William Penn Life, 1986 (21. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)
1986 / Különszám
William Penn Life* Special Centennial Issue, Page 3 Founder’s Day: A Look Back, A Step Forward Richard Caliguiri, mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, declared February 21,1986, as William Penn Association Day in the city. Present for the ceremony were (from left): National Secretary E. E. Vargo, Mayor Caliguiri, National President Gay B. Banes and Executive Vice President John F. Kenaweli. By Barbara B. Botkin National Director The William Penn Association egan the celebration of its 100-year story on Feb. 21, 1986, when it osted Founder’s Day at the Home ffice in Pittsburgh. The day’s festivities opened with eremonies commemorating the inter day in 1886 on which 13 ungarian coal miners founded the erhovay Aid Association in azleton, Pa., which through the ears and by various mergers with ther fraternals became the William 'enn Association in 1972. The goal of the founders was to xtend a helping hand to each other Índ to the many Hungarian imligrants who worked and suffered I the mines and industrial centers f America. Newly-elected National President 3ay B. Banes welcomed the 50-plus guests who attended the lay’s events and gave a brief history >f the Association. Richard S. Caliguiri, mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, spoke glowingly >f the William Penn as pioneers in he field of the fraternal benefit system. The mayor said he has a special affinity for our society as his grandmother was a Hungarian imnigrant born in Budapest. Mr. Caliguiri also promoted aughter from the crowd of guests, commenting that with the 73 million dollars in assets the Association has today, he wondered if the society might be interested in purchasing the Three Rivers Stadium which the city was trying to sell for a long time. Stephen G. Danko, chairman of the William Penn Board of Directors, also spoke citing the foresighted leadership of the past 100 years which has moved the society forward in growth in the number of members, progressive competitive marketing of insurance and the perpetuation of Hungarian culture and ideals. He added that the present leadership, including the National Officers, Board of Directors and Advisory Board, is strong and will plan the future for the best interests of the Association so that our descendants can proudly celebrate our 200th anniversary. Other participants in the Founder’s Day ceremonies were: the Rev. Daniel Borsary, pastor of the United Church of Christ in Springdale, Pa., who gave the morning’s invocation; Albert J. Stelkovics, and Stephen M. Lang, Jr., national vice presidents, who raised the American and Hungarian flags; Peter Kuhn, retired vice president of the former Catholic Knights of St. George, who led the Pledge of Allegiance; George S. Charles Jr., agency administrator, who led the singing of the National Anthem; William Bodoky, who led the singing of the Himnusz; and the Rev. Kieran Rodgers, O.S.B., pastor of St. Boniface Church, who offered the benediction. Following the opening ceremonies, guests were invited to an open house at the Home Office and to refreshments in the carriage house behind the main office building. The party featured great hors d’oeuvres, fruit filled baskets, wine flowing from a silver fountain and delectable homemade pastries which had been donated by friends of the William Penn. Guests also toured the newlyrenovated and decorated Home Office building which was adorned with beautiful new plants, curio cabinets with precious Hungarian artifacts and collectibles and other new furnishings. Helene Kohut, wife of National Director William C. Kohut, was instrumental in the beautifications and preparation of the Home Office building, making it exceptionally elegant for viewing by the many Founder’s Day guests. Also, office employees worked very hard in readying the office for the celebration. Guests admired the beautiful hand-embroidered Hungarian outfits worn by Rose Gerzsenyi and Betty Phillips and throughout the afternoon all were entertained by three Hungarian strolling musicians. In addition to the many persons who attended the festivities from other sister fraternals in the Pittsburgh area, our own Board of Directors and members of the Advisory Board were present. Many retired William Penn employees and officers were also present, including former National President Julius Macker, former National President John Sabo, and retired National Secretary Gus G. Nagy. The Founders’ Day Committee is to be congratulated for their creation of a memorable day in the history of the William Penn. Committee members were Gay B. Banes, chairman, Albert J. Stelkovics, William C. Kohut, John F. Kenaweli and Barbara B. Botkin. (This