Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen 2009-10

Tabor Czech Days

2010-06-23T09:34:00.002-05:00

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

2010-06-10T14:07:00.005-05:00

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

2010-06-10T08:58:00.002-05:00

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

2010-06-08T22:09:00.003-05:00

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

2010-05-29T23:26:00.002-05:00

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

2010-05-29T20:06:00.002-05:00

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

2010-05-29T16:55:00.002-05:00

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

2010-05-28T22:05:00.008-05:00

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

2010-05-09T10:31:00.003-05:00

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

2010-05-09T08:27:00.006-05:00

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

2010-05-09T08:26:00.007-05:00

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

2010-05-09T08:26:00.005-05:00

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

2010-04-13T09:55:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-12T14:55:00.002-05:00

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

2010-04-12T08:34:00.005-05:00

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

2010-04-03T21:07:00.003-05:00

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!

2010-03-31T11:41:00.005-05:00

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

2010-03-24T14:32:00.003-05:00

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

2010-03-15T20:29:00.014-05:00

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

2010-03-14T15:28:00.005-05:00

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!!!!!

2010-03-08T15:18:00.005-06:00

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

2010-03-07T20:17:00.004-06:00

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

2010-02-26T09:17:00.002-06:00

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

2010-02-21T15:15:00.003-06:00

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

2010-01-29T14:57:00.003-06:00

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...

2010-01-19T14:10:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-11T08:48:00.000-06:00

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!!!

2010-01-06T09:27:00.000-06:00

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

Another Haven Manor...This Time in Lincoln!

2009-12-28T06:48:00.004-06:00

We had a great time in Hickman visiting Haven Manor so we thought we would visit the Lincoln Haven Manor also! :) I was a bit sad that South Central had to cancel their Christmas party due to the weather but I'm hoping to make it down there for a meeting in the near future since I haven't had much of a chance to work with the South Central Chapter. Wouldn't want to leave out any of the wonderful chapters around Nebraska!!

We got there and they didn't know we were going to be there so it took them a few minutes to round up all the residents. I let Brad play a few songs as everyone was coming into the room and getting settled. I had a great time talking about my experiences as queen (as I always do!) We played a few songs together and then I sang a few. I love singing the Blue Skirt Waltz in English at these events because there is almost always several people singing along. This time as ususal there were a few out there singing or humming along. It's also fun to watch those feet start tapping along to the beat during the Polkas. You just can't help it when that music starts! I'm definitely glad we got to visit and look forward to many more visits around Lincoln soon.

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

Haven Manor in Hickman

2009-12-10T23:46:00.000-06:00

I emailed a large number of assisted living and nursing home facilities in and around Lincoln a few weeks back. I asked if there would be any time that I would have an opportunity to come and perform for their residents. The first response I got was from Haven Manor in Hickman. I had actually tried to go out there in July but found out they wanted me to attend the same weekend that we went to Kansas for the Miss Czech Slovak Kansas pageant. I was excited to find a time to visit and spend some time with the residents there.

Brad and I got there at 6:10 because we thought they wanted us to perform at 6:30 but found out they just wanted us there at 6:30 to perform at 7. I had a good time talking to all of the residents as they came in. At 7pm we started by having Brad play a few songs as the last few people filed in. I took over the show and talked a bit about being queen and why my Czech heritage is so important to me. We then played some songs together and I sang a few. It was great because there were even some people singing and/or humming along. :) We closed by singing Silent Night with everyone and while packing up we got quite a few more questions. They all kept saying that they hope we'll come back sometime soon. I let them know that their activities director has my information and to just tell her to email me and we would come back again. We had a great time with this group and hope to go back sometime in the next few months (maybe even take Shandra along or something!) Tomorrow is the Lincoln Czechs Christmas party and it's gonna be a blast! :)

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

OCCC Christmas Party

2009-12-08T13:20:00.001-06:00

I got to see the Omaha group yet again this weekend! I've had a blast getting to know some of them better and look forward to many more events in the future with them!!!

I decided to try to make it to as many of the Christmas parties of the Nebraska Chapters as possible. I emailed around and was excited to get responses from several. I planed to attend the Omaha and South Central parties but couldn't' make it to York due to a commitment at an assisted living center in Hickman. I headed to Omaha in the morning as their party started at noon and was not very happy about the snow that started to fall on our way. I was definitely glad to be inside and warm when we arrived. :) We started by saying hello to some of the members while being entertained by some accordion music and found our seats. It was good to get to see everyone. Some people I've seen recently while others I haven't seen in what seems like months. We then were visited by Saint Mikolas and it was time for food. I was excited to see that they had the traditional turkey, potatoes, gravy, etc but they added a special dish too...SAUERKRAUT AND DUMPLINGS! :) Yummy!!!!! The food was wonderful! Next they gave out awards to the members and then had one of their members read "Carl the Christmas Carp" to everyone. They then did giveaways and I couldn't believe how many prizes they had. It was a ton of fun and I hope to get to see the Omaha crew again soon!

We had a concert to go to in the evening so we shopped around town. We stopped at Bohemian Cafe to say hello and got a few kolace for the road. We also stopped in a Christmas store in the old market and got a Christmas Ornament that says Veselé Vánoce on it. It was another great Czech day! :) Onto Hastings to celebrate next weekend!!

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

Hometown Holidays

2009-12-07T07:05:00.000-06:00

I haven't been back to Wilber much since Czech Days in August so I was excited to hear about their Hometown Holidays event. They have different vendors all day and people can decorate a Christmas Tree in any theme they want for display. We got there to look around a bit before I had to perform. There were some very traditional trees and some that were completely off the wall. For example there was one that everyone walked by and didn't notice till they walked around looking at all the trees. They had stuffed the trees into kroj! :) The trees totally looked like mannequins dressed in kroj. LOL! I also looked at all the booths. They had the woven rugs from the Czech Museum we used to make when we were there and LOTS of other Czech heritage items. After visiting for a while it was time for the queens to make our appearance.

They started with Laura, the Wilber Czech Slovak Queen, and had her introduce herself and tell a bit about what she had done as queen so far. She couldn't' perform her talent as she is having problems with her foot and well...dancing isn't an option. I was up next! :) I told everyone what an honor it was to represent the wonderful Czech people from Nebraska. I talked about how far I had traveled and what I plan to do in the future as queen. I then had Brad come up on stage and talked a bit about playing the accordion. I told them how long I had been playing etc. We performed the Blue Skirt Waltz then passed the stage onto Shandra Korbelik (2007 NE Czech Queen) to play a few songs and next to Sheyenne (the Wilber Princess)to play a song for everyone. It was AMAZING to see so many young LADIES playing accordion right along side me. We then all joined together and played 2 songs in a mini jam. It was great to see Sheyenne play with a group like this for the first time and do so well. After we played the songs she knew Brad, Shandra, and I played a few more for everyone. It was a lot of fun and can't wait to play with all of them again in the near future. :) After we all finished playing we looked around a bit more and had to head back to Lincoln. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see some of the Wilber group that I haven't seen for a few months! Seems to be filling up my schedule again which is good...I felt lost not wearing my kroj once a week or so!! HEHE!

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

Durham Museum Ethnic Holiday Festival and Prague Kolace Korner

2009-12-06T16:06:00.000-06:00

Another long traveling night. :) I had never been to the Durham museum in Omaha and was excited to attend the Ethnic Festival with the Omaha Czech Cultural Club. I wasn't expecting what I saw when I walked in...it was H...U...G...E...HUGE!! From what I heard this used to be the old train station so it was a really pretty building with REALLY tall ceilings. They had a tree bigger than I think I've ever seen. I started walking around and there were booths everywhere. I looked at a few and was excited to quickly see a few familiar faces. Sandy S and Donna G from the pageant committee were there. I said hello and mentioned that I was looking for the Czech booth. They told us it was downstairs. As soon as I started going down the stairs I could hear accordion music and knew I was going in the right direction. :) I spent some time at the Czech booth with members of the club. They had arts and crafts, food, and information about Czech Christmas traditions. They also had Don Daniels and Don Trouba playing polka music. We also went and saw the ethnic Christmas trees and miniatures displays. After listening to the music for a while I got asked to dance. We started dancing and eventually people gathered around to watch us but nobody else would dance. LOL! I definitely recommend going to this event if you ever have the chance. Kids would like it too because they get a passport and get a stamp at every country they visit. It was a great time but I was only there for about 2 hours before heading onto my next destination...Praha!

Ok not the one in the Czech Republic (although I wish!) but the one here in good ole Nebraska. Brad was playing at Kolace Korner and I made an appearance as queen there. I played a few songs and sang some too. I was joined by Shandra Korbelik and Matthew Austry in helping Brad as they didn't line up a drummer for him when they scheduled it. It turned into a mini accordion jam. We had a good time and it was fun meeting some new people in Prague and seeing some people who I've seen at many previous polka events. They joked that I was "on tour" for the night in my travels from one place to the next. :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I guess I didn't post that at all before! I am thankful for SO MANY people in my life. I definitely couldn't do all of the things I do without the support of my family, friends, boyfriend, and the list goes on...and on...and on! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for all of your support. I'm working my hardest to make all of the Czech-Americans in Nebraska proud!

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

Worldfest

2009-12-03T15:22:00.000-06:00

Omaha had a few upcoming holiday events and I was excited to get to go out there to help them celebrate. The first was Worldfest in Bellevue. I had actually talked about it with Monica, Carrie, and Sandy on our way to Oklahoma. I was excited to see the different cultures celebrating. I got there and got to walk around to the different booths and see some of the special things that the different groups were doing to celebrate their heritage for the holidays. I got a packet of music to sing with the Czech singers and read over some of the words. I got to try a few different types of food and in what seemed like no time at all it was time to go and sing with the group. The Omaha Czech Cultural Club had a group of all ages there to sing. They had everyone in some sort of kroj and all of the kids had instruments (even a very small accordion up front!!) We sang a variety of Christmas songs in Czech and the kids played along. It was a lot of fun but I'm still not great at sight reading Czech words but couldn't make it to either of the practices they had. Thanks for letting me sing with you anyways OCCC! Carrie let Brad and I perform before her since I had to work that afternoon. We played a few songs and I sang Blue Skirt Walt. My grandpa's cousin from MO was even in town so he came to listen to us since he LOVES polka music and can't make it up to hear us play very often. After we finished up Carrie explained and played her Dudy for everyone. It was a great day and lots of fun to see other cultures represented.

