Czech and Slovak Cultural Center

Family Night will take place on Sunday, November 13th, 2011 from 4:30-6:30 pm at C.S.P.S. Hall, 383 Michigan Street, Saint Paul, MN 55102. This is a fun event for the whole family. Come and enjoy Czech and Slovak conversation and fellowship. There will be crafts and games for the children. Please bring a dish to share for the potluck dinner.

Program:
Perníková chaloupka – výroba papírových loutek, zdobení perníkové chaloupky, nácvik vánočních koled pro Mikuláše a generální zkouška naší pohádky o perníkové chaloupce (herci, nezapomeňte kostými  :-))

Donation of $5.00/Sokol or CSCC members, $10.00/non member families is appreciated.

• Click [HERE] to list pre-registered families

The Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development are pleased to continue our fall/spring lecture series on defining events that shaped the Czech and Slovak Republics.

You are invited to join us for a unique learning experience on “Munich and its aftermath” by Dr. Winston Chrislock, University of St. Thomas on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at from 9:00am – 12:00pm at the University of Minnesota.

Family Night will take place on October 16th, 2011 from 4:30-6:30 pm at C.S.P.S. Hall, 383 Michigan Street, Saint Paul, MN 55102. This is a fun event for the whole family. Come and enjoy Czech and Slovak conversation and fellowship. There will be crafts and games for the children. Please bring a dish to share for the potluck dinner.

Program:
4:30-5:00 craft – decorate a Gingerbread house
5:00-5:30 story Perníková chaloupka
5:30 dinner

After dinner will be games for younger children and play rehearsal for older children.
Donation of $5.00/Sokol or CSCC members, $10.00/non member families is appreciated.

• [Click HERE to list pre-registered families]

Acoustic Folk Rock from the Czech Republic

Who: The legendary “Czechgrass” band Druha Trava
What: The Band’s 20th Anniversary, a Month-Long U.S. Tour, New CD in English
When: mid October to mid November 2011 (click for schedule details)
Minnesota Schedule:

- Oct 13 2011, Park Rapids (MN), Park Rapids Area High School Auditorium, 401 Huntsinger Ave, 7PM

- Oct 16 2011, Zumbrota (MN), Crossings at Carnegie, 320 East Avenue, 7PM (Benji Flaming opening)

- Nov 18-20, 2011 Minneapolis (MN), MBOTMA’s Harvest Jam Festival Marriott Minneapolis West, 9960 Wayzata Blvd., St. Louis Park

– Druha Trava will be available for radio, TV and webcast performance

– Robert Krestan, Lubos Malina and Ruth Ellen Gruber will be available for interviews

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the legendary Czech band Druha Trava returns to the United States for a month-long tour starting Oct. 13, 2011. Highlight will be the launch of Shuttle to Bethlehem — DT’s first-ever CD to mostly feature English- language versions of singer/ songwriter/ frontman Robert Krestan’s iconic songs.

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Consular days will be focused only on consular activities requiring personal appearance of applicants:

1. Submitting applications for and issuing ready Slovak national passports (appointment required),
2. Submitting applications for a Certificate of Slovak Citizenship,
3. Authentication of signatures,
4. A ceremony of granting of the Slovak Citizenship,
5. Submitting Visa applications.

Consular activities which do not require personal presence of applicants will not be excepted, for example applying for marriage, birth certificates, authentication of translations etc. Such applications can be mailed to the Consulate General of Slovakia in New York.

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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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Join us for literary presentations and small-group informal discussions of Czech and Slovak books in English translation. Everyone is welcome. Discussions are cosponsored by the Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota, Office of the Honorary Consul for the Czech Republic, and Czech & Slovak Sokol Minnesota.

Book discussions are held from 10:00 a.m.-noon on the 1st floor of the C.S.P.S. Hall, 383 Michigan Street, Saint Paul, MN 55102, unless otherwise noted.

