Tabor Czech Days

As my year as queen was coming to an end I wanted to make the most of it. I had to make one more out of state trip! ;)

I went to Tabor Czech days back in 2005 and it was an awesome festival. I was looking forward to taking my family there for them to experience. It's so wonderful to go to different states and see how each one celebrates a bit differently but there are many similarities. I feel like this is how it would be if you went to the different towns in the Czech Republic or Slovakia.

We got there a bit early because I thought the parade was earlier than it was. This gave us a chance to walk around a bit and see all of the kolace they had ready and more. I was excited to get to see Jennifer again and talk to her a bit before our big weekend in Wilber in a few short weeks. I was lucky to get to ride through in the parade with the wonderful Wilber Czech Slovak Prince and Princess, Julia and John, which was very helpful because all we had was a van and I guess I could have rode on top but may not have been the nicest presentation. HEHE! Thanks to their family I got to ride in a new Mustang convertible with them. I also got to meet the contestants competing for the Czech Days Queen title. I got to watch them model their kroj and perform their talents before the day was over. I was very excited to get to hear Math Sladky's band back together again and playing a LONG job in town. It's always fun to see some familiar faces around when you're far away from home. One of the highlights of the day for me is watching the Tabor Beseda dancers. There are SO MANY of them and they are all different ages. If you have time to watch this I would definitely recommend it.

We had to leave right after the Beseda dancers finished as I had to be in Clarkson bright and early on Saturday for the Nebraska pageant. This is another festival I would recommend to anyone if you have the time be sure to "Czech" it out! ;)

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

Valparaiso Accordion Jam and Parade

I can't believe how fast a year goes by. It seems like just a few months back I was playing in the Valparaiso accordion jam and finally believing that I might actually be able to play that squeeze box pretty well someday. :) I was excited to get to go back and play with some of my polka friends. It's always great to see Dottie Sladky too!

Since Math Sladky was from Valparaiso they dedicated their celebration this year to him. Dottie had a bunch of his band members get together and they played together on a float with a large picture of him on it. It was sad but I know he was watching down over all of us and was very proud to hear the polka music being carried on. It was great to see lots of royalty there representing too. I'm so proud of this years royalty for being so active and involved in events around the state and beyond. I hope they'll keep it up!

After the parade was complete we went over to Dottie's house and had a jam with a group of musicians on her porch. It was a great time and I look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

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

Capital City Woodcarvers Anniversary Party

I know you don't believe it but it was another busy day! After attending the South Central Czech Festival in Hastings I had to make it back to Lincoln for the Capital City Woodcarvers 40th Anniversary Party where they asked me to speak and perform while they celebrated their accomplishments in the past 40 years. I have a special tie to this club as my dad has been a member since I remember. We used to attend events and I tried my hand a carving (and got bored very easily so I admire those who have the patience and steady hand to do it.) We also went camping with members of the club so many of them have watched me grow into the Czech-Slovak queen I am today! :)

They let me have a few minutes to eat as they talked about the history of the club and did some sharing of new carvings they had finished recently. I spoke about my Czech Heritage, my year as queen, and opportunity I had at the Miss Czech Slovak US pageant. I was excited to hear that so many people wanted to learn more about their heritage after hearing me speak and they even planned to have a heritage day with the club so everyone could share what they learned after a few months. It is important to get our younger generations involved but I think we often forget to encourage adults to learn more so I was very excited about this. Next I played my accordion and sang a bit. Of course my dad made me share my story of how I got my accordion....or should I say accordions now! :D Everyone had a great time and as usual the toes were tapping by the time we were done. I am so happy that they thought to invite me to be a part of this celebration.

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

South Central Czech Festival - The Last to Crown Their 2010 Queen

I couldn't believe that the South Central Festival had already arrived. It seemed like just yesterday I was wearing my new kroj for the first time and preparing for the state pageant!

It was going to be another busy day with playing in the accordion jam, performing my Blue Skirt Waltz, helping with the crowning, and having to head out of town to make it to another event in Lincoln!

The accordion jam was a lot of fun and we had a performance with all of the women accordion players together. It was fun to show off how many of us there were at the jam! :) I did my performance that I won the state title with (and only had one mishap with the props! LOL!) Then we crowned the new 2010 South Central Czech Slovak Queen. Erin was a past queen who decided to run again. YIPPEE! :) They handed me the mic and let me take the stage with all of the queens and have them introduce them then told them I was going to ask each of them a question and put them on the spot before the state pageant. I think I had a few of them a bit nervous based on the looks I got from them. HAHA! As expected they all did an awesome job! Next Willie asked me a few questions and then started telling everyone how I only had a few more days left as queen. After all of that I walked on stage and had my first of what I assume will be many tears because this amazing journey as your state queen is coming to an end. I have to keep in mind that I will be competing for the national title and this could just be the beginning of another journey!

I had a great time at the South Central Festival and I look forward to attending again in the near future!

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

Friend Manor

Brad was invited to play at the Friend Manor but has to work on Fridays and luckily that is my day off so I took the job! :) I was excited but nervous to perform without him. I was lucky to have Sue Underwood agree to come along so I was A LOT less stressed when she agreed. I also had the Miller Crew there to back me up and Kelsey came along too. Sue and I played a few and I sang for everyone. Blair, Blaze, and Shayla (a few of our chapter prince and princesses) danced and Shayla even played her accordion. Kelsey and I shared a bit about our years and I put her on the spot and asked her a few questions. I got to meet a good friend of my mom's from years ago (who was her Maid of Honor in her wedding) and some of the residents who knew my family. It was a lot of fun and I hope that they'll invite me back again someday!