Brad and I made it onto their website's photo album. To see pictures of us and some of the other performers visit the site.
http://www.bellevueworldfest.com/

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

Tiny Town Called Touhy

2009-11-19T12:45:00.000-06:00

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

2009-11-15T15:36:00.006-06:00

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!

2009-11-12T13:45:00.001-06:00

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

Back to Bohemian Cafe (YUMMY!)

2009-10-31T10:30:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-27T21:05:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-23T09:49:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-20T21:33:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-19T22:33:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-19T07:34:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-10-11T16:42:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-05T07:40:00.000-05:00

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

Prague Heritage Day

2009-09-30T10:42:00.003-05:00

I was excited to get to participate in Prague's Heritage day this year! I wasn't sure who would be there but I reminded all of the queens on Facebook because I miss all of them!

I actually had gone back to Columbus with Brad to meet some of his friends back home so we headed to Prague from Columbus on Sunday morning. I finally got to listen to Mark V on his Polka show and even called in to say hello and thanks to everyone for supporting me so far this year! We got to Prague around 11:15 and ate a WONDERFUL duck dinner (with dumplings, kraut, stuffing, and rye bread....YUMMY!!) at Kolace Corner. I headed over to the National Hall to see if anyone needed any help and ended up finding a garnet ring that I liked at the Czech Cottage booth...surprise surprise....once again Heidi had something I wanted! :-D I didn't buy it though...WILLPOWER! I went back to Kolace Corner and ran into Rabecca (the Prague Czech Queen) and her family. Everything started to come together by the time I made it back over to the National Hall! The program started a bit late but I was able to talk about myself and what I've done so far as queen and perform my talent (minus all of my props.) After I performed with Brad playing I invited Shandra up to the stage and had her play a few songs with us also. It was great to get to play with her again! They had Shandra and Rabecca speak a little bit about themselves and even had Sandy S come up and talk about the state pageant. Next was Sue Underwood and Carrie Brown (Miss Czech-Slovak US 2nd Runner Up and past Nebraska Queen) to do their demonstration and performance on the Dudy (Czech Bagpipes.) It was great to hear them play together and they did an awesome job especially since they had to throw it all together a few minutes before the performance!! I got to draw a few raffle tickets (hope nobody is mad if I didn't pick them!) Brad and I stuck around until it was all over and they were cleaning up. I ran into Annette's sister again and told her that I had actually met her sister only a few days before. There was also members of Studio Trio (who I sang with in Dwight) and a few from the night we went to Abie's Place. It was a great day and I can't wait to attend more events with the Prague Czech Chapter! Oh and I forgot to telly you...I gave in and bought the ring...yupp...another SILVER Garnet ring (so i can wear it everyday...and I do!) My every day jewelry now consists of 2 garnet rings, a garnet necklace, and sometimes a garnet bracelet if I feel like wearing one. ;)

I have a TON of stuff to get done this week before Oklahoma and the York Festival! WISH ME LUCK ON KNOCKING A HUGE TO DO LIST OUTTA THE WAY!

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

Nebraska Czech Brass Band at Bohemian Cafe

2009-09-24T09:35:00.000-05:00

I was excited to have another chance to go to the Bohemian Cafe! :) I had also never heard the Nebraska Czech Brass Band play so this was even more exciting. Brad and I decided to head up there and mom asked if she could come along at the last minute. We got there late as I wasn't feeling too well but at least made it in time to have some wonderful food and hear some great music. When we got there I realized one of the judges from the state pageant was in the band. I remembered him talking about a band and traveling to the Czech Republic with them etc but didn't realize it was THIS BAND! I also had the honor of meeting Annette Vanek, the first ever Miss Czech-Slovak US. We had been Facebook friends for a while but it was great to actually meet her. :) Oh and I had actually met her older sister in Abie a few months back if you remember so it was fun to tell her about that also. After they finished playing we talked a few people and everyone kept asking when Brad and I would be back...HOPEFULLY SOON! (Kinda made me feel good that they asked about me too! HEHE!) We also got to meet Barry Boyce in the back of the restaurant. Glad we didn't miss it!

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

Just Go to the Hot Air Bloon on the Interstate...Yorkfest!

2009-09-21T14:05:00.001-05:00

Well I felt like a bad queen last weekend! I didn't do anything in kroj at all or at least get introduced and sing...hmmmm gonna have to work on that so it doesn't happen again! ;)

I remembered going to a Yorkfest parade several years ago before York had it's own Czech Festival so I started looking into it. I haven't had a chance to work with the York Czechs much yet. My mom gave me the email address of one of the York Czechs so I emailed here and asked if I could attend. I started making plans and also told her that I would be at the dumpling cook-off and if they needed a server or judge or anything let me know. (I'm sneakier than you though huh? FREE DUMPLINGS...I'M THERE!) She asked if I would be a judge and of course I said YES! LOL! I was definitely excited for this event.

I arrived with my dad Saturday morning and after getting the cars unloaded went and lined up with the rest of the York Czechs for the parade. It was great to see such a wide variety of people supporting the York Czechs. I asked if everyone would take a picture together before we had to start on our way through the parade to show that there were people young and old to support this chapter. After the parade Pam agreed to take me around town so I wouldn't be left on my own. :) We stopped by the kolace booth for a bit to see everyone and then headed back to her house for a bit before we had to run a few errands. We first grabbed some lunch then headed to the local Chinese food restaurant to pick up some Chinese Dumplings that they had entered in the dumpling cook-off. They also had asked me to call Brad and have him come early to play with a few other people before/during the cook-off. We headed to the college to start setting up and I helped her carry in all of the things she needed. After setting up I got to be a judge and eat some of each of the 8 different entries....YUMM! :) There were fruit dumplings, potato dumplings, and Chinese dumplings...how on earth do you decide!?!?! Each of the 3 judges got to pick our 1st - 3rd choices and we tallied the results. Then all of the other guests got to try them all and vote too. They picked both a Judges Choice and a Peoples Choice winner and they got a bowl, wooden spoon, dumpling mix, and dumpling potholder. They actually had dumpling mix for sale...what a great idea if you don't have time to throw it all together yourself it's only about a 2 min job this way just to mix in the wet ingredients. Keep an eye out for that at the York festival this year...I bet they'll have it there. After stuffing myself full of dumplings I played a few songs with the group of accordion players and then spoke a little bit about what I've been doing so far this year and thanked everyone. I am definitely excited for the York Czech festival in a few weeks! :)

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

Come on Down and Join in the Fun

2009-09-08T09:28:00.001-05:00

....Nebraska State Fair

I know you know the jingle! Don't try to pretend you didn't hear it 1,000 on the TV and radio this year. :) I actually hadn't made it to the state fair at all this year with my busy schedule. (Surprise, surprise. LOL) It was a late night as I said before but luckily I slept quite a bit in the car on the way home so I wasn't too incredibly tired when we got up to get ready for the fair. My parents just dropped Brad off at home and then dropped Laura and Me off at my house to sleep but we left everything in the car. Luckily....my dad doesn't like to sleep in so he had everything unloaded when we got up and got to their house to get ready. :P Oh and BONUS...mom warmed up everything they got from the bakery in West for breakfast! We got ready and headed down to the fairgrounds and met Laura's parents to get all of her stuff back with them. We headed in and found our float. They had several queens participating from rodeo queens to beauty pageant queens to Czech queens so they just had a float for all of us to ride on. Lane (the Wilber Czech Prince) was also riding with us so the sign they had said "Nebraska Queens (and One Prince Too!)" We thought that was just too cute! After the parade we went to the family activity tent and had an autograph signing/meet and greet. Unfortunately I didn't know what exactly we would be doing so I didn't bring autograph sheets. I made a sign up sheet for people to give me their email address or physical address for a photograph. I emailed a photograph of me to each kid with their name and mine along with a special message. I definitely need to get my autograph sheets and business cards ready for the next event. EEK! It was a lot of fun and after the signing we went out and changed so we could walk around a bit. Laura decided to head back home with her parents right after that because she had to get back to class but Sheyenne, Brad, and I walked around for a while together and Sheyenne and I got to wear our shirts we got made in TX. We even stopped by the Franks booth from Wilber and took a picture with them. :) After Kiesels left Brad and I walked around till the booths started shutting down. A fun day at the fair and most likely the last time I'll be going for the next few years.

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

WESTFEST! (The Furthest Journey Yet!)

2009-09-07T13:52:00.002-05:00

Well everyone I just got back from Westfest and had a blast! I definitely recommend heading down to West, TX over Labor Day Weekend if you have a chance. It wasn't Wilber but I figure I have a biased opinion. :-D I had been in contact with Sharon Middlebrook (the mother of Sarah Middlebrook, Miss Czech-Slovak US 2006) on Facebook for a few months and she was so helpful and welcoming when we began talking about traveling to West for the festival. If you haven't already you should definitely check out her blog. She has made several replica kroj for Sarah...COMPLETELY by hand and she has been kind enough to share her secrets in case you are looking to make one or something similar. Click Here to Visit Sharon's Czech Costumes Blog I can't thank her and her family for their hospitality over the weekend enough. You truly made myself and my WHOLE family feel like royalty and you are the type of people who keep people coming back to events like this again and again!

