Bridges 2012 April

8/2/2019 Bridges 2012 April

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L I T H U A N I A N A M E R I C A N N E W S J O U R N A L

a p r i l 2012

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BRIDGES (ISSN: 87508028) is published10 times per year (Jan./Feb. & Jul./Aug.combined) for $20.00, by LithuanianAmerican News Journal. Issue: 362Address of publication is:

LAC, Inc./BRIDGES,78 Mark Twain Dr., Hamil ton Sq., NJ 08690

BRIDGESis the official publication of the

Lithuanian American Community, Inc.National Executive Board

2715 E. Allegheny Ave., Phila., PA 19134Tel: 800- 625 -1170Fax: 856-428-6014

E-mail: Lithuanian [email protected] Consultants

Jeanne Dorr EditorGema Kreivenas Art Director/ProductionRimas Gedeika Treasurer & Subscription

ManagerCopyright 2012 Lithuanian American Community, Inc. All rightsreserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced without writ-

ten permission of the publisher. All statements & opinions, includingproduct claims, are those of the organization/advertiser makingthose statements or claims. The publisher does not adopt, or putforth, any such statement or claim as his own, & any such statementor claim does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher.

Address all editorial correspondence to:BRIDGES

Jeanne Dorr4 Shrewsbury Yard,Riverton, NJ 08077-1038E-Mail: [email protected]

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c o n t e n t s

*BACKCOVER:

The 14th LithuanianFolk Dance Festival

is coming to Boston onJuly 1, 2012

Come experience this celebration ofLithuanian dance and culture!

Lithuanian AmericanCommunity

CONTACT INFORMATION:

WEBSITE

W W W . L I T H U A N I A N - A M E R I C A N . O R GTELEPHONE

800-625-1170

in this issue

2 editorialLetter from the EditorJeanne Dorr

4 easter letterMsgr. E.J. Putrimas

5 traditiousTHE LITHUANIANTHE LITHUANIANEASTER EGGEASTER EGGOVERTUREOVERTURE

Anthony J. Shalna

6 reflectionsPartII

My Lithuanian SummerTerese Vekteris

10 cultureTHE LITHUANIANS

ARE COMING

Gloria R. Adomkaitis

11 cultureSVYTURYSBeata Ciurlioniene

12 photo albumKAZIUKO MUGERamune Kubilius16 culture

40th ANNUAL

BALTIMORE

LITHUANIAN

FESTIVAL

Henry L. Gaidis

18 lac newsCape Cod CelebratesLithuanian Independence

19 reflectionsCONCLUSION

HISTORY OF THE LITHUANIAN

GUARD AND LABOR SERVICE

COMPANIES IN POST WAR GERMANY

Henry L. Gaidis

22 calendar

*FRONT COVER:

Photo by Anthony J. ShalnaSouth Weymouth, MA.

The above photo is the official photographtaken by a local newspaper photographerin 1975 of Helen Kislus Shalna. At the ageof 75 she won the Easter contest for herbeautifully decorated eggs at the HanoverMall in MA. She continued to decorate herbeautiful eggs until she was well into her80s.As her health and her eyesight beganto fade she was able to enjoy the fruits ofher past labor. Because of her talenther family has many happy memories ofEaster that span many years of herLithuanian eggs and her dedication to aLithuanian tradition.


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t r a d i t i o n s

Classical arts take various forms; music, literature, sculp-ture, dance and the graphic arts. Lithuanian Easter Eggs be-long to the latter group and the most ornate eggs truly belongin the classical realm. Unfortunately, the passage of time has

taken its toll on the artists, since, l ike any other art, the col-oring of the classical eggs takes great amounts of practice,(years, specifically) not to mention talent.

My mother, Helen Kislus Shalna and her two sisters,Matilda Kislus Noreika and Stella Kislus Sakowicz were re-markably talented in this area and developed quite a reputa-tion for creating very ornate Lithuanian Easter Eggs.

Many years ago, my mother at age 75, entered her EasterEggs in an Easter competition at a local, very large shoppingmall and won first prize, much to her (and our) delight!

Classical Easter Eggs are decorated with beeswax andthen dipped in various dyes. The beeswax acts as a mask,

not allowing the dye to penetrate the waxed area. UkrainianEaster Eggs are world famous and the artwork is appliedwith a metal stylus with a wax reservoir and applies astraight line. Dyes are applied manually in small areas.