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

Another Birthday Celebration at Madonna

We had such a great time at Madonna last time we were there for their Birthday celebration and was excited to have another invitation.

We played some polka music and got all of the residents feet tapping and then spent some time telling everyone about my journeys as the Nebraska Czech Slovak Queen. After we finished performing I got to spend a bit of time visiting with the residents before we packed up. We even had some residents who were back to hear us perform again after the last time we came. (Guess we weren't too bad after all! HEHE!) I hope we get to go back one of these days and visit everyone again.

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

Wilber "Czech It Out" Festival

I was really excited when Kim Z from Wilber said she really wanted to have a "Czech It Out" festival there and she was willing to help. I know I want this to grow and expand and figured that Wilber would be a great place to host another event as they have lots of kids who dance and this would be a great way for them to get involved before this summer when dance practice starts. After a busy MONTH I was pretty tired getting going that morning but had a great time working with Kim and her kids, Laura M and her kids, Laura S, and Kelsey H to get everything set up. I was thankful for a great group of volunteers coming to help once again. :) I definitely couldn't do all of the things I do without a huge group of supporters!!! This time the crowd was a lot smaller. We only had about 20 kids but we had a blast and I enjoyed having the time to get to go to each station and help the kids do the activities. I hope the kids had as much fun as I did and I look forward to the next "Czech It Out" Festival. Thanks again to all of my wonderful volunteers!

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

Cedar Rapids...After the Flood

I had traveled to Cedar Rapids in 2004 to go to their Houby Days festival and was excited to return and see how much the town had changed since the flood.

We got there early enough to change and get ready for the day but not too much time! Lucky for me we left really early but I slept the whole way with Blair (the Lincoln Czech Slovak Princess and my little sis) so the trip went by a lot quicker than normal. :) As always the Czech people were VERY welcoming and helpful. I participated in the parade of kroj and then we went through the actual parade. We walked around town and I was SO EXCITED when I realized how our youth in Nebraska is truly getting involved. Nebraska was represented by myself (Nebraska Czech Slovak Queen) and 3 princesses! (Blair - Lincoln Czech Slovak Princess, Julia - Wilber Czech Slovak Princess, and Lexie - Omaha Czech Slovak Princess) It was pretty special to me because these girls are all such great promoters of our heritage and I'm so proud of each of their accomplishments as royalty! We had a blast doing the monkey walk and just having fun together. We met people from all over Iowa and beyond. I got to see the the new MN queen again and the David's who hosted me in MN when I attended their pageant. It was really interesting to see how many houses were still abandoned and almost all of the businesses and buildings had some sort of symbol of how high the water was during the flood. Some were way above my reach and others waist level. They say that a flood is like a tornado that lasts longer and this really made it hit home. After helping with my aunt and uncles house after the Hallam tornado I can only imagine how things were for the people who lived in this area. It shows you how strong the community is and determined not to let this stand in their way. Kudos to you Cedar Rapids!

Oh I almost forgot to share what I learned. They call their festival Houby Days. In the Czech Republic and many Czech communities mushroom hunting is an enjoyable pastime. I don't thing we see it much in Nebraska as there isn't many wooded areas for the mushrooms to grow. It was fun to see their competition categories and see the biggest houby, smallest, best decorated background for their houby. Now I just need to find someone to cook me one because I was told they are the BEST!

After a day of running around town and enjoying all the sights and sounds of Cedar Rapids we headed to the Miss Czech Slovak Iowa pageant. Since Brad and I didn't have a change to play accordion at all before the pageant we stood outside and played for people as they walked in. The contestants were great and I had a great time seeing how another pageant runs and what is expected of each contestant. I was also asked to perform my talent for everyone so I sang and played the Blue Skirt Waltz. It was a great time and I had fun meeting Beth Westlake the new Miss Czech Slovak IA before and after she was crowned! We're gonna have so much fun in Wilber this year. So far all of the girls I have met have been so awesome!!! :) Look out Czech Days....ready or not....here we come!!!

I definitely recommend hitting this festival if you have the time. The people are wonderful and I can't thank everyone there enough for their hospitality to me and all my princesses! :) I hope to make it back again next year.

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

Florence Days Parade

I was looking forward to the first parade of the year and started searching for something earlier than June. I was excited to find a parade in Omaha. After finding out more I was told this was probably the biggest parade in Omaha.

Since we were headed that way anyways we stopped in Elkhorn and picked out trim for my new kroj. I could look at their stuff for hours...and hours...and hours...and well yea you get the point...and we did! HAHA! We didn't finalize everything before we left so we had to go back after the parade and finish up.

Since the new Wilber Czech-Slovak Prince and Princess live in Omaha they met me there to ride through the parade with me. I was bummed that more of the queenies couldn't come but had a blast with Julia and John and had fun getting to know them better. It was hilarious because my aunt had a birthday party to go to after the parade so she was buying items from vendors along the road as we were going along. :)

We went back to pick out trims and I finally made up my mind. We picked trim for my skirt, Brad's vest, Harleena's pants, and more! :) I think I should own a business like this someday so I don't keep spending so much! It is all sooooo beautiful. I was so grateful that they let us come in there on a Saturday and pick things out. If you ever need trims let me know because I know the best place around to get them! :)


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

Lincoln Czech Festival - The First of the Farewells

Well...as I said in my title this was the first of my farewells this year. Not to the people, or events, or the memories but to my title as the current queen. I can't believe that my journey as a Czech-Slovak queen started 6 years ago at the 2004 Lincoln Czech Festival where I was crowed the 2004 Lincoln Czech-Slovak queen. I was so excited to represent all of the Czech and Slovak people in Lincoln and have continued to do this...crown or no crown....ever since.

