Volume 17, Issue 1 • Fall 2013 FOURTH SLOVAK-AMERICAN BOARD OF DIRECTORS AWARDS DINNER HELD Amb. Theodore E. Russell n Friday, June 14, Friends of Slovakia (FOS) hosted the fourth Slovak-American Founding Chairman OAwards Dinner at the Washington Golf & Country Club in Arlington, Virginia. e Joseph T. Senko event was a black-tie gala cele - Chairman and Treasurer bration of the 20th anniversary William Tucker, Esq. of Slovak independence and Vice Chairman and President friendly ties with the United Julie Brès Slávik States. e dinner was at - Secretary tended by approximately 110 Kenneth J. Bombara guests, who enjoyed a pre-din - Dr. Sharon Fisher ner reception on the outdoor Frederick Frank, Esq. patio overlooking the club’s Amb. Peter Kmec golf course with a view of the Roger Kodat National Cathedral in the Richard Marko background. e evening’s Peter Muzila keynote speaker was Mr. Peter A. Rafaeli Thomas W. Skladony George Babcoke, Senior Vice Scott Thayer President-Europe and Global Prof. Sharon L. Wolchik Operations Services for U.S. Steel Corporation. A few days BOARD OF ADVISORS prior to the dinner it was an - Anton Zajac, Joe Senko, Andrew Rajec, Amb. Peter Kmec, nounced that Mr. Babcoke was Maria Hurajova, Amb. Ted Russell, Miroslav Vajs Ingrid Kimianova Aielli returning to Slovakia to serve and Bill Tucker Amb. Adrian A. Basora as President of US Steel Kosice, a position he held several years earlier. Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski Amb. Martin Butora Slovak Ambassador Peter Kmec served as Honorary Chair of the dinner, Bill Tucker, Vice Mary Ellen Callahan, Esq. Chairman & President of FOS served as the Dinner Chairman, and Honorary Consul Ed Dr. Pavol Demes Zelenak was the entertaining Master of Ceremonies. Also in attendance this year were the Thomas A. Dine five 2013 Slovak scholarship recipients as this year’s dinner coincided with their stay in John H. Goodish Washington, DC to attend one of the summer institutes sponsored by the Fund for Amer - Amb. Rastislav Kacer ican Studies. Hon. Michal Kovac Amb. Branislav Lichardus Hon. Frank E. Loy As in previous years, a number of awards were presented during the evening to the following Wendy W. Luers worthy recipients: Hon. John L. Mica Gail Naughton • Two Business/Economic Awards were presented to Mr. Anton Zajac, President of ESET Prof. Michael Novak North America and to Mr. Milan Filo, President of Eco-Invest, a.s. Mr. Zajac is the founder Amb. Vincent Obsitnik of ESET, an award winning cyber security company and the most successful Slovak company Juraj L.J. Slavik in the U.S. Mr. Filo is the founder of Eco-Invest, a privately held Slovak investment and Amb. Carl Spielvogel holding group, and a generous contributor to charitable organizations in Slovakia. Mr. Filo Peter Stastny was unable to attend in person and the award was accepted on his behalf by Mr. Miroslav Jan Erik Surotchak Vajs, Chairman of the Eco-Invest Board of Directors. Amb. Ronald Weiser • e Slo%ak-American of the Year Award was presented to Mr. Andrew Rajec, President of (continued on page 2) 2 Friends of Slovakia Newsletter (continued om page 1) the First Catholic Slovak Union of the USA and Canada. Mr. Rajec is a graduate of Marquette University Law School and has worked for national accounting CPA firms Price Waterhouse and Ernst & Young and has served as Senior Vice Presi - dent and National Counsel for a national life insurance company. As president of FCSU, Mr. Rajec has expanded FSCU activities into 26 states and the organization has increased its assets by $116 million. • e Education/Culture Award was presented to the Slovak-American Foundation (SAF). SAF’s mission is “to foster the relationship and strengthen the bonds between the US and the Slovak Republic by pro - viding educational and exchange opportunities that will enrich the eco - nomic, social and political fabric, and help develop knowledge, skills, and abilities that will lead to prosperity.” Ms. Maria Hurajova, a member of the SAF Board of Directors, accepted the award on behalf of SAF. A silent auction was held during the gala dinner, the proceeds of which will benefit the FOS Scholarship Fund and the Amb. Peter Burian Roma Scholarship. ! Slovak Scholar Andrea Tittelo vá speaks at Musical entertainment was provided by Stereo Strings. awards dinner AMBASSADOR KMEC HOSTS DINNER FOR 2013 AWARDEES n ursday evening June 13, the day before the Slovak-American Awards Dinner, Slovak Ambassador Peter Kmec O hosted a small dinner at his residence in honor of the 2013 Slovak-American Awards Dinner honorees: • Mr. Andrew Rajec , President of the First Catholic Slovak Union of the USA and Canada – Recipient of the Slovak- American of the Year Award; • Mr. Anton Zajac , President of ESET North America – Recipient of the Business/Economic Award; and • Mary McPherson and Maria Hurajova of the Slovak-American Foundation – Recipient of the Education/ Culture Award. Mr. Milan Filo , President