Sokol SF Newsletter - April 2022 |
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Dear Sokol Members and Friends,
With our April newsletter we welcome spring and with it a long calendar of upcoming events!
As an organization that is focused on community engagement, we are thrilled to be able to ramp up our in-person gatherings by bringing back some of our traditional and beloved events, including our annual hike to the bust of the first Czechoslovak president, T.G. Masaryk on the occasion of his birthday, but also brand new events, such as our first Family Camping Trip to Portola Valley.
But, as you'll read below, those are just the tip of the iceberg, with so many others planned in the coming months.
It takes a strong team to pull off the range of events that we have planned and I'm so proud to be a part of that team and thank them for all of their work!
Whether you are new to Sokol SF or whether you are a tried and true Sokol, we hope to see you this spring!
Nazdar!
Linda Janourova
President
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Sokol SF Calendar of Events |
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April 2, 2022
Sokolske hudebni odpoledne
April 9, 2022 @ 11 am
Virtual Easter cooking presentation
April 10, 2022 @ 11am
Hike in the Mt. Diablo Foothills
April 10, 2022 @ 2 pm
Easter egg decorating and "pomlázka" braiding class
May 7, 2022 @ 6:30pm
San Francisco Symphony
A. Dvorak Symphony 9th
From the New World with pre-concert reception and lecture
May 7 - 8, 2022
Family overnight camping in Portola Valley, CA
May 14 - 15, 2022
Visit to San Diego Cesko-Moravsko-Slovensky Folklorni Festival in La Mesa, CA
May 22, 2022
Hike and visit to Filoli Gardens, Woodside, CA
June 11, 2022
Children's Day Picnic at Lake Chabot - planned in cooperation with the Czech School of California
October 8, 2022
Celebrate Day of Czech Culture, Orinda, CA
October 30, 2022
Picnic and Sokolsky Beh Republiky, Ryders Park, San Mateo, CA
All event times listed are in Pacific Time
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Sokolske hudebni odpoledne
Saturday April 2, 2022 @ 2pm
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Lets meet again! The last Music afternoon was very successful and many people asked to repeat the event.
Most of you know what to expect by now and some of you are joining us for the first time. Don't hesitate and bring your musical instruments with you.
There will be guitars, base guitar, maybe violin and ukulele. There is plenty of seating in the back yard, enough shade from the umbrellas, music song books, toys for the kids. There is always enough food and wine. Please feel free to bring some snacks/deserts to share with others.
Let's make it simple and low key. The grill will be ready to roast whatever you might bring for yourself. If you want to secure a grilled sausage with mustard and bread please RSVP
For this event, there will be about 4ft of apple strudel made by the host! Come early and claim your piece :)
We will start gathering at 2pm as we typically entertain and include the kids in music first. As the day progresses, some kids get tired of singing and playing music and our young adults will take over the repertoar and start picking some good nostalgic songs.
Kids of all ages are welcome! We don't discriminate wine of any color. Masks aren't required.
No need to register, just come over and join us!
The weather has been ordered ;)
RSVP via txt: 206-556-1726
Event place: 1542 Melba Ct, Mountain View
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Virtual Czech Easter Cooking Demonstration
Saturday April 9, 2022 @ 11 am Pacific Time
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Easter is just around the corner.
And we love to celebrate our Czech Easter traditions. As we cannot cover them all, but we will focus on a few.
Beranek "Easter lamb cake" should not be missing from any Easter table. It represents spring and rebirth. Lea will show you how to bake Beranek.
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We would also like to share with you how to make Mazanec, Milena will show you how to bake this traditional Czech Easter bread.
For those who are not familiar with pomlazka tradition - boys walk from house to house and chase and gently whip (more as a gesture) girls with pomlazka (braided willow twigs) while reciting traditional Easter carols. Its original purpose and symbolic meaning is to chase away illness and bad spirits and to bring health and youth for the rest of the year to everyone who is whipped. It is similar to trick-or-treating but instead of candy they receive colored and decorated hard-boiled eggs - egg as a symbol of life and spring.
And what to do with all the hard-boiled eggs after Easter? Denisa will show you how to use them to make Deviled eggs and Egg salad.
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Hike in Mt. Diablo Foothills
Sunday April 10, 2022 @ 11 am
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Bring your kids and dogs for a moderate 3.7-mile hike in the rolling hills
of Shell Ridge Open Space.
This is wildflower time!
Dogs are allowed off-leash in this area.
Bring your picnic lunch as we can sit and enjoy our food together about halfway on our hike.
We will meet at the trailhead at the end of Whitecliff Way, Walnut Creek.
Take Hwy 680 to Rudgear exit and turn left on Whitecliff Way
after you go under the high voltage electrical lines (about 1.5 mile from the 680 exit).
