Crest of the Bukovina Society of the Americas The Bukovina Society of the Americas
P.O. Box 81, Ellis, KS 67637, USA 
Martha McClelland , President  info@bukovinasociety.org
Bukovina Society Headquarters & Museum, Ellis KS 67637

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NEWSLETTER

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Vol. 05, No. 1   -   February 1995

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Oren Windholz, President
Raymond Haneke, Vice President
Joe Erbert, Secretary
Bernie Zerfas, Treasurer

Editorial response to
P. O. Box 1083
Hays, KS 67601-1083
E-mail:  windholz@bukovinasociety.org


SOCIETY  MEMBERSHIPS & LIFETIME CLUB

A sign of the strength of our organization is the quick response we receive each year to our request for annual dues. To save additional costs, all notices regarding membership are included in the mailouts for the Newsletter. Thanks for your response.

The club of lifers keeps growing thanks to people who want to see a permanent foundation under the society. The following are added to the plaque of honor in the vestibule of the museum/headquarters. All Lifetime members are also honored at all convention banquets.

  • 72. Glen A. Kroeger, West Columbia, SC

  • 73. Edward A. (Al) and Laura Lang, Round Rock, TX

  • 74. Craig and Susan Breit, California

Genealogy/Annual Meeting 1995

The dates for the 1995 annual membership meeting will be July 14 - 16 in accordance with the by laws. There will not be a schedule of speakers and programs, but a forum of those interested in genealogy prior to the business meeting. Werner Zolgauer has notified us of his intention to attend the 1995 annual meeting and will be available and looks forward to meeting with anyone interested in a genealogy workshop. His data base of Bukovina names has increased to 1500 through contact with members of the society. His father Oskar, age 75, is interested in making the trip to Ellis. Werner is interested in receiving information on families from anyone and will share his at the meeting. He will make some large ancestral wall charts to display. The society will have a new computer for member access and a microfilm reader for the new ancestral village records. We encourage members to send copies of their family trees and copies of ancestral charts to the society for inclusion in the computer data base.

Anyone wishing to be a participant in the genealogy and research meetings of 1995 please let us know. The society board of directors will make arrangements for the annual meeting including lodging, meeting space, and informal socials and dinners. Details and a registration form will be mailed out with the Spring 1995 Newsletter. Everyone is welcome to attend as a participant or observer to learn more on research and genealogy.


BUKOVINA TOUR

A good response was received from our notice of a proposed tour of Bukovina in 1996. Over 30 people have sent in the form from all over the US and Canada. This will enable us to begin work on the tour, and returns are still coming in. 'First priority will be given to members with earliest notice. If space is available, the tour will be opened to others interested and to affiliates in Germany. A letter has been sent to all who responded to confirm their interest with an enclosed roster so everyone will know who their potential travel mates are. There is no obligation at this time for those sending in a notice of interest The official enrollment forms will not be available until early 1996.


Bukovinafest 1996

The 1996 festival will follow the format of prior years with speakers, programs, and demonstrations of our culture. In addition to the programs and events projected in the last issue of the Newsletter, we are pleased to announce that the founder of the Association of Bucovina German Culture in Brazil, Prof. Ayrton G. Celestino, has expressed an interest in attending the 96 celebration. He has 6 hours of video of his visit to Bukovina which will be condensed for the convention. The board has set the dates of July 18 - 21 for the convention. Mark the dates and we will keep you informed.


SURNAME EXCHANGE

Dr. M. Louise Garbe, 4351-29th West, Seattle WA 98199 is looking for anyone who has information on the Tauschers.

Margaret M. Kranich, 30 Julio Dr, Apt. 615, Shrewsbury, MA 01545 is researching her grandfather's family. He was Georges Kerth born 7 April 1843 in Czernowitz. His father was Daniel and mother Karolina Kislinger. The couple had 14 children of which five grew to adulthood, Theresa, Paulina, Aurelia, Karl Victor, and Georges. Karl Victor married Josephine Louise Bauers and the four living to adulthood were Karl Victor, Leopoldina, Wilhelmina, and Louise. Georges went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he married Anna Margaretha Schwarz. They moved to Philadelphia, PA. Mrs. Kranich would like to hear from anyone with information on her family or any members with roots in Czernowitz or members living on the East Coast.