We left around 6am on Friday morning (as usual we were a bit late.) HAHA! I didn't get to sleep until around 4am and had to pack up the van at 5am. Nothing like waiting till the last minute to pack and get ready for a trip. :) I swear traveling with 5 was a lot easier when we were all little kids! HEHE! Both of my parents went along with myself, Laura, and Brad. We drove and drove and drove then stopped in Oklahoma City to visit some relatives. They were cousins of my Grandmother's on the Rezabek side of the family which made it even more fun because they were my relatives AND Laura's. We thought while we were driving through we would stop by and since Brad and I had brought our accordions...we had a small concert in their commons area of their apartment. Their names are Mary Ann and Erma Rezabek. They have been sending me Birthday...Christmas...Easter...Valentines Day...St Patricks Day...etc cards since I was little. :) They never had grand kids of their own so I guess they just adopted us and we think they are the sweetest ever so it was well appreciated! A few months back I received a package from Mary Anne after my parents and brother had stopped by on their last trip to TX and showed them all of the pictures and videos from the state pageant. She had sent me several books about Czech heritage, 2 records one of which was from the Czech Choraliers that I now sing with, a piece of Czech trim, and the last was a complete shock. She had sent me a beautiful garnet necklace. With the necklace she had handwritten it's story. It was several pages long so I'll summarize. Basically she used to be a teacher on military bases for children of US soldiers. She was getting sent to Germany when a soldier asked her to do him a favor and if she ever went to Prague to find his elementary school pen pal. She did find him on her first trip to Prague and continued to visit him and his wife each time that she visited the country. Before she came back to the US she visited one last time and they gave her this garnet necklace. The man has since passes away but she told me that whenever I wear it that she would be proud along with him, his wife, and a now free Czech Republic. Mom and I cried when we read this. They loved having all of us stop by and hearing a bit of our music and in the last card I received from them they said that they still get questions about who we were and why we stopped and why we were playing. :) After leaving their apartment we stopped at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. I still wish I could go into the museum but it is like 4 stories tall and I'm sure I could spend a whole day just looking through it. I recommend stopping at least to see the outdoor memorial if you are ever in the area. I had been there before but now being older and really knowing what happened that day it literally took my breath away to walk in there. I held back the tears more than once. After those 2 stops we were set to drive the rest of the way with no other major stops....wrong....apparently traffic decided to make us stop ON THE INTERSTATE...MULTIPLE TIMES! We even took a 50 mile detour once to try to get around an accident that happened in a construction zone and were still at a stop when we got back on the interstate. Next we hit rush hour traffic in Dallas....LOVELY! By the time we checked into our hotel...our 11 hour drive had turned into a 14.5 hour drive. We were definitely ready to get out of the car when we got there. We hopped into the pool for a bit to relax when we got there which was fun. Mom and I tried doing flips together in the pool and almost drown each other then Brad and I tried our shot at a lyrical synchronized swimming duet. HAHA! Poor Laura had to get some homework done so she decided not to swim the first night. After winding down we tried to get some rest for a busy day on Saturday.

Saturday started early as we were trying to be to West by 7am and we were 20 mins away. Plus we had to be in kroj and ready for the day. We got up and started getting ready. Laura and I were runnin around with our tights already on and shorts and puttin on makeup and doing our hair. It was kinda like having a sister! Then while I was pulling my curlers out of my hair...I dropped one in the toilet! I told my mom I wasn't grabbing it and it was either staying there or she had to pull it out. :) Don't worry...I got pictures. HAHA! When we got to the Middlebrook's house we met up with the wonderful Kiesel family also. We didn't have a lot of time before we had to head to the parade but got to meet everyone and say hello at least. The Middlebrook's had a float made for us "Nebraska Czech Royalty" so Myself, Laura, Sheyenne, Carrie, and Konner got to ride through in the parade. I couldn't believe how fast they drove through the parade! We originally wanted to dance on the float but we stood up a few times and almost fell...not good. :) On the parade route I found out that my Texas family had met up with my parents. It was wonderful to see them and have them support me! My uncle Russ, aunt Linda, her parents Ann and Earl, my cousin Angie and her husband Dan and their 2 kids Nathan and Brayden ALL came down to West to see me. After the parade we got to watch some of the entertainment before the parade of kroj. I LOVED seeing all of the different and unique kroj and what better way than to have each person parade through and describe their kroj a little bit. LOVED IT!!! Once we were done walking through the open air auditorium they had us parade through the whole festival then take a picture under the Vitame Vas na Westfest (Welcome to Westfest) sign. They wanted some pictures with all of the queens so we had to wait to get all of us together too. After all of that I was pretty worn out and ready to go back to the hotel and swim/relax. It was hot which I had been hoping for but I definitely didn't ask for all of that humidity. We didn't have much time to walk around but Laura and I had a shirt made by the airbrush people with our titles but had to wait until the following day to pick them up. We left early to go cool off and my parents didn't want to come back the next day because they had see everything but Laura,Brad, and I decided we were coming back to see everything the next day. We had fun visiting my aunt and uncles campsite and swimming but we were definitely ready to crash when we went to to bed...AFTER waiting forever for the showers. LOL...5 of us and 1 shower = lots of time waiting if you're the last one to shower (ME AND I WAS THE FASTEST ONE OF ALL!)

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast. We ran into the Kiesels at breakfast and had a few issues with the waffle making! LOL! We went back to Westfest and walked around for a few hours. We bought some of the stuff from the craft section and I had to make another stop by the outdoor air conditioning because I thought it was just too funny. I even walked through several purse booths...AND DIDN'T EVEN BUY ONE!!! Mom and Dad made it to the bakery in West to grab some goodies and called when they ran out of things to do. We grabbed some food (WE FINALLY FOUND THE CZECH FOOD) and headed back to the gates to meet them. Oh I didn't mention this was a lot like a fair...craft booths....fair style food....and entertainment only with a Czech twist. We stopped by my aunt and uncles campsite on our way out of town to say goodbye to everyone before we headed for our HOPEFULLY NOT SO LONG trip home! I had such a good time and wish I could have stayed longer but had to be back in Lincoln for a parade at the Nebraska State Fair. On our way home we decided NOT to go through Dallas this time and stopped to show Brad and Laura my aunt and uncles outdoor living area that I am IN LOVE WITH! The basically have a living room, dining room, and bar under a shelter with fans etc so most of the year you can sit out there instead of being stuck in the house all of the time. They also put in a wood burning stove and heaters plus screens you can drop down so you can spend some of the "cold Texas months" out there too. Someday.... :) We had a less crazy drive home but it was 2:30am when we finally got home and headed to bed!! I was definitely happy to be home and see my puppies! (I'm pathetic...I know.)

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

Brad Husak Combo Bohemian Cafe

2009-08-31T13:36:00.005-05:00

Well Brad is snagging jobs all over the place and you know his #1 fan has to make an appearance as often as possible! :) This time he had the chance to play at Bohemian Cafe. If you remember we had gone there to hear Less Talk More Polka play a few months back and when he was there he started talking to the owners/managers. He gave them a CD and asked if they would be interested in having him come and play sometime. He was excited to play as he hasn't played much around the Omaha area. (I didn't complain either because this meant I had an excuse to eat there!!!!) We got there a bit later than we hoped to because my mom and I had to work until 5 but we were lucky to make it there before they started to play. It also took a bit longer because I wore my full kroj. A group of us said we would but I ended up being the ONLY one. We had dinner (this time I decided to just get sides because I ALWAYS order way too much when we go there) and as usual the food was wonderful. I at least got to eat my food before they started asking me to go up and play/sing. The crowd was AWESOME! I started to sing and they all joined in. :) I've never been anywhere where they have done that. I got to play my accordion and Brad as usual thought he needed to play it quite a bit too. I even tried hiding it from him under my table but he found it when I walked away! We can't wait to go back as we have more fun every time we go!!

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

Brad and Band at Kolace Corner, Bellvue, and Milford

2009-08-22T14:29:00.001-05:00

Well another fun and eventful weekend filled with a variety of different things. Friday night I got a group of family and friends to go to Kolace Corner in Prague to watch Brad and his band play. It was a blast to get to spend some time with my family and friends and run into some people I haven't seen in a while. After I finished eating Brad announced that they were going to take a break and then some special guests would be up to play with them. It was really funny because he said he had to go get something and ran to the car. Well...a few weeks back my mom made him "Brad Husak Trio" and "Brad Husak Combo" signs...yea you're probably catching on here. He ran out to the car to get the combo sign and put it up when Shandra and I played. I messed up several times because I was using the Kuchar and I'm not used to the spacing on the square keys yet. I sang the Blue Skirt Waltz and played some songs with the band. I got to enjoy the music a bit longer. I kept telling Brad to put the black Kuchar down so he wouldn't get attached. He seems to have played that one more than his own in the evening. Later in the evening I decided to try to sing a few more songs since someone had the words. I TOTALLY messed up because the words are a bit different than the ones I knew. I sang Musicians Come and Play, Wide Meadow, and the Prune Song. Lots of fun and I know there are many more to come!

Saturday morning I had to get up early to head to Bellvue, NE for their parade. I was excited to get to go through the parade with Carrie Brown (2008 NE Czech-Slovak Queen and 2009 Miss Czech-Slovak US 2nd Runner Up.) Sandy S (from the NE pageant committee) was kind enough to borrow a friends convertible for us to ride through in so we met up with her and headed to the parade. There was a group from the Omaha Czech Cultural Club who walked through with a banner and Carrie and I rode in the convertible. It was fun and a BEAUTIFUL day for a parade but there was A LOT of sitting and waiting and moving a foot forward and sitting and waiting....yea you get the idea. I think we waited about an hour and a half before we were actually up to the beginning of the parade route. There were lots of people there and for once I heard "I love your tiara" or "I like your crown" or "You're pretty" INSTEAD of "Nice car" or "Burn out." They actually noticed us back there and not just the car! :) After the parade was over we decided to go have lunch at Ruby Tuesday. Mom and I joined Sandy, Carrie, and Monica. It was fun to sit down and talk to them about events around the state and the national pageant. When I finally looked at the clock I got a bit nervous as I had to be in Milford by 4pm and it was already 1:45.

