Author to lecture on Slovak history

Staff report

LIBERTY

Loretta Ekoniak, a Slovak historian and author, will be the next speaker in the Memories of a Lifetime lecture series, sponsored by the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society.

The Youngstown resident will speak at 10 a.m. Saturday in the meeting room of Kravitz Deli, 3135 Belmont Ave. Admission is $6 ($5 for WHMHS members). The event will include refreshments and a 50-50 raffle to benefit the society, with music by Dolores DePietro.

Reservations are suggested; call Richard S. Scarsella, society president, at 330-726-8277.

Ekoniak and Susan Summers are the co-authors of a book titled “Slovaks of the Greater Mahoning Valley.”

A grandchild of Slovak immigrants, Ekoniak grew up in Youngstown, and is the president of the American Slovak Cultural Association of the Mahoning Valley.

Summers grew up in Campbell. Her work at the Arms Family Museum in Youngstown and with the Campbell Historic Society fueled her interest in her Slovak heritage.

“Slovaks of the Greater Mahoning Valley” (2011, Arcadia Publishing) is an intimate recollection of an ethnic group which contributed greatly to the economic, social, cultural and religious life of the Mahoning Valley.