William Penn, 1956 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1956-03-07 / 3. szám
BUFFALO, NEW.YORK, LOCALE OF THIS YEAR’S EVENT ' PAGE 4 William Penn March 21, 1956. fön n Journal of the William Penn Fraternal Association OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 7907 West Jefferson Ave. Detroit 17, Michigan PUBLISHED SEMIMONTHLY BY THE William Penn Fraternal Association Managing Editor. COLOMAN BEVESZ Editors: JOHN SABO and ALBERT J. STELKOVICS Editor's Office: 430—442 FOURTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH 19, PA. Telephone: COurt 1-5454 or 1-3455 All articles and changes of address should be sent to the WILLIAM PENN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION 430—442 FOURTH AVENUE, PITTSBURGH 19, PA. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and Canada ...................................... $1.00 a year Foreign Countries .................................................. $1.50 a year Entered as Second Class Matter at the Post Office at Detroit, Michigan under the Act of March 3, 1879. 70th Anniversary Marked at Home Office Last month, the month of February, the 2lst to be precise, was the 70t'n anniversary of the founding of the Verhovay. one of the predecessor societies of the William Penn Fraternal Association. Many literary messages of congratulations and future best wishes by prominent public and insurance leaders were sent to the Association. Even greater in number were the verbal expressions of good will. The official organ, the WILLIAM PENN, carried the reprints of those personages and fraternal society men-at-the-helm who by letter, article oxtelegram sent messages that shall ever remain a joy and inspiration to our Association. Leading the list of our organization’s well-wishers was President Dwight D. Eisenhower whose picture and greeting graced the first pages of both the English and Hungarian 70th Anniversary issues of the William Penn. On February 21, the actual anniversary day, the Home Office staff — officers and employees — commemorated the 70th Anniversary by holding open house. Other members, insurance, banking and investment executives attended the reception during the course of the day and in the evening. From three to five o’clock the two hours were spent in private observance by the Home Office personnel. This phase of the occasion was opened with an address by National President Coloman Revesz who in his words stressed the tiny-acox-n-tomighty-oak theme. He recalled that 70 years ago, in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, 13 idealistic coal miners banded together in Hazleton to found the Verhovay Society. Their brotherly love, their hard work and thenperseverance assured the incipient success of the new organization, and the inspiring faith they bequeathed to their successors guaranteed the future of Verhovay. Concluding his warm address, the National President announced that one of the two invited clergymen, Father Frank Dizmachek, pastor of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, could not honor the invitation because of illness. National President Revesz then called upon the Rev. László Harangi, pastor of the First Hungarian Reformed Church. Pittsburgh, to speak. The good minister spoke with a clarity and sincerity surpassed only by the beautiful prayer he composed in memory of the 13 founding miners. Referring to the merger, the pastor quoted from Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. “For if they fall, one will lift up his feilow.” Next speaker was National Auditor John Sabo w-hose comparison of the merger to the confluence of rivers in Pittsburgh was an impressive simile. Just as the Iron City’s Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form an even greater Ohio river, so the merger of the Rákóczi and Verhovay societies has burgeoned forth the new more powerful William Penn Fraternal Association. Our National Auditor expressed deep satisfaction over the growth of the society during the past seventy years, but he envisioned the next seventy years as promising even more, such as our becoming one of the largest fraternal organizations in the country.. Then followed the words and comments of National Secretary Albert J. Stelkovics. He called the day a significant historical event for Verhovay and he paid glowing ti-ibute to the thirteen stout-hearted Hungarian miners who, in their new national abode, had the vision, the strength, the unity, and, above all, the mutual love to organize themselves for their own protective welfare. The past, present and future overlap one another and, accordingly, the William Penn Fraternal Association has begun a new era for all its members. National Secretary Stelkovics also probed optimistically into the society’s future yeax-s. At this point National President Revesz called upon Mrs. Marj- Köteles Hudacsek to express herself in the name of the employees. The veteran worker modestly greeted the gathering and conveyed a message of a glorious future for the Association. HE SUGGESTED VERHOVAY NAME ARK AD MOGYOROSSY (1851-1935), Latinist and tutor to America’s families of wealth, among them the Rockefellers, was the scholar who, upon the request of Michael Pálinkás, one of the founders of the Verhovay, suggested to his friend a name for the new Hungarian American society. It was VERHOVAY. When the association was founded February 21, 1886, the name of Julius Verhovay, parliamentarian and journalist, was one of the most prominent in Hungary. Hence the name recommendation of Professor Mogyorossy. This photograph was made seventy years ago in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, original home of the Verhovay. Retrospection and Farewell Old age has its shafe of compensations as do the earlier periods of human existence. The wealth of memox-y and experience is one of the richest rewards in the twilight years of man, and old friendships too add to the comforts and solace of one!s declining yeai-S. Stephen Nyers, well-known and beloved veteran member, convention delegate, former dix-ector, and holder of other important positions in his many years service to Vei-hovay, has been looking- back over his Verhovay years and his Verhovay associates. ■ The South Bend, Indiana resident l-ecalls the year 1920 when he first made the acquaintance of John Bencze. another Verhovay old-timer, in the City of Cleveland, Ohio, when the latter was a member of the then Supervisory Committee, and the 1925 meeting at the Verhovay convention in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where the two worked hand in hand for the best interest of the growingassociation. Then in 1929, that critical year for Verhovay, Stephen Nyers enthusiastically supported his friend John Bencze for the position of Supreme Secretai-y, a stand which the ensuing service of Mr. Bencze justified. Finally came the election of John Bencze as Supreme President, later to be changed to National President by a subsequent convention. Mr. Nyers-’s reminiscence also turns him to John Szalanczy, another friend, former Chicago Verhovay bi-anch leader, director and Supreme (National) Treasurer. The geographic proximity of Chicago and South Bend made it possible for the two to meet often before Mr. Szalanczy’s Verhovay services took him to the Home Office in Pittsburgh. Stephen Nyers, stalwart Verhovay branch and Association veteran, approvingly appraises the years of service given to Verhovay by retired National Px-esident John Bencze and retired National Treasurer John Szalanezv and wishes them, his old friends, much happiness and serenity in their retirement years. National President Revesz, concluding the speech making and greetings, thanked the Home Office staff, officers and employees, for its attentive regard to all that w-as said in reference to this great day commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Verhovay Society. The festivities continued into the evening with our various guests repeatedly congratulating- us for commemorating the 70th Anniversary in such a sentimental and dignified manner. Certainly the 70th Anniversary commemoration at the Home Office was a most appropriate gestui-e of acknowledgement to one of the gi-eatest Hungarian American organizations ever to come into being. The thirteen founders, simple and honest men. FELT and ACTIVATED these well-known words: Where, there is a will there is a way. '
