February 21, 2010

You are invited to attend the Cleveland celebration of Lithuania's Independence which continues this morning with with flag raising at 9:45 am at the Freedom monument on the grounds of St. Casimir Parish. 10:00 a.m. Mass at St. Casimir will feature special music by Exultate, and Lithuanian-American organizations are invited to attend with their flags.

Following mass at 11:00 a.m. in the lower hall at St. Casimir, you're invited to stay for lunch, and then head upstairs at 1:00 pm for the main event, with keynote speaker Vytas Maaciunas, president of the Lithuanian-American Community-USA, and dancing by the Suktinis Lithuanian folk dancers from Chicago, poetry by Ona Zalensas and musical entertainment by Eugenijus Dicevicius.

Don't forget that today the Neff Road parking lot at St. Casimir will be closed after 8:00 mass, and reopen after 10:00 mass. The parking lot will be reserved during this time for those participating in the Independence Day flag-raising ceremony.

The 2nd annual North Collinwood Taste the Neighborhood Award Dinner is this Tuesday, February 23. The dinner will be hosted by Lithuanian Village, and Lithuanian Club president Ruta Degutis will be honored as one of the "regular folks who go the extra mile."

Next weekend, St. Casimir parish will hold an early spring cleaning party for all organizations that use the St. Casimir facilities. The idea is to get rid of items that are no longer needed from the school building and gymnasium. The party starts at 9:00 am next Saturday, and 1:00 pm next Sunday. All organizations that use parish facilities are asked to participate, and students looking for service opportunities are also encouraged to participate. Please call the rectory this week to let them know which day you'll be able to help.

Thursday, March 4th is the feast of St. Casimir, and you're invited to a special feast day liturgy and Eucharistic Devotion beginning at 7:00 pm. The mass will be celebrated in both Lithuanian and English, and will feature special music presented by Exultate under the direction of Rita Kliorys.

Speaking of Exultate, you're invited to a CD release party for their most recent recording, entitled Life - A Sacred Song. The event will take place on Friday, March 12th at 7:00 pm in the lower hall at St. Casimir. There will be refreshments, and you'll have a chance to hear excerpts from the new CD, and purchase a copy at a special discounted price.

Zaibas will hold its annual Hall of Fame induction and Night at the Races event on Saturday, March 6th at Recher Slovenian Hall. For more information please contact Vidas Tataruas by email at tatarunas@att.net.

Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid will ask for your support on the weekend of March 13th and 14th at St. Casimir. For more information please contact chairperson Zenonas Obelenis.

The Cleveland Lithuanian Academic Scouts Filisterai are pleased to announce that they will sponsor a concert by soprano Virginija Bruozyte Muliolis on Saturday, April 10th in the upper hall at St. Casimir.

During Lent, St. Casimir will join with St. Jerome's, Holy Redeemer and St. Mary's for a special Lenten spiritual series each Monday evening during Lent. On February 22nd, the mass and social will be at St. Jerome, followed on March 1st at Holy Redeemer, March 8th at St. Mary, and March 15th at St. Casimir. On March 22nd there will be a penance service at Holy Redeemer.

There are a number of social media sites popping to help Cleveland Lithuanians stay connected to each other and to the community. The Lithuanian Klubas has a Facebook page, and now Paul Ruksenas and Taupa have joined forces to launch LTNews.net .

If you're on Facebook, check out the group Keep Big Z in Cleveland, dedicated to letting Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the Cavaliers know that Clevelanders want to see the big man from Kaunas back in the Wine and Gold wearing number 11 as soon as possible.