Pictured from left to right back row: Vaclav Konecny Jr., Jakub Pala, Ludek Pala and , professor Vaclav Konecny. Front row: Dominik Pala, Samuel Chavent and Henrik Pala.
This was on Christmas Eve. We had traditional Czech Christmas Eve dinner consisting of mushroom soup, Lake Trout and Whitefish from Lake Huron and potato salad.
Desserts varied from mom’s kolache, Polish kolache, cream rolls, French macarons and a French log.
The best part was that my parents could join us from Big Rapids and Emma flew in with Sam from France.
There were 12 of us so we were like 12 apostles. Presents were plentiful.
I have yet to take a photo of the best one. A huge poster for our Moravian Sons Distillery tasting room in @The Old Theater in downtown Lowell.
Stay tuned for more Christmas news.
Copyright (c) 2025. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Dedicated to Dave Thompson as a tribute to his wife Jan who has passed on Nov. 12, 2025.
With deepest sympathy
A letter to Dave
Dear Dave,
It is with heavy heart that I write this sympathy message with Jan’s recent passing. I know how much you loved each other despite all the jokes.
On one of my countless stories about your involvement in American Legion and VFW post 8303 for The Lowell Ledger, Jan responded to my question: Why do you do all this?
“We’d be sitting at home and fighting,” she laughed.
Both of you were anchors of the Memorial Day activities at Oakwood Cemetery that spanned decades. Most recently, I hunted you down still participating in your car parked the closest to the monument.
That was the last time I saw Jan.
To be continued……….
My friends Jan and Dave Thompson
My friends who enrich me
Living in a different country than your homeland has its repercussions. That is what I write about in my memoir and what I have told my daughter Emma Palova-Chavent when she was deciding about immigrating to the USA from France.
“You’re leaving old friends behind, and making new relationships,” I said. “That becomes binding.”
Immigration is not an experiment.
While living here for more than two decades, I have made a lot of friends that keep enriching my life. I know more people around here, than I knew in the village I grew up in back in Czechoslovakia.
Probably the biggest compliment I’ve ever received was from Lowell resident Barbara Schmaltz, who used to work for the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce. I did a story on her for “Behind the Scenes.” The compliment is bigger than an award from the Associated Press.
“Emma, it’s been a privilege knowing you,” she said.
The same goes for my longtime friend, Dave Thompson.
As we approach Memorial Day, I write about Dave who has been the master of ceremonies for the event for the last six years. I met Dave while working for the Lowell Ledger in 2006. He came to my tiny cubicle office to tell me that he was organizing a clown parade to honor the 175th anniversary of Lowell.
“I am my own chairman,” he said.
Dave told me he wasn’t going to organize the parade unless he was solely in charge of it.
I’ve always liked that statement for its power.
“Once a teacher, always a teacher,” Dave said.
As a former teacher of chemistry and biology, and a coach, Dave always likes to put an educational component into the Memorial Day ceremonies.
One year Dave did a briefing on military uniforms to explain to the public the meaning behind the metals.
Post commander of the Lowell American Legion Dave Thompson with Boy Scouts on Memorial Day.
“Everything on the uniform has a meaning,” he said. “It is decorated based on the things you’ve accomplished.”
And truly while interviewing Dave in his den with the secret door and a miniature railroad track, I noticed what was on the walls and how it was placed. One wall was dedicated to civic honors, and the other to military. There was no more room left.
So, here is Dave’s story abbreviated version:
Dave Thompson was born in Grand Rapids during the depression on Nov. 23 1933. He grew up and attended public schools, and graduated from Central High School in 1952. He attended Olivet College and graduated in 1956. He was the winner of the coveted Olivet Oaks Cup Trophy as the Outstanding Graduating Senior.
After college, he flew in the navy, later he became a Naval Air Intelligence Officer, specializing in survival, escape and evasion tactics. He retired as commander with 21 years of service.
His work history includes teaching in the Detroit area for 10 years biology and chemistry, and coaching football and track.
Dave bargained three of the first five contracts in the Detroit area before the state bargaining law took effect in 1965.
“That made me a bargaining expert, something I still chuckle about,” he said.
Dave was the first executive director of Grand Rapids Teachers Association. He was also the general manager of the Grand Rapids Symphony for five years.
“What was your instrument, Mr. Thompson?” people quite often asked.
“The ukulele and the radio,” he said. “Neither one is a symphony instrument, but I put people in DeVos Hall.”