Parking is free and on the street.
If you run late, can't find us or have any questions you can call 925-683-1853
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Easter egg decorating and pomlázka braiding class
Sunday, April 10 @ 2 pm
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You will learn two traditional techniques of Easter egg decoration.
First one is decorating eggs with hot wax. It could be colored wax on white eggs or white wax on colored eggs. It is the perfect technique for both - blown out and hard boiled eggs.
The second technique is inspired by blue onion china and traditionally was done with blue ink. It is a much “younger” technique, as blue color was initially a color for mourning. Later on this color was associated with heaven and blue eggs became more popular. For this technique we would use a blue Sharpie and it is best used on blown out eggs.
You will also learn how to braid 8-strand “pomlázka” using willow twigs.”Pomlázka” can be used as a decorative element, can be hung on the wall, decorated with ribbons and even blown out eggs. It could also be planted and grow very fast into a beautiful tree.
This event will be hosted at the house of our Sokol member Blanka at South San Jose. She is able to host about 10 people. RSVP early and secure your spot. We will be decorating and braiding indoors and outdoors. The exact location of this course will be shared with those registered for the event. Doors will open at 2pm.
Feel free to bring your favorite snack, drink, dish or meal to share. Water and all required materials for the class would be provided. Bring your family and kids. They can learn how to decorate eggs and braid “pomlázka” too. They can decorate paper eggs and sidewalk with chalk.
We are going to follow the general covid safety rules, but outdoors or while actively eating or drinking, you won’t need a mask
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San Francisco Symphony performs
A. Dvorak Symphony 9th
From the New World
Saturday, May 7, 2022 @ 7 pm
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San Francisco Symphony
presents
Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony
Sokol members will enjoy
a pre-concert wine reception and
a lecture by Lukáš Janata at 6:30 pm
at Wattis Room at
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
The lecture will start at 6:45 pm promptly
After the lecture, we will be guided to our seats.
The concert will follow at 7:30 pm.
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Family Camping Trip and táborák in Portola Valley
Saturday May 7, 2022 to Sunday May 8, 2022
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Please mark you calendars and save the date. More information coming soon! |
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Visit to San Diego
Cesko-Moravsko-Slovensky Folklorni Festival
in La Mesa, California
Saturday May 14, 2022 to Sunday May 15, 2022
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Join us for a field trip to Southern California!
On Saturday we will spend the afternoon visiting the festival in La Mesa and on Sunday we will have a breakfast together; after breakfast we will go to the International Village in Balboa park in San Diego. There is a Czech and Slovak House where we can sample traditional pastries and coffee. During the afternoon, hosts willingly answer questions about our two republics and provide information about the artifacts on display. The rest of your weekend will be at leisure.
To join us for a weekend of fun in Southern California you need to do the following:
- register by clicking on the registration button
- book you hotel - we suggest Holiday Inn, 8000 Parkway Dr, La Mesa, CA 91942 as it is very close to the venue, but you can pick your own
- transportation is up to you
- we will meet at the festival at 1 PM to get the table
- we will have a table together and enjoy the festival on Saturday afternoon and San Diego on Sunday
Sokol SF has limited funding set aside for Sokol SF members planning on attending the festival. Sokol SF will cover the ticket cost to the festival and a small portion of travel expenses (amount dependent on number of participants).
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Hike in Golden Gate Park
Sunday, March 6, 2022
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Every year we visit Golden Gate Park in March and lay flowers
at the bust of
the first Czechoslovak
president T. G. Masaryk
March 7, 1850 - Sept. 14, 1937
We had over 20 people attending this year! One of our hikers was paní Svatava, who as a child saw T.G. Masaryk in person!
We enjoyed a beautiful spring day 3-mile walk from Stowe Lake to the Rose Garden, where we laid our flowers and Jara shared the story of Sokol San Francisco donating the bust to the Golden Gate Park.
We continued on and visited the Hamon Tower Observation Level at the De Young Museum, walked past the Japanese Gardens back to the Stowe Lake where we crossed the charming old bridge, watched the turtles play in the water, and finished our walk by the waterfalls. Then back to the Boathouse at Stowe Lake.
It is so nice to see that the bust has been repaired after being damaged by a fallen tree. A new walkway has also been added.
Thank you Golden Gate Park!
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Virtual Speaker Series
"Coronavirus Update:
new data, new drugs & vaccines,
long-term effects and outlook”
Wednesday, March 23, 2022 @ 7pm
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During the month of March, as part of its ongoing Speaker Series, Sokol SF welcomed two featured speakers - Petr Jansa (a returning speaker) and Rudy Beran, both of whom are Sokol SF members, as well as Senior Research Scientists at Gilead Sciences. Gilead is, of course, a local biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines.
