A Publication of the Triglav Cultural Society
By Craig Frohna
December 6, 2006
Leaf Raking Day
The leaves were wet and heavy and I am sure many people went home with
sore arms and backs, but all in all, our annual leaf raking day went off without
a glitch.
Frank & Marie Vesel, Jake Modic, Janez Mejac, Charlie Strmsek, Ludwig
Vesel, Marc Modic, Marjan Rozina, Frank Mejac, Tony Limoni, Mark Schneider,
Frank Rozina, Dan Mejac, John Bambic, Jim Kaye, Meagan Strmsek, Jason Strmsek
and Frank Coffelt (taking time off from visiting his mother) all pitched in to help out. Oh ya,
and me. I moved all the leaves with the Coffelt tractor. We all worked
together and it turned out to be a great day. Also thanks to Ellen Strmsek and Marti Mejac for feeding the
hungry afterwards. Everyone was ready for that. Thanks to all of you. The
park looks great.
Folk Fair 2006
To top of page
Jim and
Liz Gordon, as usual, did a great job on our Folk Fair booth this
year. The theme was “Carriers of Culture” and Liz had 5 poster boards full
of pictures depicting our Slovenian Culture. Thanks to Jim and Liz and thanks to all
who sat and manned the booth..........
Albert Jelinek, Virginia Strukel, Rose Chepek,
Toni Needham, Karl Jr. and Danielle Dovnik, Marta Mejac, Mark, Marie, Paul
and Sara Mejac, Vicky Schneider, Marile Maierle, Evelin Maierle, Chris and
Kelly Vesel, Rudy, Aleah, Joey and Hannah Dovnik, Josephine Janezic, Mark
Frohna and Liz herself. Thanks to all of you.
Mary Coffelt
To top of page
On November 25th we lost a pillar in our Society, Mici Coffelt.
I've had over a week now to think about what I was going to write about her
in this newsletter, and each time I jotted down notes, the article became to
long. So much could be said about this giving woman. So I decided to just
tell you what I witnessed on her last day on this earth.
Her four children and her grandchildren were gathered around her bedside.
They all knew the end was hours away now, and not days. The grandchildren
held candles and everyone said prayers together. They sang Slovenian songs
to comfort their "Mama" and "Staramama". I had never witnessed such love and
devotion ever before in my life. Then the most touching moment, that I will
never forget as long as I live, took place. Her son, Frank, blessed his mother with Holy water
and said, "As you have blessed me so many times on my journey back to
Cleveland, I now bless you on this, your final journey." Mici gave so
much of herself to her children and grandchildren and each and
every one of them showed their appreciation in ways that they can all be
proud of. Mici took a piece of all of us with her when she left us that
evening. She will be deeply missed. The family thanks all of you for your
thoughts and prayers and for all the cards and letters. It comforted all of
us at a time when we needed it most. Thank you.
Sveti Miklavz
To top of page
The outside temperature was very cold but that didn't stop Sveti Miklavz
from making his annual stop to St. John's on December 3rd. Ancka Ziolkowski
headed up this event and as usual, did an outstanding job. Thanks Ancka. I
know the hours you spent making this event special. Megan Strmsek put a
slide show together that kept us all glued to the projection screen. Meagan
dedicated the slide show to Mrs.Coffelt who, as we all know, passed away
11/25. There were many pictures of Mrs. Coffelt, smiling, as she always did.
Thanks Meagan! That turned out real well. Thanks to Jake Modic for letting
us use his projector system. Without it, well, Meagan's hard work would have
gone unnoticed. Jake was also running around setting up this and fixing
that. You can always depend on Jake. Thanks! Nina Laube played the piano for everyone's
enjoyment. What a talented young girl. Thanks Nina! We all enjoyed your
performance. The piano sounded like it was just tuned. The USPEH Choir, under the direction of Mici Bregant, then sang
many Slovenian Christmas songs in our native tongue. We are truly blessed to
have this choir in our city representing our Slovenian heritage. Thanks to
all the USPEH Choir members for making Sveti Miklavz a day to remember.
It
was then time for Sveti Miklavz to make his entrance with angels beside him.
As the children's eyes opened wide, Miklavz made his way to his seat on
stage and began handing out presents. Thanks to Tom Smolic for doing just an
outstanding job making all those around him happy. We all enjoy the "banter"
that goes on between Miklavz and the children. Our angels, Danielle Dovnik,
Becky Kaye, Kelly Vesel, Aleah Dovink, Kristina Mejac, and Kathryn Sulik
made the children feel "safe" and helped Miklavz with handing out the
presents. Thanks to all of you. Unfortunately, the devils showed up. These
bad boys tried to torment the children but St. Peter was looking down from
the stage with a "Go ahead, make my day" attitude and nothing all that bad
happened. Thanks to Frank Vesel for bringing St. Peter to life. Thanks to
our devils, Dan Smolic, Chris Vesel, Matthew Smolic, and Matt Florentino for
reminding us that we should always be good,
otherwise.....................!!! Special thanks goes out to Kathy Kaye for
getting our angels together and for taking good care of our angel costumes,
and to Eric Vesel for making our devils look so realistic. Kathy Mejac was
walking about with raffle tickets that brought in some $$$$ to offset the cost
of the day. Thanks to Kathy and to all who donated the prizes for the raffle. I
understand Maricka Kudunc donated a potica that was the "grand" prize. Thanks
Maricka. Ellen Strmsek, Marti Mejac, along with Ancka, did a great job keeping
all of us full of great food and deserts. Thanks to all who baked for this
event, and thanks to Jason and Meagan Strmsek for their great bartending skills.
If I missed anyone, my apologies. A great job was
done by all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First meeting of the year. To top of page
Our first meeting of the year will be held on January 21st, 2007 at St. John
The Evangelist at 2:00. We'll make up the calendar of events for 2007, talk
about projects that need to be done, and discuss many other important
issues. You will be notified again as that date draws near. It would be nice to see lots of members in the seats. See you then.
Our Website:
To top of page
I put up a link to "Apparel". Now anyone visiting our site can click on
this link and perhaps purchase one of our sweat shirts or T-shirts.
Which reminds me...............Our Hooded Triglav Sweat Shirts and short sleeve Triglav T-shirts are available 24 / 7 by
contacting Ellen Strmšek at fastpichmom@aol.com
They are also available at any of our picnics, meetings, or other gatherings. Get yours
today!! Click here for available sizes .
The Falk
Explosion:
To top of page
As of this writing, three people have been pronounced dead in this massive
explosion. If that figure holds up, then a miracle has taken place. One of
our Triglav members, Rick Budde, works at Falk and I am happy to announce
that he is just fine. "A little sore but everything works" was his comment.
Rick worked in the building next to the explosion. After hearing the blast
and seeing debris flying all over the place, being trained to evacuate the
building through a nearby window, Rick went to open the window and noticed
that all the glass was gone. So he dove head first out the window and landed
in a snow bank. He then looked up and saw that there wasn't a window left in
the building. "Flames were to close for comfort and you could hear people screaming .
It was just chaos", Rick said. Well, we are all grateful that Rick will be
ok and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the deceased and
injured.
You are now up to date. Until next time.
Craig
Please print this newsletter out for your family members
who do not have access to the web. Thanks!