We ran back home on our way through Lincoln to make some signs for my special guests for the 2nd parade and headed to Milford. I was excited to get to ride through the Milford Fun Days parade as SCC has been such a big supporter of me in my journeys as queen for the past few years. Dad was on a golfing trip so he couldn't drive me through so Donna Havener agreed to drive us through. Once again Donna saves the day! :) I always tell people I can tell you what not to do in WebAdvisor when registering for classes because I've done everything you shouldn't do. Donna has bailed me out of quite a few little situations when I've messed something up in my account! LOL! We met her at the High School along with Blair and Blaze Miller from Friend. They got to ride through the parade with me together this time. This was Blaze's first parade so he was pretty excited...his sister however didn't want me to get too attached. :) We had fun riding through the parade and parted ways. I was pretty tired after all of that. Mom and I got some food from the Milford Fire Dept and headed back to Lincoln. It was good to see some of my old/current instructors and go through this parade again as the Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen this time.

Well another fun filled weekend and more to come this week! Oh and I have to tell this story. I've been trying to figure out how I was going to pay for my accordion. My dad said he would have to check his farm account (from the farm land he inherited from grandpa Eddie Vocasek.) I told him that I know grandpa would have wanted me to spend the money on the accordion. :) As much as I joke about it I know he's smiling down on me every time I pick an accordion up. I miss him but he'll be with me always!

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

First Look at MY Accordion! :-D

2009-08-20T11:31:00.002-05:00

Well I've officially fell in love...with an accordion. HAHA! I've been looking for a Kuchar accordion for a few months now. It is to the point where I really needed my own to play since I really do love it and don't plan on giving it up anytime soon. :) Well the hard part is nobody else wants to sell their Kuchar. Well a few months ago I was lucky to have met Math and Dottie Sladky. Brad was very close to them and I started to get to know them through him. Well Dottie bought 3 accordions a few weeks back and knew how much I wanted a Kuchar. Although she originally was getting the Kuchar for herself she said that she would sell it to me because I may not have the opportunity to buy one again soon and she may. I couldn't believe it! Well Brad and I went out to see it and got to play it for a while. We looked at all 3 accordions first then went and had dinner. After we got back to the house she let us go through a bunch of CDs and Tapes from artists around the US and even some that Math had brought back from the Czech Republic. After going through all of those we played together for a while and we had to head back to Lincoln because I had an early morning at work. It was a great night and we definitely plan on going to visit her more often. I love the accordion...you'll have to check out the pictures of all 3 of them!! Hopefully I'll get the money situation in line so I can buy it soon. I am blessed to have met so many great people who are so supportive of me and my love of my Czech heritage. I don't think I could say thanks enough to all of you!

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

Playing at Aunt Pam's Wedding

2009-08-17T11:18:00.001-05:00

Well as usual I didn't plan anything Czech for this weekend but ended up adding something to the list. My aunt got married this weekend and had asked Brad to play a song or 2 at the reception. This way she could have a few polka songs and also give the DJ a bit of a break. Well guess who got volunteered to help. :) We played several songs and I decided to sing the Blue Skirt Waltz too. A few of my family members like to polka so they were out doin their thing. It was a lot of fun and at least I got to do something Czech this week. I made Brad do a few on his own so he could show off a bit too. Another example that my family is really supportive of me!

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

Wilber Czech Days 2009 = THE COOLEST CZECH DAYS EVER

2009-08-05T10:54:00.013-05:00

Well I can't believe Wilber Czech Days has gone by already...EEK! Only one more year till I'm IN THE PAGEANT IN WILBER! (Well actually it's 366 days from today...yes I'm already counting down!)

Well I headed to Wilber on Friday night this year. I had a really early morning as I started my new shift at work. I worked from 6am-2pm and didn't take a lunch so I could get out of there early. I got everything together and got dressed so Brad and I could head to the accordion jam. (Of course I was a bit behind. HEHE!) When we got there Shandra was just running up to the stage too so I didn't feel too bad. :) We played for a bit...or rather he played and I tried. Then I had to get Shandra off the stage. She was getting an award and I couldn't tell her about it so I told her that we were walking through the children's parade and needed to stop by the bandstand so I could accept an award for my dad first. We totally got her...she had NO IDEA and didn't even hear Laura when she called her name. :) My dad really did get the award too so I accepted it for him. We spent a bit more time walking the streets etc. We stopped in Sokol and ran into Grandma Dorothy there which was good because we were going to head to her house next to catch her before she went to bed. She said nobody else was coming till Saturday so I was really surprised to run into my cousin Dana there (she's a past Wilber Czech Queen!) I changed and we all headed out for the evening. We went to the Fox Hole to watch Sue and Gaylen and Deb play and didn't leave from there as it started pouring rain not too long after we got inside. Brad left early because he had to drive back to Wilber the next morning and we went back to Grandma's and got our beds put together etc. Nothing too crazy and a good night overall. :)

The next morning I got up and tried to get ready early but did a lot more sitting around that I should have! When I did get ready, Brad came and picked me up and we headed to the accordion jam at the bandstand. We hid in the back which was good for me because I had some room around me and was able to hear myself play. But towards the end of the jam they wanted everyone in the back to come to the front. Of course they wanted me front and center but I told them I would only come up there if they played songs I knew. We played Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie, Koline, and When We Parted. It was fun to feel like I can play along now that I'm improving. After the jam we had a bit of time to wander around town because I had to do introductions of the chapter queens at noon. We met up with my prince and princess and watched the dancers perform. When we went on stage I COMPLETELY forgot my introduction but I just made a joke about it and moved on. I introduced Sidney and Jackson and made an announcement that it was Sid's 9th Birthday that day...nobody believed it because she is so stinkin little! We watched all of the National queens introduce themselves then headed up to the Czech Village for our dignitary luncheon. Before we got there we stopped at the Czech Craft Shop to get Jake a hat to wear with his vest in the parade (he got to ride through the parade in the front seat with us) and to Czech Cottage and bought me and Sidney new crown pins for our sashes (hers was broken.) We had time to run there while the national queens took pictures and then headed on our way. As usual my dad and younger brother were there to greet everyone and grandma was there serving food. We all grabbed some food then sat down for introductions. Well I had been trying to keep my dads award a secret...but CHARLIE KELLER spilled the beans at the bandstand and everyone started asking him where his sash was and telling him congrats. After Charlie introduced the mayor, senator, and Wilber Queen he introduced me. I spoke a bit and then asked for someone special to come up to the front. I explained that it was an honor to accept this award for my dad the night before and tried to choke down the tears when I explained that my grandpa had gotten this award when I was the Lincoln queen and now dad is getting it as I am the Nebraska queen. He was pretty proud. After that I did a few quick introductions and we had to run and get to the cars. I couldn't believe how cool it was! This couldn't possibly be Czech Days! :) The kids had fun and as usual bickered about who had more people on their side and which side their family was on. LOL! After the parade they went to get candy and I started to get ready for the talent show. There were several Friends/family members who weren't able to travel to Clarkson to see me perform my talent so I decided to do my talent in Wilber for everyone who missed it to see. After the parade was over the talent show started. I love watching all of the kids perform...they never stop surprising me! After all of the younger divisions were complete we started on the 18 and older division. The people in my division were Laura Shestak (the Wilber Czech Queen) who danced, Sydnee Kiesel (the Wilber Czech Princess' Older Sister) who sang, the Kiesel Quartet (Sydnee, Savanna, Sheyenne the Wilber Princess, and Conner) who danced, Myself, and 2 Girls who did a marshal arts performance. As usual...I definitely wouldn't want to be a judge in this competition. Everyone did an awesome job. Sydnee won 4th place, Kiesel Quartet won 3rd place, I won 2nd Place (which I've one for the past several years...I was really shootin for 1st this time,) and the marshal arts duo won 1st. After the talent show we watched the kids dance and then wandered around a bit before night 1 of the pageant. I was really excited to watch the pageant this year...hard to believe that my turn is only a year away. I've been watching this since I was a baby! The first night was kroj modeling and on stage interviews. I will tell you right now that things have changed! The interview questions just get harder and harder every year but they're looking for the best candidate and this is a great way to do that. I think there was 2 questions out of all of them that I may have stumbled on if I had to answer them right then and there. I was mentally going through what I would have said etc the WHOLE TIME! The kroj this year were BEAUTIFUL...but I say that every year. After the pageant my dad walked me back to grandma's house after a quick stop in the Hotel Wilber Beer Garden to see Vo (aka my uncle Gary) and Aunt Laurie because I haven't seen them in a while and they were there for his class reunion. I was SCARED TO DEATH that somebody was going to spill beer on me but I made it out of there clean and dry. YIPPEE! After changing we walked around a bit and I finally found some of the family to meet up with and it was already 11pm. We stayed out until the beer garden closed and walked back to grandma's house. I fell asleep on the recliner not too long after we got back and I was out for the night.

