Tiny Town Called Touhy

Well I had only heard of the town of Touhy once when Brad said he was meeting his parents there. We had been talking with Dottie Sladky and thought it would be fun to go to the Touhy bar for accordion practice sometime and just have a mini jam. We got there to eat and then play and were joined by one other to play for the evening. We had a blast and they covered our meals for playing. I think the whole place was packed the whole time we were there and they asked us to come back again any time! :) It was a fun impromptu performance and we definitely plan to go back again sometime soon. The nice thing was I could practice and it wasn't a huge deal if I made mistakes. Hope everyone is having a great week!

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

PS...I got a cute thank you card from the Girl Scouts. They all wrote their names inside the card with a picture of me on it. Then they printed out a big photo of me with the girls and had them sign their names by their name. Super fun! :) I also got a card from the teacher who invited me to Roper. It was a cute Dr Suess card...love Dr Suess! LOL

Back to Roper a Whole Day of Fun! :) Lincoln Czech Club Accordion History Lesson

A few months back I had gone and spoke at Roper Elementary (where I had gone to school.) I was featured in our neighborhood newspaper, the Westword, after I had won the Miss Czech Slovak Nebraska title and got a call a few weeks ago about this. One of the 2nd grade teachers (who happened to be a past teacher of my younger brother) was reading it and thought of something she had been thinking for a while. She had seen that I play accordion and thought about the author study that the whole school would be doing in November. There was a book by this author about some uncommon instruments and she thought it would be fun to have me come and talk to the 2nd graders about my accordion. She was really excited when she called my mom and I happened to be there so we set up a date and time and it was in the books! :) I was excited to get to talk to another age group at Roper and well...just to go back to Roper period!! I emailed the 4th grade teachers again also and asked if I could come back again as the last group of 4th graders that I spoke to were now 5th graders. We tried and tried to set it up but with my work schedule it was hard. The day before I was attending to speak to 2nd grade one of the speakers that the 4th grade class canceled and I was able to take their place. (I think it was meant to be! HEHE!)

I started by speaking to the 2nd graders. I went through the normal information by talking about heritage and where my family came from. On of the teachers even brought me a globe to show them where it was. I told them about the LONG trip to the US and why they had come here. I also asked them what kind of things that they think these families would have to bring. Then I talk to them about my accordion and how I can't give up when I get frustrated with playing because it's hard but I can do it if I just keep practicing. I played a few songs and answered LOTS of questions! I sang the Blue Skirt Waltz also so they could hear the Czech words. (They had fun giggling hearing how different the words are.) I had lots of fun talking to this group. I went into the classroom of the teacher who invited me and talked to the kids more one on one. They were WONDERFUL listeners! :)

I had a few hours until I had to speak again so I went to the principals office and visited and also went and said hello to a few other teachers. It's always fun seeing some of the teachers I haven't seen in a few years. Hard to believe it's been 11 years since I went to school there! EEK! I also got to meet the author himself and got a signed copy of one of his books. Next stop was the 4th grade pod!

I got to spend my time in one 4th grade classroom and each of the classes rotated in. I talked about all of the same things as I did with the 2nd graders but in a different way. It was fun to hear the kids tell me what they know about their heritage. :) One kid said "I know Czech but I'm only allowed to say one word that I know because the rest are bad." LOL! Later on he raised his hand again and asked if he could share the word he knows and he said Husak and told everyone it means Goose. They were also great listeners and had lots of questions for me. I had a blast with each and every one of these classes!

After a few hours with the kids I had a bit of rest then headed to the Moose Lodge for the Lincoln Czech's meeting. We had our normal business meeting and for the first time I got to stand up and talk a bit about membership as the new membership chair person. I also told them a bit about my queenly duties to keep them updated. The entertainment for the night was Don and Emma Trouba and the history of accordions. It was AWESOME to see as a new accordion player. They first told the actual history of the accordion then went through all of the accordions that Don owns and told a bit about the differences and how he came upon that specific one. It's so much fun to me now to see all of the different accordions and how much different they each sound. I hope someday I'll have a collection 1/2 that size. LOL! Too bad they're not a bit cheaper. HAHA! Well I'll write after the next event.

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

PS...I got a packet from Sherridan Elementary and opened it up to find handmade cards from the class I spoke to a few weeks back. They are SO AWESOME! :) It seriously made my day. Some drew pictures of me, my accordion, my crown, etc and each of them wrote me a small letter thanking me and telling me their favorite part of having me visit. Some said things on the front like "The Czech Queen Rocks!" or "I hope you win for USA." :) This is one of my favorite things I've gotten so far as queen!!!

Wilson Opera House and a New Adventure...Speaking to Girl Scouts!

Before I write about speaking to the Girl Scouts I have to share something. If you remember me traveling to Wilson, KS in a previous post we had gone to the Wilson Opera House to see the Miss Czech Slovak Kansas pageant. I was very sad to hear about a fire there on November 6 but didn't know how much damage was done. The Wilson Opera House and Czech museum in the basement were COMPLETELY destroyed. I am praying for the Czech community in and around Wilson. This is such a tragety and I can't believe that this has happened again. It seems like just yesterday we were trying to help out with the museum in Cedar Rapids. If you would like to make a donation please send it to:

Czech Opera House Museum Rebuilding Fund
Att. John Casper
136 Eight Rd
Wilson, KS 67490

Anything will help and I pray that they can rebuild and hopefully replace some of the items in the museum. This community is definitely in my thoughts and prayers and I hope you put them in your prayers also.

When I was looking for events to attend and opportunities to speak to youth about heritage my brother's girlfriend (Harleena) asked if I had ever spoken to a Girl Scout troupe. I hadn't but was excited when she asked if I would come and speak to the Daisy Troupe she leads. I was very excited to get to talk to a group of girls and maybe spark a little interest in a few future Czech queens. ;) A few nights before the meeting Harleena and I went over to my mom's house and helped to make kolace. We were laughing so hard all night when we goofed up then were talking too much and forgot to take one pan of them out of the oven...they were a little darker than they should have been (but we saved them and gave them to the boys. HAHA!) I arrived at the school a few minutes before the meeting started and already had all the girls attention. I had invited my cousins wife to bring their daughter along to see me speak and meet some of the girls since they had just moved from Albuquerque, NM. They all sat down and Harleena had them say the girl scout promise and law then introduced me. I had each of the girls go around and tell me their names. I started by talking a bit about heritage and what it means. I told them about my family coming to the US and asked them if they know what they would bring with them if they left their house forever and all they could take is what they could fit in their school backpack. I explained that this is what many families did but they couldn't pack it with toys because they had to have clothes and other necessities. I told them about my kroj and showed them some of the special pieces. Next was accordion time. :) They were all excited to tell me that they sing or play an instrument so I went around the group and had them tell me which they prefer and if they play an instrument. They had fun getting to share with me instead of me talking the whole time. I played a few songs on the accordion and was surprised when all of the girls started singing when I played "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie." I thought it was great that they all knew at least a little polka music! :) After playing a few I sang for them so they could hear Czech words. I left lots of time through the whole meeting for questions. Once I finished presenting and they finished up their questions we took a group picture and then had kolace for snack. I signed a picture for each of them and talked to them a bit more. I had SO MUCH FUN and Tarin decided that she wanted to join Girl Scouts because she did too! :) I told them I would come back any time! Well this is just the first of my journeys with kids this week...read more later!

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