Verhovayak Lapja, 1951 (34. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1951 / Verhovay Journal
PAGE 2 Verhov ayJournal May 16, 1951 Inspiring Ceremonies, Excellent Program Mark 45th Jubilee of Detroit Branch 36 — Joseph Marczis and Stephen Lukacs honored by grateful membership. — The auditorium of the Hungarian Reformed Church at Dearborn and Vanderbilt in Detroit, Mich., was filled to capacity on Sunday, April 22, for the observance of the 5th anniversary of the organization of Branch 36. Verhovay’s largest branch. An excellent, three-hour program jprovided much inspiration and splendid entertainment to the 300 guests who attended the memorable affair in conjunction with which Joseph Marczis and Stephen Lukacs, two of the outstanding officer's of the Branch, also were honored by the Association as well as. the grateful branchmembership. John Bartus, Jr., youthful President of Branch 36, opened the ceremonies with cordial greetings vo the assembled guests. Upon his request, Mrs. Leslie Nyiri led the audience in the singing of the National Anthem. The Rev. Jacob Becker, pastor of the Hungarian Evangelical Lutheran Church, offered grace, after which a delicious dinner, prepared by the ladies of Branch 36, was quickly and efficiently served by a host of young ladies. Following- the dinner, Mr. Bartus introduced Vice-President Julius Macker, Chairman of the Board of Directors, as the Master of Ceremonies. Mr. Macker greeted the audience and stresed the threefold significance of the celebration marking the 45th anniversary of Branch 36, the 35th service anniversary of Mr. Joseph Marczis, present comptroller of the Branch, and the 25th serviceanniversary of District Manager Stephen Lukacs, as Manager of the Branch. He concluded his remarks with introducing Miss Betty Elo who has recently arrived from the D.P. camps in Europe and is a new member of the Association. She charmingly recited a poem dedicated to the Verhov? y and was warmly applauded by the audience. HISTORICAL REVIEW Mr. Stephen Lukacs, District Manager, read the history of Branch 36, heard with great interest by the appreciative audience. He revealed that Branch 36 was founded by 18 chai'ter members on June 10, 1906, in Delray which at that time was a separate city, not yet merged in the City of Detroit. Of the 18 charter members only one, Joseph Erdélyi, could attend the 45th anniversary of the Branch, while the others had long ago left Detroit. Mr. Erdélyi, who operates an extensive farm in nearby Carleton, received an enthusiastic ovation upon being introduced by Mr. Lukacs. Throughout its 45 year long existence, the Branch showed steady growth. Founded in 1906 with 18 members, it had a membership of 398 twenty years later, in 1926, when Mr. Lukacs was elected Secretary- Manager. At the silver-anniversary in 1931 the branch had 550 adult members, five years later, in 1936, 725, another five years later, in 1941 the adult membership was 1160, and 5 years ago, at the 40th anniversary Branch 36 prided itself of an adult membership of 1620. Today, at the 45th anniversary, Branch 36 serves 665 Junior and 1875 Senior members, or a total membership of 2,540. No other branch of the Verhovay, stated Mr. Lukacs, has matched the steadiness and persistence .of the progress of Branch 36. This splendid record of progress was attained in the face.of trying difficulties, like in 1924 when the Association became a Legal Reserve Life Insurance organization, a change that caused Branch 36 to lose one-third of its membership, or later in the thirties when the prolonged depression made it impossible to many of the members to keep their insurance in force. But Branch 36 met the challenge with brotherly generosity by spending more than $2,000 from its own funds to pay the dues for many of its unemployed members. Similar action was taken when the workers of the Ford Motor Company had to suffer the hardships of a prolonged strike. Fraternalism was generously practiced by Branch 36 in the support of the Red Cross, the Community Fund and other patriotic causes. In the post-war world, Branch 36 was among the first to give a helping hand to the starving people of war-torn Hungary. It joined the American Hungarian Relief, Inc., and contributed more than $300 to its program. To demonstrate its loyalty to the Lnited States, Branch 36 acquired 3 flags, one in 1910, the second in 1926 and the third in 1941. Of the ‘god-parents’ of the three flags Joseph Erdélyi is the only survivor. Sports activities also received extensive support from Branch 36 which maintained two baseball teams in 1932 and, since then, has given continuous support to several men’s and women’s bowling teams. Throughout its existence Branch 36 played an important role in the naDETROIT BR. 500 MEN’S TEAM CLEVELAND BR. 366 WOMEN WIN CHAMPIONSHIP IN TOURNAMENT (Continued from page 1) 4.1Br. 500. Detroit. Mich. % Elizabeth Vinie 173 75 553 Winner of $20 Fourth Prize 5 .Br. 138, Gary, Ind. Lorrain Guba 434 111 545 Winner of $15 Fifth Prize The All Events winners could notbe determined by the conclusion of Tournament and their names, togetherwith that of all other winners will published in the Tournament Edition appearing on June 20th. We congratulate the proud champions and winners of the 8th Verhovay National Ten Pin Tournament, but also all participants, winners and nonwinners alike for their splendid spirit and sportsmanlike attitude and, finally, the splendid people of Chicago, especially the enthusiastic officers and members of the Chicago General Tournament Committee for their wonderful hospitality and friendliness which all of us had the great privilege of enjoying throughout May 5 and 6, the unforgettable two days of the Chicago Tournament. tional administration of the Association. National Secretary Coloman Revesz came from Branch 36 to assume his position at the Home Office 17 years ago. Stephen Lukacs himself. who was a delegate to the National Conventions of 1931, 1935 and 1943, was elected to the Auditing Committee in 1939 and re-elected in 1943. He resigned his committee membership in 1944 when assuming the District Manager’s position. Joseph Marczis, then President of Branch 36, served for ten years