Josef A. Mestenhauser, distinguished international professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota and former NAFSA President (1987-88).

Prof. Mestenhauser will be giving a short talk on the “state of research innovation” in international education.

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