Fraternity-Testvériség, 1981 (59. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1981-10-01 / 4. szám

that is, the solemn assembly of all Hungarian Reformed people — the ministers and lay-people, and that the Federation was to assist in carrying out the charitable work of the churches and the Federation in turn, was also to aid our churches in their development and to hasten their strive for unity. These principles are our guide and condition in any and all attempts for consolidation or renewal.

CONSOLIDATION:

The Board of Directors of the previous administration brought the William Penn Association resolution on the consolidation of the two remaining Hungarian Fraternal organizations, to the floor of the 1980 Convention. It was resolved that the President Arpad George appoint a factfinding committee which would present its findings to the Board of Directors. The resolution of the Convention directed a decision on the part of the Board of Directors at the spring meeting, 1982. If the Board would decide in favor of the Consolidation, a special Convention is to be called and the decision will be made by the delegates, — in favor of or against consolidation. The issue to be kept in mind is: Either to go on facing the almost impossible task of stopping the loss of membership on a large scale and the sharp decline in new business, or, to unite the two existing Hungarian fraternal societies into a new strong federation based on the fraternal principles of the founding fathers and more equipped to meet the competition of modern times.

I am sure that our members follow the instruction of the 1980 Convention and the issue of the consolidation with great interest. Since we have a representative Board of Directors, I would urge you to share your thoughts and feelings about this issue with the Director in your area or with me personally.

FIELD RENEWAL:

A Field Force Committee was created by the Board of Directors. It will make recommendations to the Board concerning improvement in production in an effort to stop the decline in membership and the decline in insurance in force. I am happy to report that we were able to interest new people to to work in the field. They will be introduced to the membership in our next issue. It is worth mentioning that a step was taken toward the continuous education of our field force. The challenge of the future is to turn the tremendous amount of good will toward our Federation and Bethlen Home into supportive, creative production.

IMRE BERTALAN

THE BIG BOYS of BETHLEN HOME

by Denise Dusza Weber

The Bethlen Home in Ligonier celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in September, 1981. The following article about the Home is the result of interviews with two of the early residents of the Home, the Reverend Frank Erdey and Stephen Dusza. These two, along with Joe Horvath and Bill Kantor were known as the “big boys” or the “four corners”. Even though their ages were only twelve, thirteen and fourteen, these boys contributed much to the success of the Home.

The Reverend Alexander Kalassy, a Pittsburgh pastor, often conducted services on Sunday afternoons in the small mining towns in the Pittsburgh vicinity. In these towns he was confronted with the problem of how to handle the needs of the many orphans he had seen. Many of these children were orphaned because of mine explosions and because of the influenza epidemic. Thus the need for an orphanage was apparent and the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, a fraternal society purchased a building in the hills of Ligonier, PA. The Reverend Kalas- say became the first superintendent.

At first the children had to have at least one parent dead, but later the rules were changed and some children were accepted as board-paying residents. For instance, Frank Erdey arrived in June of 1924 to study for confirmation. His father wanted him to be confirmed by Rev. Kal- assay, his former pastor. When it was time to return to Pittsburgh in September, Frank asked his father to allow him to remain. His father had hoped that Frank would decide to stay even though he had made arrangements for Frank to live in Pittsburgh with a family who had lived in the same village in Hungary. Frank remained at the home for five years.

On the other hand, Steve Dusza, the only Catholic at the home, was a board-paying resident. He arrived from Vintondale in February, 1926 and remained for two years. Steve was recommended by Mrs. Adam Antal, a friend of Rev.Kalassay.

Since there were 110 children at the home in the winter, and about 185 in the summer for the Hungarian Summer School, the home tried to be as self-sufficient as possible. To feed all these children the Bethlen Home worked its 110 acre farm and also leased fields as far away as six or seven miles. This is where the “big boys” came into the picture. These boys worked on the farm in addition to going to school daily and to church school on Saturday. Their day consisted of awakening at 4 a.m. to milk thirty to forty cows, to slop the hogs and to feed the chickens before breakfast and school. Because these “big boys” did a man’s job, they were fed like men. While the younger children ate puffed rice for breakfast, the “big boys” at e bacon and eggs.

5