Verhovayak Lapja, 1937. január-június (20. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1937-06-26 / 26. szám

PAGE 6. June 26? 1937 IJerhovayak-Jgpja I LEARNED TO LOVE THE CICÁNYS AT SZEGED LETTER OF THANKS During the passed Satur­day, June 19th, we notified everyone adjudged a winner in our steamship contest, by telegram. The good news, no doubt, created great hap­piness and joy to their re­cipients. Before closing the present edition of our paper, we re­ceived a letter and a tele­gram, both of which serve as proof of our above state­ment. Mr. Kalman Erdeky ex­pressed his appreciation as follows: Pittsburgh, Pa., June 19, 1937. iVerhovay F. I. Association, Standard Life Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Gentlemen: The campaign for new members Ss making history in the lives of the older citizens of Hungarian origin and their native born child­ren. Twenty-five contestants are to visit beautiful Hungary — a­­mong these lucky ones myself — at the expence of your progress­ive Association as their reward for obtaining the allotted number of new members. We shall not only have the time of our young lives, but the reception arranged for us at Budapest, and the program pre­pared for seeing and studying the most worth-while sights and in­stitutions under highly competent guidance will not only instill in us the feeling of devotion to the land of our parentage, but will add to our American schooling by inspiring us to take up the study of Hungarian music, art, and literature, thus widening our culture as American citizens. Sincerely your, Kalman J. Erdeky. Miss Charlotte Mersky Detroit, Mich, sent us the following; telegram: ‘‘I cannot express my ap­preciation enough nor can I ever fully thank the Verho­vay for this wonderful op­portunity. I shall prepare for the trip.” in the comparative safety of an office pays the same rate as the man who labors in the tlepth of a coal mine or works in the proximity of molten metals. May we call your atten­tion to the fact that these ap­plication forms distributed to the Secretaries should be used only by those who are already members. The new members joining the Verho­­vay beginning July 1, 1937, should not use these forms of application. Their regular applications for membership should be marked stajting that they desire the protec­tion of double indemnity. Naturally, the dues for do­uble indemnity should b e paid in addition to the reg­ular rates. As soon as we receive the completed applications from those who are already mem-By R. H. Markham of The Christian Science Monitor I am not saying that Szeg­ed is a lonely city, but I was lonely in it. As a matter of fact, it is a bustling capital of the Alföld, the central plains of Hungary, and has much personality. Still I was feeling rather gloomy as I walked unaccompanied down its main avenue, late one ev­ening. I was wondering what could cheer me up, when sud­denly four little gipsy boys, each with a fiddle at his chin, encompassed me and began to play. I am sure the music wasn’t of a very high order, but h was a lively ditty and the youngsters were very gay and very friendly. It was like a page from a story book as I slowly pro­ceeded down Kossuth Ave­nue, surrounded by laugh­ing, grotesquely dressed, a­­gile little brownies. What flashing dark eyes they had, and how white their teeth shone in their almost “color­ed” faces!. .. Their little feet skipped over the sidewalk and their bows flew over the vioUns. They moved like four Pied Pipers, sweeping me off to some distant Fairy-land. In fact, they were members of my own tiny band, playing music for me alone. But all concerts must end. My music imps stopped their sawing, cocked their heads on one side imploringly, and held out four grubby little hands. A nickel each seemed to them ample reward and they scampered off, leaving me alone again, to my lone­liness. Their spell remained, how­ever, and 1 decided to take my evening meal at some restaurant with gipsy music. I found one called the “Kőd­­mőn”, which means sheep­skin coat. It was a modest little place, but charm'ng and gay. On its walls hung bright pictures representing scenes from Hungarian folk­lore. There was a small gipsy orchestra, and, as always the Primas was a violinist, supported by second fiddle, ’cello, clarinet, double bass, and — last but not least — the cimbalom, one of the strangest, and at the same time most fascinating instru­ments, which i s rightly known as the soul of every "cigány” orchestra. Strories seemed to be com­ing true. The gaily dressed bers, we will issue a sup­plement which should be at­tached to and kept with the life insurance policy. If members desire ad­ditional information, kindly make inquiries from Jftmr Secreatary, District Manag­er or the Home Office. We will be glad to answer every inquiry. maidens, dashing heroes on prancing steeds, left the wall and gathered around m e. The men, who played the now lively, then sad Magyar melodies with characteristic­ally g*psy ornamentation, seemed timeless and tireless, Their feet were restless, their bodies swayed with the rhythm, their dark hands darted over cimbalom ham­mers and quivered on violin strings. Yet, what fascinated me most, was that this band of grown-ups took just as zeal­ous interest in me as their patron, as did those Ftlile brownies on Kossuth Ave­nue, whose expressions of devotion I shall never be able to forget. Here, in “KődmcfcT inn, too, leader Primas played for me ex­clusively. He had come to my table, asked for permis­sion to play the Magyar tune I like most — right into my ear. And the band followed the sways and moods of the Prímás with eager team­work :' for my own enjoy­ment. Yes, in the Hungarian city of Szeged, for a mere half-dollar or so, I had be­come a Grand Signor, and minstrels were in my court... How far and by what de­vious paths had these fas­cinating people come to en­tertain me! They had