This year I have taken over the membership committee, newsletter committee, the festival vendor committee, and helped with the accordion jam. This made for a busy few months getting ready for the festival. I've had fun learning to work on all of these things and look forward to continuing and growing in these committees.

As it was in previous years...it was going to be a busy day.

I started by singing the US and Czech national anthems. I still want to learn the Slovak national anthem so I can sing it but since I couldn't sing it I settled for playing it after the Czech national anthem.

Next was the first of the 2 accordion jams for the day. I played for a while and tried to see everyone who had come to the festival from out of town or even out of state.

This year I had the idea to start a booth for polka CDs. (I figured with my idea and Brad's connections with artists it would be fun for people to have one way of getting a hold of a variety of different CDs and have them available in one place for everyone to buy.) I did my best to spend time at the booth but it was hard with so many things going on. I can't thanks Sandy and her parents enough for helping out when I couldn't be around the booth. Brad even sold one AUTOGRAPHED copy of his CD. :) To a princess no less! The Omaha Princess asked him to autograph her CD after she got her own copy instead of having to borrow her grandparents or aunt's all the time.

Next event I was part of was the farewell of the 2009 Royalty, Introductions of Chapter Queens, and 2010 Coronation. I tried to be tricky and about 5 mins before this started I changed my crown and sash back to my "2009 Lincoln Czech-Slovak Queen" gear. :) First they introduced the 2009 royalty but unfortunately my prince and princess weren't there. I gave a few words for my farewell thanking the special people in the club who have helped me so much. Next they went to introduce the 2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak queen. I hid behind all the other girls and they held their hands up so I could quickly change my crown and sash back to my Nebraska stuff then popped up from behind them. We all got a good laugh about it. I introduced each of the chapter royalty and a few from the national court. Then it was crowning time! I was excited to crown Marie and get her started in her year as queen. She found out about all of this as my aunt and mom were buying fabric for my kroj. Mom got her info and I emailed her then met her for coffee one evening and we talked about it. I was so happy when she decided to run! The new prince and princess were pretty special to me also as they rode through a few parades with me when my prince and princess couldn't be there. Blaze and Blair are also going to be wonderful representatives of the Lincoln Club!

Mom switched up the program and had all of the royalty play musical chairs. She may not do this next year as crowns can hurt if you headbutt people and kroj is delicate...luckily no serious injuries or kroj ruined in the making of this blog. HAHA!

Next we were supposed to have a beginners accordion jam but only one person showed up for it. We ended up having Shayla come up later and Shandra, Brad, and I played along with her. I love seeing the younger generations playing!! :)

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon at the CD booth and came back up at the end to play in the 2nd accordion jam for a while. I was excited to almost be the owner of a 2nd accordion by that time! Yea...a 2nd accordion...a Kuchar no less! When I got to the festival I walked around to thank each of the vendors for coming and being a part of our day. When I got to the dumpling demo that the NE Czechs of York took over this year...there was a BEAUTIFUL ivory...SQUARE BUTTON...Kuchar sitting next to their table with a sign that said "For Sale" I couldn't' believe my eyes! I told them they may as well put it away because either Brad or I was gonna buy it before the end of the day. About 20 mins later Brad got there and no more than 5 mins later came to me and said "Oh my gosh did you see that accordion?!?!" I told him I had and what I told them. We immediately went over and asked them if we could put it behind the table. When my dad got to the festival I told him about it and asked him..."So how is the farm account doing?" LOL! He wrote a check to Franklin before the end of the day and now I have 2 square key beauties! Next is getting new straps for it because it is heavier because it has shifts and the straps aren't very padded. Now I need to start practicing more! (In my free time! HA!)

As always it was an awesome day and I look forward to next year!

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

CGSI Symposium

I am lucky to have a family who has kept pretty good records of our history but there is always more to learn. I joined the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International (CGSI for short.) My mom and I both decided to attend the symposium to learn more about researching and finding information about where our ancestors came from and how they lived in previous years.

I had a great time meeting people from all over the US and getting to know more about them and their ancestors and the awesome things they found in their research. I am so excited to apply some of the secrets I learned at the symposium to my work.

It was great to see one of the judges from the state pageant last year and tell him about all that I have done as the state queen. I felt proud to show him that I was doing everything I could with the honor that he had a part in giving me, my title, 2009-10 Nebraska Czech-Slovak queen.

