Back to Bohemian Cafe (YUMMY!)

A few months back Brad had played at Bohemian Cafe and I was honored to have joined him to sing and play. The Bohemian Cafe asked Brad to come back and play and asked if I would come along again in kroj to perform. We had such a wonderful time last time we were there of course we accepted! I agreed to meet Brad there so he could get there quicker and get everything set up. My family and I headed to Omaha as soon as we were all off work. I ate as soon as I got there and more family joined us for the night. My mom's cousin even came out to celebrate her birthday with us. By the time I was finished eating Brad was ready to have me come and sing and play a few songs with them. I sang some on my own and even joined Math Sladky's brother in singing one song as he had come and was singing a few with the band also. I also played a few songs on the accordion with them. We had a good time again and I stayed to help the band pack up to head home and rode home with them. As before...it was a blast and we can't wait to go back and play or at least visit again!


Na Shledanou,
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Last Night at Blue River Lodge

We heard rumors flying around about this being the last year for BRL under the current ownership but we ignored because I think more than anything...we didn't want it to be true! The last Sunday night of the year (well the part of the year that it is warm enough to have dances) was this Sunday and I wished it hadn't come so quickly. I hadn't been to BRL before this year and I had a BLAST every single time I went. We went out to watch Sue and the Blue River Czechs perform and danced the night away. They even asked me to come up on stage to sing and play few with them. It was a great night and I will miss having this place to come together and enjoy some good Czech polka music on Sundays! :*( Hopefully someone else will take over where the owners left off so we can keep our music alive. Hope to see each of you who reads this at a polka event in the near future. If we don't support these places they won't be around much longer!!!

Na Shledanou,
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Sherridan Elementary

I was excited to hear from another elementary school this year. Sheridan Elementary had contacted and we found a time that I could go out and visit. I quickly made plans to visit and just made my visit yesterday! :)

Their class had just started talking a bit about heritage and immigrants coming to Nebraska so it worked perfectly for me to come and talk to them. I started by telling them about my family and where they came from. I told them stories about their trip here and the land they received due to the Homestead Act. I asked the kids to tell me any stories they knew about their families and some raised their hands to share. Next I told them a bit about my kroj and how the kroj is different in every region. I told them how my family brought over many traditions that I try to keep alive today and one of them is music. I told them how playing the accordion was lost for several generations in my family but I am proud to have started and hopefully maybe it will get carried along further. I talked a bit about my journey in playing the accordion and showed them my accordion. Let me tell you...you would never think you would get kids so excited about an instrument like that! :) I played Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie for them and they wanted to hear more. I sang Blue Skirt Waltz for them so they could hear a bit of the Czech Language and then played a few more songs. There were lots of questions after I had finished and I did my best to answer them all before our time was up. I had a great time speaking to Sherridan and they seemed to really enjoy what I spoke about. :) They were a great audience!

Spanem Bohem!
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Something New - Fall Festival

I decided it was time for another trip out of state...but not TOO far out of Nebraska. :) Munden, KS to be exact!

A while back when I was in Kansas for their Czech Festival in Wilson, I met the president of the Republic County Czechs from Kansas. He had told me about a festival they would be having in the fall and we exchanged contact information. I received a letter in the mail inviting me to come as the event got closer. We got up and headed down that morning and I was excited to see how yet another club celebrates together. Upon arriving I went straight to the stage as the accordion jam was already in progress. They were excited to have the only female accordionist join them. They introduced me and even had me play one with the mic on my accordion. (I still get really nervous when they do that.) They had a potluck dinner with EVERYTHING YOU COULD IMAGINE! Ring bologna, liver and onions, sauerkraut and sausage, macaroni and cheese, and the list goes on...and on...and on. :) I tried not to take too much of anything so I could try lots of things...and I did but still hardly touched anything that they had. I was excited to see one of the Lincoln Czechs (Mel) there as this is the area where he grew up. After lunch they introduced each of the queens and gave us a chance to talk a bit about ourselves and being queen. After I spoke I talked to Sue Underwood about playing accordion for me to sing along to. She agreed and we did one quick run through behind the building. I played and sang the Blue Skirt Waltz for everyone. Once we all spoke and performed and everyone was done eating they had everyone help move all of the tables off the floor and started the dance. Sue and the Blue River Czechs played for the rest of the day. I had a blast dancing with whoever I could and then headed home. Before we went home we stopped at the graveyard to see a few graves of family members. Some of them the first who came to the US and started life here. (After living in Nebraska they moved to Kansas where they are now buried.) There is even rumor of one of the graves being dug up in Wilber and moved to Kansas. I was pretty tired from the busy weekend and ready to get a good nights sleep before it all started over again. Hope everyone is doing well!