From Petr and Rudy's presentation, guests learned all about coronaviruses and their variants, scientific developments in prevention and treatment of the virus, and the outlook of COVID-19 virus in the years to come. Rudy, who works more on the virus side, and Petr, who works more on the medical chemistry side, also answered insightful questions posed by participants who had a unique opportunity to ask the experts first-hand. We thank both Petr and Rudy for their time and for providing what one Sokol member described as "a gift" to our guests that evening.
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San Jose Sharks Czech Heritage Night
Sunday, March 20, 2022 @ 4 pm
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The Czech Heritage night brought a lot of hockey surprises!
All of us got successfully through the covid check points at the gates before the start of the game. We started watching the expected match between the San Jose Sharks and the Arizona Coyotes. The first goal opened the match at the first minute! The battle continued to 1:1, then Sharks losing 1:2 for most of the 3rd period. The last five minutes of the match the Sharks sharpened their teeth and turned the match into winning 4:2. Amazing game!
The Czech Heritage night was recognized by the hosts and our message was shown on the screen. Roughly 30 Czechs and their friends were sitting together and cheering for the team.
Covid didn't break the community spirit and the desire to come together and share the experience. Next time we should build on this energy and get together after the game in the near-by pubs.
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Czech Gathering at Crissy Field
Thursday, March 24, 2022
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It was a typical spring day in San Francisco - the sun was out, but everyone was in their winter jackets as CzechInvest, the Czech School of California and Sokol San Francisco helped welcome members of Czech startups to the Bay Area.
The startups were in town on the occasion of a tech conference, but we were glad to be part of a group of more than 30 people that met them at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge near the warming hut at Crissy Field.
We were also delighted that two very special guests, Amb. Jaroslav Olsa, Jr., the Consul General, as well as Jana Prikrylova, Trade Commissioner, both visiting from the Consulate in Los Angeles made a special appearance at the gathering.
It was a delightful afternoon and we thank CzechInvest and the Czech School for inviting us to be a part of it!
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Help Conserve Nature
Sunday, March 27, 2022 @ 9 am
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On Sunday March 27, Sokol SF together with Czech School of California organized another successful "Conserve the Nature" event at the Candlestick Point Park.
13 adults and 13 kids worked really hard to remove over 2000 invasive Gazania plants while having a nice time together.
We saw several native species and one lizard stayed with us and watched our work for the whole time. Ranger James told us how this tiny western fence lizards protect the California ecosystem (and us as well) from the Lyme disease (you can read about it in this article: https://daily.jstor.org/theres-something-about-lizard-blood/).
Thank you all and see you next time.
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Czech-style summer camp for parents with children
June 12 - 19, 2022, Lake Tahoe Area, CA
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Join a group of dedicated parents
for camping where everybody speaks Czech.
The goal is to simulate Czech summer camps, with Czech games, songs, stories, and atmosphere.
A group campsite is reserved at
Sugar Pine Point State Park, by Lake Tahoe.
Let me know if you would be interested in joining us.
Space is limited.
This event is not organized by Sokol SF.
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Postavy a příběhy České Kalifornie
Otakar Suchan -
první československý konzul v San Francisku
By Amb. Jaroslav Olša, Jr. Czech Consul General
Po vyhlášení nezávislého Československa založila nová vláda už na podzim 1918 první vyslanectví ve Washingtonu a generální konzulát v New Yorku. Vzhledem k počtu krajanů bylo jasné, že tyto dva úřady nebudou stačit. Proto na jaře 1920 byl založen další v Chicagu.V první polovině roku 1920 navíc bylo ještě rozhodnuto, že do Spojených států vyrazí celá skupina nových konzulů, o níž pak široce psaly krajanské noviny: „Za tím účelem přijíždí s lodí ́Aquitania ́ z Česko- slovenska 19 konsulátních úředníků, kteří vesměs budou přiděleni konsulátní službě československé ve Spoj. Státech.“ Jeden z těchto konzulárních úředníků byl Otakar Suchan, který vyrazil zřídit úřad v San Francisku.
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Note: For those of our subscribers who may not be able to read the Czech language, we recommend using the following online translator developed by researchers at Charles University called CUBBIT:
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Madeleine Albright, First Woman to Serve as Secretary of State, Dies at 84
Madeleine K. Albright, a child of Czech refugees who fled from Nazi invaders and Communist oppressors and then landed in the United States, where she flourished as a diplomat and the first woman to serve as secretary of state, died on Wednesday in Washington. She was 84.
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Česká Katolická Mise v Kalifornii
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Dear Friends,
You are cordially Invited to Czech, Slovak and English Easter Service to celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection .
Jste srdečně zváni na Českou Velikonoční Službu oslavy vzkříšení Pána Ježíše Krista.
