Fraternity-Testvériség, 2003 (81. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2003-04-01 / 2. szám

Page 8

TESTVÉRISÉG

Daytripping in Washington, D.C.

It was that time of year again to welcome the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America Board members and their spouses to Washington. D.C. for the Annual Spring Board Meeting, April 28-May 2, 2003. Throughout the years it has been a tradition to have an Open House on that Sunday to welcome the Board members as they arrived into town. This year my husband and CEO of the HRFA, Rev. Stefan Torok, and I looked forward to hosting this event in our Maryland home. It was a great chance for the weary travelers to relax and unwind from their journey. Some came by car, train, and plane. It was nice to greet each other once again and renew old friendships. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were even able to entertain on our balcony, which became the smoking lounge!

In front of the Kossuth bust in the Capitol - L. to r.: Cindy Torok, Sándor Nagy, Margaret Erdei, Sarika Nagy, Margie Nicholas, Peggy Fabri, Marika Kovács, Anna Lipoczky, and Ceil St. Miklosy. Kneeling: Rudolf Rohanyi and Linda Martin. (Photo by Linda Puskas.)

Last year when the spouses were together, it was decided that it would be nice to have a planned schedule of activities, as opposed to daily discussions in the hotel lobby wondering what we should do. As the wife of the CEO, I was chosen to come up with an agenda. This is where the elementary teacher in me emerged! I enjoyed planning our “class trips” from suggestions I had been given. I came up with a proposed schedule that I reviewed with Linda Puskas, wife of HRFA Chief Financial Officer, Bill Puskas. Our program was mailed out to the board spouses for their approval.

So on Monday, April 28, we started off on our first day of adventure. It was a glorious, sunny day, just perfect for taking in the splendor of the stained glass windows of the National Cathedral. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. The six

of us were given a tour by a cathedral volunteer. Marge Nicholas, wife of Director Bill Nicholas, remembers being here in the 1960s when the Cathedral was not yet completed. The foundation stone was laid in 1907 and construction finally completed in September, 1990. Our guide told us that it is entirely built of stone and they only built what they could afford which accounts for the length of time it took. Woodrow Wilson is the only president buried here. If you visit, make sure to take the tour as we learned many interesting facts, such as the needle point kneelers (cushions) in the War Memorial Chapel were handmade in England as a thank you to the United States for their help in WWII. And there is an authentic moon rock in the moon stained glass window, presented by astronaut Michael Collins. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his last sermon here from the Canterbury pulpit before he left for that fateful trip to Memphis.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a relaxing lunch nearby before we took the bus back to the hotel.

Tuesday, April 29, was our day at the U.S. Capitol. Mr. Sándor Nagy, President of the Center for Hungarian American Congressional Relations, as well as a personal friend, graciously arranged a private tour for the ten of us through the office of California Representative, the Honorable Tom Lantos. Our tour guide was Mr. Rudolf Rohonyi, legislative assistant to Rep. Lantos. We later learned that Mr. Rohonyi is a Norwegian citizen of Hungarian heritage! Now before we could begin our tour, we needed to pass through two security checkpoints. Matilda Dózsa, wife of Chairman of the Board George Dózsa, had advised us not to carry any nail files, tweezers or scissors in our purses. She had previously been to the Capitol in November. Having heeded her warning, we thought we were in the clear. However, upon a hand search of our purses, several items were confiscated. Most of them belonged to yours truly, me! My lip gloss, hand lotion , contact lens drops , and anti bacterial hand gel were retrieved. Linda Martin, wife of Vice Chair Rev. Les Martin, had her hand gel and hair spray taken. Since we wanted to continue on the tour, we had to forfeit these items. We had a good laugh since several items were Avon products so we joked that we were going to write to our Avon ladies! Poor Peggy Fabri, wife of Director Joe Fabri, had to either drink her bottle of water or leave it behind. Unfortunately, this is the state of the world today where nothing can be overlooked as far as security precautions are concerned.

There were many tour groups that day as the Capitol had only recently been reopened to the public. We saw many statues and paintings in the Rotunda. One of the statues was very familiar to our Hungarian group.