William Penn Life, 2010 (45. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2010-01-01 / 1. szám
all of the neat stuff that we got there over the years. The toys always seemed to be multidimensional in operation. Each different toy would either light up or spin or do a combination of movements and flashes. I remembered Santa, the ice cream, my brother Endre II playing the cimbalom as Evie and Mr. Goda’s daughter led the sing-a-long. When I was really young, I’d give my grandfather the pill holders, emery boards and money sponges that expanded about three times the original size when placed in a bowl of water. On that restless early morning, I thought of those good old days and how I could not be part of it again. Finally, my stomach ache started to subside, I was tired, but my thoughts of those old memories continued to keep me awake. I reached down and opened the third drawer of the nightstand. I pulled out an old toy from a Branch 28 Christmas party. My brother and I called it “The Spinning Scepter of Light.” We used them like light sabers. The neighborhood kids wanted them. They loved the red, blue and greenish-yellow LEDs and how they spun and vibrated. As I picked up the multicolored light toy, I said to myself, “Will it still work?” Sure enough, it did! I played with it for several minutes. It kind of hypnotized me, and I dozed off. The next morning, I opened my eyes only to see my brother Endre playing with the Scepter. For the next few minutes we shared our memories of the spinning light saber. It’s nice to know some things never change. Did you see the 2009 WPA Christmas toy? A clear LED yoyo that howls and lights up when spun and retracted. The tradition of great William Penn Christmas toys continues! Éljen a Magyar! Tibor Tibor Check Jr. is a member of Branch 28 Youngstown, Ohio, and a freshman at Cleveland State University. He also serves as host of the “Souvenirs of Hungary” weekly radio show broadcast on WKTL-90.7 FM in Struthers, Ohio. Did you know they're Hungarian? This month, I am introducing a new feature as part of Tibor’sTake. I’m calling it: “Did you know they’re Hungarian?” As you most likely have guessed, I will use this space to discuss famous people who-unbeknownst to most of us—have Magyar blood coursing through their veins. I hope you enjoy this new feature. If you have any suggestions for “closet Hungarians” we can profile here, please drop me a line. To start things off... Did you know, Gene Simmons, of the rock group KISS, is Hungarian? On one of my recent and random You Tube explorations, I came across a home-taped video of KISS at a U.S. Army base where the famed rock group was giving out awards before they were to play for the troops in concert. One soldier’s spouse, whose last name is Kiss, gave Gene Simmons a souvenir of the base, and she said to Simmons, “a Kiss to KISS.” Gene Simmons began to answer her in fluent Hungarian. She screamed and said: “He’s answering me in Hungarian!” After further research, I learned Simmons’ parents, Flora and Feri Witz, are Hungarian. Simmons was born Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949, in Israel but came to America at the age of 9. He can speak not only Hungarian but also German. His parents later changed his name to Gene Klein. He took the name Simmons for stage purposes. As for what we think about Gene, Branch 28 Secretary Kathy Novak said it best: “Simmons is Hungarian? That explains a lot!” William Penn Life, January 2010 9
