Another Haven Manor...This Time in Lincoln!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to Bohemian Cafe (YUMMY!)

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


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