Sunday morning came too quickly...mostly because the recliner wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep and I was in the living room so as people started getting up I heard them walking around etc. I took a shower and cleaned up a bit but put off getting ready for the day. I put it off a bit too long because I was rushing like crazy to make it to the bandstand for introductions at noon. I got there right on time but they were running behind with the dancers so I was fine. PHEW! I did introductions of the chapter queens (and got my introduction right this time) then me and the kids listened to the national queen introductions. After they all did their introductions we walked with them to the Czech Village for the luncheon again. This one was shorter as there wasn't as many people there as the previous day. We rode through in a different car on the 2nd day (I'm lucky to have the hookup on cars!!!) Jake decided not to be my little Jr Prince on Sunday because he wanted to stay and catch candy. Toward the end of the parade someone had turned off about 3 or 4 blocks early...so everyone else followed. When we got up there I told dad to keep going and go to the end of the normal parade route. Everyone started cheering really loud and standing up when we came thorough. They were so excited that now the parade would actually come past them like it should have. I think I may have made some extra fans for next year. ;) After the parade we walked down to the Outdoor Theater and sat in the shade for a while (it was actually ALMOST Czech Days weather by this time.) Laura and I sent my mom and her dad on a mission to find us some sauerkraut/good Czech food so when they couldn't find anything else they told us to meet them at Sokol. We had lunch then headed back to the Outdoor Theater. They did introductions of the Wilber Royalty and then asked me to come up and speak a bit. I was really nervous...I think I started to realize that I would be on that same stage in a year competing for a title I have always dreamed to have. Once we were done with that I went back to Sokol and found Uncle Dan because I've always wanted to dance in the dance contest but never had a partner. Well in the beer garden the night before we "practiced for next year" because I thought that the dance contest was on Saturday. I kept trying to get him to say he would dance with me and so did the rest of the family...even Aunt Jan! :) I finally wore him down. We had to dance one polka and one waltz. After we finished they called us all back up and told us they needed one more polka. What was that...an endurance test?! LOL! We were in the 55+ age division and didn't place...there were like 7 other couples out there. Oh well...it was fun and at least I can say I finally did it! After the dance contest the kids danced one more time and then it was time for the pageant again. The 2nd night is always really exciting...the talents and awards! The talent was awesome! I was surprised to see no accordion players this year. After all of the girls did their talend, Sandy Ptak (the outgoing Miss Czech-Slovak US,) performed her talent...with a twist. Her court and Shandra Korbelik came out and danced while she was singing...it was HILLARIOUS. I posted it on YouTube and it is spreading around like crazy. :) Just click here to watch it! Next she gave her farewell speech and surprisingly...we all held it together. Then they brought all of the girls on stage for awards....drumroll please! Here were the results:
TJ Sokol Award (For the Best Sokol Like Routine) - Olivia Cada, Miss Minnesota
Heritage Award (Based on Application) - Tanya Jech, Miss Illinois
Lois Fiala Spirit Heritage Award - Leilani Kurtak, Miss Arizona
Miss Congeniality (Voted by Contestants) - Olivia Cada, Miss Minnesota
Oratory Award (Public Speaking) - Teresa Mahoney, Miss Oregon
Americanized Kroj (Costume) - Christy Dowling, Miss Kansas
Authentic Kroj (Costume) - Teresa Mahoney, Miss Oregon
Talent Runner Up - Briana Tichy, Miss New Jersey
Grand Talent - Christy Dowling, Miss Kansas
2nd Runner Up - Carrie Brown, Miss Nebraska
1st Runner Up - Teresa Mahoney, Miss Oregon
Miss Czech-Slovak US 2009 - Briana Tichy, Miss New Jersey
They all did an AMAZING job! I loved watching all of these girls and look forward to being in the pageant next year and I'm sure that the competition will only get harder...it always does. After the pageant they took tons of pictures and then headed to Sokol for the queen reception. We danced and had cake/punch and spent time with all of the girls. It was a blast. Definitely a great way to end the weekend. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE MY TURN IS A YEAR AWAY NOW! I'm sure the time is going to fly by but I'm gonna do everything I can to make it a wonderful and memorable year.

If any of you can suggest anything or can help me prepare for the pageant next year...I would love your help. You can send me a comment here or email me at stefanievocaek@hotmail.com I appreciate all of your support up to this point and hope to make all of you proud in the months to come!

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

A Trip to Kansas for a Czech Festival! :)

2009-07-27T16:41:00.014-05:00

Well I made my first out of state appearance as the Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen this weekend. :) I wanted to travel around Nebraska as much as possible as the Nebraska queen this year but I also wanted to make it to a few of the other state's festivals to see how different things are everywhere you go. We had to get up super early so we could be on the road by 5:30am (which turned into 6am with me and mom traveling. LOL) I wanted to sleep the whole way down there but couldn't fall asleep for the first hour or so. I finally crashed after we grabbed some breakfast in York. I was going to put my hair in curlers on the way but my curlers took too much power so we couldn't get them powered on. LOL! DANG IT! When we pulled up I got dressed (the rest of the way...Donna and Sandy could see me trying to get dressed in the back of the van...it worked much better when I was six...or any time before I was 6'1". HEHE!) It started to sprinkle so we were hoping to make it through the parade before it rained. Well that definitely didn't happen. I did OK keeping myself somewhat dry but it wasn't the most fun parade we've been through this year. My mom had just made me new signs to go with my Nebraska signs so she found someone with Saran wrap to cover them with. :) After the parade we went down to the beer garden to hear the polka band play. Brad knew the band leader Dave Salmons so he sent out a song to us and introduced me as the Nebraska Queen. We walked around the park a bit to see all the vendors and I got a t-shirt made. I had them put Wilson Czech Festival 2009 on the front and the back has a list of things about being Czech. (I'll post what it says later.) Mom started being sneaky after this and we figured out that she was buying Brad a hat but wasn't sure what exactly it would say etc. We went to get some food and found out their buffet was running out. We thought there would be enough to get a bit but it was very well picked over. Oh well...live and learn. :) After we ate we headed back to the beer garden/vendors. Dave let Brad play a few songs with the band and of course they sounded really good. After he played a bit and had put the accordion back down Mom walked up and I knew what she was up to...surprise surprise....he asked Me and Brad to come up for The Blue Skirt Waltz. My voice hurt a bit and I had a headache so I didn't really want to sing but...all in a day's work as queen right? After that we went back to the vendors and had our picture taken in one of those cutouts where you put your face in. They were little Czech dancers. I started getting tired and hot so we grabbed some food and headed to the Pageant. There were only 2 contestants competing for the Kansas Czech-Slovak Queen title this year and they both did a great job. Once again...I don't envy the judges in any of these pageants. I couldn't believe how fast the pageant went with only 2 contestants! A few of the things that I noticed that are very different from our pageant are that it is indoors and they have the contestants walk off stage during kroj modeling so the audience gets a better look. Their judges sit all the way in the balcony so I hope that they got to see the beautiful kroj up closer (maybe during private interview?) They also give a huge variety of prizes to the contestants (luggage, crystal, gift certificates, etc.) We knew there were Vocasek's in Wilson at one time and we kept running into the name. We saw a plaque for Dorothy Vocasek in the Opera House and a certificate for Peppy Joe Vocasek. Dad went out to the graveyard and found several Vocasek graves. We also got to see Peppy Joe's old barber shop which is now the home of a family in town. We took some pictures in front of it. We heard stories about him being a POW and being thrown on a pile of bodies when someone saw him moved. Had they not been there at that moment he wouldn't have lived. Dad and the new owner of the house exchanged information so hopefully we may hear more about him someday. After chatting for a while we headed for the car to head home. It was a great day with some of my favorite Czech people. :) (Yes...SOME of them...there are too too many!) I'm so excited to have met Aubrey and so glad to have seen their pageant.

So far I have met Aubrey the 2009-10 Kansas Czech-Slovak Queen and talked to Jennifer the 2009-10 South Dakota Czech-Slovak Queen. These are 2 of the girls who will be in Wilber with me next year. The only one I haven't talked to (that I know has been crowned so far)is Stephanie from Wisconsin and I actually emailed their pageant director and asked her to send my information on so maybe I can talk to her soon too. Who knows she may even be coming to Wilber! :) I'm so excited!!!

Just a few words of wisdom from myself and Shandra Korbelik (a past Nebraska Queen.) Well we were talking...you know how they say that the best way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Well we decided this is a lie because it works for us too. We have revised this phrase and it is now "The Best Way to a Czechs Heart is Through Their Stomach!" Keep that in mind ladies and gents! :0)

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

Bickford Cottage Visit

2009-07-24T11:42:00.003-05:00

I don't get to do a whole lot around Lincoln so I'm always excited to be invited to events around Lincoln. Bickford Cottage contacted my mom a few months back asking if the Lincoln Czech-Slovak Queen would perform for their Czech week in July. (For those of you who don't know...my mom is the President of the Lincoln Czechs this year.) I started working with them and agreed to come on the 22nd of July. When I walked in on Wed it was hilarious. The activities coordinator announced that she had invited the Lincoln Queen to come and speak and couldn't believe that she just didn't show up like this. But luckily the Nebraska Queen was here to take her place. Then she said oh wait...that's because she's the same person. :) I thought that was pretty cute. I spoke about what I've done as the Lincoln Queen previously and my plans for the future as the newly crowned Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen. I told them about how I was raised with my Czech heritage being an important part of my life and have chosen to keep it as a big part of my life as I've gotten older. I told them about the pageant and all of the girls in Clarkson. I was proud to again get to describe my kroj a bit and show of some of the very important pieces to me. I showed them what Anne had embroidered and then they said the Choraliers would be there that evening. I told them to tell her how beautiful her work was. After talking for a while I performed my talent for them and even did my old talent from a few years ago. They had kolaces for a snack and I walked around a bit in case anyone had questions or wanted to see my kroj up close. I had to rush out of there because I had to be back to work. It was a great visit and I told them I would love to come back again next year. Now I'm preparing for a longer trip all the way down to Wilson, KS on Saturday.

