William Penn Life, 1992 (27. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1992-08-01 / 8. szám
Address Correction Requested I Non-Prom •* * Organization U S. Postage PAID Pittsburgh. PA Permit No. 2724 O & -o < ar v: soy m t- m 1A Ul U 3 OZZM SHHZ NK ZD «M ULI 2* or N I lO 03 O l~ D. «c at y O' ui in z WILLIAM PENN LIFE August 1992 Number 8 ;arian students win gold and silver at Chemistry Olympiad PITTSBURGH - A team of four Hungarian students captured one gold medal and three silver medals at the 24th Chemistry Olympiad held in July in Pittsburgh. The olympiad brought together 131 of the world’s top chemistry students from 33 countries and tested their knowledge of a wide range of chemical theories and principals. This year’s olympiad— the first ever held in the United States—was sponsored by the American Chemical Society. The olympiad consisted of two exams. One involved theorectical problem solving. The other placed the students in a lab and asked them to put their knowledge to practical use. Hungary’s Balint Sztáray, 18, finished eighth overall and was among about a dozen students earning gold medals. Balint’s three teammates—Ákos Gerencsér, 17, Gábor Lente, 18, and Gábor Sziklai, 18—were among about 20 students winning silver medals. The medal winners were announced during the olympiad’s closing ceremonies held July 21 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. The ceremonies included addresses by two Nobel Prize winners and ended with a dinner-dance at Georgetown University. The four earned the right to represent Hungary after finishing at the top of a national competition and attending a special training camp. During their two-week stay in the United States, the Hungarian students toured the sights of Pittsburgh, Washington and New York City. While in Washington, they visited the Hungarian Embassy and attended a reception at the U.S. State Department. While in Pittsburgh the Hungarian students were the honored guests at a dinner hosted by the Hungarian Room Committee of the University of Pittsburgh. Among those on hand to greet the students were the William Penn’s National Officers and several members of the Association’s Board of Directors. Hungarian students competing in the Chemistry Olympiad—(back, from left) Balint Sztáray, Gábor Sziklai, Ákos Gerencsér and Gábor Lente—are joined by WPA Chairman Joseph P. Army, National V.P.-Treasurer Frances A. Furedy, National President E. E. Vargo, National V.P.'Secretary George S. Charles Jr. and John C. Miller, historian and scholarship coordinator for the Hungarian Room Committee at the University of Pittsburgh. Fr. Fred marks 65tli anniversary WHEELING, WV - The Rev. Frederick Becker—more affectionately known by many William Penn members as "Father Fred”—celebrated his 65th anniversary as a Catholic priest on June 14. Father Becker, 89, served as chaplain at the former William Penn Home in Wellsburg, W. Va., for more than 40 years. He now serves as associate pastor at St. Alphonsus Church in Wheeling. Born Nov. 6,1902, in Cumberland, Md., Father Becker decided at an early age to enter the priesthood. After his ordination in 1927, he fulfilled a variety of assignments before being transferred to what was then known as the Knights of St. George Home. Wherever he served, Father Becker exhibited a gentle, caring manner and fine sense of humor which won him the friendship of those who came in contact with him. The Association congratulates Father Becker as he continues a truly successful ministry. A celebration of tradition Hungarians in New Brunswick take pride in the heritage of their native land By James A. Zinsmeister From The New York Times NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On one corner, a statue of Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, the late, beloved primate of Hungary, rises amid flowers before a large blue spruce. Across the way, a small granite monument bears a newly burnished bronze plaque that commemorates the Hungarian revolution. The opening ceremonies have not even begun, but the south side of the city is already teeming with people. A small contingent of musicians and dancers, wearing the traditional Palóc costumes of northern Hungary, tumbles out the door of the local meeting hall, laughing robustly and denouncing—in the language of the Magyars—the puddles left by the brief spring rain. As they wend their way through small clusters of people in the dozens of food and pastry tables toward a large mobile stage, the bells of the nearby churches begin to ring in unison, signifying the official start of the day’s festivities. A breeze rolls off the river, but the river is not the romantic Duna, better known as the Danube, that separates the ancient and modern halves of Budapest, but rather the far less romantic Raritan. Although it has been nearly four decades since the last substantial influx of Hungarian immigrants, the city of New Brunswick in central New Jersey remains the largest Hungarian settlement outside Eastern Europe. And the annual Hungarian festival, held in June, provides ample evidence that the local Hungarian-American population, while perhaps not as large as it once was, remains an integral part of the city. While it is difficult to determine precisely how many Hungarian-Americans live in New Brunswick, Dr. August Molnár, president of the American Hungarian Foundation, estimates that 3,200 do. That represents about 8 percent of the city’s population, down from nearly 10 percent in 1980. The last and largest of several waves of immigration followed the anti-Communist uprising of 1956. By the end of that year, as many as 40,000 Hungarian refugees were interned at Camp Kilmer in nearby Piscataway while they awaited processing by Government officials. Many of the refugees remained in the area, more often than not in New Brunswick proper, and especially in the 20 or so square blocks that border or surround the upper portion of Somerset Street. There they found factory jobs, particularly at Johnson & Johnson and the Mack Truck Company, or they opened small businesses with the remnants of their past fortunes. Halfway down Somerset Street stands the imposing statue of Mindszenty, the anti-Communist cleric who spent years in exile in the American Embassy in Budapest. At the end of his exile in 1973, the Cardinal visited New Brunswick and offered a benediction to thousands of the area’s Catholic faithful from the green beside St. Ladislaus Church. Today, along the nearby streets, the names on the mail boxes—Kovács, Takacs, Horvath, Nemeth, Lukacs, Nagy, Racz—testify to the continuing Hungarian presence in the city. So does the local cuisine. Across Mindszenty Square, a restaurant called Chardas is one of a number of small, home-style establishments that specialize in Hungarian food. A cursory look at their menus shows the popularity of the hearty, meat-based dishes that Hungarians relish, like paprikás csirke (chicken paprikás), borjú or marha pörkölt (veal or beef goulash), and of course, the immensely popular töltött káposzta (stuffed cabbage). Each year, the June festival draws several thousand Hungarian-Americans, as well as hundreds of others. The event, held along four blocks of Somerset Street, is sponsored by the Hungarian Civic Association, a confederation of local churches, businesses and social organizations. Continued on Page 2 I