Do you know where your family came from? What ship brought them to the U.S.? What port they entered into? Where they applied for homestead? For more info about joining CGSI and learning about these things and more visit their website!! http://www.cgsi.org/

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

Nebraska Czech Slovak Queen Orientation Meeting

Wow...I can't believe it had been a whole year since I was sitting in a chair at the Southwest Fire Station as a new Nebraska Czech-Slovak Chapter Queen and Pageant Contestant. Since my mom joined the pageant committee and my younger brother is a volunteer firefighter at the fire station we went there and helped clean up the night before orientation. We had everything set up but when my mom got there they had moved everything for a neighborhood cleanup. After getting all of that straightened out it all worked out in the end. The girls and some parents were there and we talked through the schedule of the weekend, what to expect, and answered any questions. There were a few big changes this year. First of all they drew numbers during orientation for pageant order. I thought this was a great idea because the girls still go in a random order but it's a lot easier for the audience to follow along if the order is printed in their programs. The 2nd big change this year is that we will be having a fishbowl question. I'm not sure how the girls felt about this but I think it is an AWESOME preparation for the national pageant for our to be crowned Nebraska queen. I know this is what I am most nervous about at nationals and I'm sure that previous queens have felt the same. They decided to pick one topic and let the girls know what it would be and actually give them each of the questions to research ahead of time so they can feel prepared. I am so excited for all of these girls and the opportunities they have as queens. I am having such a wonderful time getting to know them and look forward to the state pageant and getting to spend more time with each of them! :) GOOD LUCK GIRLIES I'M SO PROUD OF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!!!

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

Omaha Czech Cultural Club Czech Folklore Festival

Well as I said in my previous post...8am cam VERY early to get up and get dressed again for the day. I was asked a few weeks back to MC the entire Omaha Czech-Slovak Folklore festival. I was very excited to have the opportunity to practice speaking in front of an audience through the whole day. It is always great practice when I'm working with groups I don't speak in front of often. We got there early for the accordion jam but I didn't play much because I wanted to explore all the festival had to offer before my duties as MC started. It was a great festival and they had a great turnout! I had a blast watching queens and princesses compete in the kolace eating contest. I also got to be a judge in the cake decorating contest. I did find a break in the day to sneak downstairs and have their wonderful Czech meal.

It was a wonderful day of celebrating our Czech and Slovak heritage in Nebraska! :) After the day was over we went to visit a friend who was in the hospital. Of course I stayed in full kroj. I love seeing people trying to figure out why I'm dressed the way I am when I'm in kroj. He was really surprised and loved having us there to visit. I wish I had time to go to more nursing homes and hospitals to brighten peoples day. Well I'm sure I'll be writing again soon!


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

Minnesota Czech Slovak Queen Pageant

Well...it's been a while since my last CRAZY road trip so we thought we were about due for another! HAHA!

We left for Minnesota at 3:30am to make it there for a lunch with the contestants. We got there even earlier than planned and went up to New Prague to see the sights there. I found an awesome wallet with a crown on it in one of the shops there along with wine wafers made in the Czech Republic for hundreds of years. Lunch with the girls was great and all of the contestants were so much fun. I had a blast getting to know them and knew the pageant would be great! After lunch the girls had to go to their dress rehearsal so I decided to tour the town of Montgomery, MN. We first went to their kroj display. It was awesome because they had a collection of kroj from past MN queens. I remembered seeing a lot of them in Wilber at the national pageant in years past. They had Becky's dolls there too. (Becky was the MN queen in 2004 when I first ran as a chapter queen and we have kept in touch since.) Then we found a Czech imports shop where I bought a painted glass and some honey for my roommate (who has her own honey bees.) I ran into Leah (another past MN queen) and surprised her because she didn't know I was coming for the pageant. After killing a bit of time I went back to the David's house to get ready for the evening. They were so kind to open their house up to the visiting queens.

As expected the pageant was awesome. :) I was excited that one of the Robitcek Scholars from UNL, Helena, came with the national queen Brianna. She was new to all of this queen stuff and loves to take photos so it was fun to sit with her and watch her reaction to how the queens represent the Czech heritage. They had 4 contestants this year and all of them deserved to be queen. In the end Debbie was crowned the new MN Czech-Slovak Queen and will compete with me in Wilber in August. We are gonna have a blast together. I wish we could have stayed longer for their dance after the pageant but could only stay for a few hours as we had to be back in Omaha at 9am the next morning.

Funny story...before we left the dance we were talking to a group of people from MN about polka bands. They had once played in a small town in Nebraska and while they were there everyone told them they had to go to the Clarkson Czech Festival as it was just a short drive. They drove up and watched part of the pageant and enjoyed the festivities. They said they had a blast watching this girl performing her talent at the pageant. She was singing Annie in the Cabbage patch and acting like the boy...then acting like the girl....ok those of you who know me....is this starting to sound familiar....IT WAS ME!!!!!!!!!!! HAHA! I was laughing so hard that of all the things and all of the people they remembered from the festival it was my performance.

We were back on the road for a long drive (although I slept almost the whole way.) We were hoping to drive all but an hour back but when I woke up we were in Omaha. We wanted to find a cheap hotel room as we would only be there for about 4 hours (as it was already 4am by the time we arrived) and thought it would be no problem....boy were we wrong! There must have been something going on in town that night because we stopped at 5 or 6 places and they were all booked full. We were about to head back to Lincoln when we made one more stop and FINALLY found a place to crash for the night. 8am would come pretty early to head to the Omaha festival the next day!

