Celebrate your Czech heritage all month long

Jak se máš? That would be “How are you doing?” to uninitiated, in the Czech language, which as a boy growing up, I remember was once spoken almost as frequently as English was in the various communities found here in Lavaca County.

While you’re far more likely to hear the Czech language in song lyrics, playing on the daily polka show on the local radio station, than you are to catch it in conversation much more these days, it’s still around if you know where to look. And for the next few weeks at least, now’s the time to show those words off.

Because it’s Czech Heritage Month in Texas, y’all, a time when according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says we “recognize the valued communities of Czechs who have greatly enriched the Lone Star State’s vibrant history and cultural landscape and made innumerable contributions to business, academia, medicine, government, fashion, cuisine, literature, and the arts.

 “Czech Americans’ family values, strong work ethic, and dedication to education strengthen our entire nation,” Abbott went on to say.

Depending on which source you turn to, you’ll find several different dates given for when the Texas Legislature first officially recognized October as Czech Heritage Month in Texas. The earliest we found came the year after the Czech Heritage Society of Texas was founded on Oct. 30, 1982, in Taylor, to preserve and promote the genealogy, history, heritage, culture and language of the Czechs, Bohemians and Czech Moravians of Texas.

That organization has since grown to include 15 active chapters, most of which are found right here in and around this area.  The Society has also published numerous genealogical resource books which they placed in several area libraries, plus they stay actively involved in a diverse array of cultural and genealogical exchange programs between Texas Czechs and the people of the Czech Republic.

For more information and membership applications, visit the website at www.czechheritage.org. Membership is open to anyone interested in/supportive of the goals of the Czech Heritage Society of Texas.

But it’s about having fun, too, something that Czech culture is famously known for. Since its humble origins in the 1980s behind what was largely a cultural preservation/family research organization, Texas Czech Heritage Month has since grown to include festivals and gatherings of all sorts statewide that pay homage to Czech food, culture, music and entertainment.

That the Czech language is still spoken in Texas is possibly a reaction to prohibitions by Austrian authorities on using the language. Early on, the new Czech-Texans established schools and newspapers to teach and maintain their language. The first record of Czech being taught in the classroom came via Cat Spring, in Austin County, in 1855. Today, the state’s largest public college, the University of Texas at Austin, teaches Czech in its modern language department.

Plus, there are now Czech-related museums in La Grange, Schulenburg, Temple, Houston, Victoria and San Antonio.

Easily the granddaddy of all those, however, is the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center (TCHCC) which opened March 24, 1997. They chose to locate the nonprofit in La Grange in November of 1997, after statewide efforts by Czech-founded organizations to raise money and develop a center that would preserve and promote the history, heritage and culture of ethnic Czechs began as early as December 1995.

The Center has evolved from a single desk housed in the La Grange Area Chamber of Commerce Office to an impressive campus all its own, featuring a meticulously restored early Texas-Czech farmhouse, the Kalich House, to the multi-functional facilities, a library, museum, archives, and re-created immigrant village.

Neighboring Fayette County, known as the “Cradle of Czech Immigration,” was selected as the site for the Czech center because of its significance in the history of Texas Czechs. It has the largest Czech population per capita and the most Czech communities of any county in Texas.

They also host the annual Czech Heritage Festival & Muziky on Oct. 20-21. For more information, visit www.czechtexas.org or call 979-968-9399.

So, grab a kolače, klobasniky or pivo, crank up the polka time, go to a Czech dance, invite some friends over for a few hands of tarok and get to baking something—even if it doesn’t turn out just right (because that’s what we do)—just be sure to celebrate your Czech-ness all month long.

Then, try and recall those Czech phrases you learned as a kid. Just speaking a few words, like a prayer or poem in Czech, works to keep our culture alive and strong, well into tomorrow. Nashledanou!