• Saturday, September 24, 2011 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  The Sorrowful Eyes of Hannah Karajich by Ivan Olbracht – Book Discussion

• Saturday, October 29, 2011 Carlson School of Management Room 2-224, 321  19^th Ave. S, Minneapolis  55455
  Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down by Zdena Salivarová – Book Discussion

• Saturday, November 12, 2011 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  Sins for Father Knox by Josef Škvorecký – Book Discussion

• Saturday, December 3, 2011 10:00 a.m.-noon, Bea’s House, 4142 Upton Ave. S, Minneapolis  55410
  Habermann – Movie Viewing

• Saturday, January 28, 2012 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  Czech Plays: Seven New Works edited by Marcy Arlin, Gwynn MacDonald, and Daniel Gerould – Play Reading

• Saturday, February 25, 2012 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  A selection of short pieces by Karel Hynek Mácha, Zdena Salivarová, Jaroslav Seifert, and Rebecca West – Literature Discussion

• Saturday, March 24, 2012 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  When Eve Was Naked: Stories of a Life’s Journey by Josef Škvorecký – Book Discussion

• Saturday, April 28, 2012 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  Report on My Husband: The First-Hand Account of the Trial and Death of Rudolf Slansky, Vice-Premier of Czechoslovakia by Josefa Slanska – Book Discussion

• Saturday, May 26, 2012 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1st floor, CSPS Hall
  Allskin and Other Tales by Contemporary Czech Women edited by Alexandra Buchler – Book Discussion

Questions?  Contact Gwen Willems at gwen@cs-center.org

Bring your family and friends! Grab your lawn chairs and blankets! Summer fun isn’t over yet! Highland Park Pavilion is the place to be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, September 18, 2011, when Sokol Minnesota hosts the 22nd annual Czech and Slovak Festival. The Pavilion is the site for food, fun, and folk culture galore. A variety of sausages, kolache, beer, as well as other goodies, will tempt your taste buds. Back by popular demand, Sokol Minnesota’s acclaimed made-from-scratch booya will be available for purchase by the bowl or by the quart. Real Booya fans can buy booya by the quart to take home. There is nothing like a steaming bowl of booya on a cold winter day, so buy several quarts to freeze.

The Festival will feature several family friendly activities, including juggling, puppet shows, and cookie decorating. Musical groups (including local band SlovCzech) will perform traditional and contemporary Czech and Slovak music. The Saint Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers, Mlada Skupina, Taneční Mládež, and Taneční Teens folk dance groups will bring color and fun to the afternoon. Dancers range in age from 4 to 70 and beyond. After you have sampled the wonderful food and enjoyed the great music, you can take a stroll around outside the Pavilion and visit the many informational booths. Organizations that are dedicated to keeping the Czech and Slovak immigrants’ cultures and traditions alive will have volunteers on hand eager to answer questions you may have about their activities.

Several vendors will offer collectibles from the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia, including cards and jewelry made from imported ribbons, fabric, and crystals as well as travel and genealogy books. You will also be able to purchase or order kroje, the traditional folk dress. Don’t miss this opportunity to visit with old friends, meet new friends, and enjoy a sampling of Czech and Slovak culture and cuisine. We look forward to seeing you! Come with lawn chairs and blankets and be prepared to have a great time! Call Joyce Tesarek to volunteer: 612-822-6147.

Source: http://www.sokolmn.org/events.htm#Czech_and_Slovak_Festival

By Dr. Josef A. Mestenhauser

Most of us know that the entire village was leveled, that men and boys over 15 years were executed, that women and children were send to concentration camps, and that children were separated from parents. The brutality of this “event” far exceeds the common knowledge, however.

I was sixteen when Lidice and Lezaky “happened” and lived through the massive retaliation by the Nazis that followed the assassination of the Reichsprotektor Heydrich. The memory of these years came back when a Czech student of mine sent me two recently published books about Lidice, both in English. One is a carefully researched commemorative volume providing detailed information about the “old” Lidice, the events of June 10, 1942, and the town’s subsequent rebuilding. The second book is the memoirs of one of the very few survivors, written by Jarmila Sklenickova, the student’s relative. She has put to good use her photographic memory in accounting the gruesome events of that June and its aftermath, providing a graphic but unemotional picture of the bestiality of the Nazis that has not been generally known until recently. The peaceful village was encircled by more than 500 Nazi police, Gestapo and SS troops, who woke up residents with instructions to collect their most precious possessions and gather: men and boys over 15 to the Horak orchard, and women and children to the schoolhouse.

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