Verhovayak Lapja, 1941. július-december (24. évfolyam, 27-52. szám)
1941-09-25 / 39. szám
1941 Szeptember 25 Page 6 Verhovavali Labia BEAUTY I saw some dewy roses this morning, Artistically climbing the garden wall; I took one glance and I knew I had found Beauty, and she wasn’t in disguise at all. I watched the sun come up this morning, Peeping out from coverlets of blue; Stealing ’round the mountains to surprize the world, But Old Sol didn’t catch me sleeping... I was peeping too! Think of this whene’er you wonder As you hear the distant thunder Of guns and mighty cannon from abroad; There is still God’s unmarred hillsides And His quiet, peaceful valleys To make a lonely stranger think of God. ' THE VILLAGE CHURCH ’Way down along the dusty road, Where black-eyed susans grow, There stands our little village church Where we folks always go. The bells high in the belfry, Ring clear and long and loud, ’Til all the peasants enter in Their heads in reverence bowed. The gray haired little parish priest, Walks in in vestments gold; He stops and pauses on the step To bless his faithful fold. And when the sun begins to peep Above the purple plain. The peasant farmers close their books, And journey home again. * * * - ' ' DE OLE PLANTATION Dere’s a place down in ole Mississippi Where ma heart’s always longin’ to go, It’s down on de ole plantation But massa’s not dare now I know. Dem was de happiest days ob ma life Down in de fields ob white cotton, A-pickin’ an’ pickin’ all de day long, Oh, dem days I’se never forgotten! Sometimes when ma ole back was achin’, An’ de days was weary an’ long, Missy Sue would come down to de cotton field An’ join us ole niggers in song. Missy Sue was de sweetes’ li’l southern lass What’s ben on a plantation seen; De darkies, oh, how dey loved her, Dey treated her ’most like a queen! Den when de days workin’ was ober, An’ mammy’s dishes was done; Us darkies would strum on de banjo, An’ hab de most ob fun! But dem was de times when otton was king, An’ we first heard ob Ole Black Joe; Dere’s no use longin’ to be dere again For de darkies ain’t dere no mo’. * * * BOYHOOD DREAMS When you and I were kids, Remember the fun we knew? We’d run off from school an’ go fishin’, An’ we got some big ’uns too. When the summer sun was dying And we felt the coming of autumn, How we used to climb the hickory nut trees And fill sacks from top to bottom! When you and I were kids, An’ we went to gran’ma’s on Sunday, I can still taste the sour, green apples we ate, And were sick ’til the week from Monday! These memories are so dear To a gray-haired old man like me, When you and I were kids, Oh, what joy there used to be! *—Poems by HELEN HAMELLY. THE FERRET SEZ... BRANCH 429 — DEARBORN. MICHIGAN All I can say is that surprise followed surprise when Branch 395 of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and Branch 429 of Dearborn, Michigan, met for the first time on Sunday, Aug. 24, 1941. The Ferret was in a dither of excitement from the moment John Sabo, President of Branch 395, called up at 12:15 A. M. on the 24th to the first moment when Albert Jozik’s cheery face rose above the throng of welcomes at the bus terminal, at about 10:00 A. M. I don’t believe I ever shook so many hands with a group Of strangers who, immediately upon feeling the warmth of The Ferret’s hands, became the best of friends. Before I go any further, I shall give a one word biography, so to speak, of the 23 members and prospective members who came to Dearborn and Detroit, and saw only the most famous of Hungarian picnic grounds, and a few nice taverns. They are: John Sabo, who is president of Branch 395 and is credit manager at a Fintex clothing store; Anna Bagi, recording secretary of Branch 395, who keeps house (whose house?); Helen Goydan, auditor of Branch 395, who is popularly called “Pinkie” and works at Kresge’s; Helen Stipkovits, publicity agent of Branch 395, a bookkeeper; Albert Jozik, editorially connected with the English Section Verhovay Journal; John “Dirk” Fulop, who writes “The 376 Herald,” the sweetest, most lovable and most clever “baby” contributor of the whole gang of us, a typewriter repairman by trade; Kenneth Norman, who works in the schools (what schools?); Margaret Popach, a cashier; Helen Ganyu, recently graduated from a technical college; Mrs. Ann Green, employed at the Home Office; Helen Klein, daughter of Mrs. Green; Robert Varga, a nice looking chap, works at the National Tube Company in McKeesport; Theresa Lesnansky, secretary at Douglas Business College in McKeesport, who made a hit with Mr. Ferret; Grace Koos, who works in a food store, another one whom Mr. Ferret fancied; Joe Bartko, who works at the National Tube Company in