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

Czech and Slovak Americans Symposium at UNL

About a year ago I started about a Symposium that was to be held in April 2010. It was about Czech and Slovak Americans. I was really excited because I knew there was a lot to learn from this symposium. I was excited to attend the kick-off of the symposium where Czech queens from around the state were the hostesses. We got to visit with many people who were in town for the symposium. They also had an art display with photos of Czech buildings etc from around the state and display of kroje. The next day I spent learning all sorts of new things. It was great to have such great speakers from around the US there to talk to us about Czech and Slovak Americans. That evening I got to play in an accordion jam with a group made up of button accordion players from around the state. We then got to walk to the Sheldon art museum to listen to Czech Opera pieces. It was BEAUTIFUL! They had all of the singers dressed in kroje which made it EVEN BETTER! I was excited for another day of all things Czech and enjoyed more lectures on the 2nd day and learned more. It was so great to be surrounded with so many things to soak in. The final event was the CLF banquet. I have attended this several times in the past. UNL is lucky to have different sponsors donate to provide a scholarship to all of their Czech students. This banquet is in honor of them and the impact they have on the students education. I had fun sitting with several other queens from NE and beyond! :) I think I could have taken a few more days of this symposium so I was sad for it to be over but was very glad to have this experience! :)

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

Doane Heritage Celebration

Somehow after all of these years I still hadn't ever made it to the Doane Heritage Celebration (previously the Doane Concert.) I was excited to get to go but still a bit tired from the trip back from St Louis. When we got there I was excited to see so many people there. I was having fun trying to practice my Czech with their quizes (I did ok on the animal names but not so well on the others) and after a bit of time I was ready to join in with the accordion jam. I tried to sneak in during introductions but they saw me and I had to introduce myself. :) HEHE! It was great to get to see some family and friends in Wilber again because I don't make it down there as much as I would like to outside of Czech events with my busy schedule. I had some lunch and then went over to Sue's house to go over a few things for my new kroj. As soon as we got back to Sokol we had to run down to the Museum and I had a good time showing my Mom around down in the basement. Somehow after all these years of going there she had never been! I told her how scary the basement used to be when we were little. Thanks to Steve for letting us in to see it all. When I got back to Sokol I even got to polka a little with Jon Halama. (Someday I'll teach Brad how so he has no excuse! HEHE!) It was a great day but I was tired and ready to go home when we finally left (we were some of the last 6 there and ended up having a mini accordion jam by the time the night was over.) I look forwarad to going again next year. :)

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

To St Louis We Go!

A few weeks ago Valerie Smith, the 2008/2009 Missouri Czech Slovak Queen, told me about an event in St Louis. After a few short weeks of trying to coordinate I found out I was going to be able to go and Valerie's plans had fell through several times so she decided to hop in the car along with us. I was really excited to visit St Louis and see how they celebrate their Czech and Slovak heritage down there! St Louis is actually where my Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather worked and lived until he could make enough money to move the rest of the family here. Unfortunately I had to work until 5pm on Friday night so we started our trek after I got off work. We drove to Marshall so we could meet up with Valerie and continue on our trek right away in the morning. We got up early and off we went. :) Valerie and I had a great time girl talking while Brad tried his hardest to turn the music up a little more and a little more and a little more...HEHE! What a trooper! When we got there we met up with Dana who I had been talking with about our trip a bit. She showed us around and we went and got changed into our kroj for the day. About the time we got changed and out of the dressing room, Brianna, Eva, and Morgan had arrived. (Brianna is the current Miss Czech Slovak US, Eva is one of the Robitcek Scholars from the Czech Republic at UNL this year, and Morgan is the 2010 Missouri Czech Slovak Queen.) After they got dressed and ready we went and had a wonderful lunch. We got to choose between pork, duck, and goulash. I picked goulash because I only get it at the Bohemian Cafe and thought I would try it somewhere else. I was great. Brad and I then went up and performed a little for everyone while the next band was setting up. It was lots of fun and people were excited to see some younger people up there playing accordion. After a bit more looking around we took a quick Czech language course and then it was time for official introductions. We each did an introduction of ourselves. A bit later they had a "queen talent show." Brad and I played accordion and I sang for everyone, then Valerie sang with the band, and last but not least Brianna sang. They then did a modeling of kroje, we went first and explained a bit about our kroje, and then they had beautiful old kroje from all over the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was really neat to see all the different regions represented there. I wanted to stay longer and really wanted to try to make it to the St Louis Botanical Gardens before we left but it was already getting dark and we had to make it back to Kansas City to drop Morgan off before we could crash for the night. We stopped and ate at Steak and Shake before we got too far down the road. (Morgan had already crashed and we had to wake her up when we got there.) I had a yummy burger, cheese fries, and a shake! MHHHH.....plus Czech food...all in one day...LUCKY ME! :) Thank goodness for Brad (as Dana called him the boyfriend of all queens that day) or we wouldn't have made it. All 3 of us girls were passed out and he just kept driving driving driving. We finally stopped for the night around 4am if I remember right. We got up around 9 to finish the trip back to Wilber for the Doane College Czech Heritage Celebration. Not an early morning compared to my normal mornings but it sure felt early...I can't imagine how Brad was feeling!