as a member of the Auditing Committee. Julius Macker has been elected dii'ector of the Association in 1939 and has served in this capacity ever since, and became first the Vice-President of the Association and finally Chairman of the Board of Directors. Caspar Papp serves as a member of the Auditing Committee since the 1947 Convention. The war record of Branch 36 was just as impressive. In World War II, 256 men and 2 women left the branch for service with the armed forces, nine of whom made the supreme sacrifice . . . The branch that had done so much for the advancement and practice of Verhovay fraternalism, is guided today by the following officers: John Bartus, Jr., President, Frank Perlaki, Vice-President, Stephen Lukacs. District Manager, Joseph Marczis, Comptroller, Joseph Heck, Recording Secretary, Mrs. John Bartus, John Derner, Louis Vasas, Auditing Committee and Stephen Jozsa, Sick-Visitor. Following the impressive historical review, László Halászi, also a recent immigrant and a new member of Branch 36, a very talented vocalist, delighted the audience with the excellent rendition of Hungarian selections. The Rev. Tibor Toth, pastor of the Hungarian Reformed Church, paid tribute to the Verhovay as an institution that has become a wonderful instrument in the hands of God for the practicing of brotherly kindness. JOSEPH MARCZIS HONORED National President John Bencze recalled the past struggles of the Association that invariably led to progress and expansion mainly because, the national administration had the courage to pursue new and up-to-date policies. It always takes vision and courage to counteract by new mealaires difficulties arising due to changing- conditions because reform measures are rarely popular with those who feel that the old order, having served us well enough in the past, should be sufficient to meet present and future contingencies. Experience, however, has shown thati new difficulties cannot be resolved by outdated methods and the courage of the Association’s administration in adopting new policies and methods has invariably been rewarded by accelerated progress. The same is the situation today. He then turned to the two officers honored, and after congratulating them, reviewed the service record of Mr. Joseph Marczis who has served the Association in various official capacities for 35 yeai-s. On behalf of the Board of Directors, he presented him with the Degree of Illustrious Member and the gold service medal, in recognition of his outstanding services. Mr. Marczis, deeply moved by the honor bestowed upon him, thanked the National President and the Board of Directors for the recognition and declared: “I won’t say, what many others say, that I have worked enough for the Association, now let others work. I promise to continue1 serving the Association with all my energy and ability.” Director Richard Phillips warmly congratulated the Branch and the two honored officers upon their accomplishment and he urged the membership to follow the advice and leadership of the administration because the officers and directors of the; Association know best what will serve the interests of the membership and they are guided at all times by the purpose to strengthen the Association and to further its progress for the benefit of the general membership. A pleasant interlude was provided by a string trio, Rudolph Piszker, Robert Eachren and their music teacher Joseph Horvath, whose performance was warmly applauded. STEPHEN LUKACS HONORED National Secretary Coloman Revesz spoke on the theme “Why I am proud to be an officer of the Verhovay.” He reviewed the various fraternal activities of the Association by which cultural, emctional and physical needs are Served. He mentioned the Hungarian A-B-C readers from which thousands of Hungarian descendant Verhovay members and non-members have learned the language of their fathers and he stated that during the last few months 3,000 copies of this reader had been sent to displaced Hungarians all over the world, even to South America and Australia, from where scores of thankful letters from parents and teachers testify of their grateful happiness for these gifts and make it possible for them to teach the homeless Hungarian children their mother tongue. Then, he addressed Stephen Lukacs, District Manager, whose outstanding contributions to the advancement of the Association have been twice recognized on previous occasions by tbe Board of Directors. As a token of additional tribute, he presented to Mr. Lukacs, who already holds the Degree of Illustrious Member, the gold Service Medal which, having been introduced only a few years ago, Mr. Lukacs had not yet received. The presentation evoked prolonged applause expressing the affection of the membership for their faithful and industrious manager. M iss Ethel Solmose, member of the Michigan Opera Company, made a great hit with the appreciative audience with her exquisite renditions of several classical selections and Hungarian songs. She had to give several encores and was thunderously applauded. Mr. Ernest Kaplar ably accompanied her on the piano. Field Manager Henry Rettmann paid tribute to Branch 36 as one of the leading influences of fraternal advancement. After congrátulating Mr. Marczis, he spoke of the valuable services of Mr. Lukacs throughout the 25 years during which he has been manager of Branch 36. He stressed the hardships of the insurance profession and its main rewards in the gratitude of widows and orphans as well os holders of matured certificates who, before the insurance paid off, frequently resented the managers persistent efforts in persuading them to keep their insurance policies in force. Shaking hands with Mr. Lukacs, he expressed' his wish that he may continue in his great task at least until the day when the Verhovay will have a hundred thousand members. THE GIFTS OF BRANCH 36 The service anniversaries of Mr. Marczis and Mr. Lukacs have been íparked by a particularly pleasing gesture on the part of the membership ' of Branch 36. Each of the honored officers recevied_ a very beautiful and valuable calendar wrist watch. Mr. Joseph Heck presented the gift to Mr. Marczis and Mr. Caspar (Continued on page 3)