The Lithuanian style eggs shown on the cover were dec-orated with beeswax applied by a different stylus, consist-ing of a bead impaled on the end of a toothpick. This beadusually was around 30 to 50 thousandths of an inch in di-ameter (.030 to .050). Coarser beads may be used, but thedecorated patterns would then be crude in comparison to theones shown.

My Aunt Stella often decorated quail eggs which are less

than an inch in diameter, using an unusually small bead.Needless to say, this required remarkable eyesight and anunusually steady hand, as the egg is held in one hand whilethe wax is applied with the other. One of her most unforget-table, spectacular displays consisted of a decorated gooseegg and hen eggs surrounded by a number of quail eggs.

So far, it sounds simple. Then the fun and frustrationbegins. Only white eggs are used.

The eggs are boiled until hard. One trick to minimizecracked eggs whole boiling is to add a tablespoonful of vine-gar to the water. The cracked ones are then removed andreserved for other purposes, notably for practice by the kids

and budding artists. The beeswax must be melted and kept inthe molten state. Incidentally, beeswax is preferred as paraf-fin will not mask the colors and will allow the dye to pene-trate. The wax is usually kept in a lid from a jar, or othershallow, flat, tray type device and placed on a heat source.This is becoming more difficult to find as a coal or woodstove has the ideal flat surface required and the wax tem-perature can be regulated by moving the wax tin away fromthe hottest part of the stove. Thus the obsolescence of coaland wood stoves is also contributing to the decline of clas-

sical egg decoration. If the area is too hot, the wax willscorch, discolor, or possibly ignite. If too cold, the wax willbecome sludge and be impossible to work with. The beadedend of the stylus is dipped into the beeswax, quickly re-

moved and the stroke applied to the egg. Only one stroke ispossible before the beeswax hardens. Therefore, the creationof one small pattern at the end of an egg requires dipping thestylus multiple times to create the strokes required for evena small decorative pattern.

Often the artist kept several styluses with the beaded endssubmerged in the wax. The other cardinal rules are to keepthe eggs warm and to leave the stylus tip in the wax at alltimes. If you hold it out of the wax while planning your nextmove, the wax will immediately harden and result in asmeared stroke on the egg. A complete stroke is impossibleon a chilled egg and one smear, crooked stroke, hesitationwhile applying the stroke will ruin the eggs pattern, causethe uttering of discouraging words, and result in yet anotheregg being relegated for egg cracking contests or egg salad.The dyes will not penetrate beeswax, whether it be a smearor perfect stroke. You cant erase a bad stroke, since the waxpermanently seals the surface so the dye wont apply. Thefrustration is immense if the last or one of the last strokes isfaulty, since all the previous work of decorating the egg willbe wasted.

The egg is then dipped into the dye. The eggshell will ab-sorb the dye, while the wax covered portion wont. The waxis then removed, leaving a colored egg with a white pattern.Depending on the color of the dye, additional patterns may

then be applied over the colored surface and the egg dippedinto an additional dye, resulting in a multi-colored pattern.

So there we have it. All you need is several dozen eggs,dyes, containers for the dyes, a bunch of styluses, beeswax,a good old coal or wood stove, infinite patience, and a num-ber of years of practice.

By the way, a good recipe for pickled eggs is to use theliquid from a can or jar of pickled beets, add white vinegar,and place the peeled eggs in the solution. When the eggs be-come rose colored all the way through, they are ready foreating and are delicious. After all, one can only eat so muchegg salad.

Anthony Shalna is a retired Approvals Manager for Honeywell LifeSafety and has written scores of articles on fire alarms. He is aregular contributor to the Journal of the International MunicipalSignal Association. He is a member, C-17, South Boston Knights of

Lithuania and a Member, Parish Parochial Council , St. PeterLithuanian Church, S. Boston as well as a retired Trustee, St. JosephManor Health Care, Brockton, MA. His other interests include PastPresident , Automatic Fire Alarm Association - New England, PastPresident, Southeastern Signalmen of MA. and MA. State Blackpowder handgun Champion. He has also been a ham radio operatorfor more than sixty years.

