Fall Banquet in Welland

01a Welland

CSL Branch 23 celebrated their 79th annual banquet on Oct 20, 2019 at The Croatian National Home in Welland. This year, we decided to have a luncheon instead of a dinner, which worked very well. We were honored to have the Mayor of Welland, Mr. Frank Campion attend our event. Also joining us, was Mima Normore, president of Vychodna Dance group and Dusan Dorich, Director of the group. It was a wonderful afternoon with good food and great entertainment. We were served a delicious meal of pasta with meatballs, chicken, cabbage rolls, potatoes, vegetables, salad and cheesecake for dessert. During the meal, we enjoyed being entertained by the Vychodna Dancers of Toronto. Br 23 presented the group with a donation, showing our appreciation for their wonderful talent and hard work and for attending our event to present us with their gift of Slovak folklore.

President of the branch, Christine Dzugan, gave a short history on the Canadian Slovak League – when, how and why it started and its main goals and objectives. She mentioned that these same goals are still applicable today. “As members, we will take responsibility to ensure the success of our organization – one that we can be proud of. We, the members, are the Canadian Slovak League”. She also spoke about the Kanadsky Slovak newspaper, celebrating its 77th year of publication, and that it is the last, Slovak, now bi-weekly newspaper in North America. Throughout the afternoon, we listened to Slovak cd’s.

It was a successful and enjoyable afternoon event.

Christine Dzugan, President, Canadian Slovak League Branch 23, Welland

Pictures provided by Mike Dinga, CSL Br 23