January 2010

     We have recovered from the holidays and move forward into a new year, adding another ring to our family tree. Recently, I was asked why I became President of CSAGSI. The obvious reason was there was a vacancy that needed to be filled. Our by-laws prevented Paul Nemecek from serving another term. Although unable to serve as president, Paul continues as a director and our librarian of The Paul M Nemecek Library. In fact, all of our past presidents are still intimately involved in the direct operations of CSAGSI: Joe Hartzel is our Koreny, editor, and Bill Hosna is our Vice-President.

      I believe the more important question is “Why am I involved in CGAGSI?” Whether as a volunteer, committee member or Board member, my efforts for CSAGSI are based on interfacing with a really great group of people to preserve something that is very important to me; my ethnic heritage. Working with individuals from Carpatho-Rusyn, Czech, Moravian, Silesian, and Slovak backgrounds on projects involving those cultures is very interesting, very rewarding and just plain fun. The association with individuals that tie me back to my “koreny” is very enjoyable, and I look forward to furthering the projects and the interfacing with “my people”.
     The fact that there is much that needs to be done to preserve our heritage for future generations provides incentive for the efforts put forward. Even if there were not a serious need for such efforts, projects with the CSAGSI people would still be very rewarding and meaningful.
     The efforts of volunteers are determined by their interests and available time. These efforts are easiest by direct contact as meetings, phone calls or e- mails, but volunteers can contribute by using the US postal service. Judith Mason, our Volunteer Coordinator, can find projects that best fit the interests of our people that want to be involved in furthering our society’s genealogy efforts.
     As we head into a novy rok, I am asking our members to become involved in an interesting, rewarding and fun endeavor: CSAGSI projects.
     Thank you for your support. I am looking forward to another great year for CSAGSI.

Ray Capek, President