THE LITHUANIAN EASTER EGG OVERTURETHE LITHUANIAN EASTER EGG OVERTURE Anthony J. Shalna


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c u l t u r e

This year marks the 40th Annual Baltimore

Lithuanian Festival in its modern format and thelocal community welcomes all to attend the ob-servance. The event will be held on Mothers DayWeekend, May 12-13, 2012, at the CatonsvilleArmory. Although the festival is considered to be aBaltimore event it has for a decade or more beenheld in Catonsville, an adjacent suburb located

just outside of the Baltimore beltway. It is a placewhere anyone with Lithuanian ethnic roots or justa casual visitor will have a great time.

The Lithuanians in Baltimore have been havingethnic gatherings since they first started arriving in

the city during the mid-1880s, although mostevents were confined to the local community.Those attending the gatherings were almost exclu-sively recent immigrants and their American bornchildren. Still the ground work for future eventsstarted to take root. Whenever and wherever theygathered the immigrants would start off the eventwith a prayer. Frequently the event would occurafter a Sunday Mass in the church hall or nearbysite. The bringing of prepared ethnic food was justlike it was made in their homeland and was a re-quirement as the ladies prided themselves on whocould cook the best. Lithuanian sausage (desra),stuffed cabbage (Balandeliai), potato pudding

(kugelis), dumplings (koldu-nai), potato pancakes

(bulviniai blynai), etc., were always available inabundance. Traditional music was played andsongs from home were sung. Beer (alus) and honeyliquor (vitatas or krupnikas) were a must. In thedays before radio and television such eventsoccurred frequently during the summer monthsand were the gathering place for all.

As the new immigrants became Americancitizens they swelled with pride in their newhomeland. The Pledge of Allegiance and thesinging of the Star Spangled Banner soon becamepart of the opening ceremony of any event just like

the traditional prayer. When Lithuania finallygained its independence in 1918 the singing of theLithuanian National Anthem was added to theopening ceremonies and the opening prayer wassaid in both Lithuanian and English. Althoughthese new Americans and their children were soonbeing assimilated into the American culture theycontinued their love of God and Country and thatincluded both their old and new homelands.During the summer months, when the weatherwas good, it soon became commonplace forparishioners to parade from church after Mass to

wherever their ethnic gathering was going to takeplace. During those days such gatherings fre-quently expanded to nearby park areas as they

began to draw larger crowds.Over time even the localpoliticians began to realize theimportance of the gatheringsas well as the voting power ofthese new citizens and beganshowing up at the events toshake hands. They were fre-quently given a few minutes to

address the people. DuringWorld War I such ethnic gath-erings became a place to bol-ster support for the war effort,enlist new recruits, and sellWar Bonds. The small BaltimoreLithuanian American commu-nity provided over one hun-dred and fifty soldiers, sailors,and marines to the war effort.

40th ANNUAL

BALTIMORE LITHUANIAN FESTIVALHenry L. Gaidis


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Baltimore is a city of multi-national heritage and

similar activities were taking place in its German,Polish, Italian, Ukrainian, Jewish, etc., communi-ties. As the war clouds began to gather in Europeduring the 1930s many Americans began to real-ize the need for continuing support for Americaand everything American. Soon the variousBaltimore ethnic groups began gathering togetherto have one large yearly event where all coulddisplay their unity as fellow Americans. As a result,a super all nationality festival and parade evolved,designated as I am an American Day. A paradebecame part of the event in 1938 sponsored by the

Hearst Corporation, which published the oldBaltimore News American paper to honor theConstitution. The first Grand Marshal of the paradewas General Douglas MacArthur a World War ICongressional Medal of Honor recipient. The eventquickly evolved into the place where Baltimore-ans could show their pride in being Americans. Itquickly drew veteran organizations and soonbecame a gathering place for anyone seeking

elected office. Regrettably, the evergrowing success of the event led toits demise. During the post-WorldWar II period, the event lost its lus-ter as people began staying away

During the 1970s and1980s there was a revival of indi-vidual ethnic festivals held in parklike areas in the Inner Harbor area.As the Inner Harbor business com-munity became popular and grewthe ethnic festivals were forced torelocate into more inner city areas.The Baltimore Lithuanian commu-nity took an active part in therevived ethnic festivals which werethen held in the Hopkins and

Charles Plaza. During those daysworshippers at Lithuanian SundayMass at St. Alphonsus and a paradefollowed from the church to theplaza and became part of the offi-cial programs. A few years later thecity built a Festival Hall buildingdowntown where the citys ethnicfestivals could be held indoors. Theindoor building proved to be abenefit as it frequently saved the

day if the weather was inclement. Regrettably, the

city began charging rising fees for its festivals, pa-rades, etc., and even tore down the Festival Hallbuilding to increase the size of its Convention Vis-itors Center. This action almost killed the ethnicfestival tradition, but the resilient groups retreatedto other locations. The Baltimore Lithuaniansfound a welcome home in the nearby CatonsvilleArmory where the annual event has thrived for adecade or more.

