The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1980-04-01 / 4. szám
Page 4 THE EIGHTH TRIBE April, 1980 Introducing: With great pleasure we announce an addition to the Editorial Staff of the Eighth Tribe, in the person of Dr. Victor Molnár of McKeesport, Pa., a second generation American Hungarian. His column “Hungarian Varieties” will appear bi-monthly. We believe the readers will enjoy his column. —Editor. Dr. Victor William Molnár, the son of Joseph and the late Anna Barillo Molnár, was born in North Braddock, Pa. While a toddler, his parents moved to the lower East side of New York City and he spent his early childhood there. Then they moved to McKeesport and Dr. Molnár began and completed his education here, graduating from McKeesport High School in June, 1946. During these years his home was always filled with music for his maternal grandfather, András Barillo, played the violin and was cantor at the Transfiguration of Our Lord Hungarian Byzantine Catholic Church, McKeesport; the windup “victrola” record player was in use almost every day, and his father, who had made his own zithercitera, often played it in his spare time. He attended the University of Pittsburgh from 1946-49, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree, and from its School of Dentistry, from 1949-53, receiving the rank of Lieutenant in the U.S. Army the same day he was awarded his Doctor of Dental Science degree. He was sent to Europe and was stationed at the U.S. Air Force Base in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he stayed from December 1953 to October 1955. During this time his interest in things Hungarian grew even more. Returning to McKeesport he opened his dental office in December 1955. Four months later in April 1956 he was asked to produce an international radio program “Music with the Gypsy Touch” by the management of Radio WMCK (now WIXZ). This 60- minute program was aired Sundays at 4:00 p.m., and lasted till December 1958, when WMCK adopted a rock-and-roll format and discontinued all ethnic and religious broadcasting. The following year he started the Hungarian Varieties program, Sundays at 1:30 p.m. in the Fifth Avenue studios of Radio WEDO. Dr. Molnár belongs to the Transfiguration of Our Lord Hungarian Byzantine (Greek) Catholic Church in McKeesport, and has been on its Board of Trustees continuously since 1956. He is also a charter member of the Byzantine Catholic Serra Club of Pittsburgh, since 1959. The Serra Club is an organization of Catholic men. whose main purpose is to promote vocations to the priesthood and the religious. Likewise, he has been a past president, vice president, secretary and a member of the board of directors here, and currently serves as editor of its monthly newsletter. Dr. Molnár has also served as Serra Governor for the entire Western Pennsylvania area, including Erie. When the Heritage Institute of Pittsburgh was formed in March 1974, Dr. Molnár, as producer of the Hungarian Varieties program became a charter member and currently serves as vice-president of this volunteer association of ethnic broadcasters. He has produced eighteen special Hungarian broadcasts in the past for the Living Heritage radio series, that is now aired Wednesday evenings at 8:15 over WYEP 91.5 FM, under the auspices of the H.B.I. Dr. Molnár takes great pleasure in traveling and has been in Europe, Asia and Africa. He has travelled to Europe eleven times and visited Hungary on all but two occasions, writing in depth about his personal observations in the radio newsletter which he published from July 1963 to April 1978. In July 1975, Dr. Molnár volunteered, after a disastrous fire had ruined most of the records and tapes at Radio WDUQ-FM, to produce a weekly sixty minute international musical program entitled “Music from Europe”. WDUQ-FM is a public radio station at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh. Originally “Music from Europe” was aired Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Shortly afterwards the time was changed to 6:00 p.m., and this Spring it was moved to Sundays at 1:00 p.m., when it is currently broadcast. DR. VICTOR MOLNÁR