of Eco-Invest, and recipient of the Business/Economic Award, was unable to attend. Joe Senko, Bill Tucker, Ambassador eodore E. Russell, and Ken Bombara, members of the Friends of Slovakia Executive Committee, also attended the intimate dinner, which provided an opportunity for the 2013 awardees to get acquainted with one another, with the ambassador and with Friends of Slovakia prior to the gala dinner the following evening. Ambassador Kmec and Bill Tucker, Chairman of the Slovak-American Awards Dinner, made some brief welcoming remarks and then each honoree was asked to say a few words about their company or organization and a lively discussion followed. ! WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please make sure that FOS has your current email and regular mail address. Some members have not received FOS correspondence or INVITATIONS to embassy and FOS functions because the email and/or regular mail is returned. So if you have changed your email or regular mail address since you first joined, please send the new information to: [email protected] Friends of Slovakia Newsletter 3 PROF. JOHN PALKA TO DISCUSS NEW BOOK IN WASHINGTON, D.C . n Saturday, October 26, the Friends of Slovakia will co-sponsor a talk by Prof. John Palka who will present his new O book, My Slo%akia, My Family: One Family’s Role in the Birth of a Nation. e event, co-sponsored with the Slovak American Society of Washington, D.C., will take place at 2:00 pm at the Slo - vak Embassy, 3523 International Court, NW, Washington D.C. (near the Van Ness Metro stop). e event is free, open to the public, and light re - freshments will be available. Dr. John Palka is a retired professor of biology at the University of Washing - ton and is the grandson of Dr. Milan Hodža, who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, the years leading up to World War II. In the eyes of many historians, Dr. Hodza was the most prominent Slovak po - litical leader of the first half of the 20th century. In reviewing the book, former U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia Ted Russell states, “Professor Palka’s book, My Slo%akia, My Family , is a fascinating and superbly documented biography of the Hodža and Pálka families’ significant role in Slovak history. It includes dramatic accounts of his family’s escape first from John Palka reads at Seattle bookstore Nazi-occupied Europe and then from Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia to a new life in America. It provides vivid portraits of courage and love of freedom and country that will resonate with anyone interested in Slovak history and Slo - vaks in America.” ! A Special Thank-You! FOS board members Amb. Ted Russell, Julie Slavik and Bill Tucker present a gift to Maria Vidova of the Slovak Embassy in thanks for her help to FOS in arranging events at the embassy. 4 Friends of Slovakia Newsletter ROSEMARY MACKO WISNOSKY, HONORARY CONSUL OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC IN CHICAGO osemary Macko Wisnosky, Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in Chicago, was installed on May 21, 2012 at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. The school, originally known as St. Procopius College, was R founded by Czech and Slovak monks sent to Chicago from St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA in 1885, with their stated mission to provide an education to the children of Czech and Slo - vak immigrant families. Rosemary's installation ceremony, scheduled to take place at the time of the NATO Summit in Chicago, was attended by the entire Slovak NATO delegation. Slovakia's President, Ivan Gasparovic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Miroslav Lajcak, and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Slovak Ambassador to the U.S., Peter Burian, participated in the ceremony. Born in Connellsville, PA, the second of three children to Albert H. and Mary Ma - tuschak Macko, Rosemary's entire childhood was rooted in the Slovak community. She graduated from St. John the Evangelist Elementary School (Slovak) in Con - nellsville and from Mt. St. Macrina Academy (Byzantine) in Uniontown, PA. Her paternal uncle, Rev. Hubert A. Macko, OSB, a priest in the Benedictine community at St. Vincent Archabbey, wrote the first textbook for the teaching of the Slovak lan - guage to non-Slovak speakers (in the 1920s). All four of Rosemary's grandparents emigrated from the Spis region of Austria/Hungary, now Slovakia. Villages include Richnava, Kalava, Kluknava and Jaklovce. For most of Rosemary's life she has been involved in the Slovak community. In 1992 she worked tirelessly to pro - mote Nitra, Slovakia as Naperville's official Sister City. Ratified in Nitra, Slovakia on November 17, 1993, exactly four years after the Velvet Revolution, this Sister City relationship is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013, just as Slovakia is celebrating its 20th anniversary as an independent nation.