William Penn Life, 1986 (21. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1986 / Különszám
’ * a)( í m^CIi tiM**'* Page 6, Special Centennial Issue, William Penn Life. Saluting The Fraternal Spirit Centennial Banquet Caps First 100 Years On May 24, 1986, a total of 1,002 members and friends of the William Penn Association gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pa., to celebrate our society’s first century of service. It was a grand evening of shared honors, enjoyable music and true fraternalism. Those who were there will never forget it. For the thousands of our members and friends who could not attend, we present here the entire banquet program. Albert J. Stelkovics, national vice president and retired national secretary, served as the evening’s toastmaster. His introductions of our honored guests appear here in italics. We hope and pray that this record of our celebration will serve as a reminder to us all of the goals and underlying spirit of our Association as we enter our second century. The President’s Reception The main celebration of our Association’s centennial began with a special President’s Reception. The black-tie affair was attended by about 200 of the Centennial Banquet’s most distinguished guests. The guest list included American and foreign government dignitaries, leaders of many fraternal societies, the National Officers, the Board of Directors, the Advisory Board, the Auditing Committee and other valued members and friends of the Association. The reception offered guests the opportunity to get acquainted with one another before the main banquet. A wide variety of hors d’oeuvres and an open bar were made available for the guests enjoyment. The combination of good food, good drink and good conversation succeeded in putting the honored guests in high spirits for the banquet. Setting A Beautiful Scene Meanwhile in the Grand Ballroom, the hotel staff was busy finishing the preparations for the banquet. As the banquet guests entered the hall, they were greeted with the stunning and elegant display of more than 100 tables specially decorated for the historic event. A large banner reading “Welcome, Isten Hozott” hung from the balcony rail behind the headtable. The tables themselves featured commemorative wine glasses for each of the guests to keep as a token of the event. In the Hungarian spirit of the banquet, the tables also featured alternating red and green cloth napkins. The Decoration Committee for the Centennial Banquet, chaired by National Director Barbara Botkin, created fresh flower arrangements of red and white carnations and mums interspersed with ferns and white twigs. The cut flowers were accented with red, white and green ribbons intertwined in layered bows to give them an extra Hungarian flair. Live flowers were chosen in Hungarian colors to symbolize that the William Penn Association is alive and well after 100 years. A Touch Of Pageantry The grand Centennial Banquet opened, appropriately enough, with a touch of pageantry. The National Officers and Board of Directors gather outside the bowling alleys during the 43rd Annual bowling tournament. After the banquet guests were seated, the guests of the headtable entered the ballroom together, walking single-file to their places at the table. They were followed by a colorful procession of historic flags and banners carried by nine members of the Hungarian Ethnic Group of Western Pennsylvania. The flags and banners were selected to represent the various fraternal societies which have merged throughout the years to form the present William Penn Association. Each member of the ethnic group wore a different costume, displaying a variety of Hungarian ethnic dress. Christoff Kovacsics led the procession dressed in a basic black Hungarian outfit and carried the American flag. Bill Hintz wore a black costume with silver conchos. Rose Gerzenyi wore a hand-embroidered Kalocsa costume and held the flag of an Ohio branch of the former Verhovay Aid Association. Patty Kovacsics was dressed in a Rabakozi costume and carried a banner. Maria Kerékgyártó modeled a new Rabakozi costume and carried a banner. Monica Reisz wore a Disz Magyar outfit and carried a banner from the former Catholic Knights of St. George. Betty Phillips wore her own 1939 Miss Magyar of Duquesne, Pa., costume and carried a Hungarian flag from the Harrisburg, Pa., branch of the former Verhovay Aid Association. Alexander Jozsa Bodnar wore an all black costume with a black and red applicade vest and held the flag of the South Bend branch of the former Rákóczi Aid Association. Lester Phillips concluded the procession carrying the national flag of the Hungarian People’s Republic and wearing a stylized gypsy orchestra costume with large floral designs on his vest. The Hungarian Ethnic Group’s participation in the banquet program was just one phase of the group’s involvement throughout our centennial year. Group members dressed in ethnic costumes served as hostesses at the Founder’s Day celebration in February. The group also donated the sound system used for that affair. In August group members again served as hostesses at the National Golf Tournament in Ligonier, Pa., and performed ethnic dances at the Annual Family Carnival in Wellsburg, W. Va. President Welcomes Guests Isten Hozott! Welcome! It is with pleasure and gratitude that I look out over this vast gathering here to celebrate together the centennial anniversary of the founU.S. Congressman William Coyne with National President Gay B. Banes at the President’s Reception prior to the Centennial Banquet. ding of our great William Penn Association. I extend to each of you my warmest welcome on this auspicious occasion. It is our fervent hope and prayer that the beginning of the second one hundred years will be filled with ambition, hard work, pride and unity of purpose reflected by the first one hundred years. Thanksgiving And Renewal The invocation was delivered by Msgr. Basil Shereghy, pastor of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church in McKeesport, Pa. Lord, Son of God, as we gather to mark the centennial anniversary of the William Penn Association, we recall that every celebration of this kind should include three elements: thanksgiving, readjustment and renewal. But, nothing is more urgent than that of rendering thanks. We are grateful to you, oh God, for everything that we are and what we have. We avail ourselves of the opportunity to readjust our lifestyles and to reexamine better that the intentions of our founding fathers are being followed and faithfully upheld. We gratefully honor the vigilence and the efforts of those who made it possible that this------------------------------------------------------Continued on next page
