Sunday, June 28, 2009

June 28, 2009

Welcome to the 16 young Lithuanian baseball players who are currently visiting Cleveland prior to the upcoming Continental Cup Tournament next weekend here at John Carroll University.

The 11 to 15 year-olds and their coaches are getting a great look at northeast Ohio, including a tour of the Q arranged by Jennifer and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and a fishing trip on Lake Erie courtesy of Marlene, Vytas and Paulius Kijauskas.

Many thanks to host families Algis and Loretta Gudenas, Giedre and Donatas Jesmantas, Danute Januskis-Tuljak, Lenny Kedys, and Shirley and Ed Kizys.

Sirvaitis and Associates, Taupa, Lithuanian Village and Jakubs Funeral Home also provided support for the team’s stay to Cleveland.

The next meeting of the Cleveland Pensininkiu Klubas will be held on Thursday, July 23rd at 12 noon in Gintaras at Lithuanian Village.

The Lithuanian Club will hold its annual picnic on Saturday, July 25th at the Italian-American Center in Wickliffe. There will be great food and drink, entertainment by Kolorado Vabalai and the Gottsheer Blaskapelle Band, as well as a Krupnikas contest.

During the month of July, Fr. Kijauskas will be on annual retreat in Quebec. Fr. Arturas Sedaravicius, a Lithuanian Jesuit studying at Loyola University in Chicago will be filling in at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Looking ahead to some farewell activities at St. George, the final parish picnic at St. George will be Sunday August 9th, following 10:30 mass. And the farewell to St. George banquet will be Saturday evening, October 10th at Lithuanian Village.

You might have seen in yesterday’s Plain Dealer, that former Browns wide receiver Joe Jurevicius is suing his former team, claiming that he contracted staph at the Browns facility while rehabbing from knee surgery in 2008. Jurevicius was released by the Browns earlier this year, and at this point, has not been picked up by another NFL team. Check out the complete article on Cleveland.com.

This morning we have information about two more Cleveland Lithuanian members of the graduating classes of 2008 & 2009.

Neris Klimas graduated from Brush High School earlier this month, where she was president of the Environmental Club, and attended Tri-C during her senior year, earning one year of college credit.

Neris plans to attend Cleveland State University to study Psychology and Art, with the goal of eventually earning a master’s degree in Art Therapy Counseling.

Neris’ favorite Lithuanian memory is dancing with Svyturys at the Allen Theater in 2007. Neris is the daughter of Ed and Vilija Klimas.

Juliana Puskorius graduated from Parma High School in 2008, and is attending the University of Akron, majoring in Biology. Juliananjoys soccer, reading, cooking and traveling.

Her favorite Lithuanian memory is dancing in the pouring rain at the 2007 Sokiu Svente in Lithuania.

Juliana is the daughter of Audre Puskorius.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

June 21, 2009

A big thanks to Vytas Vaitkus for handling the technical duties here last Sunday morning, and for all the help he has given me and Tevynes Garsai over the years. Congratulations to Vytas who will be starting medical school in the Fall at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Congratulations Matas Laniauskas & Daina Maciunas, who were wed yesterday in Philadelphia. Matas is the son of Dr. Marius and Egle Laniauskas of Mentor.

WJCU is celebrating 40 years on the air this month, and yesterday our General Manager Mark Krieger hosted a get together on campus to take a look at the station’s history. The station started out in June of 1969 with 10 watts of power under the call letters WABU, graduated to WUJC and 850 watts, and now broadcasts as WJCU with 2500 watts.

In looking at some early program guides, I was able to determine that the Lithuanian Voice has occupied the 8:00 Sunday morning slot since the Fall of 1988. I also saw the name of Ingrida Nasvytis on a WUJC staff list from her time as a student at John Carroll. Ingrida was instrumental in connecting Juozas Stempuzis with WUJC to begin airing Tevynes Garsai here.

One of the returning student DJs on hand yesterday recounted to me how she marveled at how Juozas Stempuzis was able to air live reports by telephone from Lithuania during the 1991 fight for independence. Aldona tells me we have archival tape of some of those conversations, which we’ll have to dig out and replay on the air one of these days.

The eight parish merger subcommittees met on Tuesday, June 16th to give reports to the executive committee on their progress and future plans. The subcommittees presented interesting and varied ideas for how to make the newly formed parish vibrant. The next joint meeting is scheduled for August 4th.

Voting ballots for the new parish name were mailed to St. George parishioners on June 15th. Parishioners are asked to choose five names from the included list of thirty-eight suggested names. The deadline for mailing ballots back to Birute Vedegys is June 30th. Anyone needing a ballot may contact Birute Vedegys.

The final report and list of suggested names from both parishes will be turned in to the Bishop on July 15th. At that time, the naming committee will inform everyone of the final results. The complete list of thirty-eight suggested names and their descriptions, from which the voting is taking place, as well as a sample voting ballot, can be found on the parish bulletin boards.

This weekend’s parish bulletin at Our Lady of Perpetual Help contains an insert describing a different parish name selection process. You may want to read this insert for yourself, but please be aware that this is not an official communication from the parish naming subcommittee.

