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April is Eastern European month in Youngstown and throughout Ohio
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown area Eastern Europeans celebrated their heritage and contributions to Ohio, the United States and, especially, the Mahoning Valley during the second annual Eastern European Month in Ohio.
The event Saturday at First Presbyterian Church on Wick Avenue featured local residents talking about people and organizations of their ethnicity to raise awareness of what they have contributed to the Mahoning Valley.
It was organized by Loretta Ekoniak president of the American Slovak Cultural Association, of Beaver Township, who grew up in Youngstown. She raised up the names of Dr. John Melnick, a radiologist who founded The Rose Melnick Medical Museum at Youngstown State University; and David Dravecky, motivational speaker and former major league baseball pitcher. The baseball career of Dravecky, a graduate of Boardman High School and Youngstown State University, was ended by cancer in his throwing arm.
Ekoniak’s husband, Michael, noted there are also female Slovaks who made their mark and brought fame to the Valley.
Among them was Air Force test flight engineer Capt. Carmen Ann Lucci, half-Slovak and half-Italian, who was killed in a test flight on March 3, 1981.
“She had been accepted into the astronaut program. She might have been the first woman in space,” Michael said.
Hungarian Paula Horvath of Youngstown noted that at one time there were five Hungarian churches in Youngstown area.
On a personal note, she said she and her father sold Hungarian food at the Canfield Fair for many years, and her brother once tried out for the U.S. Olympic Team’s bobsled team. Although he did not make the team, he was a third alternate, she said.
Kathleen Ann Kocjan of Niles learned a little about her personal history by attending Saturday’s event.
She brought three documents, two of which she knew are birth certificates of her grandparents, John and Katarina Mesaros. But she did not know what the third document was until someone translated it and she learned it is her grandparents’ marriage document.
“I’m going to have them framed,” she said.
On hand Saturday was Laurel A. Tombazzi, chairwoman of the Eastern European Congress of Ohio, who successfully lobbied Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio Legislature two years ago to declare April Eastern European Month in Ohio.
Tombazzi, who is half-Hungarian and half-Carpatho-Rusyn, said events such as Saturday’s celebration “are great steppingstones for displaying Eastern European culture in the Youngstown area and expanding our values and history with others.”
Seeking other ways to share Eastern European culture, Tombazzi said she has talked with Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction, about incorporating the Eastern European Passport Program into public schools.
Under the program, volunteers with Eastern European lineage conduct in-school talks about their heritage, Tombazzi said.
To kick off Saturday’s event, Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally presented a proclamation honoring Eastern European residents and declaring “April Eastern European Month in Youngstown.”
For those interested in other similar events, the American Slovak Cultural Association of the Mahoning Valley is offering “Simply Slavic” from noon to midnight June 17 at Federal Plaza East in downtown Youngstown and several more through the year. For schedule information, visit www.simplyslavic.org.