April 25, 2010

First up this morning, congratulations to Svyturys and their leaders Ausrine and Ricardas Sirvinskas on a huge success with Juventus last night at St. Casimir. Three hundred attendees enjoyed a fantastic performance of Lithuanian folk dancing by Spindulys, Gintaras, Grandis and Svturys, followed by a wonderful meal courtesy of Europa. The young and young at heart danced the night away after dinner to music provided by DJ Eugenijius Dicevicius.

Juventus 2010 came off without a hitch, thanks to the hard work of a small army of Cleveland Lithuanians, who coordinated food, music and a hundred other details to perfection. They made it all look very easy, and that's a sign of a well-run event. Special thanks to Juventus 2010 committee members Ausrine and Ricardas Sirvinskas, Beate Ciurlionis, Marius Juodisius, Virginija Rubinski, Jonas Totoraitis, and Darius Stansiskis.

We send a special welcome to all the dancers, directors and chaperones who are visiting Cleveland this weekend from Toronto and Chicago. I hope you're enjoying your stay here in Cleveland, and we wish you safe travels home this afternoon.

This morning, 10:00 mass at St. Casimir will celebrate the feast of St. George, the patron saint of Scouts.The Cleveland Lithuanian Scouts will have a special role in this morning's liturgy.

The Lithuanian Franciscans are building a cancer support center in Lithuania. A delegation of Franciscan fathers was recently in Cleveland to see how we do things here, and to ask for financial support for their project. Beginning this weekend through May 23rd, you're asked to make a donation to this cause via St. Casimir. You can make your check payable to St. Casimir, and place it in an envelope marked "Lithuanian Cancer Center".

Next weekend, May 1st and 2nd, the LAUNA Games will be held in Cleveland. The buffet will be open at Lithuanian Village from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm in the Gintaras Dining Room The sports events wrap up at 5:00 pm, and at 8:00 pm Romas Dambrauskas will perform in the upstairs hall at Lithuanian Village. Following the Dambrauskas concert there will be dance music from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am courtesy of DJ Eugenijus Dicevicius.

Mothers Day is coming soon, and in Lithuania, it is traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday of May, which falls on May 2nd this year. So on Sunday, May 2nd, the singers of Naujoji Intriga invite you to honor mothers, grandmothers, godmothers with a special spring Lithuanian Mothers Day brunch in the hall after 10:00 am Mass. You'll have a chance to feast on special foods prepared by Naujoji Intriga as well as hear them perform beautiful songs dedicated to the honored guests, and will present all moms with a spring blossom.

If you can't make it to the brunch, the singers will be glad to pack you a “brunch in a box” to take to your mom to help you celebrate the day. Proceeds from this event will help the group defray some of the expenses at the Dainu Svente this July.

And on Sunday, May 9th, the traditional American celebration of Mother's Day will take place with a special buffet from 12 noon to 2:00 pm at Lithuanian Village. Reserve your family table by Thursday, May 6th.

The Lithuanian Catholic Organization Ateitis was founded 100 years ago in Europe with the goal of promoting Catholic culture among college students. Today, its membership encompasses all age groups and the group has chapters throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. On Sunday, May 9th at 11:15 am, the Cleveland Ateitininkinai will hold their yearly meeting in the upper hall at St. Casimir Parish. Members will renew their pledges and listen to keynote speaker Lukas Laniauskas, S.J. The program will be conducted in the Lithuanian language.

Cleveland City Councilman Michael Polensek invites you to the official groundbreaking for the Collinwood Community and Recreation Center, Saturday, May 15th at 10:00. The new rec center will be located at 16500 Lakeshore Boulevard. This project has been on the drawing board for many years, and it's great to see it finally moving forward.

Don't forget that the Academic Scouts Filisterai will present soprano Virginija Muliolis and pianist Michael Borowitz in the upper hall at St. Casimir on Saturday, June 5th.

Now, on a personal and programming note, you may have heard Aldona mention during her Cleveland News update, that Tevynes Garsai, the Lithuanian Voice will cease broadcasting permanently next month. After more than 60 years on the air, and more than 22 years on WJCU, our last show will be Sunday May 9th.

This coming Tuesday, April 27th, WJCU will hold its annual awards banquet, and Aldona will be honored for her 18 years of service to John Carroll University radio.

We'll talk more about this next Sunday, and of course during our final broadcast on the 9th, but for the moment let me just make a couple comments on this subject.

It goes without saying that that is a decision not taken lightly. Aldona made this decision after a great deal of thought and reflection, and I support her decision 100%.

The natural question on peoples' minds anytime we deal with a major change such as this is "why?" There are many factors that go into a decision such as this, but I think the best way to sum it up is to simply say, "It's time."

The second question you're probably asking is "will there be a new Lithuanian radio program on Sunday morning?" The answer to that question is that no one knows the answer to that question yet. Tevynes Garsai has enjoyed a great relationship with WJCU for over 22 years. I know that WJCU station manager Mark Krieger is open to the idea of a continuing Lithuanian presence on this station's Sunday morning schedule.

I know there are many smart and talented people in the Cleveland Lithuanian community who would be good candidates to host a weekly radio program. Radio broadcasting is very rewarding, and also a good bit more difficult than it looks from a listener's perspective. So we will see what the future brings.