Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Most Famous Tune about Slovenia
Many people think that this should be Slovenian national anthem...
Slavko Avsenik - Slovenija, od kod lepote tvoje (1999)...
...and an older video of the same song, made in Bled in 1970:
Slavko Avsenik - Slovenija, od kod lepote tvoje (1999)...
...and an older video of the same song, made in Bled in 1970:
***
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tale of Slovenians and Slovenia
In those early days of Earth and nations, God gave every nation a piece of land. When the work was all done, a small group of people (they called themselves Slovenians) appeared in front of Omnipotent to claim their own place under the sun.
There was nothing left to give but the tiny and most beautiful space on the blue planet, between the Alps and Adriatic Sea, which God kept for himself.
That's how Slovenians got "The Greenest Country in Europe" on "The Sunny Side of Alps" - Slovenia, God's own piece of heaven. Oh, and the only country with 'love' in its name...
***
There was nothing left to give but the tiny and most beautiful space on the blue planet, between the Alps and Adriatic Sea, which God kept for himself.
That's how Slovenians got "The Greenest Country in Europe" on "The Sunny Side of Alps" - Slovenia, God's own piece of heaven. Oh, and the only country with 'love' in its name...
***
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Canada's Polka King & co.
Canada's Polka King-Walter Ostanek, Gaylord Klancnik and Ronnie Sluga playing at SNPJ 778 in 2005***
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Ed and Phyllis, Writers and Photographers
Ed and Phyllis Kotarski, writing and photo work for "The Polka News"
***
Friday, March 21, 2008
Joe Fedorchak
Joe Fedorchak (recently retired), a very popular Polka band leader from Youngstown, Ohio. He has been an entertainer for over 40 years.
The photo was taken with his band playing for our Lodge 778 in 2001.
***
Walt, Long Time Chef and the Club's Backbone
Walt Stauffer - a long time kitchen volunteer and backbone of the Lodge 778
***
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Ansambel Vrisk
In 1995, Ansambel Vrisk started sharing their love for beautiful Slovenian folk music, but not just with fans in Slovenia. They were also touring Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, U.S. and Canada. Since their beginnings, they won several awards for their songs and recorded 4 cassettes and 3 CDs.
The song below is about Slovenian folk hero, stout fellow - Martin Krpan. Following is my summary of the story about Martin Krpan z Vrha pri Sveti Trojici (written by Fran Levstik back in 1858):
Martin Krpan made his living smuggling English salt on his skinny mare colt. To Martin Krpan's greatest disappointment, the emperor in Vienna couldn't solve his biggest problem (giant, named Brdavs, who already killed all of the emperor's strongest and bravest noble men) without his help. Although annoyed, he did emperor a favor and took care of Brdavs - once and for all. In exchange, he could get almost anything but only wanted and received the permit to import English salt freely for the rest of his life. :)
Čas beži (translation: time passing by fast) is the name of the next video below. The members of Ansambel Vrisk are:
Ansambel Vrisk - Enkrat v življenju (translation: for once in my life)
Ansambel Vrisk also has a song, named Button Box, most likely inspired by their U.S./Canadian tour (guessing). Button box is called "diatonična harmonika" or, even more often, "frajtonar’ca" in Slovenian language. Here are the lyrics of Button Box in Slovenian:
BUTTON BOX
Besedilo (lyrics): Majda Rebernik
Glasba (music): Jože Avbar
(Moja lepa Belokranjka)
IZ POZABE VZETA B'LA, JE MED LJUDI ZAŠLA,
DANES JIH VELIKO JE, KI NA NJO IGRA.
VSEDLA SE V SRCA JE, NAVDUŠILA LJUDI,
KJER VESELO JE POVSOD FRAJTONAR'CA ZVENI.
HEJ! BUTTON BOX JE ŠKATLICA,
KI VELIKO GUMBOV IMA,
SLOVENSKA JE HARMONIKA,
JI PRAVIMO FRAJTONAR'CA.
ZRAVEN BERDA, KLARINET,
TO SLOVENSKI JE TERCET,
KI JE STAR ŽE VRSTO LET,
GA POZNA ZDAJ CELI SVET.
