Fraternity-Testvériség, 2011 (89. évfolyam, 1. szám)
2011-01-01 / 1. szám
Spring 2011 ity by allowing use of the Kossuth House as “The Center of Hungarian American Life” in our nation’s capital, the extent of which has been amazing and impossible to quantify. This is the Hungarian American Coalition’s 20th anniversary and twenty years ago, the first Mikulás dinner was hosted in the upstairs room of the Kossuth House. Max was not present then, but he’s been told that it was a historic occasion. HRFA is a founding organization member of HAC and its first Chairman was Rev. Imre Bertalan. Since then, HRFA has hosted every HAC annual meeting and board meeting in the Kossuth House for the last 20 years, so it feels like home to all HAC’s board members. Thus, the history of HRFA and HAC is linked by HRFA’s generosity and support which has helped HAC’s success in many ways. On a personal note, Max admits that HRFA and its local Hungarian community has made his life in Washington rich and filled with cultural experiences. He’s quite confident that without HRFA and the Kossuth house’s presence, he would not have been as interested or active in the Hungarian community as he is today. Max says, “Every person of consequence who comes to Washington from Hungary comes to HRFA’s Kossuth House.” Former HRFA Director Michael Pauli and his wife, Branch Manager (501, 502, and 250) Margaret, have been active since 1976, first with the St. George Catholic Union that merged with HRFA in 1989. Then the Paulis joined HRFA, and for years, they ran the MariaPocs Fraternal Day held on the grounds of the Basilian Fathers of MariaPocs in Matawan, NJ. That day of true fraternalism incorporated Hungarian music, dancers, and foods. In 1989, Michael was elected to HRFA’s Board of Directors and became Chair of the audit and examining committee. With his background as a general contractor, Michael was also asked to serve on the building committee for the new Bethlen Home so they traveled from New Jersey to Ligonier, PA for many months until the new nursing home was completed. Margaret grew particularly fond of Julie Skovira at Ligonier Gardens and crocheted Xmas ornaments and jar covers for the residents; their favorites were the red, white, and green ornaments with the Hungarian emblem on the top. Margaret also sold crafts for Olga Darnay at the Hungarian Festival in New Brunswick for many years and attended the concert at twilight at the Hungarian Heritage Center at the end of the day. Margaret also involved others with the Warm-Up America project, hand-made hats for newborn infants, and donated an afghan to the Ronald McDonald House. In addition, she began the genealogy component of HRFA’s website, which was the most visited aspect of the website. Margaret helped Hungarian members find their ancestors through meticulous research and hours spent at the National Archives in Washington, DC. She began with a person’s family tree (csaladfa) and worked with the Family History Center to comb marriage records which she found contained the ages of both parents’ birthdates so one could determine lineage. She also studied church records from the 1700’s for Timar, Szabolcs, Megye, Damoc, and Komloska in Semplen Megye and Makkosjanosi in Bereg Megye, now in Ukraine. Thus, fraternalism to the Paulis meant fully participating in HRFA and realizing that Hungarian members truly care about their heritage to the point where many tracked down their ancestors and documented their lineage. Jim Szuch, HRFA BOD member, believes fraternalism is a sense of belonging to a group with common concerns and feeling like being part of an extended family. The fraternal activity that has impacted him the most is HRFA’s involvement, support, and development of the Bethlen Home and orphanage, now the Bethlen Communities, an outstanding retirement residence. His parents adopted this home as their mission, and Jim financially contributed to a room in their name as a memorial to their loyalty and hard work. He says, “I wish you could have seen their eyes when they saw the ‘Bill and Helen Szuch’ plaque on the outside of the door.” Jim believes that fraternalism is ultimately about giving back and taking the skills set that we have and are blessed with and sharing it with others. For example, he has served on the board for eight years and, during his time, has even been a board chairman of the Bethlen Communities and HRFA for a short time. In the ‘50’s, he remembers seeing the orphans there and now he realizes the commitment, effort, and struggle that evolved to make that home a first-class retirement community. To him, that’s what fraternalism is all about. Jim says, “We have all had mentors, teachers and coaches that have helped us. It’s time to give back. Remember that life is a team sport, so we have to get off the bench and back in the game.” And that’s what Jim Szuch has tried to do to support HRFA’s fraternal efforts. 8 Director Jim Szuch Mr. and Mrs. Michael Pauli, Jr.
