By: Ryan Duey
The Republic County Czech Club will hold its annual Fall Festival on Sunday, October 27th. This event is free to the public and will begin with a Carry In, Potluck style dinner at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Club’s Annual Meeting and more at the Republic County Museum in Belleville.
This year the Czech Club is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Stacia Piroutek, Czech Club Board Member, gave some details on this annual festival.
“Each year we hold the Fall Festival just to honor the Czech heritage but also to have our Annual Meeting. We, a few years ago, formed a corporation so that we could be considered nonprofit and so with that we need to have an Annual Meeting and just keep everybody up to date. It does happen to also be our 50th anniversary so we are adding a few extra special activities as this year progresses.”
Along with a meal and the meeting, a local music teacher will be playing Czech music on the piano during dinner. Piroutek said there will also be a special guest from the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International there speaking to attendees.
“She’s going to talk to us about “Starting your Genealogical Journey,” and it doesn’t matter what your heritage is, whether your Czech or not, it’s geared toward anybody that’s interested in learning more about their heritage and learning how to research their heritage.
Piroutek said additionally, they will have an exhibit set up at the museum for patrons to see. The exhibit, called “The Story of the Sokol,” is a gymnastic style exercise group created by the Czechs. Piroutek said Sokol Halls can still be found across the country.
“Sokol is an exercise group or exercise club that was started by Czechs in the United states to encourage the immigrants that came here to exercise. So, a lot of it has a gymnastics background to it. The Cuba Community Hall was originally a Sokol Hall and there’s actually some of the original Sokol equipment over in the Czech Heritage Museum in Cuba.”
All are welcome to attend on Sunday and learn about the Czech Culture in Republic County.
