Fraternity-Testvériség, 1960 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1960-05-01 / 5. szám
FRATERNITY 7 The following persons were elected to represent the Magyar Synod at the General Synod in 1961: Dr. Stephen Szabó, Rev. John Butosi, Dr. Stephen Böszörményi, pastors; Mr. Joseph Fodor, Mr. Stephen Dokus and Mr. Charles Kadar, lay delegates. Rev. Aron Elek was elected to represent the Synod on the Board of Managers of the Bethlen Home. The Synod concluded its significant meeting at noon on Thursday, May 5. Dr. Szabó, in closing, emphasized the continuation of progress toward unity, and called special attention to the gift which the Synod wishes to send to Hungary through the generous contributions of the churches of the Synod — a Kay-Cross Rotating Disk Oxygenator (the Heart-Lung Machine) so successfully used in heart surgery throughout the world. It was our joy and privilege to play host to the delegates of the Magyar Synod who, we are sure, will continue to play a vital and important role in the progress and advancement of our Federation. NATIONAL FLAG DAY, JUNE 14, HIGHLIGHTS FRATERNAL WEEK Three-quarters of a century ago, a 19-year-old, $40-a-month schoolteacher, stirred by a deep love of the American Flag, held the first Flag Day exercises in his little country schoolhouse. Bernard J. Cigrand, who later became a professor of dentistry and a college dean, began a lifelong crusade on that day, June 14, 1885, to honor the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Thirty-one years later, in 1916, his devotion to the Flag was rewarded when President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14 as National Flag Day. In 1949, long after Dr. Cigrand’s death, the Congress and President Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Flag would be displayed on all government buildings on June 14 and asked the American people to join in the observance of the Flag’s anniversary. What has happened to the little country schoolhouse where Dr. Cigrand conceived his patriotic idea? Located near Fredonia, Wisconsin, it has become a national shrine, restored to its original appearance and condition by the National Fraternal Flag Day Foundation, a non-profit corporation established by Wisconsin fraternal societies most of whom are members of the National Fraternal Congress of America. Our Hungarian Reformed Federation of America is also a member of this national association. Traditional flag-raising ceremonies are held at the tiny Wisconsin schoolhouse, highlighting the week-long observance of Fraternal Week, June 12-18, which is sponsored by the National Fraternal Congress of America. Honor salutes are given the Flag and Dr. Cigrand by marching units, drum and bugle corps, bands, Boy and Girl Scout troops, veterans’ groups and fraternal societies’ representatives. Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religious leaders also take part. After the ceremonies, thousands of sightseers who are expected to converge on this little Wisconsin community just 28 miles north of Milwaukee will inspect the limestone schoolhouse. They will see the original desks and books used by Dr. Cigrand’s pupils, along with the original flagpole in the schoolyard where the first observance took place 75 years ago.