Spanem Bohem!
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

A few months back Sandy from the state pageant asked me if I would be willing to come out to Vala's Pumpkin Patch and visit while they were open this fall. She works there part time and knows that they usually had an accordion player come out and perform at least once each year. I thought this sounded like a blast and had never been to Vala's so what a great way to get to see it all! :) I got in touch with their activities coordinator and was asked to be a "Strolling Celebrity" for the day. Basically my job was to walk around and meet people. It was a lot of fun. Lots of "Mommy It's a PRINCESS!" comments. :) I had my picture taken with Darth Vader and some of the Storm Troopers (more celebrities at Vala's for the day. After walking through a bunch of the different areas in Vala's I headed back to the main barn to meet Brad. The place is HUGE...I had no idea how much they had out there. We got our accordions out and played a few songs inside the main food barn and then went outside and drew quite a crowd around us to listen. (He even borrowed a vest so he would match me better.) We had a lot of fun playing for everyone and they seemed to enjoy it. After playing for about an hour we were able to change and walk through the park some more. It was a great day (just wish it would have been a BIT warmer.) I definitely recommend going out to Vala's if you have never been (even if you don't have kids...we had a blast just being kids ourselves!HAHA!)

Na Shledanou,
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Brad Husak Combo in Ashland

A few weeks back Brad told me that he was going to be playing in Ashland for the first time. I decided to surprise him so I told him I had to be at an event I had later in the day much earlier than I really needed to be. On our way my mom and I stopped in Ashand to visit. There weren't a whole lot of people at the event but I was introduced and got to perform a few songs with the band. It was a lot of fun and we totally surprised him. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for long before heading to the next event for the day!

Spanem Bohem!
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Lincoln Czech Club...Home Sweet Home!

In all of the rush traveling around the state and even to different states I was VERY excited to get to go back to the Lincoln Czech Club and speak. This is where it all started in 2004! :) I was invited to come back and speak to the club about the things I've done so far this year as their queen and now as the Nebraska queen. I put together a PowerPoint of EVERYTHING...which is a lot if you haven't noticed. HAHA! I couldn't believe how nervous I got in front of all of them STILL after all of these years. The only explanation I have for it is that they are my core group of fans...my extended family who has stuck by me through all this time! The LAST thing I would ever want to do is disappoint them. I talked through all the things I've done then modeled my kroj as I did in Clarkson and performed my talent so the people who couldn't make it were able to get an idea of what went on at the pageant. After I finished my talent we had Brad Husak and Dottie Sladky join me and we played a few songs for everyone. It was really fun because the Choraliers were all singing along. I also sang a few more songs and we got a few requests. It was a blast as usual and I look forward to many more meetings with the group! It was an honor to be invited to entertain all of them.

Na Shledanou,
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

October Czechfest

I was really bummed to attend the last Nebraska Czech Festival of the year...I don't want them all to be over yet!!! :(

We got up early on Sunday morning and finished our trek from Oklahoma. We didn't get settled into our hotel room until around midnight (if I remember right...I fell asleep in the car.) When we got to York I got into my kroj and was ready for the day. I played a few songs in the accordion jam before stepping off stage to enjoy some lunch. I knew I wouldn't have much time to eat after that. They did have me featured during one song we played. I got a little frustrated with myself because I couldn't figure out where we were in a few of the songs but caught back up eventually. After the accordion jam I was asked to sing the Czech and US national anthem. I asked Carrie Brown to join me in singing. Once they finished opening ceremonies they introduced each of the queens. We were able to talk a bit about ourselves and then if we wanted we could perform our talent. My mom was flying back from Hawaii so I asked to be last so she could POSSIBLY make it in time to see me perform. It's always much harder to perform my talent without a wireless mic as some of my kroj are pretty heavy to hold with one and and turn around so you can see both sides. Right before we all started to perform our talents my mom made it! :) I was so happy that she was there to watch me...ON HER 50th BIRTHDAY! Little did she know what we had planned next. After performing my talent it was time for the dumpling roll off. Well I got asked to participate and when I told my mom about it she laughed at me because she said I didn't know how to make dumplings. We decided to try to be funny and "tag teamed" in and out of mixing...rolling etc. :) They said we cheated...I think I was just being smart in opting out of the parts I didn't want to have to do. HAHA! Once we finished up I had to run to the back of the room to meet with everyone who had come to help us celebrate Mom's birthday. My dad, older brother and his girlfriend, and younger brother all came to help surprise her. I had gone to Dollar Tree a few weeks ahead of time and bought noisemakers, "Over the Hill" signs, party hats/headbands, etc. We all met in the back of the room and she started walking back. My dad quickly said "Shandra really needs to talk to you, she keeps asking where you are. You better go find her!" so she headed to ask Shandra what was up. When she got to Shandra...she had no clue what my mom was talking about. We by then had all gotten organized ans started marching towards her and tooting our horns. We pretty much stole the show then sang Happy Birthday. Brad even announced AGAIN that it was her 50th Birthday. I spent some time asking people to write a birthday wish in cards I had bought for her and then had to head back to Lincoln to get to work at Best Buy. I had a BLAST at the York October Czechfest!