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

Another Busy Weekend! Gretna, Western, and Dwight

2009-07-20T11:46:00.014-05:00

Well another busy Czech filled weekend! :) We started the weekend by going to Gretna for a parade. Sandy Schnakenberg from the Omaha Czech Cultural Club and the State Pageant Committee asked if I could come so I was excited to get to see her there. They had one of the Omaha members on a small float playing the accordion right in front of me. I couldn't believe how big the parade was! It was long and there were TONS of people. It was great to see Sandy again and it was the first time that my Lincoln Prince and Princess were able to come to an event with me. I've been able to have one of them come to one event but never both. They had fun but we had some typical brother/sister moments. They were arguing over who had more people on their side of the car etc. HAHA! They did a good job and then we had a break because we didn't have another event until that evening.

I had lunch with some of my friends at Grisanti's and didn't have time to go home and change or I would have had to cancel on them...so I did what I had to and had lunch in kroj. :) I got some funny looks but we got some first class service. ;)We also had several people walk by and ask to read my sash or asked why I was dressed up etc. LOL! I had a quick 20 min nap when we got home and had to get back into kroj to head to Western for the parade.

I got up and started to get dressed to go to the parade but had to redo my hair etc and surprise surprise...I wasn't ready when Brad came to pick me up. HEHE! I'm so glad he is understanding with me. I rushed around and got everything that I needed and hopped in the car to head to Western. Of course he wouldn't let me forget my accordion so he grabbed it on the way out the door. We got to the parade a bit early (see I wasn't running late...I was just getting us there at a good time so we wouldn't be waiting for too long. LOL) We actually ended up waiting for my parents to get there because they went to see Grandma Dorothy. She was really excited to see some pictures from the pageant. Mary Jean Keller gave her one of my fans from the pageant when she was still at the Wilber Care Center and she said Grandma was really excited to get it. I know Grandpa would be really proud of me too. I miss him a lot and it's been hard doing all of this without him there but I know he's with me always. My prince and princess were running a bit late and we were afraid that they weren't gonna make it before the parade began but they showed up about 2 mins before we went. Their little brother Jake rode in the front seat with my dad and he was excited to be in the parade. After the parade dad dropped us off by the bar where Sue and band would be playing. The kids were only out on the parade route for about 10 mins and they walked out with a whole bag full of candy. They went crazy! (Plus they're super cute so I think they got a lot more thrown to them than anyone else. LOL) We walked down and said hi to Uncle Bob and Phyllis and then headed back to the bar for the band to start playing. I stayed in kroj as I knew they would make me play. They introduced me as the newly crowned Nebraska queen and then had me sing Blue Skirt and play then went through all of the songs I can play and had everyone play with me. After playing all of them that I knew...I was ready to change. I had been in kroj all day. I changed into some regular clothes and sat around and listened to the band play. All of the other royalty had left but Charlie Keller was still there in full force. He was SO FUNNY! :) Not that it's unusual for him to get the crowd going. About 30 mins after I got done playing Shandra showed up and played with the band for a while too. It was a great night but we were a bit nervous to drive home. The band quit playing around 12:40 and then had to pack up. We left around 1:30 and my dad had already hit a deer around 8pm when it was still light so it was scary. My parents said they saw 3 or 4 more deer on the way home but we didn't see any. Thank goodness! I was very tired when we got home and crashed. I had to get up before leaving for Dwight to finish a bit of homework.

I got up the next morning to finish homework and start the day in kroj again. We left for Dwight around noon so we would get there around the same time as Laura and family. We had free meal coupons so we went to eat first and found out that introductions would be in the same place as where we were eating. It was nice to not have to run across town several times. When we walked in the band who was playing (Studio Trio) asked which one of us was going to sing. :) We polka danced for a minute in front of the stage (I was the boy this time because I made Laura be the boy last time.) After we got our food sat down at the table they took us to the front and introduced us. Laura went first and introduced herself and invited everyone to come to Wilber in a few short weeks. I introduced myself in Czech and then in English. I told everyone that I had just won the Nebraska title in June and was excited for what the year would bring. They had asked us again who was going to sing before we started talking. I agreed this time and so after introductions I sang the Blue Skirt Waltz. It was a bit high but I survived. :) We got to go watch all of the kids dance after we ate lunch and they did a WONDERFUL job! I'm so proud to see so many kids involved and having fun dancing. It was really neat becuase after they danced their director told that she had been teaching the dancer for 20 years and before that she was a queen too! She performed her talent for the kids....twirling a flaming baton to a polka. It was so neat and it was amazing that she can still do it. (I would kill myself if I had to be that coordinated! HEHE!) Next we stopped by the Legion to hear Mark Vyhlidal play but they were on break by the time we got there and we had to head to the parade route before they started playing again. Brad was going to ride through the parade with me on the back of the car for the parade so we practiced accordion for a bit. Sheyenne and I both played Brad's accordion and then it was time to head on through the parade. Lane got sick right before the parade so his family headed out to get him feeling better. People loved hearing Brad play in the parade. They were clapping etc. it was great. After the parade we tried to walk back to where my supervisor from Time Warner was sitting with his son (who speaks a bit of Czech) but he had already left. We grabbed a snow cone and headed out of town. I was a bit grouchy because I was so tired so I was ready to head home and get to bed. It was a great weekend!

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

Savannah Pines, Diller, Wilber, and Blue River Lodge

2009-07-13T12:39:00.001-05:00

I know you'll all be surprised to hear I did more than one Czech thing this weekend! ;)

My Czech events started with Friday evening at Savannah Pines. I got off work a bit early and changed quickly to go there. They had us there to talk about being Czech royalty in Nebraska and perform our talents. I was so sad to have to show up late because I didn't get to see Sheyenne, Lane, or Laura's talents. I got to hear Laura talking a bit as I walked in and she was doing a great job. It's hard to just come up with stuff when you're up there talking. She introduced me and I talked a bit about myself and how great it is to represent Nebraska. I told them about where I had been this year and where I planned to go in the future. I talked a bit about my kroj and then performed my talent. I didn't have all of my old kroje but I told them about how I had displayed all of them at the state pageant. We walked around a bit and talked to a few of the residents. We ran into one of my older brother's elementary teachers there too. Lane's talent is showing how to make kolaces so I got to try one on the way out. YUMMY! We also stopped and took some pictures in front of the fountain in their entryway. Very pretty! Momma Vocasek and Momma Shestak agreed to take us girls out to dinner for doing a good job so we went to Runza after we finished. We got a few funny looks (as usual when we go out in kroj and people don't know why we are dressed like this) but we had fun. It was funny because our moms ordered the same thing and so did we! :) We got told that we could be sisters when we were there and discovered we eat our kolaces the same way! LOL! We said our goodbyes for a whole day and I headed home. When I got home I changed and immediately started practicing my accordion. I don't remember if I wrote about this so I'm gonna write it again. Brad knows I like to make deals (I tried to make a deal with him several times about the dancing thing before I was forced to play hardball and just make him do it.) So last week at lessons he tells me that if I learn to play all of the songs on his current CD that he'll record a new one...with one catch that I'll sing. Well...now I'm on a mission to learn them all ASAP! I practiced with his CD and got part of the way through several that we have never practiced. :) After a bit of practice I headed to bed because I had to be up earlier than normal for work.

I had to go into work at 8am...YUCK! :) I normally don't work till 10am every day but had to work an earlier shift so I could make it to Diller in time for the parade. As soon as I got home from work I had to change quickly and get in the truck to head to Diller. The parade wasn't huge but it was fun anyways. My mom tried to take out the whole Wilber crew out with candy when they happened to walk next to our car. I swear she'll kill someone with that stuff one of these days! I gave Laura a hard time that nobody noticed me in the parade because they threw out kolaces...who cares about the girl with candy when they get kolaces?! :) We stopped downtown to grab a drink and I had a polish dog with EVERYTHING on it (AKA kroj suicide...) I didn't drip anything! We also went by to say hi to Pam, Amanda, and Liz Busboom on our way out. The first year I was the Lincoln Queen, Amanda was the Wilber queen so we had gone to Diller because her grandparents lived there (if I remember right) so I figured they would be there. It was good to see them as they sent me a good luck card and a congratulations card for the pageant. :)

I was looking forward to Sunday all week so I was excited when it finally came around! All of the wonderful Jr Beseda Dancers in Wilber were performing and I was so excited to surprise Blair, Blaze, and Shayla Miller when I got there. I made their mom keep the secret and they weren't shy to let her know she lied to them. I told them they had to blame me because she made a promise to me! They were excited to see me there and I was so excited to see them dance. They did a wonderful job (not that I expected anything less.) After they danced they introduced the Wilber Royalty and they each performed their talents (this time I actually got to watch.) Sheyenne is doing so great on the accordion(they tried to get me to play but I've never played a 2 row so I didn't do it.) She has only been playing for 2 weeks and she played 2 songs for everyone. I love seeing younger GIRLS playing! :) Lane did his demonstration on how to make kolaces. Charlie helped him out with the speaking as there wasn't a microphone or anything there. He did a great job and I got another kolace! 3 days in a row!!! Definitely can't beat that! I had pineapple on Friday, apple on Saturday, and cherry on Sunday! Laura danced beautifully (I am definitely impressed that she can be that graceful on concrete...I would have fallen and broken my teeth out or somethin!) Then Charlie introduced me and I spoke a little bit about being the state queen and how I would compete in Wilber next year at the national pageant. I introduced Shayla and had her tell a bit about herself and even got to introduce Blair! I sang the Blue Skirt Waltz in Czech then in English and then we wrapped things up. We took a few pictures as requested and headed on to the next stop. Blair asked if she could ride with me so she got to come with me and Laura's family to Blue River Lodge to hear Brad play. I was so excite to see how many people showed up. The whole Miller crew, Shandra Korbelik, Erin Spicka, Shestaks, Sue Underwood, Charlie and MaryJean Keller, Gaylen Beck, and even Uncle Bob and Phyllis were there! I had some good food and sang/played the Blue Skirt Waltz again. I was excited for several people to hear that hadn't heard previously. After I sang I changed into jeans and Brad made me come up and play again....surprise surprise! :) I told him that if I had to play again he had to get Shandra up there so we played 2 songs together with Dottie. He was to introduce the all female front row! She played a few more with him after I snuck off stage and before we knew it the night was over. It was so much fun...I definitely didn't want to go! I helped Brad pack up and sat and chatted with Sue for a little while before we left. A wonderful night as I expected!

