A last whirl for old world?
About 200 gather to mark the vanishing traditions of Czechoslovak Independence Day.
By JOHN FRANK, Times Staff Writer
Published October 29, 2007
MASARYKTOWN - The sound of an accordion, Beseda dancers and traditional food brought to life the spirit of old-world Europe on Sunday as this small enclave in southern Hernando County marked Czechoslovak Independence Day with a dinner and dance.
In a community center a few blocks away from the town's lone blinking light, more than 200 people gathered from all across the state to celebrate ethnic traditions that are fading with time in this increasingly melting-pot society.
It's a fact organizer Linda Lovelady couldn't help but notice as she scanned the gray-haired crowd dining on sausage, sauerkraut and nut rolls.
"A lot of people die off," she said. "It's hard to keep the tradition going."
Czechoslovakian immigrants founded this town in 1924, moving south from New York and Pennsylvania. It was named after Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia when the country became a central European nation Oct. 28, 1918. It later split into two nations, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The town's first industry was citrus, but a hard freeze killed the groves and drove some settlers back north. It later became a major egg producer - the "egg capital of Florida" even - before that industry faded, too.
"There are not many original people anymore; they are over 80 or they are gone," said Sona Hucko, who sang the Czechoslovak national anthem Kde Domov Muj "Where is my home?" during the event.
Her daughter, Liba, was one of the Beseda dancers who performed in traditional costumes called kroj. At one time, there were four circles of eight dancers. Now there is just one circle left.
"This is a tradition that brings people of the community together," Hucko said. "But I don't know how much longer they are going to continue."
Dan Doubrava, 58, drove more than two hours from DeLand with his parents, Raymond, 84, and Dolores, 81, to attend the annual event.
"There aren't too many Czech festivals to go to - there's a lot of Spanish festivals - so we go when we can," explained Dan, who wore a "Czech Pride" T-shirt.
His mother said she tries to keep alive the heritage with family recipes and stories from abroad when her grandchildren visit. "We try to keep the family into it," Dolores said. "It's hard to do today."
His father grew up in Ohio in a very traditional Czech way.
"We all went to gymnastics class every Tuesday and Bohemian school on Saturdays," said Raymond, whose shirt read "Jak Se Mas. I'm proud to be Czech."
Pronounced "Yuck-say-moss" it translates to "How are you?" in Czech. He bought it while visiting his daughter in Texas.
John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.