covid-19 testing

July 27, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI- I did my citizen’s duty and went testing for COVID-19 at Metro Health in Caledonia, MI this morning.

Shortness of breath and coughing prompted me to action last Friday as I called our family doctor in Lowell. We had a tele consultation to protect everyone. Following is the message I have received from our doctor.

“Thank you for your virtual visit with Metro Health on 7/24/2020. In addition to looking after your own well-being, you helped protect others by relying on a virtual visit that reduces opportunities for the spread of influenza and the virus that causes COVID-19 disease.

Metro Health looks forward to resuming office visits once the coronavirus crisis is past. However, the advanced technology we’ve implemented in the form of e-visits, televisits and new virtual visits will continue to give you access to your providers in the ways that are most convenient for you.”

After arriving at Metro Health in Caledonia, I just stayed in the car and waited for the assistant to come out and take a nasal swab. It caused my eyes to tear and I started caughing, but it didn’t take too long to recover. The test results should take two days.

My husband got tested on July 1 after traveling internationally to Czech Republic and experiencing a persistent cough. He tested at the Kent County Health Department on Kalamazoo Ave in a testing tent outside. It took more that two weeks to get the results. That was his second COVID-19 test, because he had to have a negative test before traveling to Czech Republic. Both tests were negative.

As of early July the state of Michigan is averaging 19,000 tests per day with the goal of testing 900,000 people per month.

Testing locations are listed at

https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus

Czech events, Czech heritage, Czech traditions, Uncategorized

Czechs in Bannister, Michigan

July 27, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

Czech tradition lives on in the new country

Updated on July 27, 2020 in Lowell, MI

Note: I also write about preserving Czech traditions in the U.S. in my new upcoming book–the Greenwich Meridian Memoir. This year, the festival always held on the first Sunday in August, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enjoy the story and make the Czech traditional fare at home and listen to the WOES radio program this Sunday at 2:30 pm.

What is the flagship Czech dish? It is pork, sauerkraut and dumplings washed down with Pilsner beer and complimented by a kolache dessert. I deeply admire both the women and the men of the ZCBJ Lodge for keeping the Czech traditions alive.

Harvest Festival on radio WOES 91.3 FM on Aug. 2

There will be a program about the Harvest Festival in Bannister this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on WOES 91.3 FM. Chairman Tom Bradley will talk about the festival and play Czech music. Both Diane and Tom are co-founders of the Harvest Festival in Bannister, although the festival started in Owosso.

By Emma Palova

I went to a traditional Czech costumed wedding called “veselka” approximately 30 years ago. It was in a castle in the small town of Holesov. The bride Miroslava was 17 and the groom was 27. His name was Vojtech and he was from the region where these customs originate right on the border of Moravia and Slovakia.

Czech dances in Bannister, MI in traditional costumes custom made in Czech and Slovak republics.

By Czech standards it was a huge wedding of close to 100 people. They had a classic polka band with accordions and trumpets. The acoustics in the castle were amazing.
The men wore hats called “burinka,” embroidered vests with ribbons on them. The women had festive costumes and small caps on their heads. After years I finally remembered the significance of the cap as opposed to a wreath from fresh flowers on younger women. The cap signifies that a woman is married, while the women with fresh flowers are single.
Many years later, as I watched the dancers in Bannister this past Sunday, listened to the accordions, enjoyed Czech food, and checked out the old paintings in ZCBJ Lodge in the middle of nowhere, I admired the people behind this event. Most of them have never been in Czech Republic let alone at a classic “veselka.”

The men carry ladies up in a traditional Czech dance.

What they have recreated, preserved and continue to carry on to next generations is more than triumphant. I can safely say that most people in the old country don’t know how to dance polka, czardas, or mazurka. The Czech Harvest in Bannister is a testimony that human spirit will always prevail.

According to the chairman of the festival Tom Bradley’s “Pamatnik” published for the 100th anniversary of the ZCBJ Lodge in 2011,the Czechs and Slovaks immigrated to Central Michigan around 1904 from Chicago and Cleveland. They were recruited to work the sugar beet fields. Eventually they worked on their own farms. And the recruiters had to look for different workers from big cities.

