History of the Slovenian Cultural Society Triglav
At the end of World War II, on May 8, 1945, with Yalta's agreement with the Russian army, we were forced to leave Slovenia and move to Vetrinje in Austria.
In order not to be killed, many men, women and children took very few possessions and fled. Due to England, a Slovenian holocaust took place, when
12,000 Domobranci were forced back to the now communist Slovenia and were massacred. Thanks to help from Slovenian Dr. Valentin Mersol and Canadian Major Paul Bary, the remaining civilians did not return to Slovenia, therefore sparing their lives.
After four hard years and sad living conditions in camps in Austria and Italy, we came to Milwaukee in 1949 as the first political refugees. Here we quickly found work and our lost freedom, along with a different lifestyle, unknown language and worst of all, homesickness. We started to think of how we could keep our ties with one another, where we could feel as if we were home amongst our own. Our wishes came true when John Grum, Frank
Rozina, and, Ivo Kunovar called the first meeting of the newest political refugees on November 17, 1950 in the church hall at St. John's. This was the
beginning of our society, when in February 1952, close to 30 families gathered for a meeting and the name "Slovenian Cultural Society Triglav" was chosen.
On March 14, 1954 Fr. Claude Okorn was named our spiritual advisor. He also was a political refugee, so he understood us very well and we received much support and backing from him. Our society had monthly meetings with a variety of lectures, along with Slovenian school. Many yearly events were also held and under the direction of Vladislav Kralj and Louis Galic, the society would put on two plays each year with a large attendance numbering close to 350 people.
This continued until 1960. The chorus was under the direction of Ernest Majhenič until his death in 1984. The society also sponsored and gave whatever they could from these events to needy organizations.
Our families grew quickly and the society started to look for a convenient meeting place where members could come together in the warm months. After searching for a long time, with much delight, President Frank Mejač and Vice President Frank Rozina found, in the town of Norway, 15 acres of overgrown woods with many large oak trees and a small lake. On March 25th, 1961 the deed to this land was signed.
Now started the hard manual labor of clearing the land without any modern machinery, but everyone worked hard and in 1962 the park was ready for guests and the first picnic was held. There was always need for improvements and so each year some new facility was built, one of them being our beautiful St. Ciril & Methodious Chapel where each picnic starts with Mass and is celebrated by our spiritual advisor Rev. Dr. Joze Gole. Hard work continued, but on Sundays we enjoyed the park. Sunday was Our Lord's Day and we can honestly say that He blessed our work because after 44 years there have not been any major accidents.
We can be very proud of our Triglav Park, this small piece of land within our second home, America. To the next generations, we wish you much success and with God's help, Triglav Park will remain in Slovenian hands for many, many more years.
God Bless The Slovenian Cultural Society Triglav! ... Franjo Mejač
In order not to be killed, many men, women and children took very few possessions and fled. Due to England, a Slovenian holocaust took place, when
12,000 Domobranci were forced back to the now communist Slovenia and were massacred. Thanks to help from Slovenian Dr. Valentin Mersol and Canadian Major Paul Bary, the remaining civilians did not return to Slovenia, therefore sparing their lives.
After four hard years and sad living conditions in camps in Austria and Italy, we came to Milwaukee in 1949 as the first political refugees. Here we quickly found work and our lost freedom, along with a different lifestyle, unknown language and worst of all, homesickness. We started to think of how we could keep our ties with one another, where we could feel as if we were home amongst our own. Our wishes came true when John Grum, Frank
Rozina, and, Ivo Kunovar called the first meeting of the newest political refugees on November 17, 1950 in the church hall at St. John's. This was the
beginning of our society, when in February 1952, close to 30 families gathered for a meeting and the name "Slovenian Cultural Society Triglav" was chosen.
On March 14, 1954 Fr. Claude Okorn was named our spiritual advisor. He also was a political refugee, so he understood us very well and we received much support and backing from him. Our society had monthly meetings with a variety of lectures, along with Slovenian school. Many yearly events were also held and under the direction of Vladislav Kralj and Louis Galic, the society would put on two plays each year with a large attendance numbering close to 350 people.
This continued until 1960. The chorus was under the direction of Ernest Majhenič until his death in 1984. The society also sponsored and gave whatever they could from these events to needy organizations.
Our families grew quickly and the society started to look for a convenient meeting place where members could come together in the warm months. After searching for a long time, with much delight, President Frank Mejač and Vice President Frank Rozina found, in the town of Norway, 15 acres of overgrown woods with many large oak trees and a small lake. On March 25th, 1961 the deed to this land was signed.
Now started the hard manual labor of clearing the land without any modern machinery, but everyone worked hard and in 1962 the park was ready for guests and the first picnic was held. There was always need for improvements and so each year some new facility was built, one of them being our beautiful St. Ciril & Methodious Chapel where each picnic starts with Mass and is celebrated by our spiritual advisor Rev. Dr. Joze Gole. Hard work continued, but on Sundays we enjoyed the park. Sunday was Our Lord's Day and we can honestly say that He blessed our work because after 44 years there have not been any major accidents.
We can be very proud of our Triglav Park, this small piece of land within our second home, America. To the next generations, we wish you much success and with God's help, Triglav Park will remain in Slovenian hands for many, many more years.
God Bless The Slovenian Cultural Society Triglav! ... Franjo Mejač
