This year, our society has continued our efforts to help foster awareness of Slovak cultural and current affairs. The following are the highlights:
Membership
- As of October 30, 2020, we have 113 paid memberships (64 Individual and 49 Family).
- In October 2019, we had 107 paid memberships (57 Individual and 50 Family).
- In October 2018, we had 100 paid memberships (54 Individual and 46 Family).
Financial
Our financial status is stable. Our total assets at September 30, 2020 were $12,189.80.
These assets are deposited in the following accounts:
- Bank of America business checking account: $6,001.78
- Lafayette Federal Credit Union CD account: $6,188.02
City University
In May 2020, we donated $3,750 to City University of Seattle, which supported five partial scholarships to needy students in Slovakia.
Programs
The following events were held or have been scheduled for the 18th year of our Speakers’ Series:
- October 24 — Bill Tarkulich spoke about the Battle of Dukla Pass in 1944.
- October 31 — John Righetti, in partnership with the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, will give a talk titled Coal Mine Culture – a World of Its Own.
Activities
The SASW has formally pledged its support of the National Museum of the American People, an effort to establish a new federal museum in Washington, DC, to tell the story of immigrants in America.
COVID-19 has had an adverse impact on our local community. In response, the SASW made a contribution of $500 to support the Capital Area Food Bank.
The ongoing pandemic has led to the cancellation of many regular SASW events, including the annual picnic, the Café Night fundraiser for City University, the Slovak Souper Bowl, as well as newer activities such as the genealogy and conversation groups.
To help connect members during this time of social distancing, the society has subscribed to the Zoom video-conferencing platform to hold virtual events. The SASW held its first virtual speaker events in October and is currently recruiting speakers for future events.
The Slovak conversation groups will resume in November 2020, and the genealogy group will restart in January 2021. The board is currently exploring whether a virtual Svätý Mikuláš celebration is feasible.
Online Presence
We are actively maintaining a presence on social media to raise our public profile and generate interest in Slovak topics.
The SASW has continued to support a social group on Meetup to attract younger members and more recent Slovak émigrés.
2020 Board of Directors
Officers
- Brian Belensky, President
- Georgene C. Chastain, Vice President
- Tom Marton, Treasurer
- Marta Szotakova, Secretary
At-Large Board Members
- John Husovsky
- Helen Fedor
- Virginia Sorkin
- Marta Szotakova
- Valerie McNeill
- Stacey Galik
- Rich Palaschak (retired)