article was reprinted from the March-April 1986 issue of the William Penn Life. — JEL) Hard Work, Persistence Brought Musicians Here (Of all the behind-the-scenes preparations for the centennial celebration, none created more concern and demanded more persistance than securing Hungarian entertainers for the celebrations. Here, National President Gay B. Banes tells a tale of hard-won success.) By Gay B. Banes National President The most important matter in connection with our centennial programs was finalizing the arrangements for the Budapest orchestra and entertainers’ travel to the United States. Our contract with Gabe Garbow Productions in New York and with agents Otto, Csaba and Attila Zalavary provided that we would procure labor visas for the entertainment group. Our experience with the immigration procedures in bringing Andrew Tatar from Canada reminded us that this is not an easy task and that our itinerary of branch activities planned for this Budapest group was in danger. I retained Fürst and Taryan, a New York law firm, to handle the labor visa applications at the New York immigration office. A problem was created when we requested that Apollonia Kovács and Dezső Sándor Hodos be substituted for Jako Vera. From Budapest, the Inter-Koncert Bureau sent us confirmation by letter instead of Telex which delayed filing of the applications in New York for weeks. I was in continuous contact with Attorneys Fürst and Taryan, Otto Zalavary and Budapest in attempting to expedite the procedures. We were advised that minimum time to process a labor visa application 's 60 days from initial filing to approval. In March, I met with National Vice President Albert Stelkovics in Florida to plan and utilize his knowledge in preparing our May 24 banquet, including the invitation list, speakers, presidential reception and assignment of tables. During this time in Florida, I was in constant telephone contact with the Home Office, Mr. Zalavary and Atty. Taryan, as well as Joli Varga in Budapest and Zsolt Pentz, director of the Inter-Koncert Bureau in Budapest, who scheduled entertainment groups to the United States. Meanwhile, a snag developed. The immigration office advised Atty. Fürst that since our first dinnerdance was to be held in South Bend, Inc., the immigration office in Houston would have to handle the application. After dicussions with Atty. Fürst, we were able to resolve this immediate problem so the applications could be processed in New York. Several days later, National Director Joseph Arvay and I traveled to New York and met Attorneys Fürst and Taryan and Otto Zalavary. There we learned that the visa applications were only filed on March 21 and that the immigration offices were being moved to another location undisclosed to Atty. Fürst. He was unable to visit the office or follow up until sometime during the week of March 24. I had deemed it essential to visit their offices to discuss the seriousness of our predicament eyeball to eyeball since we faced cancellation of all our programs. Atty. Fürst assured me that they would do everything possible to expedite the visas. The tension mounted. If we did not succeed in getting the labor visas soon, our whole series of dinner-dances would have to be scratched. I knew full-well that Messrs. Danko, Wukovits, Kertesz, Ivancso, Arvay and Ward were also losing a lot of sleep. They were advertising the dates of their dinnerdances and concerts on the radio and through other media. On Monday, April 14, I had Home Office secretary Vivian Findon prepare a list of phone numbers for Senator Heinz, Senator Specter, Congressmen Coyne, Walgren and Gaydos so that I could contact them to put on the pressure to expedite our visas. I also called Jeff Dimmerman of the Ray Weiss Agency in New York. He handled our Budapest Brass Quintet concert in Pittsburgh and had prepared the labor visa applications. He advised me that they cancelled two tours last year because they did not get the labor visas. I called Atty. Taryan. He told me that Atty. Fürst was on his way to see the director of immigration to discuss our dilemma. Then, a small miracle happened. During our conversation his mail arrived with an envelope from the Immigration Service. With a great sigh of relief, he told me it contained the labor permits for the entertainment group. To get these labor visas in three weeks had to be a record. I immediately notified Mr. Wukovits that the permits had been cleared and that he would have entertainment at his affair in South Bend on May 10. Mr. Ivancso advised me that he had already sold 200 tickets for his affair on May 31. All other directors and Mr. Ward were notifed by mail. With this matter settled, I was able to focus my attention on the remaining details of the centennial celebration.
