William Penn Life, 1984 (19. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1984-01-01 / 1. szám

Branch 1 29 Columbus, Ohio

At the December 14, 1983 meeting, new leadership for 1984 was elected. Our new President is George Tokár, who has a long history of involvement in the William Penn, and the Verhovay Association, before that. George was born in Waikertown, Pennsylvania, where his father was active in the Association.

As a teenager, in the 1930's, growing up in Columbus, Ohio, young George played on the Verhovay baseball team. In the 1940’s, he was president of all of the numerous Hungarian clubs in the city. George managed Columbus’ Hungarian Club House for three years in the 1950’s. In 1962, the last year that a National William Penn Bowling Tournament was held in Columbus, George Tokár was the president of the William Penn branch in Ohio's capitol city.

In 1980, George retired after 25 years, as chief of the Columbus Marine and Park Police, working for the city of Columbus. He has been married to his wife Bonnie for 38 years and is the father of three children, all of whom are William Penn members.

Stepping down from the Columbus branch presidency, after a year in office, was Árpád Sibrik, who had served as vice president in 1981 and 1982. Árpád has been a William Penn member since 1957 and has been active in the Columbus branch for many years.

Árpád Sibrik was born in Zala county, Hungary in the village of Zalaháshágy. His early education was in Hungary, but he completed college in Graz, Austria, majoring in chemistry. Árpád arrived in the USA in 1950 and married the former Priscilla Zakany (an American, with Hungarian parents) in 1951. They have three children, all of whom are William Penn members, as is his first grandchild, Tara. Árpád has been employed by the Water Division of the city of Columbus since 1951, as a chemist involved with quality control.

Elected to the vice presidency for 1984 was David George, a long time leader in the Columbus branch activities. David served as branch manager in Columbus for several years, beginning about 1948. In 1949, he became the manager of the Columbus William Penn Club House. He first served as president of the branch in 1950, and in the intervening years, he served as president—off and on—for about 20 years.

David George was born in 1905 in Nograd county, Hungary, in the village

of Fülek. In 1921, he came to the USA. The year 1929 was a very good one for David, as he married the former Margaret Fabian, his wife for the last 54 years. All three of his children are William Penn members, as are seven of his grandchildren, and his great granddaughter, Renee.

Three of our 1983 officers were unanimously re-elected to office for 1984: Marge Boso as Secretary, Irene Voss as Treasurer, and Charles Boso as an Auditor. Yours truly, Art Bartfay, also became an Auditor. In future issues, we’ll briefly profile each of our other 1984 officers.

At our December 14th regular meeting, we were pleased to have with us Albert Kertész of Dayton, a member of the William Penn National Board of Directors. We were happy to be brought up to date concerning events on the national level and hope that A1 and/or other board members will be able to join us from time to time, in the future, to keep our memberhsip personally informed.

Branch Manager Irene Voss reported that 16 members of the branch have been members of William Penn for 50 or more years. They are therefore eligible to receive 50 year pins at a special ceremony. A spring event is planned where all 16 will be honored at an Awards Banquet. All members will be notified of the date and place of this activity by mail. We look forward to meeting all the honorees, their friends and families, including Alexander Horvath, whose membership in the Association goes back to April of

1925—almost 59 years ago. Those eligible to receive their 50 year pins (listed in alphabetical order) are: Wilma Barton (who first became a member in 1927), Rose Finta (whose membership goes back to 1928), Suzanna Finta (1927), Mrs. William Golub (1929), Mrs. Stephen Gulyás (1929), Mrs. Arbol Holman (1928), John Moore (1929), Steve Moore (1929), Anthony Powers (1927), Stephen Rezes (1930), J. Szlanyinka, Jr. (1926), Frank Toki (1928), Anna Tomolak (1928), Mrs. Louis Varga (1928), and Priscilla Weaver (1932).

Door prize winners at our December 14th meeting were: Géza Lévai and Marge Boso. Door prize winners at our Christmas party, held a few days later, were: Bradley Mészáros, Velma Nadalin, Winifred Radel, and Mike Déri (otherwise known as Santa Claus).

The Christmas party was held Sunday afternoon, December 18, at Leonardo’s Restaurant, 1374 Parsons Avenue. Both Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were there (Mike and Mary Déri). They gave gifts and a five dollar bill to each of the children that were present. A special prize was awarded to the youngest William Penn member in attendance, three month old Mathew B. Mészáros, who was born September 3, 1983.

Our thanks go to the members of the Christmas party cooking and planning committee who served up generous helpings of Hungarian food, including kolbász. Committee members were: Otto and Margaret Leonardo, Priscilla Sibrik, Marge Boso, and Irene Voss.

Branch 129, 1984 newly elected officers being sworn in by Albert Kertesz, National Board of Director's member from Dayton, Ohio. Standing, left to right: Vice President, David George; President, George Tokár; Treasurer, Irene Voss; Secretary, Marge Boso; and Auditor, Art Bartfay. Seated in front, left to right: John Gaal, Frank Peterfy, Mike Deri and Géza Lévai.

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