This week we bring you a short bio, along with our congratulations to two Cleveland Lithuanians who are members of the Class of 2009 and one who is a member of the Class of 2008.

Alina Ceplulis graduated from Regina High School on June 1st and will continue her studies at Alfred University in western New York state. She has been awarded a Dean’s Scholarship, and plans to major in art and design, with a minor in German.

Alina’s passion from an early age has been art, and she has won various awards in the area for her artwork. She has been an exchange student in Germany, and her favorite Lithuanian memory is her four years as a member of Svyturys, especially the trip to Los Angeles for the Sokiu Svente.

Alina is the daughter of Rimvydas and Julija Cepulis.

Laura Tuljak graduated from Beaumont High School on June 7th, and plans to pursue a degree in secondary education at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She will follow in the footsteps of her mother Danute Januskis-Tuljak, who is also a teacher.

Laura was a longtime Scout in the Neringa troop, and her favorite memory is the 4:00 am swim in the Romuva lake in Canada during a camping trip with her friends Daina, Daiva and others.

Nijole Pollock graduated from Solon High School in 2008. She was on the Dean’s List, and received an Honors Diploma, and the German Award all four years. Nijole is attending the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in Neuroscience.

Besides being passioniate about nature and the environment, she can eat fire!

Nijole’s favorite Lithuanian memory is getting lost in the woods at Dainava and ending up in someone’s backyard.

Nijole is the daughter of Brooks and Livia Pollock.

The next meeting of the Cleveland Pensininkiu Klubas will be held on Thursday, July 23rd at 12 noon in Gintaras at Lithuanian Village.

The Lithuanian Club will hold its annual picnic on Saturday, July 25th at the Italian-American Center in Wickliffe. There will be great food and drink, entertainment by Kolorado Vabalai and the Gottsheer Blaskapelle Band, as well as a Krupnikas contest.

Looking ahead to some farewell activities at St. George, the final parish picnic at St. George will be Sunday August 9th, following 10:30 mass. And the farewell to St. George banquet will be Saturday evening, October 10th at Lithuanian Village.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

June 7, 2009

Last weekend, Svyturys and Naujoji Intriga performed a great concert here in Cleveland, and later this morning, they’ll be performing at Divine Providence church in the Detroit area.

Today’s concert is a benefit organized by Lietuvos Dukterys, a group that helps people with significant medical issues. Lietuvos Dukterys provides funds to help pay for treatment expenses not covered by traditional insurance.

Everyone involved in today’s concert and dinner, including Svyturys and Naujoji Intriga is donating 100% of their time and materials so that all the proceeds can help a young mother who just underwent a bone marrow transplant. So, if you bought a ticket to last week’s concert, you’ll be pleased to know that those dollars are helping pay the travel costs so our young Cleveland performers can go to Detroit and perform a fundraiser for this very worthy organization.

The chairwoman of the Detroit chapter of Lietuvos Dukterys is Vida Juska, who also happens to be the mother-in-law of Laura Ruksenas.

St. George and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioners were sent letters soliciting suggestions for the name of the newly formed parish. All are urged to return the parish name suggestion forms by this weekend in a sealed envelope to the box in church, or to committee member, Birute Vedegys. The Parish Naming committee will meet on June 10 to compile a list of all suggested names. The plan is to mail the official voting ballot out to all parishioners by June 15th so all may vote for the new parish name.

Congratulations to Honorary Consul Ingrida Bublys, who was recently honored as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Cleveland chapter of Rotary International.

Amanda and Algirdas Muliolis will be at St. George today to ask for your support of APPLE.

Lithuanian citizens living in Cleveland can vote today in elections for European Parliament. The polls will be open at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the lower hall after 10:00 mass.

The Lits Anglers will meet at Lithuanian Village today at 12 noon.

The Baltic communities of Greater Cleveland will gather next Sunday, June 14th at Our Lady of Perpetual Help to commemorate the 1941 deportations of Baltic peoples to Siberia. The prayer service begins at 3:00 pm. Exultate will provide special music and there will be a reception in the lower hall after the service.

John Yagoda will present another session of his fused glass jewelry making class, next Saturday, June 13th at Lithuanian Village. Contact Ruta at the Club for more information.

The next meeting of the Cleveland Pensininkiu Klubas will be held on Thursday, July 23rd at 12 noon in Gintaras at Lithuanian Village. I hear that last month's meeting was a full house, so get there early if you want a seat.

The Lithuanian Club will hold its annual picnic on Saturday, July 25th at the Italian-American Center in Wickliffe. There will be great food and drink, entertainment by Kolorado Vabalai and the Gottsheer Blaskapelle Band, as well as a Krupnikas contest.

Looking ahead to some farewell activities at St. George, the final parish picnic at St. George will be Sunday August 9th, following 10:30 mass. And the farewell to St. George banquet will be Saturday evening, October 10th at Lithuanian Village.

And here's something I'm very excited about: Saturday, November 21st, the Cleveland Lietuviu Bendromene presents Lithuanian country music star Virgis Stakenas at Lithuanian Village.