Fraternity-Testvériség, 1952 (30. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1952-08-01 / 8. szám

TESTVÉRISÉG

13

MINUTES

of the

REGULAR CONVENTION held by

THE HUNGARIAN REFORMED FEDERATION of AMERICA

in the Chapel of its Bethlen Home and in the Assembly Hall of Fort Ligonier Hotel at Ligonier, Pa.,

June 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th 1952

First Day

June 16, 1952

I. DIVINE SERVICES

Beginning at 10 o’clock A. M., the members of the Convention, together with many inmates of the Bethlen Home, participated in a solemn divine service in the Chapel of the Home. The divine service, consisting of devotions and the distribution of the Lord's Supper, was conducted by Dr. Francis Újlaki, President, and Joseph Kecskemethy, Superintendent of the Home. (Order of service: Appendix No. 1.)

II. CONVENTION

1. At 3 P. M., after the singing of “America” and the “Magyar Himnusz”, followed by prayer of Alexander Daroczy, Dr. Francis Újlaki, President, after greeting with warm words all those present,

opened the Convention.

2. Joseph Kecskemethy, Superintendent, introduced Mr. A. G. McColly, the Mayor of Ligonier, who made an eloquent testimony about the excellent work in the Bethlen Home, emphasizing the fact that during the three decades of the existence of the Institution, the authorities never heard of any complaint against its administration or inmates; nay, the magnificent direction executed by the leaders of the Federation and especially by Joseph Kecskemethy and his family, both in the development of the institution and also in the creation of social connections, made it a pride of the community.

Convention acknowledged the words of praise with grateful thanks and took a photograph of the Mayor with the officers of the Supreme Council.

3. The President reported with pleasure that two of the big national Magyar organizations, the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association and the Rákóczi Aid Association, expressed their respect toward the Federation through the personal appearance of their Central Officers delegated at the Convention, while the Ameri- can-Hungarian Sick Benefit and Insurance Company of Bridgeport and the Roman and Greek Catholic Federation conveyed their cordial greetings and best wishes in writing. The Verhovay Association was represented by John Bencze, President; Coloman Revesz, Secretary; John Szalanczy, Treasurer; John Szabó, Auditor; Samuel Gomory, Medical Director; Elmer Karay, District Manager, in whose name, after being introduced by the President of the Federation, John Bencze, President, greeted the Convention, especially expressing their appreciation to the Officers of the Federation for their exemplary activities, not simply taking part in all nation-wide undertakings of the Hungarians, but in almost every case accepting and doing the hardest part of the work, for which both in the name of his own organization and also in the name of all the other organizations participating in these movements he expressed their thanks.

The Rákóczi Association was represented by Joseph Vasas, General Secretary, and Michael Faczan, Director; and after their presentation, the General Secretary greeted the Convention with great enthusiasm and expressed his cheerful satisfaction over the fact that he can still use the Magyar language to express the feelings of his heart.

The President of fhe Convention, after thanking for the greetings, referred with satisfaction to the gratifying fact that the combined assets of the four Federations, working in fraternal cooperation, reached 28 million dollars. The Convention most cordially welcomed the distinguished visitors.

4. The President introduced Stephen E. Balogh, delegate, who also represents the American Hungarian Federations, as its General Secretary.

Convention learned with satisfaction from the warmly accepted greetings of Stephen E. Balogh, that the Magyar case, since 1851, was never received more favorably by official America than during the last year, due to the work of his Federation. The Kossuth Cenlennary may not have accomplished all its desired aims, still it stirred up and awakened the conscience of many Hungarian communities.

5. The President cordially greeted the attending representatives of the press, namely: Andrew Fay Fisher, representing the Szabadság and the Magyar Banyasz- lap; Francis Koreh, delegate of the Amerikai Magyar Népszava; László Dienes de Ikafalva, the representative of the Federation of Hungarian Weeklies; Alexander Gondos, veteran contributor to many Hungarian papers, and Dr. Alexander Toth, editor of the Reformátusok Lapja, and Joseph Urban, editor of the Magyar Egyház.

Convention acknowledged the representations.

6. Bertalan Szathmary, pastor, in the name of John Calvin Church of Perth Amboy, expressed the grateful thanks of that congregation for the $22,000 loan, which was granted by this Federation in the year of 1939,

I