Rev. Pavel Nicolescu, 64-03 Catalpa Ave., Ridgewood, NY 11385 asked for information on our society. He is a Romanian Baptist Minister.


ABC BRAZIL

The 4th Natal Bucovino in Rio Negro, Brazil, was celebrated on the 4th of December. This annual Bukowina Christmas sponsored by the ABC has become a part of the community celebration of Christmas.

Prof Ayrton Goncalves Celestino reported a very successful trip to Romania this past fall. He was well received on arrival in Bucharest by the national TV network through Mrs. Schafhauser who went to Rio Negro earlier in 1994. The TV people covered him throughout the trip. He was also received by the Austrian Ambassador, the President of the Romanian Cultural Foundation, and the Foreign Affairs Minister. The Minister gave five scholarships to Rio Negro students to the Romanian University. In the Bukovina district he was the official guest of the Prefect of Suceava and the Mayor of Gura Humora who traveled with him through the additional villages of Poiana Micului, Bori, Radautz, Humor, and Glitt He made contact with many ethnic Germans of the area.

After the Bukovina tour, Prof. Celestino met Mrs. Gertraud Schuller of the Österreichische Landsmannschaft in Vienna. In Germany he met with Karl Flachs before visiting the Bukowina Institut.  Willy Hanus took him to his ancestral villages in the Bohemian forest from which his forebears migrated to Bukovina and then to Brazil. Prof. Celestino met many other people prominent in Bukovina history to aid his efforts with the organization in Brazil.


MICROFILM IN

The microfilm sent by Dr. Ortfried Kotzian and the Bukowina Institut of Augsburg has arrived. 14 rolls contain Church book records of: Gurahumora, Kreis Kimpolung, kath.

Illischestie, Kreis Suczawa, evang. Karlsberg, Kreis Radautz, kath. Radautz Kreis Radautz mit Filialen Satulmare, Alt Fratautz, Milleschoutz, Burla, Badautz, Vadi Vladika, Neu-Fratautz, Andrasfalva, kath. und evang. The box also contained a number of new books donated by the Institut and back issues of the series Kaindl Archiv for our museum and archives. Funds for copying the microfilm were generated from the Ellis Oktoberfest bake sale.

These acquisitions were the result of a trip by Dr. Helmut Schmeller of Hays to the Bukowina Institut during his visit to Europe. The society appreciates his help and the generosity of the Bukowina Institut for their continued support.


Bukovina People and Events

A loyal member and supporter in Canada, Ethel Sentes, passed away recently. Ethel had paid her dues through 1997 and the family asked that the balance be donated to the society.

The Federation of East European Family History Societies will hold the 1995 convention at the Holiday Inn Middlesburg Heights in Cleveland on August 4-5.

Steve Parke, International Board member from Colorado found another organization to belong to, the Parke Society. He sent us a copy of their newsletter to members. Steve is working on his family tree and will bring it to the 1995 genealogy meeting.

Kansas State University has been added to the list of universities with German or history departments containing resource books from the Bukovina Society. Prof. Marion W. Gray sent in a membership application so he can be kept informed through our newsletter. He will be at the MaxPlanck Gesellschaft Arbeitsgruppe Ostelbische Gutsherrschaft in Potsdam, Germany this semester.

Elsie Cantelon, a supporter and active member from Regina sent us a nice letter about looking forward to the newsletters. We sent material she requested from the Bukovina colonies in Brazil. She enclosed a list of colonists who settled in Fratautz in 1787. Her Great Grandparents were Franz and Margaretha (Gerlach) Kissinger. We will enter the data into the society computer.

Prof. LaVern Rippley sent a copy of the Society for German-American Studies Newsletter with note of a book review of interest to Bukovina Society researchers. Die Deutschen Zwischen Karpaten und Krain. He also sent a flyer for a tour he is leading to Russia, Bessarabia and the Ukraine July 29 through August 14, 1995. Those interested can contact him at St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN 66067.