all de­parted — sometime in the fourth or fifth century — from old India. One came through Egypt (perhaps it is due. to this that the gip­sies are known as “offsprings of the Pharaohs” to Hunga­rian villagers), Others came by way of Morocco and Spa5n. Still another through the Caucasus, Russia and Wallachia, out of which Ru­mania grew during the past half century. The fiery little man with the bass viol surely must have come originally through Damascus, Greece and Serbia. The Prímás, standing by my table, waving his violin, and smiling at my reminis­cing, must have come through Teheran, Istamboul and Sofia... Not to-day or yesterday, of course. It took these wandering gipsies 1,- 500 years to get to Hungary, which they call their home, for being well treated there. Apparently they did not travel in vain through desert and rain, over sand and mud, unwelcome, unwanted, pur­sued everywhere — but here. Gipsies know no past. In­deed they disdain the past and scorn the future. They are in eternal present, ever repeating itself. It may be that these circumstances make minstrels out of them. They certainly are rhythm, they are melody, they are emotion. A gipsy is phantasy, and a gipsy is freedom. Perhaps these are the main reasons why he feels so much at home in Hungary, specializ­ing in transforming Magyar folk tunes — to meet the de­mand of the hour, be that joy or sorrow. The gipsy nour­ishes no memory, he cherish­es no aspirations. He is a continuous realization, a sen­timent ever expressed and never played out. He plays music because he likes to, dances because he likes to, and prefers to live in the open because he likes to. The gipsy is a man apart, unique among all the peo­ples. By his music, and skill as an artisan, he has built himself into the life of all south-eastern Europe. There is no wedding, no name day (an important family holi­day, celebrating one’s Chris­tian name, preferably on a patron saint’s day; a custom unknown to Anglo-Saxons, but wide-spread in Contin­ental Europe, even among Protestants), neither is any outstanding family celebra­tion imaginable without the music making of these brown bards of old. Yet, the gipsies go their own way, not intermingling, usually shunning civilization, playing and wandering along curving country roads that have no end. They take no thought for the morrow, but ride exultantly on the urge of each passing moment, wherever it may take them. . .. An in Szeged, in the very heart of the Magyar Alföld, these waving min­strels of the inn “Kődmőn” made me a gipsy, too. For that evening at least, the memory of which will always be close to my heart. For there was no morrow, and there was no yesterday in that Kossuth Avenue csár­da. Just music, Magyar songs rhythm and gaiety. HOMESTEAD, PA. BRANCH 430 DANCE A SUCCESS The 2nd Anniversary Dance held by the Home­stead Verhovay Branch No. 430 turned out very success­fully. The dance, which was held at the Club Mirador on Sunday evening. May 30th, 1937, was well attended by groups of young people from various sections of Al­legheny County. It was in­deed pleasing • to receive these guests at our dance, and it was also very gratify­ing to know that they all spent a very enjoyable eve­ning. Besides dancing to the entrancing music of Dan­ny Mason’s orchestra, an All-Star floor show was pre­sented for the benefit of the guests. The committee-in-charge of our dance join with the officers of Branch 430, in thanking all district branch­es for aiding in the success of this, our initial affair. Those persons on the corn­­mitee were: Catherine Bair, Emma Borovich, Ethel Cin­­cel, Alex Pentek and Wm. Kohut. BUFFÄLÖT N. Y. BRANCH 383 The regular monthly meeting for June was open­ed by Branch President Joseph Taylor. The minutes of the previous mont h’s meeting were read. After which Branch Secretary Stephen Kalman explained the new accidental death insurance, to the members. Which means, that in case of an accidental death, the beneficiary receives double the face value of the policy, provided that the member was a member of the new department. This addition­al insurance can be secured by anyone -who is a member at present, at a cost of only twenty-five (25) cents in ad­dition to his or her present monthly dues. How many of us spend this amount and more,, daily, without even being able to acount for it. So now is the time to give a thought, to those who will miss us the most when we are gone, at such a trifling cost to ourselves. After this was taken care of and all questions revert­ing to the matter, answered, Branch President Taylor suggested that all the offi­cers of Branches 74 and 121 should meet for the purpose of working out plans for an­other annual Buffalo event, at which all the Hungarian population is treated to a mammoth Verhovay picnic, with all the trimmings. The affair will be held on August 1st, so, all those who wish to partake in the event or to offer their assistance, are hereby asked to please com­municate with the Picnic Committee and also to at­tend the meetings of said committee. The meetings of the Picnic Committee are held at Soos’ Tavern, at the corner of Austin and Tona^­­wanda Streets. Furthermore, all members are asked to be sure to at­tend the meeting of the Branch to be held on July 13th, for the purpose of mak­ing 'arrangements for the Summer outings of the Branch. We have Lake Erie, Chestnut Ridge Park and Grand Island to choose from, for swimming parties picnics or weiner roasts. It will be up to the gang to decide. So, come one, come all, and let’s get to­gether again. Remember last summer? Come on, let’s show the stuff of which we are made, by making it even bigger this year, than last. The meeting of Branch 383 was adjourned at 10:00 P.M. Those named on the Picnic Committee, went to Johnnie’s Place to discuss the questions of transporta­tion, prizes, etc.

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