Magyar Herald, 1995 (1. szám)
1995 / 1. szám
PAGE 4 MAGYAR HERALD 1st QUARTER, 1995 Magyar Club Helps to Strengthen Business Relations with Hungary by István Tóth The Magyar Club is proud to organize and co-host along with The Cleveland Council on World Affairs and The Greater Cleveland Growth Association a special reception for the Hungarian delegation attending the White House Trade Conference in Cleveland at 7:00 p.m. on Friday the thirteenth of January at the Stouffers Tower City Plaza Hotel. The purpose of the reception is to facilitate the strengthening of business relations with Hungary. In order for transformation to market economy, privatization of previously state-owned enterprises and customer oriented democratic and economic institutions to continue successfully in Hungary the continuing support of U.S. businesses and Hungarian American professional organizations, such as The Magyar Club and their business friends will have a unique opportunity to meet the highly distinguished members of the Hungarian delegation to discuss business issues and to strengthen business relations. So please help us strengthen business relations with Hungary by positively responding to the invitation you received in the mail and bring a business friend who wants to capitalize on this unique opportunity. The Hungarian delegation will be led by László Pál, Minister of Industry and Trade, who will make a short presentation on Hungary after five years of her democratic transformation and on the main targets and priorities of the economic policy of the second democratically elected Hungarian government. György Bánlaki, the new Ambassador of Hungary to the USA, and a delegation of 27 high ranking government and business leaders and experts from key sectors of the Hungarian economy will join Minister Pál at this reception. □□□ The Trials and Tribulations of The Magyar Club When The Magyar Club of Cleveland, Ohio was formalized in 1924, no one gave any real thought to how long it would last. Its main purpose was to bind together Hungarian-Americans of various professional backgrounds with common interests and to continue this cohesiveness as long as possible. The United States was known as the great "melting pot" of the world where people of diverse ethnic ancestry would become assimilated into one large group of individuals having the same fabric of thought, goals, motivations and so on. Such a tremendous force would, of course, eventually obliterate the ethnic character of the many sub-groups comprising our nation. The wonderful heritage of the immigrant Italians, Poles, Germans and others (including Hungarians) was doomed to die. It was fashionable to be a "true" American and hide your ancestral background from your friends. People changed their names, joined "American" clubs and churches, and resorted to other actions to conceal their inherited identities. (Of course, this did not apply to everyone.) It seemed that it would be only a matter of time before The Magyar Club would succumb to this movement and die a peaceful death; however, the powerful forces behind ethnic traditions did not allow this demise to take place. Yes, there were times when the future of our club was in dire jeopardy. At one time, our membership had dwindled to the vanishing point and our treasury was non-existent for all practical purposes. Just as it was about to take its last breath, a marvelous resurrection took place. This reversal in the fortunes of our club was due not only to the resiliency of our members who refused to give up the ghost, but also to a great awakening of ethnic pride all over America. Bumper stickers jubilantly proclaimed "I'm proud to be Italian", "I'm proud to be Polish" and, of course, "I'm proud to be Hungarian." The pendulum has started to swing in the other direction. No longer is it necessary to pretend that your ancestors aren't Hungarians! The Magyar Club's diamond jubilee is only a few years away. We pause now, momentarily, to catch our breath and celebrate our seventieth anniversary. Our club is robust with a stable membership and a treasury in the thousands of dollars. With everyone's help, we can loudly proclaim "Long Live The Magyar Club!" Respectfully submitted, Dr. Dezső J. Ladányi RS. There is only one person remaining in The Magyar Club who has lived its long history from the beginning ot the present time. He is Edward M. Kováchy, a nonagenarian. i Here is another challenge! The Cleveland Magyar Club, with the purpose of perpetuating Hungarian culture, abounds in talent. We will be more than happy to publish the Hungarian translation of the poem "Living Memory" by E.B. de Vito that is found on the second page of this issue.
