April 26, 2009

Our condolences to the family of Joanna Stepas-Steponavicius who passed away this week. The funeral mass was held yesterday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The complete obituary is available online at Cleveland.com. Joanna's twin sister Emilija died very recently on March 6th of this year.

Condolences also to the family of Dr. Victor Apanius, who died unexpectedly at age 52 on Sunday, April 12th. Victor Apanius was the son of Vincas Apanius of Chesterland, and was a professor of biology at Florida International University and at Wake Forest University.

The April 19th edition of Amerikos Lietuvis featured an article written by Nomeda Vucianas about the St. Kazimiero Lithuanian Saturday School children who visited the Lithuanian Cultural Garden on March 7th under the supervision of Aida Bublyte-OMeara. The full article (in Lithuanian) is available online here.

Congratulations to the Zaibas over-35 men's basketball team, which won the recent SALFASS basketball tournament played in Cleveland. See the complete article (in Lithuanian) in Amerikos Lietuvis and online at alietuvis.us. Photos of the tournament are available on Shutterfly.

Congratulations to Loretta Cipkus-Dubray, who was recently recognized as a 2009 YWCA Woman of Achievement. Loretta is the daughter of Stasys and Dana Cipkus, and a graduate of John Carroll University. She is currently the CEO of Global Clinical Communications in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Congratulations to Dr. Anthony Bacevice, who was recently elected president of the 5,000 member Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio. In addition to his medical activities and involvement with St. George parish, Dr. Bacevice also hosts the program Healthlines, which airs three times each week on WCLV/104.9 FM. A little-known fact about Dr. Bacevice is that he was a board operator at WCLV back in the 1960's.

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to close out their first round playoff series this afternoon against the Detroit Pistons. Tipoff for Game 4 is at 3:30 pm at the Palace of Auburn Hills, with TV coverage on WEWS Channel 5, and on the radio at WTAM 1100.

In order to continue working on the parish merger process, the St. George Parish Council and its parish merger committee met on April 21st. Various committees necessary to implement the parish merger were named, as well as people needed to serve on them. During the coming months, the St.George committee members will be working with their counterparts from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, in order to manage the process of forming a new, united parish for Catholic Lithuanians in Greater Cleveland.

The parish merger committees from both parishes will meet this Tuesday, April 28th, to coordinate the committees needed and to discuss their future activities.

Gintaras at Lithuanian Village will offer a Mother’s Day brunch buffet on Sunday, May 10th, from 11:30 to 1:30. Reservations are required, and you can call Ruta at 440-669-4145 for details.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish invites you stop by the upper hall for a cup of coffee after 4:00 pm mass on Saturday, May 16th, or after 12 noon mass on Sunday, May 17th. Ruta is also looking for volunteers to help with yard cleanup, spring cleaning and landscaping in and around Lithuanian Village.

Lithuanians will go to the polls to elect a new president next month, and Lithuanian citizens living in Cleveland can cast their vote from 11:00 am to 12 noon in the lower hall at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunday May 17th. Contact Honorary Consul Ingrida Bublys at 216-486-8692 for more information.

On Saturday, May 30th, the Lithuanian youth groups Svyturys and Naujoji Intriga will perform a concert entitled "Tree of Life: A Celebration of 1,000 years of Lithuania". The event gets underway at 6:00 pm on May 30th in the auditorium at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Mark your calendar for Abiturientu Balius or Graduates Spring Fling, coming up on Saturday, June 6th at Lithuanian Village.

The Baltic community of Greater Cleveland will gather on Sunday June 14th to commemorate the 1941 deportations of Baltic peoples to Siberia. The prayer service begins at 3:00 pm.