McKeesport; Mary Jane Sabo, still lucky enough to be a student; Yolanda Erdeky, employed at thé Home Office; Ethel Csonka, also works at the Home Office; Mrs. Paul Csonka, Ethel’s mother; Elmer Halas, a sergeant in the air corps of the Army. (Elmer was left in Akron, Ohio, on the way home, and didn’t get in until noon, after the rest of the gang was at work earning their daily bread); Ethel Halas, Elmer’s sistér, who is manager at Peter Pan Cleaners in McKeesport; Vilma Pogan, who assists Ethel and meets the good-looking guys; John Kanyak, who works in the Woods Mill of McKeesport. By the way, Ethel Csonka and John “Dirk” Fulop won door prizes at the Detroit Verhovay Day, she winning $10.00 and he $5.00. I sincerely hope that these “one word” biographies are correct. It seems to me on recalling the events of that hectic day, now in the bygone period of all perfect days, that the breakfast at the Horvath residence in Dearborn was the ice-breaking point, and possibly the supreme moment of the day. Explanations for the aforesaid can readily be made, as the breakfast was one of the many planned events of the day which came out according to expectations. The rest of the day was _ one mad riot—getting everybody together soon enough to do something at the same time. By the time breakfast was out of the way, and individual groups sneaking off here and there—going to the Ford factory and rotunda, visiting relatives, staying at the house and taking pictures, Stanley’s tavern where the males refreshed themselves with a beverage that was even known in ancient Egypt—the time of day became so near the period of time planned for the induction to the Detroit Verhovay Day picnic that all thoughts of visiting and sight-seeing in Detroit were thrust into oblivion. Well, we finally reached the picnic grounds after seeing some of the outlying sections of greater Detroit. This fs a good time to thank all our drivers, who kindly took us around in their cars: Ted Pomeroy, a friend of Josephine Kuritar’s; Felix Itofe, a former member who, with just a little persuasion, may re-join; George Kuritar, our esteemed president; Frank Rakoczy, one of our silent members who came through in a pinch; Nicholas Horvath, whose wife was kind enough to let him drive around all day without her; and Louis Lucas, The Ferret’s better half. I believe that our greatest mixup occurred because of the shortage of cars and drivers. Most of the members who had cars were either working on the 24th or else theiü cars were too small to take care of more'then one oi two: At any rate, we all reached our destination without too much discomforts, When one is young and away from home, the trials and tribulations of discomfort arq of no concern to one. Guess whom we met at the- Picnic Grounds? Yes, sir, J„ J. Horvath in person. There was quite a large group from Branch 366, of whom I remember only Cal Karnya, somebody’s wife, the district organizer, and several others whose names were forgotten in the rush of new introductions. A snapshot was taken of all the contributors present and possibly it may be printed elsewhere, in the issue. Now here comes the “fly in the ointment” of .an otherwise perfect day. It had been planned to feed our visitors at the picnic grounds. Everything tasted good, but I am to say this, THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH OF ANYTHING. Had we known of this sooner, we would have brought you guys and gals to town in double quick time and fed you in a restaurant you would have been certain to get enough to eat. It’s too bad the Közös Bizottság (Central Committee) could not foresee the large number of people who came to the picnic, and thus have prepared in sufficient quantities. There was enough of a crowd there to have been in a position to pay off the National Debt if the Com-mittee had prepared for them. y After finally eating the little bit that we could get together, we all came back to town to clean up. I would like to say here that a large number of visitors really wanted to go to Bob-Lo for a boat ride, but some of the executives of both sides put their foot down on this. All I can say is that more of Detroit would have been seen from the river front than from the taverns the males invaded. The lack of time prevented following the nicely laid down program of our committee, and the long breakfast and tlie time spent at the picnic grounds also aided in cutting down sightseeing trips. However, I’m sure that if you can manage the trip next year, we DEFINITELY WILL NOT GO to a Hungarian picnic and will start right in sight-seeing as your vehicle of transportation deposits you. After this long reporting of the day, which in spite of not following certain plans, all that