Please see the website or Věstník for the dates and places for Holy week and April mass schedule.
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March 28th marked 430th anniversary
of Jan Amos Komensky's birth
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Všichni na jednom jevišti velikého světa stojíme, a cokoliv se tu koná, všech se týče.“ I to je jedna z nestárnoucích myšlenek Jana Amose Komenského, od jehož narození uplynulo 28. března 430 let. Osobnost jednoho z největších českých myslitelů, spisovatelů a pedagogů připomínají různé akce v Česku i v zahraničí. |
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30 years of McDonald's in Czech Republic |
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The first McDonald's branch in Prague’s Vodičkova Street, which opened on March 20, 1992, still sells its classic burgers and fries in an almost unchanged interior. However, in response to current trends, vegetarian burgers and salads have also enriched the menu.
Back in 1992, many people saw the opening of the Western fast-food chain as a turning point in history, a definitive end to the Communist era. Iron barriers even had to be placed near the restaurant to prevent excited customers from disrupting traffic on one of the city’s busy thoroughfares.
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Meet Czech-Amercan TV (CATVUSA) |
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We are a compatriot non-profit organization based in the USA broadcasting cultural- educational TVA shows. Czech-American TV (CATVUSA) has been educating people all over the world about the Czech Republic for free for almost 19 years. The content of our programs is focused on several categories, namely the introduction of the Czech regions, the highlighting of Czech traditions, and the presentation of Czech dishes.
Our mission is to educate and inform non-Czechs about Czech culture, traditions and folklore from Bohemia, Moravia, and Moravian-Silesia. The program is broadcast on cable TV in sixty US cities and reaches over 2.6 million households. Thousands of visitors also watch our broadcasts on the Internet, where we reachover 100,000 viewers worldwide on a yearly basis.
Our broadcasts are available to the public for FREE, stored in the archive of Czech-American TV web pages.
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Co dělat s českým daňovým přiznáním,
když žijete v cizině
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Česká republika uplatňuje vůči svým občanům celosvětovou daňovou povinnost. To znamená, že příjmy z celého světa jste povinni zdanit (také) v Česku. Toto poměrně drakonické pravidlo je ale v praxi kompenzováno dohodami o zamezení dvojího zdanění, která má Česko uzavřeno s desítkami zemí světa |
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Slovak Parliament passed the 2nd vote on the Amendment to the Slovak Citizenship Act |
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On Monday March 7, Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová signed the much anticipated Slovak Citizenship Act (no. 40/1993 Coll) into law.
This means that some 2 million Slovak descendants in North America alone will be able to apply for Slovak citizenship as of April 1st 2022.
Are you a Slovak descendant? Do you want Slovak citizenship?
Time to gather all of your paperwork!
Thank you to our friends at Global Slovakia for the updates.
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A Woman to Remember:
Marie Provazníková (1890 –1991)
Sun, April 10, 2022 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT
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Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences(SVU), New York Chapter just announced a new event and we wanted to make sure you know!
Join artist Anna VA Polesny (granddaughter) and playwright Petr Dudek, in conversation with specialists, family and friends remembering and celebrating the life and work of MARIE PROVAZNIKOVA, a courageous woman, progressive Czechoslovak Sokol* leader, 1948 Berlin Olympic gold medal-winning team leader, French Legion of Honor recipient, powerful proponent of women's rights, and visionary innovator in international women's gymnastics as President of the Women's Technical Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation in 1946-8, and one of the first political defectors at an Olympic game. A victim of the Cold War, Provazníková continued dedicating her life to democracy, tirelessly working until her death at the age of 100.
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Easter in Slovakia
Sunday, April 3rd at 8am Pacific Time
/ 11am Eastern Time / 5pm Central European Time
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Our friends at Global Slovakia invite you to their free online presentation.
Easter is the most important Christian holiday of the year. In Slovakia, the season brims with customs and traditions. Here, the folk culture and Christianity create a truly unique set of traditions. Passed down through generations, many are still alive and practiced today.
Join us and our special guest Dr Silvia Letavajova, an ethnologist and expert on folk customs, to venture into the curious, ancient and even controversial customs of Slovak Easter.
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Czech Radio’s benefit concert for Ukraine |
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This week, Czech Radio hosted a benefit concert for Ukraine, which saw the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra perform famous Czech and Ukrainian compositions in Prague’s Rudolfinum concert hall. The event raised nearly three million crowns, which were sent to the NGO People in Need. |
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Sokol San Francisco is a non-profit organization operating as an independent unit of the American Sokol Organization (ASO) and its Pacific District. Sokol SF provides physical, educational, and cultural programs for all who are interested in Czech, Moravian, and Slovak culture and their history, as well as those who are bonded by a common heritage and ethnic identity.
Sokol credo is “a sound mind in a sound body”
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