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

York Crowns New Queen

I was excited to get to attend another crowning. It's just the beginning of an amazing journey for these girls. I was invited to attend the 2010 York Czech Slovak Queen crowning. I headed to York when I got off work. I haven't made many trips on my own but this one I was flying solo. I met Alex before the business meeting started and was given the run down on what would be happening during the crowning. It is always fun to attend meetings at the different clubs and see what they are up to between their festivals each year. The Nebraska Czechs of York was generous to donate to help me cover the cost of my Czech It Out festival. I wasn't expecting that and am more thankful to them than they know! After the meeting they had Missy Vavra, the 2009 York Czech Slovak Queen (and 2009 Nebraska Talent Winner and Miss Congeniality), come up and talk a bit about her year as queen. Next they had me come up and talk about my year so far, myself, and upcoming plans. Then they had Alex come up and talk about herself and her Czech heritage. We did the crowning and presented her with gifts from the club. Of course we had a photo session after crowning. We had a light snack of kolace and rosettes then got to watch Alex do a preview of her talent. It was a fun night and I hope to make it out to York again soon. :) CONGRATS ALEX! Hope you have a wonderful year as queen!

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

First Annual "Czech It Out" Children's Czech Festival

Well the time had come...it was sink or swim! This is an idea I've had for several years and it was FINALLY coming to life. I've never planned something like this on my own so I was REALLY scared. The list kept growing...and growing...and growing and by the start of the event we had over 70 registered. A few who were registered didn't show up but several who weren't registered did come. Final count was 75 who stopped at the sign in table but we are pretty sure there were even a few more than that. First the kids checked in and got their "Passport." This was their guide to the different activities they could do. Next they were able to travel to the different stations which included the following:

Apron/Vest Decorating: At this station each child received their apron (for girls) or vest (for boys) they were able to glue on felt shapes (hearts/flowers/leaves), sequins, ribbon, etc.

Hat/Headpiece Decorating: At this station the boys received a felt hat and were able to decorate it with feathers and ribbon. Girls received a plastic ring that they could have flowers glued onto and added ribbons in the back.

Bracelet Making: At this station each child could make a bracelet to go with their kroj.

Dough Ornament Making: At this station each child got to make an old fashioned dough ornament like families use to make for their Christmas trees. Before they made their ornament they got to practice rolling out dumplings and kolace.

Gingerbread Decorating: At this station each child got to decorate a Czech gingerbread cookie with colored icing.

Coloring Contest: At this station each child got to color a picture and enter it into the coloring contest. They could color a boy and girl in kroj from several different regions or Czech designs page with hearts etc.

Heritage Station: At this station I had an OLD trunk set up to show what a family might bring when they traveled to the United States back in the late 1800s or early 1900s. It included items like quilts, books, seeds, a kettle, etc.

Storytelling: At this station children got to listen to an old Czech folk tale.

Photo Booth: At this station children got to take a picture with their faces in the Czech Dancers cut out. It was then printed for the child to take with them.

Dancing: At this station children got to learn how to polka dance.

Czech Language: At this station children got to learn how to count to 5 in Czech and how to say animal names.

After the kids got to participate in all of the stations for a while we did the Chicken Dance. The kids had a blast and didn't want it to end. Next was the parade of kroje. We had everyone who wore kroj to the event come across stage and show off the beautiful costumes. Some of the children who just made parts of their kroj that day walked across also to show off the starting pieces of their new kroj. For the last hour of the event we had a polka dance. Children continued to finish at each of the stations and there were lots of children dancing also. I can't say I could have asked for it to go any better. :)

A special thanks to:
-Andrew and Tricia Vocasek for helping clean up
-Bob Bowen(Grandpa) for fixing our old family rocking chair to use for storytelling
-Brad Husak for playing in the band for the polka dance
-Deb Douthit for cutting out felt shapes, helping set up and cleanup, and volunteering your time at a station that day
-Deb Vocasek(Mom)for sewing all of the vests and aprons, helping with setup and cleanup, and volunteering your time at a station that day
-Donna Aschwege for baking gingerbread cookies
-Donna Gruntorad for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Erma Ruhl for baking kolace
-Harleena Douthit and Mike Vocasek for cutting out felt shapes and making dough
-James Vocasek for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Jeanette Prybil-Smith for cutting out felt shapes
-Joan Svoboda for cutting out felt shapes
-Jon Halama for playing in the band for the polka dance
-Kelsey Homolka for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Kim and Kaylee Znamenacek for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Laura Shestak for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Missy Vavra for making icing and volunteering your time at a station that day
-Pam Hromodka for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Randy Korbelik for playing in the band for the polka dance
-Roper Elementary School for allowing us to use the multipurpose room for the event
-Russ Market for donating popcorn, juice and water for snacks that day
-Sandy Schnakenberg for baking gingerbread cookies and volunteering your time at a station that day
-Shandra Korbelik for making icing and volunteering your time at a station that day
-Shayla Miller for volunteering your time at a station that day.
-Shelly Manson for helping at the last minute with cutting vests when we didn't think we could get them all finished and volunteering your time at a station that day
-Steve and Julia Ourecky for volunteering your time at a station that day
-UNL Heath Center Clinic for cutting out felt shapes
-Val, Natalie, and Claire Frahm for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Valerie Smith for volunteering your time at a station that day
-Donations by many to help cover the expenses of the event

It was an amazing day and I couldn't have done it all without each and every one of you!!! :) Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I'll be in contact with you next year! ;)

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

Wilber Kick-Off and Royalty Crowning

I can't believe it's already time to start thinking about Wilber Czech Days! I wasn't able to go to the Lincoln Czechs meeting this month so I could make it to the Wilber Kick-Off. I was excited to meet the 2010 Wilber Czech Slovak Royalty. They announced the 2010 Wilber Czech Festival Theme - "Czech Tales of the Past Years."

