Magyar News, 2001. szeptember-2002. augusztus (12. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2002-07-01 / 11-12. szám
Pointing out similarities in one of the needleworks respondence courses in Hungarian embroidery and has helped document the history of Ithaca's Hungarian community. She learned and perfected the knowledge of the English language. Published many articles, and ventured into writing books. She also took a sideline, Hungarian cooking, and had a beautifully designed cook book printed. Hungarian recipes in the English language. This time in Connecticut, the lecture and the workshop were held at the friendly social hall of the Weston Fire Department. The topic was the open lace embroidery of Kalocsa. Along two sides of the hall countless number of Hungarian embroidery was exhibited.. Some were from Kalocsa, then there were the Matyó, Sárköz, Kalotaszeg, new styles and museum pieces. It was a rich and heartwarming scene specially for my Hungarian eye. Enikő started with a slideshow giving an overall view, pointing out substantial details. She was also talking about how to collect and preserve old pieces. It was truly educational. After the lecture the group had a pot-luck luncheon, here and there some Hungarian recipe in the cooking was recognizable. The following day the audience was put to work. Everybody received an The workshop at “work". embroidery kit for the Kalocsa design and with expert fingers started to work on it. The way they were doing their work one would think that they all were Hungarian ladies. After scratching the surface it turned out that some of the ladies actually had a Hungarian background. Even some spoke Hungarian, and I found subscribers to the Magyar News among them. Joseph F. Balogh Rev. Albert Elswick of Albany, Ny, is trying to complete the identification of the men in this picture, which belonged to his grandfather, Albert Jurcsak (later anglicized to Yurchak). Albert Jurcsak was bom at Salgótarján, Nograd Megye, Hungary in 1883, and died in Bridgeport in 1955. Here he married Zsófia Nagy, a native of Szabolcsveresmart, Szabolcs Megye. Their daughter Helen was Rev. Elswick’s mother. Albert Jurcsak was a musician, a lifelong member of the Bridgeport Musician’s Union. He played in several Hungarian and American Bands and orchestras. One was the Wheeler & Wilson Band, which took its name from the old Bridgeport Sewing Machine Company, later bought out by Singer. According to Reverend’s mother, this picture was taken about 1912-1913. The first three men from the left are Geza Ratzenberger, Joseph Ratzenberger, and Albert Jurcsak. Do you know who the two on the right are? According to Reverend’s mother Geza and Joseph were brothers. One was the grandfather, the other was the great uncle of the Bridgeport native, John Ratzenberger, better known as “Cliff” the Mailman on the TV series “Cheers”. She couldn’t recall who was the father, and who was the uncle. I hope there is someone among the readers who can identify the two unknown men. Rev. Albert Elswick: I have many reminiscences of growing up in the old West End, where my family lived from 1897 to 1964, and have made three trips to visit in Hungary , and have done extensive genealogical research which has traced my grandparents' ancestors back to the early 1700's. I guess there is plenty to write about among all those things! Page 7