I'm planning to practice with Brad 2 times this week as I'm going to sit in on John's lesson on Tuesday and practice as usual on Wednesday. (John is the band leader of Less Talk More Polka.) I figure the more practice to learn all of those songs the better! ;) Hope everyone has a good week and I'll write again after another fun filled weekend next week!!!

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

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-06T16:54:00.004-05:00

I know you'll all be surprised...but I planned a busy weekend again. :-D I have been telling Brad Husak (my wonderful accordion teacher) that we want to know whenever he plays so I can try to bring a group out to hear him play and try to get a younger group out and about to the different polka dances etc around. We went to Abie's Place in Abie, NE to hear him play on the 3rd. It was the 1 year anniversary of Abie's place so they had him come play. I ended up getting my parents, my aunt and her fiancee, and Laura to join me. We had some good food then I found an awesome little dance partner (after getting denied twice first) and then another soon after. A request for the Blue Skirt Waltz was brought up for a 90th Birthday and of course mom convinced Brad to have me come up and sing. Well since we didn't plan for it he was playing it way higher than I normally sing it and with my allergies...it was definitely a strain. I sang it in Czech and English. Then we really started plotting...dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn. I can't remember if I wrote this in here before so I'm gonna explain it again. A few months back I asked Brad if he knew how to polka and he doesn't. Needless to say....I've been on a mission ever since then. :) I tried quitting the accordion, refusing to play the left hand till he learns, etc. etc. etc. Yes...I tried it all. Mom had an idea that if we got his accordion off of him I had a better chance. Well we did (but I had to play one song in return) and he finally agreed. Everyone who knows him couldn't believe he did it. It pretty much made my night. :) He did say that he's never going to dance again but I don't buy it. You have to start somewhere! (Now I have to start working on that left hand dang it! HEHE!) We handed out some info about the Wilber festival and met the lady they requested the Blue Skirt Waltz for (it was her 90th Birthday.) One of the guys had even bought me a beer and sent it to my table after I sang and didn't tell me it was him till they left. I told them all if they saw me anywhere to remind me that they met me in Abie. I chatted a bit with Brad's parents and had an awesome meal. We hung around and helped Brad get everything loaded so he wouldn't be there too late and headed home. It was an awesome night but I needed some rest so I could make it through the next day.

Saturday morning I woke up at 8am (again...I HATE mornings...) to get ready for the first parade in Friend so I could go see the wonderful Miller family. Shayla sent me a text to be sure I would be out there for the parade and I thought it was at 10:30 so I planned on getting there at 10am. GOOD THING SHE SENT A TEXT! The parade started at 10am so I would have been really late. Blair was looking forward to riding through with me so they played a few pranks on her telling her that she couldn't ride with me etc. She saw me pull up and started running towards me. :) We got loaded into the car and took a few pictures. I even made her a sign that says "Substitute Princess Blair Miller" for whenever she rides with me. She was super excited (plus I think she was excited be in the car with me in front of all of her friends and family.) She got the Little Sister for the Wisconsin queen in the national pageant and I'm a bit disappointed because that means she probably won't get to be little sister for me next year but we both agreed that we'll be special to each other no matter what. We didn't do very well handing out fliers in the parade so after we were done and stopped at the Miller's house we went walking back from the end to hand them out. We only made it about 5 blocks and we ran out. We went back and played with the lambs and I even got to feed them. We were crackin up because there I was...in full kroj...feeding lambs...with beer bottles! :) They showed us the rest of the animals and then we had to head to Seward.

Seward's 4th of July parade is awesome because it is HUGE! One of my favorite things that they do is find a random family who is traveling through the state on vacation and happens to stop in Seward. They ask them to be the tourist family and they become the guests of honor. They get to ride through the parade etc...just for being in the right place at the right time. There are always lots of people and lots of queens of all sorts there. We walked around downtown a bit and then headed back to meet with all of the other royalty that was there. They had several speakers and then we took group photos. Off to the parade we went! I saw several people there and as usual missed even more as I found out afterward. I saw Chris, Harley, one of the guys from Abie, John, Stephanie, Grandma/pa, Lavern, and the list goes on. We grabbed our free meals on the way out of town and had to rush back to Milford to drop off the car and back home as quickly as possible. We were going to see Larry the Cable Guy that night.

It was a great day and I had an awesome time at Larry the Cable Guy and saw the Oak Lake Fireworks last nigh. Fortunately Brad doesn't hate me too much for making him dance because he hung out with me on Saturday and Sunday (his Birthday) after that. :) Phew...I was a bit nervous!

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

3 Events in One Day !

2009-06-28T17:34:00.004-05:00

Well I did it! 3 events in one day...round one! :) I had an amazing day with the Wilber Czech-Slovak Queen, Laura Shestak, yesterday. We planned a fun filled day a few weeks back and one event fell through...so what did we do? Well found something else to attend of course! HEHE!

We started the day at the Central Nebraska Ethnic festival in Grand Island, NE. We walked around and said hello to as many people as we could. They just had lots of different vendors with ethnic foods, crafts, clothes, etc. They had a big stage with different bands playing. It was a very nice event and luckily we didn't get rained out. We were a bit nervous on the way there as we drove through rain almost the whole way on the interstate. Me and Laura shared a strawberry smoothie and got the cutest picture (which she framed and gave me for my birthday!) Laura took a picture with Wilbur the pig from Famous Dave's....I saw his name tag and thought it was great. Wilber Czech Queen and Wilbur the pig! HEHE! We walked around a bit and enjoyed the music then headed back to Crete to be on our way to Cortland for event number 2.

The Cortland Days parade was the 2nd stop for the day and I think we spent more time waiting for the parade than actually going through the parade. It was pretty short but I think people were really excited to see me and the Wilber Royalty there. I think they only had about a 5 block parade route so they tried to space us out a lot to make it last longer so it took a while. My little brother came down from Lincoln and took some pictures of the fire department's stuff and us going through the parade. As soon as we were done we had to load up and move out again. Off to Sutton for event number 3.

I emailed about Dugout Days in Sutton when I first found out that I was going to be the Lincoln Czech-Slovak Queen and had been in contact. We didn't have any link there or anything but I tried to find some different parades and events to attend this year to bring awareness to other communities about the Czech organizations that are around. We walked around a bit as we got there pretty early which was unexpected. Grabbed a bite to eat at Subway and then headed to the parade lineup. There were tons of other floats and cars there! When we started the parade it was really neat as they routed us from the school through the nursing home drive so everyone at the nursing home could see the parade without having to go far and some were even inside and still able to see. Then through the rest of the parade...we were all shocked how big this parade was for a smaller town. It was fairly long and there were lots of people thorough the whole thing. Instead of walking all the way back to the school and their cars the WHOLE Wilber crew loaded onto the back of Shestak's convertible. I about died when I first saw them...and was surprised that Larry wasn't having a heart attack. :) This is definitely a parade we want to look into going to next year. After the parade I was ready to crash! It was a long fun filled day and I'm sure there are many more to come!

I'm officially a year older today and finally starting to feel like last weekend actually happened!!!

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

Clarkson Czech Festival...The State Pageant...