Spanem Bohem!
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen

Oklahoma Czech Festival

Well I decided it had been long enough since I went out of state to celebrate the wonderful Czech heritage so off to Oklahoma we went. :)

I rode down with Sandy Schnackenberg (one of the pageant committee members,) Carrie Brown (Miss Czech Slovak US 2009 2nd Runner Up and Nebraska Czech Slovak Queen 2008,) and Monica Brown (Carrie's mom.) We had been talking a few weeks before and all agreed that we wanted to go. My poor mom had to be in Hawaii to celebrate my parents 30th Anniversary and her 50th Birthday so she had to miss out on all the fun. HA! Well one thing I did learn from my mother in is our packing strategy when leaving for a trip. I was up all night then slept for a few hours just to get up and finish. Of course I was trying to finish about 10 things for the York festival before leaving too!

We started our trek after lunch and headed straight down to Choctaw, OK. We arrived at Christy Kessler's (Miss Czech Slovak US 2008 1st Runner Up and Oklahoma Czech Slovak Queen 2007) house around 10pm. Her family was kind enough to let all of us queens stay at their house rather than paying for a hotel! We moved all of our stuff in and sat to visit for a while. Debbie Kessler went to high school and graduated with Garth Brooks so she told us some fun stories and showed us pictures of him throughout the years. Carrie and Monica finished some car signs and then Sandy and Monica headed to their hotel for the night. It was after midnight by the time Shandra Korbelik (Nebraska Czech Slovak Queen 2007) and Brianna Tichy (Miss Czech Slovak US 2009) arrived. Brianna had to make signs when she arrived so we were up till around 2 or 3am when we all layed down and tried to go to sleep. We had to get up early so some of the girls could shower and get ready for the day. Before we went to bed we left a note for the Kessler's on the window with sticky letters. "Thanks Kesslers! Love, Queens!" The morning came a bit earlier than we all had hoped! Debbie got to be a Mega Queen Mom in helping 5 queens get dressed and ready for the day. After everyone was dressed and ready we headed to Yukon to start the day with their parade. It was neat because we got to ride through in some neat old cars. As we were going through the parade every once and a while I would hear "GO HUSKERS!" or "YEA NEBRASKA!" and look out to see one lone Husker fan out there. :) Then I heard my name yelled out and saw someone I hadn't seen in MANY YEARS. Well when I was 11 I was a little sister in the Miss Czech Slovak US pageant. My queen was Traci Crofford from Oklahoma. When I knew I would be heading to Oklahoma I tried to find her....and thanks to Facebook....I did and told her that I would be there for the festival. She lives in Yukon so we exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up sometime that day. It just seems crazy that in August...I'LL BE THE BIG SISTER AT THE NATIONAL PAGEANT! After the parade we headed to their main stage for the festival and got some lunch. It's always fun to have Czech dinners at different places because they are all so different! Traci came over and found me and we took a few pictures together. They had a big group of dancers so they entertained quite a bit. They had them dancing and singing and then had time for everyone to join in and dance too. I learned the 7 step polka...I think that's what it's called. LOL! They had us come up and introduce ourselves at one point also. After we all introduced ourselves I made sure to thank the Kessler's for their hospitality...it was definitely above and beyond anything they had to do and I know all of us girls appreciated it. We shopped through all of the little stands they had in the craft area and stayed until the end of events in that part of town. At the very end of the day they crowned their 2009 Oklahoma Czech Royalty. They crown a Prince, Princess, Junior Queen, and Queen. I met their new queen Jacey Jedlicka who will be in Wilber with me next year and we took a few pictures. After their crowning everyone heads over to their Czech Hall for a dance in congratulations to the new royalty. We were escorted into the dance and lucky for us...again the Kessler's helped us out! After we were all walked in and introduced we danced the first dance with our escort to get the dance started. We didn't stay for too long after that as we planned to get halfway back to York that night so we wouldn't have to get up QUITE as early in the morning. We had a great time and I met even more wonderful Czech people...I still don't' think you'll find better people around! I look forward to attending the Oklahoma festival again in the future! If you're around the area...definitely Czech it out! :)

Na Shledanou,
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen