The Czech and Slovak Club is planning a busy summer this year with three ethnic events on the calendar. Each of the events is described below and we hope you will be able to participate.
The Sugar Creek Slavic Festival will be celebrating their 25th anniversary this year on Friday, June 11, and Saturday, June 12. Please check their website (www.slavicfest.com) for all the details, but our club will once again have a booth. We hope to sell a few Czech and Slovak items as well as provide information to those people exploring their Czech and Slovak heritage. We are in need of volunteers, so please contact me by email (tsmitka@rwbaird.com) or phone (816-217-9487) if you would be willing to donate an hour or two of your time. It would be greatly appreciated.
Please mark your calendar for the Czech and Slovak Club of Greater Kansas City club picnic on Saturday, July 24, from 4 PM until 7 PM. The picnic will be held in the West shelter house of English Landing Park in Parkville, MO. The park is located right on the Missouri River and has plenty of trees for shade and a lot of room for children to have fun. The club will be providing hot dogs, hamburgers, setups, and soft drinks. We ask that each family bring a side dish to share. The park does allow alcohol, so feel free to bring your coolers if you like. Please contact me if you are planning to attend. Children and guests are welcome! A reminder will be sent out near the end of June but please save the date before your summer gets too busy.
As a member of the Kansas City Ethnic Enrichment Commission, our club will be participating in their annual festival beginning Friday, August 20, through Sunday, August 22. It is held in Swope Park and details on times and events can be found on their website (www.eeckc.org). This is an event where we are actually paid something by the festival for volunteering, so it is one of our larger fundraisers. In addition to helping at the beer garden or at the gate, the club will also have our own booth so that our heritage can be represented. Mike Kalny and Bob Bee are our Ethnic Enrichment Commission representatives and they would like to hear from you if you could volunteer. Mike can be contacted at 913-962-2145 (mikekalny@aol.com) and Bob can be contacted at 816-298-7486 (bumble895@kc.rr.com). A reminder will also be sent out for this event but please contact Mike or Bob as soon as possible to schedule a time that fits your schedule.
Terry Smitka
Club President
Czech and Slovak Club 