We got there and enjoyed the alumni band playing a few songs and Acid Polka played. It was lots of fun. Then they had Laura, Sheyenne, and Layne (the 2009 Wilber Czech Royalty) come up on stage first and give their farewells. It is always so sad to see someone give up their titles but it's not the crown that makes the queen! In my eyes they'll be royalty as long as they help to represent our wonderful heritage! They have done such a wonderful job representing Wilber the past year I know there are lots of people who are very proud including myself. After they finished speaking I went on stage to help with the crownings. (Since they have crowns, sashes, trophies, and money to give to the queen and princess and all but the flowers and crown for the prince.)

First was the prince...John. They had him come on stage....he was super excited. Next was the princess...Julia, his older sister. Last but certainly not least was the queen...Kelsey. CONGRATS KELSEY, JULIA, AND JOHN! It's going to be a great year but it is going to fly by...take it all in had most of all HAVE FUN!!! :)

After they were all crowned we danced and had a bit of fun but had to leave before it got too late because I had a VERY BUSY day ahead of me. We had to finish preparing for my Czech It Out Festival that was the next day. Mom had to go home to continue sewing vests and aprons and I had to finalize a few things. I was really nervous because I was still getting a lot of calls to sign kids up for the event. I knew it just needed to be here so I would stop stressing so much and JUST HAVE SOME FUN!

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

My Current Projects = Always Busy!!!!!

Well I'm not sure if you've noticed but I have LOTS of ideas. :) I love my Czech Heritage and sometimes just want to shout it off the rooftops. I've tried to think of ways of spreading this and have come up with several ideas. 2 of them will be coming to life...very soon!

"Czech It Out" Children's Czech Festival
I've had a vision to get our youth involved and interested in their Czech heritage and was finally ready for it to come to life. I will be hosting this event on March 13, 2010 at Roper Elementary. Children will have the opportunity to explore the Czech heritage by decorating pieces of a kroj, learning Czech language, dancing the polka, making dough ornaments, decorating gingerbread cookies, and more. I am so excited to share the wonderful Czech heritage with elementary aged children and hope this is just the first step in getting the next generation involved. :) If you would like to register your child please contact me via email at stefanievocasek@hotmail.com or call me at (402) 261-6971.

Polka Music CDs
I started thinking about polka music and how much harder it is to find it these days. I know a lot of people enjoy the music but don't have a way to get ahold of it without having to call each of the band leaders. I thought it would be great to have a booth at the Czech Festivals around Nebraska with Polka Music CDs so people could get a variety of music in one place. I told Brad about this and he agreed to help me as he knows a lot of the band leaders in Nebraska. We are working on collecting these CDs and will have our booth available for the first time at the Lincoln Czech Festival on May 2nd.

I have a few more ideas brewing in my head but I guess you'll have to wait and see what they are in the future! :)

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

Clarkson Crowns 2010 Queen

Well it's the exciting time of year when new queens begin to start their journey. Soon they'll be competing for my title. I am excited for them but already afraid for this year to be over. This has truly been one of the best years of my life and I hope that our next group of queens has this great experience also.

I had to work in the morning but headed up to the Starlight Ballroom to meet Sandy from the Omaha Czech Club and also the State Pageant Committee. Then...off to Clarkson we went. It scared me to hear Annie give her farewell speech and talk about what she had done as queen this year. If I haven't mentioned this in previous blog entries...one of the FIRST things I said after I was crowned was "Oh my gosh...I have to give a farewell speech." I was so scared to have to do this and now it's flying up on me. I have a million thank yous to give, a million experiences to share, and a million words of wisdom to our new queen. How on earth can I limit this to a few mins and how will I be able to talk through the tears? As much as I say I won't...I KNOW I'm going to cry.

Anyways...we got to Clarkson and I got a plate of FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN kolace! I still say there is NOTHING better. :) Thanks to Annie and her mom for baking for me. They were super good (and lucky to make it home!) They had Annie and I speak a little bit and then it was time. Their new queen was crowned! Beth is from Clarkson and is very involved in high school. They put her on the spot and asked a few questions and then had her perform her talent. Although it wasn't finalized she did a great job. They had a small polka dance in celebration of their new queen and then we headed back to Starlight. I know that Beth will do a wonderful job representing the Clarkson Czech Community and I look forward to seeing her at events in the near future!

When we got back to Starlight I had to pick up from CDs and thought it would be silly to be in the parking lot and not go in. I went in and said hello and got to dance a few with some new friends. I knew I wouldn't be lonely for long going in there on my own...if one thing is true about polka lovers...it's that they are friendly! :) (Plus in my kroj...I kinda stood out. HEHE!) I had a good time dancing and meeting new people and even officially meeting some that I'm sure I've crossed paths with in the past. I look forward to attending another event there in the future.

CONGRATS AGAIN TO BETH THE 2010 CLARKSON CZECH SLOVAK QUEEN!!

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

Eastmont Towers

I was in touch with Tina for several weeks about coming to Eastmont Towers and we finally found a date that would work for both schedules. I thought it was pretty funny that the day that I was going to perform at Eastmont a friend from work came up to me and said that he had seen my name all over out there. He volunteers there and saw the signs. When we got there we were COMPLETELY (but pleasantly) surprised to see how many people they had there to see us perform. This is definitely the biggest group we've seen at an event like this. It was wonderful.