Beautiful cards and Christmas messages were sent to the editor from Bukovina friends. Lucas Balac of Poiana Micului, my grandparents' village in Bukovina, sent greetings. From Germany we received greetings from Margareta Lahme of Vienenburg and Friedolin Fuchs of Julbach.

Al Lang, Bukovina family historian and society board member, had his two books acquired by the LDS Church library. His Bukowina Families; contains 11,000 names and 6,000 dates. He also published Pioneer Profiles.

PS...
The night before this went to the printer, Ed Schadwill called requesting help finding his ancestral village near Czernowitz. The same evening Irmgard found Czereschen on a map for him. The ancestral names he would like information on are: Niebergall, Heinrich, Dreshstan, Klei, and Hartung. He can be reached at RR #5, Box 64, Queensbury, NY 12804. Ed quickly joined the society.


DIALECT RESEARCH

Gabi Lunte sent a Christmas card followed by a letter bringing us up to date. She passed her PhD exams at Kansas University and had her dissertation approved by Dr. Bill Keel, on the Catholic Bukovina German dialect. As part of her research she will visit the society headquarters and conduct interviews March 18-26 in the Ellis area. She was published in the Summer of 1994 in Heritage of the Great Plains by Emporia State University. The article was The German Bohemian Cultural and Linguistic Heritage of the Catholic Bucovinians in Ellis. Kansas, A copy of the publication was sent to us by Gabi and Pat O'Brien of the University for use at the headquarters and in the archives. Emporia State now has a set of the Bukovina Society books.


Society Computer

The new computer has arrived and is operational. The 486 DX66 with 540 hard drive and 8mb ram is a multi media computer with color monitor, dual speed CD Rom, fax, modem, speakers and jet ink printer. Genealogists, send us copies of your database. Funding was in part by the original solicitation for a computer fund and the society board allocation. Thanks to Dave Zerfas who started us years -ago with a donation of his computer.


Polkafest

An appreciation dance will be held in Ellis on February 26th honoring the ethnic music and dance of the German speaking immigrants to the Ellis area. Music will be provided free by the Country Dutchmen and Polkaneer bands and other musicians are expected to join in. Old time waltz, polka and schottische dances will be demonstrated for those wishing to learn them. Society member Mary Agnes Lang Wagner is working on the program and invites all Bukovina Society members to attend. The Bukovina Society plans to form a dance group to perform at the 1996 Bukovinafest.


Notes from Irmgard Ellingson

The last issue of the society publication asked for reader help in locating a woman named Marlene who had written to Kurt Kuppetz of Ulm, Germany. Thanks to Mary Conard and Marlene Fulkerson, the mystery has been solved and we know that Marlene is the woman who contacted Kurt. Kurt recently wrote to Irmgard Ellingson, saying that he had already received another letter from Marlene. "I didn't think that your advertisement in the BULLetin would be answered so quickly, if at all," he wrote. Thanks, Mary and Marlene!

Steve Parke attended the 1994 Czechoslovak Genealogical Society conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin and visited with their 1995 conference chairperson, Dave Stepan. Dave recently wrote to ask if someone from the Bukovina Society could speak at their October 12-14 Chicago conference. The society board referred the request to Irmgard Ellingson, who agreed to give the presentation. Irmgard, one of our society organizers, did research work in German, Czech, and Austrian archives in 1989 and 1990. She has continued to study German and Czech emigration from Bohemia. Spillville, the mother colony of all Czech communities west of the Mississippi River, is just 12 miles from her home.

A new work is available at P 0 Box 97, Ossian, IA 52161. Illischestie. A Rural Parish in Bukovina: Primary Sources for Family History, compiled by schoolteacher Johann Christian Dressler, translated and edited by Irmgard Ellingson. Illischestie received German emigrants from the Rhine Palatinate and Wuerttemberg in the late 18th century whose births, marriages, achievements, and deaths are documented in the book as well as their ancestors and descendants. 400 years of primary source records from 1549 to 1949, Dressler's manuscript, never published, is now available in a 550 page hard bound book for $90.00 in US funds which includes packaging and UPS delivery costs.

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