Czech heritage, Greenwich Meridian memoir, inspiration, memoir, Uncategorized

Happy Birthday Dad

July 23, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

Vaclav Konecny emanates inspiration

By Emma Palova

Whenever I seek inspiration for my writings, I look up to my father and I know I will find it. My father, former math professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, turned 86 on this lovely summer day. He is active, loving and most of all inspiring by his words and actions.

On any given day, you will find him either solving or proposing math problems for math journals or doing simple things like canning, picking blueberries and making jams and marmelades with mom Ella.

Dad is a typical Leo, strongly independent and likes to take charge of everything with great enthusiasm. Behind these character traits lies the fact that dad doesn’t trust anyone else would do an equally good job.

My father Vaclav Konecny (second from the right, first row) at the Archbishop Gymnasium-Boys’ Seminary in Kromeriz, Czechoslovakia in 1948.

And he is right. No one can beat his solutions to any problems, be it maintenance issues around the house, cars or plumbing. He is logical, rational and precise, always a step ahead of the game.

Dad has a good sense of humor and knows how to start a conversation at a party with strangers.

“How do you do it, dad?” I asked him.

“Well, if I know the guy is a dentist, I start talking about teeth,” he laughed.

Like a good Leo, he is always prepared for anything that might come his way.

He was born in Brest, former Czechoslovakia in 1934 as the second oldest child out of five. Due to the lack of finances, his parents, who were also educators, enrolled my dad and Uncle Tony in the Archibishop Gymnasium-Boys’ Seminary in Kromeriz right after the end of WWII.

To this day, my dad credits all his accomplishments to this renowned institution led by priests. Although he was bullied for his height, it didn’t leave any marks on him.

“I’ve learned discipline that stayed with me for the rest of my life,” he said. “I even got beaten up by other kids.”

It was discipline that carried him through the tough times of twice emigrating from former communist Czechoslovakia to pursue his dream of independence and teaching in the USA without the fear of being persecuted for his religious beliefs.

Dad is a true self-made man, not overly embellished with medals or honors, but with degrees from various universities in Czechoslovakia and the USA, achieved by honesty and hard work.

However, his solutions to math problems were published in Crux Mathematicorum of the Canadian Mathematical Society in the 1990s. Dad received an Honourable Mention for participating in the solutions.

Love you dad. May you continue to inspire all of us. We wish you many healthy and optimistic years ahead.

My father and mother are the main characters in my upcoming book- the “Greenwich Meridian Memoir” now available for preorder on Amazon.

book marketing, book release, books, Uncategorized

Miss Bookseller: An English-Language Indie Bookshop Returns to Krymská – Prague, Czech Republic

July 11, 2020 emmapalova Leave a comment

A new bookshop devoted to English-language titles—and wonderful coffee—opens on Vršovice’s most bohemian street
— Read on news.expats.cz/prague-shopping/miss-bookseller-an-english-language-indie-bookshop-returns-to-krymska/

I love this article from Expats.cz

Stay tuned for news about my upcoming new book, the “Greenwich Meridian Memoir.” I had to sold off on publishing it due to the COVID-19 situation. But since we’re going nowhere with that, I am moving forward with publishing the memoir in August.

It is now available for preorder on Amazon. Just click on the link below:

Memoir on Amazon

Uncategorized

Happy Fourth of July

July 4, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

Wishing you a very happy Independence Day.

Uncategorized

Former Lowell police chief Bukala speaks out

June 17, 2020 emmapalova 2 Comments

Steve Bukala speaks out about his forced resignation from the top Lowell post following his comments on Facebook.

youtu.be/WsIVj07DXGk

Uncategorized

Riverwalk Festival canceled in Lowell for 2020

June 3, 2020 emmapalova Leave a comment

COVID -19, Greenwich Meridian memoir, pandemic, quarantine, Uncategorized

Day 60: covid-19 quarantine in michigan

May 22, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

Happy Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day 2019 at the Oakwood Cemetery in Lowell. This year’s Memorial Day parade and activities have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new normal ahead of Memorial Day weekend

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI – While northern Michigan is opening today for business in the COVID-19 era, the rest of Michigan is still on stay-at-home order through May 28 with many unknowns looming as we head into the Memorial Day weekend.

Hit by a dual disaster of dam failures in Midland, the state is suffering from a prolonged status-quo of the state of emergency, but eager to reopen.

Although the manufacturing sector is slowly starting up and the gardening places are open, we’re still not going to get a haircut, a steak or a tooth pulled.