I spoke a bit about my year (so far) as queen and told them of my many upcoming plans. They were all VERY supportive. Brad and I just kept going back and forth and everyone was laughing and having a great time. Even after the performance about 10 or 15 people stuck around to talk with us. This was definitely one of my favorite performances so far. We definitely hope to make it back there sometime if they'll have us. :) (Or at least me....just don't tell Brad....HAHAHAHA!)

It's almost time to start crowning our 2010 Chapter Queens! :)

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

Another Fun Night at Bohemian Cafe

As usual...I was counting down the days to get back to the Bohemian Cafe to get some good food again! (It's just rare that I get a lot during the winter with no Czech Festivals going on! HEHE!)We had a blast which was as to be expected now since we had so much fun the last few times we were there.

As usual we played a few, I sang a few, and I even got to dance a few. We always have such a great time because all of the people in the audience sing along when I sing the songs. (Oh and did I mention the food is great?!)

I got to talk about my upcoming Czech It Out festival for the first time and was really nervous. This is something I've wanted to do for so long that I just want everything to be perfect (which it never will be...but I'm gonna do my best!) so I get stressed out about it a lot. I'm just ready for the time to come so I can just have a blast. :)

Hope everyone is staying warm and praying for warm weather SOON PLEASE! Till next time...


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

Madonna Birthday Celebration

I've been trying to keep busy this winter visiting as many places as I can and performing. It always helps to get in front of an audience and practice speaking, singing, and playing my accordion. I got a response back from Madonna that they would like me to come and perform. They were still looking for entertainment for their birthday celebration in January.

Brad and I were excited to play some polka music for all of the residents with birthdays in January. There were even several Czechs there celebrating. (I tried to get one of their granddaughters to run for Lincoln queen! HEHE!)

I spoke a bit about being queen and showed off my kroj a bit. Then we played a few, I sang a few, and put Brad on the spot with my favorite...the Clarinet Polka.

It was a lot of fun and as always...you start that polka music and those feet start tapping! We found a few residents who knew people we knew in the Czech and/or Polka Music community and stayed to visit for a while after performing. They were all very kind and we hope to go back and visit sometime soon!

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

The Hall of Fame...

In Milligan Nebraska! :)

I had heard about the Milligan Musicians Hall of Fame but had never see the names of everyone who has been inducted. I was excited to get to go to the celebration this year and hear about all of the new inductees. After we heard each of the new members of the Hall of Fame's story they had a big accordion jam. We played for a while then headed over and had dinner a few doors down (PRIME RIB WOO HOO!!! HAHA!) We went back and played accordion for several more hours. I made a fun new friend names Lilly. :) Her dad was actually one of my dads students. She saw me and started to mimic me and then we danced together for a few songs. It was a blast! I look forward to going every year now. I think it is even more special to me now because I am getting to know so many of the people who are involved in the polka music scene in Nebraska.

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

Muzicky Muzicky

I got invited to perform at "Muzicky Muzicky" a few months back. They asked me to sing the Czech and US National Anthems. I was really excited....and then....MY VOICE RAN AWAY....unfortunately I didn't catch it before it got away so I lost it. :) Never fails that I lose my voice when I need it most. The program was really neat. They talked about Czech Instruments, Composers, Songs, and so much more. It was great to learn even more about Czech music and to be a part of the program. I got to sit on stage with some of the lovely York Czech's who helped to present and put this event on. (I kinda felt like I was on the View sitting on the couch...only better because I was surrounded by a bunch ofjavascript:void(0) strong Czech Women! HEHE!) They had a small band set up playing some of the songs and instruments that they spoke about during the program and after intermission I got to play Sue Underwood's accordion to help people know that intermission was over and it was time to return to their seats. I also got to try...yes TRY to play the dudy which was fun. (Ever since I saw Carrie Brown play the dudy I've wanted to learn!) It was a great day and I look forward to visiting the York Czechs again sometime soon.

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

Touhy Customer Appreciation Celebration

Well I got to participate in another small accordion jam this weekend. Touhy decided to have a group of us come out and play for their customer appreciation weekend. There ended up being 5 accordions plus bass and drums. It was a lot of fun and great practice playing with some amazing players and I'm getting better at hearing myself play in jams now. Hopefully this holds true when I get back into a bigger jam again. :) We had a blast and look forward to going back to Touhy again soon!!

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

Happy Polka New Year!!!

Well my New Year has started with "Lots O' Polka!" :-D For New Years Eve I decided to head down to Milligan to watch Sue and the Blue River Czechs play and ring in the 2010. Laura (the Wilber Queen) came along with me and we had a great time. It was fun because I also met several of my Grandma Knudson's (was Michl) classmates as this was near where she grew up. They had me come up and sing a few with the band which was fun because I don't get to sing with a larger band like that very often. After the band shut down they even served breakfast. YUMM!! That's now where the polka stopped. The next day (or if you want to get technical the same day since it was after midnight) the Brad Husak combo was playing at Abie's Place. We decided to have a girls night out because my dad, uncle, and brother had gone to the bowl game. My mom, 2 aunts, cousin, brother's girlfriend, her mom, and I headed up to Abie to watch the band play. We had snacks on the way there and had fun polka dancing and listening to the music the rest of the evening. I also realized how much fun it is to try to make John Halama laugh while he is playing...and really not that hard either. HAHA! I of course played and sang a bit and they even got Sue and Galen to go up and a play a few too. Galen played the chicken dance and we got a pretty big group out on the floor to dance. We always have fun there and I look forward to going again sometime soon. :)

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