ŠLA ČEZ LUŽO K ROJAKOM NAŠIM JE,
BUTTON BOX SO REKLI JI, NA NJEJ UČILI SE.
SPOMINI LEPI NA VAŠ STARI KRAJ
S PESMIJO SLOVENSKO SO VRNILI SE NAZAJ.
Learn more about Ansambel Vrisk at their website: http://www.ansambel-vrisk.com/
More samples of their music at:
http://www.ansambel-vrisk.com/index.php?option=com_musicbox&Itemid=33&catid=14
The song below is about Slovenian folk hero, stout fellow - Martin Krpan. Following is my summary of the story about Martin Krpan z Vrha pri Sveti Trojici (written by Fran Levstik back in 1858):
Martin Krpan made his living smuggling English salt on his skinny mare colt. To Martin Krpan's greatest disappointment, the emperor in Vienna couldn't solve his biggest problem (giant, named Brdavs, who already killed all of the emperor's strongest and bravest noble men) without his help. Although annoyed, he did emperor a favor and took care of Brdavs - once and for all. In exchange, he could get almost anything but only wanted and received the permit to import English salt freely for the rest of his life. :)
Moja lepa Belokranjka (video below) is one of the awarded songs. Lyrics are telling the story about a beautiful but foxy musician's girlfriend from Bela Krajina.
Čas beži (translation: time passing by fast) is the name of the next video below. The members of Ansambel Vrisk are:
- Beti Stopar - singing
- Jože Šarc - singing
- Jernej Tišler - contrabass and singing
- Rok Fojkar - guitar and singing
- Jože Avbar - accordion - and the boss
Ansambel Vrisk - Enkrat v življenju (translation: for once in my life)
The song on this last video Gobarska pesem (below) is dedicated to mushroom gatherers - and love, of course...
Ansambel Vrisk also has a song, named Button Box, most likely inspired by their U.S./Canadian tour (guessing). Button box is called "diatonična harmonika" or, even more often, "frajtonar’ca" in Slovenian language. Here are the lyrics of Button Box in Slovenian:
BUTTON BOX
Besedilo (lyrics): Majda Rebernik
Glasba (music): Jože Avbar
(Moja lepa Belokranjka)
IZ POZABE VZETA B'LA, JE MED LJUDI ZAŠLA,
DANES JIH VELIKO JE, KI NA NJO IGRA.
VSEDLA SE V SRCA JE, NAVDUŠILA LJUDI,
KJER VESELO JE POVSOD FRAJTONAR'CA ZVENI.
HEJ! BUTTON BOX JE ŠKATLICA,
KI VELIKO GUMBOV IMA,
SLOVENSKA JE HARMONIKA,
JI PRAVIMO FRAJTONAR'CA.
ZRAVEN BERDA, KLARINET,
TO SLOVENSKI JE TERCET,
KI JE STAR ŽE VRSTO LET,
GA POZNA ZDAJ CELI SVET.
ŠLA ČEZ LUŽO K ROJAKOM NAŠIM JE,
BUTTON BOX SO REKLI JI, NA NJEJ UČILI SE.
SPOMINI LEPI NA VAŠ STARI KRAJ
S PESMIJO SLOVENSKO SO VRNILI SE NAZAJ.
Learn more about Ansambel Vrisk at their website: http://www.ansambel-vrisk.com/
More samples of their music at:
http://www.ansambel-vrisk.com/index.php?option=com_musicbox&Itemid=33&catid=14
***
Monday, March 17, 2008
Debbie and Her Story
Debbie is one really nice lady with a big heart. She is taking care of her sister, who is battling a disease as well as an elderly lady who feels more secure having someone like Debbie around. Yesterday, Debbie travelled almost 150 miles from North of Florida to Spring Hill to hear and see Stan playing drums with Virgil Baker's band. She enjoys the energetic folk music and the company of happy people, although - until two years ago she had no idea what polka music was or how to dance to it.
***
Sunday, March 16, 2008
John, the Bar King
John and Doris
John's parents came to America around 1910 from Loški potok, Slovenia. They lived in Pennsylvania first and then in Michigan. In 1986 John retired, sold his house and moved to Florida with his wife, Doris.