Social distancing

This week I got a full-flavored taste of the new normal. A special meeting of the Fallasburg Historical Society on Monday, held at the site of the Tower Farm, was attended with board members wearing masks. The members were properly spaced six feet apart in a circle on the lawn by the Tower Farm.

Read the story “Tower Farm rennovations to complete Fallasburg village street look.”

https://fallasburgtoday.org/2020/05/22/tower-farm-renovations/

Mask Wars

The issue of wearing masks has been at the forefront of fierce fights on Facebook, in stores, at home and in different organizations. The complaints against masks range from difficulty in breathing to freedom of choice. Somehow masks got political.

Luckily, living in the country, we have enough space to face-off the six foot social distancing challenge.

On day 58, I marked the passage of time by planting my window boxes with geraniums thinking about the health care heroes and praying for them.

Silver linings

In the afternoon we test rode our new EVs (electrical vehicles) that is bikes boosted with a battery. On the news, I found out that due to COVID-19, bicycles have sold out all over the country. People prefer bikes to public transportation for fear of getting infected.

There have been silver linings all along in the quarantine: increased outdoor activity, creativity and innovation to offset the cancelled parades and Memorial Day activities.

Although I’ve delayed the publishing of the “Greenwich Meridian Memoir,” I am moving ahead with the book launch planning. I will have my book launch at LowellArts, as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

The book is now available for preorder on Amazon. Click below.

Greenwich Meridian Memoir

Memorial Day weekend tips

Gatherings of people up to 10 are allowed. However, people from different parties have to social distance.

Community dishes must be eliminated and replaced by everything individual.

Thank you health care heroes and essential workers for keeping us alive and fed.

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COVID -19, quarantine, Uncategorized

Michigan manuf. & Auto industries reopen

May 18, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

More protests scheduled in Lansing, masks in public mandatory

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI – There is light at the end of the COVID-19 quarantine tunnel. After 48 days in the dark of the unknown, my husband Ludek returned back to his plastic injection molding job at Novaresc in Grand Rapids last week on May 11. Like for most, this was the longest time he has ever spent at home. He had to fill out a COVID-19 questionnaire and wear a mask. Other than that it was back to business as usual.

This was a major move ahead of the Detroit automakers starting back up today. The auto parts suppliers and tool and die shops, said they needed to get moving ahead of the auto plants.

However, it wasn’t until this Monday that Noveresc resumed full operation. According to Ludek, all scheduled workers showed up for work today at the plant.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement was a major step forward in restarting the state’s economy from the coronavirus pandemic, after a state of emergency was declared in Michigan on March 10 and a stay-at-home order issued March 23.

However, Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order through May 28, which had been scheduled to end May 15.

Manufacturing accounts for about 19% of the state’s economy, and close to 5% is already operating because it was deemed essential, Whitmer said.

Whitmer said the worst thing to do is “open up in a way that causes a second wave of infections and death, puts health care workers at further risk, and wipes out all the progress we’ve made. That’s why we will continue to monitor the spread of this virus, hospital capacity, testing rates, and more as we work toward reaching the ‘improving’ phase.”

Wearing masks in public is now mandatory, as we await further words about reopening of the other major industries: restaurants and beauty salons.

We are now on Day 56 of the quarantine and more protests are scheduled in Lansing for this week.

I resumed my regular writing schedule, which, however, consists of rescheduling, delaying and maneuvering around cancelled author events.

Thank you health care and essential workers for keeping us alive and fed.

Subscribe to my EW newsletter to stay in the loop for my author’s news.

The featured photo was taken before the quarantine.

Next: To wear or not to wear a mask, Quarantine projects completed

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COVID -19, quarantine

Day 46: COVID-19 quarantined birthdays

May 8, 2020 emmapalova Leave a comment

Happy birthday to all the people who are celebrating their birthdays in the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020.

Alright, I caved in and decided to celebrate my birthday tomorrow on zoom at the Pushkin’s Bar.

All you need is the free zoom app from the app stores to join in. I will send the link and the password tomorrow to join. You don’t need to wear a mask unless you want to. BYOB

The band of choice is Twisted Sisters with their “We’re not gonna take it.”

Thanks to graphic artist Jeanne Boss for creating the perfect me in the featured photo.