2009-06-22T16:09:00.015-05:00

I couldn't believe how fast this weekend came up. Of course we didn't have everything done but we had to get it together! Mom was up until 4:30am on Saturday finishing everything. I was really tired when I got up in the morning because I thought I would keep my older brothers dog overnight so he wouldn't have to stay at home alone when he went to Omaha. BIG MISTAKE! He started barking which made my dogs bark which made him bark which....ok you get the idea right? After about 25 mins I called my dad and told him I couldn't take it anymore. He came and picked Titus up and I tried again to go to sleep. Apparently my dogs were still upset so it took about an hour for them to settle so I could get some rest. It was around 12:30 at this point and I had tried really hard to get to bed early because I usually don't get to bed till 1am or later. I got up around 6am to get the last few things thrown together and put my hair up in curlers. Did I mention I don't like getting up in the morning? Well...I don't! :) We were behind getting outta the house. (For those of you who know me and my mom...I know you're shocked right?! HAHAHAHAHA!) Of course once we got of to a slow start we had to get gas, got stopped by a train, and ran into about 20 miles of construction where we had to stop and wait for about 15 mins. Well we made it there to drop my things off at the Novak's house where all of the girls stay in Clarkson. I decided not to go in kroj because we don't have to be dressed until an hour or so after we got there. The cooler the better! Carrie Brown (the 2008 NE Queen) and me were the only ones who showed up in regular clothes. After dropping all of our stuff off we headed to the main stage to practice our talent with the sound system etc. We drew numbers for not only the order for the pageant but also who would sit at each table at the luncheon with the judges later in the day. I drew number 4 for the pageant order...right in the middle. I was happy with this as I hate going too close to the end. I drew table 1 for our luncheon and was paired with Annie Brabec from Clarkson. I wasn't sure how my talent would go on stage but it went pretty well. We got everything in order for talent and then they asked if we wanted to practice modeling our kroj. I thought about going back to the Novak's house to change but decided I would be fine to practice in jeans. It was kinda funny but I felt ok after running through it once other than holding back tears. I knew it would be hard when I put my Grandpa into my kroj description but it REALLY hit me that morning. After running through everything we headed back and I got dressed. Next we went to New Zion Presbyterian Church for lunch. They had pork, sauerkraut, dumplings, corn, rolls, applesauce, and strudel. One heck of a meal! I couldn't eat all of my pork and Carrie wanted more pork so we traded the rest of our meals and I had some of her sauerkraut. Between the 2 of us...we were proud because we ate 2 meals. :) Missy tried sauerkraut AND dumplings for the first time ever. A couple of the moms (including mine) had our leftovers. I told them it was silly for them to buy a whole meal when we had about 3 whole meals left over between the 7 of us. After lunch was our first official introduction of the weekend at the stage in the park. We took a few pictures on our way over there and sang both of the national anthems. I tried to use my Czech introduction...and messed it up. I just made a joke about not using it much and moved on. We went back to the Novak's house to freshen up a bit before personal interviews. I have to admit this was the part of the pageant I get most nervous about. It's the only part that really has the element of surprise. The rest we can prepare for ahead of time for the most part. We sat in one room with Shandra while we waited to go into interviews. They put the room with all of us right next to the interview room and we were being SOOOO loud! I think there was so much nervous energy in the room we were releasing it by joking and laughing and being loud. Hmmm some of the topics were cheese, boys, going down stairs in laundry baskets, and a little about the interviews and us being nervous. When Laura went in (she was right before me)I know I got really quiet because I started thinking about what I was going to say etc. I walked in and shook hands with each of the judges and made a joke about "the hot seat." They had 5 questions total and of course I can't remember all of them now. LOL! Lets see... Why do you want to be the NE Czech-Slovak Queen? Tell us about your kroj. What is your favorite part about being Czech? Why did your family come to America? I know I'm missing one but I can't for the life of me think of the last one. I usually stress the most about this one and start thinking about what I should have said as soon as I walk out of the room but I was actually very confident in how it went so that felt really good. We talked a little about what we said in the room with Carrie. After everyone was done we went to the luncheon with the judges. Donna and Sandy went to check the weather as there was storms coming and they had to make a decision about where the pageant would be held by 4:30. We had a light dinner and each of the judges sat at our table for about 10 mins to get to know us a bit better and for us to get to know them. After we got to spend some time with each of the judges the pageant committee came back and let us know that they had decided to move the pageant to the school to be sure we didn't have to fight the weather. I thought this was great but I'll tell you a little more about it later. We went back to the Novak's one last time before the pageant and grabbed everything we needed. Then it was up to the school for the rest of the evening. When we got there we realized...it wasn't air conditioned. It started out warm but after everyone came up there it started getting warmer...and warmer...and warmer. Oh and just when we thought it wouldn't get any warmer...IT GOT WARMER! I made fans for my friends and family in the heart shape with paint sticks at the end. They had my picture on one side and "Stefanie Vocasek 'Fan Club'" on the other side. Well since it was so hot everyone wanted one...so some of my friends/family didn't get them. I totally forgot to even get a picture with everyone who came and them with their fans! Dang it! Oh well...guess we have another year for that! :) First off was the Oratory competition where we spoke on stage in front of everyone. We went through my 3 topics pretty quickly and I still had a minute left so I took the time to elaborate on my 3rd topic. Again I walked off stage pretty happy with how it went. The next category was the Kroj Modeling. I had a really hard time in practice when Grandpa was brought up so I was really nervous about this. As expected...it went really well till they brought up my uncle and my grandpa. I was able to hold back the tears until I got off stage. Overall I felt ok about this category but not great as I didn't think that my simple red, black, and white kroj would take me all the way...but the modeling went well. I did start bawling back stage thinking about grandpa after I was done. Last was talent...which I was very nervous about. I haven't played my accordion in front of people much so I had no idea what to expect. I also hadn't practiced my talent with all of my props yet. Well it was now or never. My voice was a bit shaky due to nerves but it went ok...remembered the words...hung all the kroj...and got done with that a bit early. Then it was time to play my accordion....the moment of truth. I was having a hard time smiling while playing when I practiced but I smiled...I played...and it was over! I DID IT! :) (Too bad I'm never playing accordion again until my good friend Brad learns to polka dance!) I walked off stage feeling pretty good again. We listened to Carrie Browns farewell speech and Sandy Ptak spoke about her year as Miss Czech-Slovak US. Then....it was the moment of truth. We all went on stage and they started awards. First was Personal Interview....I was really excited when my name was called! Next was Oratory....my name again...woah! Then it was Kroj...WHAT!? MY NAME AGAIN?! Now I was definitely not expecting that one. Next was Talent....Missy Vavra for her clogging. She did great! Then to Miss Congeniality...Missy Vavra again! Now it was really time...although if I really thought about it I guess I should have known....I was terrified. 1st runner up goes to....Emmy Beacom. Then of course they announced "And Our New 2009 Nebraska Czech-Slovak Queen Is....." there was a what seemed like never ending pause as he walked and stood between me and Missy....."Stefanie Vocasek." I don't think I took a breath for about a minute after he said my name. Was this REALLY happening...was one of the biggest dreams I've had since I was little REALLY COMING TRUE!?! Was I really going to Wilber next year?! Oh....my....goodness.....WOW! Tears kept bubbling up but I did my best to keep from crying. I think I was on stage forever taking pictures. I held it together until mom came on stage and all she had to do was hug me and whisper in my ear "You did it Doll!" I started BAWLING! After stopping the river of tears we took some family pictures. Man was I excited to get off that stage...I think it was 20 degrees cooler out in the hallway. I talked to some friends who drove all the way from Lincoln to be there for me and gave lots of hugs. I couldn't believe how many people were there to support me! I can't imagine what it will be like in Wilber! We headed back downtown to the beer garden to meet up with everyone else. Dad hugged me when we got there and said "Grandpa is so proud of you." Of course on came another waterfall! I immediately hugged my Grandma and Grandpa Bowen and told them how amazing it was to have them there and how I can't imagine if something would have happened to one of them and they weren't there either. It's been a scary year with BOTH of them. I danced a bit and spent some time with everyone who was there. I talked with a few people who I've known since my first year competing in 2004 and faster than a blink it was time to head back to the Novak's house for curfew...even though it should have been changed to 12:30 since that was what was announced at the pageant. HAHA! We tried! Mom helped me get out of my kroj and get it hung up. My stomach was killing me because of all of the stress and excitement from the day. I took a shower and tried to go to bed. Problem was...Mom said she would call when she got to her motel and Shestak's said to be careful because there were tons of deer on the road an mom was super tired from being up so late. I hadn't heard from her and now she wasn't answering. I sent Dad a text and about 10 mins later she called and he sent a text back saying that she was ok. I tried to settle down but it was still hard as I was trying to process what had happened.

Now as I said before...I don't like mornings...but I woke up at 7am and couldn't get back to sleep. I was thinking about everything all over again! I dozed off a few more times and then got up to get dressed in kroj and start the day over again! We got dressed and ready and went to the Polka Mass at the Catholic Church. We all stood outside and greeted everyone as they walked in then at the end of the service they introduced all of us. We shook everyone's hand as they walked out and talked to them a bit. It was good to meet some more of the wonderful people from Clarkson. After church we got another wonderful Czech meal (only this time I asked for less meat and extra sauerkraut and dumplings.) YUMMY! All of the other girls gave me their candy apples too! They had an accordion jam at the school where we ate and mom talked to a few of the guys playing about possibly selling their accordions some day!! :-D There are some pictures in my album of the ones we looked at. Next we went to the main stage for some pictures now that we weren't sweaty and gross from the pageant then we took some on the stairs of the Presbyterian church in hopes that if these are used for press releases that we may get published more. I had a few pictures taken at the rock wall with my new crown and sash for the NE Czechs website then we went to the park stage for introductions again. This time they gave us each gifts a BEAUTIFUL piece of painted Bohemian glass and a gas card to help cover some of the costs of traveling to the pageant. Next the gave us each our cash awards for the categories we won in the pageant. We introduced ourselves and I thanked Clarkson so much for their hospitality. I was asked to perform my talent and instead of doing my talent without my props I had Shandra Korbelik come up and play accordion with me. I messed up several times but it was not too shabby for it being the first time we've played together. After this we took a few pictures with Sandy and Shayla in front of the pretty rock wall and then headed up to the Nursing Home. We got there a bit early and there were a few new accordion players performing so when Shandra got there I got my accordion and tried to play with them. We did a few more introductions and headed out of there as they had other performances coming and we were running behind. They got to hear me play at least with the group that was there. We had some free time after this introduction. I went to the Opera House to hear the band play and spent some time with Carrie, Shandra, Sandy, and the Miller's. Blair (Shayla's younger sister) has become my little lady after riding through the parade in Milligan with me showed up and made friends with another future Czech Queen I had met earlier. :) After hanging out there for a while I went back to Novak's to grab a few things before the parade. I was asked to go talk to a 95 year old woman who was in town so I stopped by and took a few pictures with her and her cousin before heading back downtown. Several of the girls said they were doing the kolace eating contest and without knowing what I was getting into I agreed! Well...it wasn't the traditional eat one as fast as you can and whistle...it was eat 3 with no hands as fast as you can. LOL! I'm sure there are some lovely pictures but it was fun as it was Emmy, Carrie, Me, and Sandy all up there in a row. We didn't have much time after that so we walked down to the parade. My car was covered in signs because it's so small anyways and there was a sign for each of my awards but it was neat to have all of that represented for those who didn't get to go to the parade especially since it was moved. The Wilber crew tried to take me out with candy before we even took off! LOL! After the parade I talked to Sandy and the Miller Crew before they headed out of town and then went back to Novak's one last time until next year to change and pack up my things. I can't believe how fast the weekend went!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to all of you who came to Clarkson to support me...it truly kept me going. Thanks to all of you who have been there in my journeys since 2004 and those of you who will be there for me in the future. I could go on for days with names but then you'll never read my blog again! Much love to all and you've got a lot more reading to do now! :-D See you all in Wilber next August!

Na Shledanou,
Stefanie Vocasek
2009-10 NEBRASKA CZECH-SLOVAK QUEEN!!!!!!!!