Dave with wife Jan moved to Lowell in 1996, and built a home on the Flat River complete with hidden moving panel doors and a white pine kitchen fireplace mantle. The mantle originates from the first Thompsons who arrived to Vergennes Township in 1833 as the first pioneer settlers.
Dave & Jan Thompson, avid volunteers, in their unique home.
He is proud of removing cars from Main Street during parades and organizing Dutch spaghetti dinners, as well as being Jan’s ticket out of Arizona. Currently, Dave is the post commander of Lowell American Legion, and on the board of Gilda’s Club.
Dave has three sons scattered around the country and five step children. Both Dave and Jan have lived by a motto:
“We all owe something to our community and we should be willing to give some time to those causes that affect others,” he said. “But when something ceases to be fun anymore, it’s time to move on to something else.”
Dave said the biggest claim to fame after all is said and done is being known as Jan Thompson’s husband. The couple received the title of 2010 Lowell Persons of the Year awarded by the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
Dedicated to the class of 1976, ZDS Stipa, Czech Republic
Discoveries
Friends
Dedicated to Eva, class of 1986, Technical Universtiy, Brno. in memoriam to the passage of her husband Jan.
Notes: I am using J.R.R. Tolkien and Dan Brown writing strategies in a different manner.
J.R.R. Tolkien created new realms based in mythology and philology.
Dan Brown: You need the Clock, the Crucible and the Contract.
In the Clock, Brown is referring to time pressure, the Crucible presents a situation where escape is possible, the Contract is a promise to the reader to answer all questions.
You determine your own clock in the story, your own crucible and your own contract.
You layer the different characters and reach into the past, bring them into the present and put them in the future.
For example I created Paul character by pulling out his letters and postcards from the 1990s, discovered what he was like, and came across a card game Marias mobile he had created in 2024.
However, I couldn’t download the app categorized as a marriage app.
To be continued…….
Notes for Project 50 about deceased classmates, the class of 1976.
Copyright (c) 2025 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
I will begin with the basics of a philosophy that refuses to die, while its application– socialism had suffered a velvet death on the brick streets of St. Wenceslas Square in Prague on November 17, 1989.
Marxist Leninist philosophy was the product of a friendship between Karl Marx in Germany and Frederick Engels in England.
Marx and Engels began working together in 1844 in Paris, France.
They first met in person in August 1844 at the Café de la Régence, where they spent about ten days in intense discussion. That meeting marked the start of their lifelong intellectual and political partnership.
Shortly after, they collaborated on their first major joint work, “The Holy Family” (1845), and later co-authored the famous “Communist Manifesto” (1848) for the Communist League.
Cover of a book titled ‘Marxistická-leninská filozofie,’ indicating its focus on Marxist-Leninist philosophy.
Copyright (c) 2025 Emma Palova. All rights reserved.
Keeping up with my Pacific lifestyle on The Strand in Manhattan Beach, I picked back up walking to the Franciscans and much more. The distance to the Sisters and back is 2 miles . I did it in 37 minutes. I have to take that down under 30 minutes. I have to lose weight before the onset of winter.
Grand Gala Author of the Year 2025 aka “the Oscars of the book world. ”
I had trouble fitting into my first blue Hollywood dress, then I had to buy another red one for the Grand Gala at Loews Hotel.
After receiving the finalist award for Author of the Year 2025 from the International Impact Book Awards I am more motivated than ever to complete all my writing projects.
It was a beautiful ceremony honoring Nov. 1 as National Authors Day and authors of all genres from more than 20 countries.
National Authors Day is a tradition established in 1928 when Nellie Verne Burt McPherson, president of the Illinois Women’s Club, proposed a day of recognition for authors.
In 1949, the U.S. Department of Commerce officially designated the date – a testament to the enduring belief that authors deserve acknowledgment for the stories that enrich our culture, expand our imagination, and preserve our collective history.
I have achieved this both with my Greenwich Meridian Memoir about our escape from former communist Czechoslovakia and in my historical fiction books The Lost Town and Secrets.
“I am honored and humbled by the prestigious award.”
I am working on final edits to the sequel The Quest for the Lost Town.
I have also fulfilled the mission of IIBA that most impactful authors are entrepreneurs or authorpreneurs.
I present other authors’ books in my @For the Love of Books weekly podcast show with 6.3K downloads.
Mi
authoremmapalova 