This year the Baltimore Lithuanian communitycelebrates its 40th Annual Lithuanian Festival

which will be held on Mothers Day Weekend,May 12-13, 2012, at the Catonsville Armory. Weinvite all to attend and celebrate your heritage asyour parents and grandparents did before you.Come and enjoy Lithuanian culture at its best withus food, music, dancing, culture exhibits, gifts,and that old time Lithuanian hospitality.Henry Gaidis is a contributor to Bridges. He is a memberof the Board of Directors of JBANC and among his manyinterests is military history.

MALU-NAS

Lithuanian Folk Dance Group of Baltimore, Maryland


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Calendar of Events for Apr i l ,May and Jun e 2012Please verify all events as places & times are subject to change.

APRIL

April 15, 2012

Traditional LithuanianEaster Table Following10:30 am MassSt. AndrewLithuanian Church1913 Wallace St.Philadelphia, PA. 19130Reservations required onor before April 8.Info & reservations:215-632-2534 [email protected]

April 21, 2012 - 1-3 pmNEW DAY AND NEW TIME

Phila. Lithuanian HeritageClub, Amber RootsLithuanian Music Hall2715 E. Allegheny Ave.Phila. PAUse the left side entrance.All are invited to attend.Info: Millie 610-497-5469email [email protected]

April 26-28, 201223rd biannual Associationfor the Advancement of

Baltic Studies (AABS)conference.The conference will be

held at the University ofIllinois in Chicago,April 26-28, 2012The concurrent sessiontimetable, cultural &networking programs arestill being developed,as are various otherconference details. Forlinks to the conferenceregistration site, theFacebook page, &

other info., go to:http://depts.washington.edu/aabs/chicago-conf-2012.html 2012 AABSLocal ArrangementsCommittee, [email protected]

MAY

May 12-13, 2012

11 am- 6 pm40th Annual Baltimore

Lithuanian Festival in itsmodern formatThe Catonsville Armory

130 Mellor Ave.Cantonville, MD.We invite all to attend &

celebrate your heritage asyour parents & grandpar-ents did before you. Come& enjoy Lithuanian cultureat its best with us food,music, dancing, cultureexhibits, gifts, & that oldtime Lithuanian hospitality

MAY 18-20, 2012

WOMEN'S WEEKENDAnnual women's weekend

at Neringa led by KerrySecrest & Dr. KristinaMaciunas.This year'stheme: "Time". Moredetailed information & theRegistration forms can befound at www.neringa.org

May 19, 2012 - 1-3 pmNEW DAY AND NEW TIME

Phila. Lithuanian HeritageClub, Amber RootsLithuanian Music Hall

2715 E. Allegheny Ave.Phila. PAUse the left side entrance.

All are invited to attend.Info: Millie 610-497-5469email [email protected]

JUNE

June 2-3, 2012

Talka Work Weekend -Please consider thesedates & plan to come helpprepare the Neringa camp-site for the summer duringthe annual Talka workweekend. We are alsoholding the Open Housefor Neringa First-Timers

from June 27-29th. Pleasecome see what Neringa isall about! www.neringa.org

June 16, 2012 -- 1-3 pmNEW DAY AND NEW TIME

Phila. Lithuanian HeritageClub, Amber RootsLithuanian Music Hall2715 E. Allegheny Ave.Phila. PAUse the left side entrance.

All are invited to attend.Info: Millie 610-497-5469email [email protected]


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The 14th LithuanianFolk Dance Festival is

coming to Boston, MAJuly 1, 20

PERIODICALPOSTAGE

bridgesL I T H U A N I A N A M E R I C A N N E W S J O U R N A L

V O L U M E 3 6 I S S U E 3

Meet

SVYTURYS

Lithuanian YouthFolk Dance Group

CLEVELAND, OHIO

This logo of the dancinglobsters is alsofound on the

Festival T-shirt.

Documents

Bridges 2012 April