***
Monday, March 10, 2008
SNPJ Lodges - Slovenian National Benefit Societies
Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota
Slovenian National Benefit Society
Slovenian National Benefit Society
Slovenia in Photos
- 2005 Trip to Slovenia
- Tour of Slovenia [2005]
- October, 2005 Trips in Slovenia to explore Gorsha (Gorše) and Rogish (Roglic')Family Roots in Ribnica (Dolenja vas) & Blagovica (vas Vošc'e)
Slovenian Genealogy Society International
- Slovenia Gen Web GenConnect, & SurnameHelper
- Rootsweb - Finding Our Roots Together
- Slovenian Genealogy Society International, Pacific Northwest Chapter
- Gorsha Family Homepage
- Rogish Family Homepage
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Slovenia - Flag
.
. About current Slovenia flag: When Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991, the red star was removed from Slovenian flag - and replaced by a new coat of arms, designed by an artist and author, Marko Pogačnik.
The traditional three equal horizontal bands of white at the top, blue, and red - stayed unchanged since 1848, when the white-blue-red Slovenia flag was first officially recognized by the Austrian Empire as the symbol of United Slovenia and Slovenians, regardless of the historical region in which they lived.
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. The coat of arms on Slovenia flag is actually a shield, representing the tallest mountain in Slovenia, Triglav. Underneath are two wavy blue lines - for Adriatic Sea and rivers. The three six-pointed golden stars are from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovenian dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th century.
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Beautiful Slovenian Alps with the highest Slovenian mountain Triglav and Slovenian flag.
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Photo Triglav, Slovenia and comment above - courtesy of Vincitor
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. Slovenia flag
- national country flag 3 x 5 foot .
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. Slovenia flag - Black license plate frame
metal holder .
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. Slovenia flag miniature
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***
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Last Dance of this Season
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Virgil Baker & The Just for Fun Band
Dancing from 3 to 6 PM
Tickets: $7.00
Virgil Baker & The Just for Fun Band
Dancing from 3 to 6 PM
Tickets: $7.00
***
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Are You Frequently Missing Out?
SNPJ 778 now offers email notifications about upcoming events to all our valued members. Simply enter your name and primary email to the form below and and you will receive invitations to all the future happenings.
Never miss another event again!
Subscribe now.
Never miss another event again!
Subscribe now.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Lojze Slak - The Legend of Slovenian Folk Music
Born in 1932 in small village in Slovenia, Lojze Slak introduced his passion for folk music to the Slovenian public as a young lad, with one winning performance at the local Talent Show.
"The audience, organizers, and fellow musicians, were all unanimous in their agreement that they were witnessing among them a new talent with an abundance of youth and energy, which they had never seen before." *
The Show which was broadcasted live on the radio, opened many doors to more radio and studio time for young musician.
To read more about Lojze Slak, his long music career, concerts, awards and more, visit:
http://www.lojzeslak.com/english/index.htm *
To listen to some of his songs, go to:
http://www.myspace.com/lojzeslak
The music video below is about an unfortunate car and picturesque Sovenia:
Ansambel Lojzeta Slaka - Moj Avto (25 Let 1989)
"The audience, organizers, and fellow musicians, were all unanimous in their agreement that they were witnessing among them a new talent with an abundance of youth and energy, which they had never seen before." *
The Show which was broadcasted live on the radio, opened many doors to more radio and studio time for young musician.
To read more about Lojze Slak, his long music career, concerts, awards and more, visit:
http://www.lojzeslak.com/english/index.htm *
To listen to some of his songs, go to:
http://www.myspace.com/lojzeslak
The music video below is about an unfortunate car and picturesque Sovenia:
Ansambel Lojzeta Slaka - Moj Avto (25 Let 1989)
***
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Nežka, the Bar Queen
Nežka and John (photo above)
Nežka, always kind and smiling
February 29, 2008
She came to U.S. when she was only twelve years old, with her aunt and uncle. Native of Domžale, Slovenia, she lived in Connecticut until 1994, when she moved to Florida.
***
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