Lowell, MI- Watch for a story on spring sojourns in Venice, Florida on the Gulf Coast, locally in Michigan, and globally in Europe.
Today, March 20th, is the spring equinox. It is called equinox because the length of day and night are nearly equal.
Spring equinox signifies new life.
It is also the day of the total and partial solar eclipses depending on location, according to timeanddate.com
The first day of spring is traditionally associated with many customs like Easter and Passover. It is also a time for new beginnings and new life. Thus the symbol of the rabbit, a lamb and eggs.
Czech Easter lamb baked like a pound cake with decorated eggs.
In many Christian cultures, Easter eggs are synonymous with Easter. Also known as Paschal eggs, these are usually decorated chicken eggs that symbolize fertility and rebirth. They can be quite exquisite, and in many cases are considered an art.
Many Easter related events feature the Easter egg as the central theme. Traditional games like egg hunts, where colorful Easter eggs are hidden for children to find, egg rolling, where eggs are rolled down a hill, and egg dancing, where eggs are laid on the floor and people dance while trying to not damage them are held all around the world.
This is one of my favorite writing themes. And that is Czech names in the calendar. Each day is dedicated to a different name. Of course some are more popular than others. Probably the most widely celebrated name day is March 19th which is Joseph’s/Josephine’s day.
Since Joseph is a very popular name in Czech, everybody celebrates much like Saint Pat’s here in the USA. It doesn’t mean that the day is an official holiday, but it is very similar to huge Saint Pat’s celebrations in Chicago and Canada.
And even though they don’t color their rivers green or march in parades, March 19th is still a big deal. Usually women bake for the day, and plum brandy known as slivovice flows freely, even at work.
The men sit in pubs and other public hospitality establishments. Other names like Emma have been incorporated into the Czech calendar from other countries. The name Emma originates in France.
A lot of names come from Russia like Sasha or Sergej or from other surrounding countries like Poland and Germany.
Czech calendar with name days.
In many cases, there are more than one name dedicated to each day because of the influence from the Western countries. There are cards for each name day. That’s a lot of cards.
Among the most popular modern names for men are Jakub and Luke, even though it keeps changing constantly. For women I have yet to find out. But it also could be Katerina and Marta.
Chicago river turns green on Saint Pat’s.
Also each church has a patron saint. The most popular ones are Saint Mary’s. They have their own feast celebrations such as Saint Mary’s in Stipa that celebrates the feast on September 12th which is Mary’s day.
The communities celebrate the patron saints with wakes, carnivals and fairs. Different carnival companies come to towns, and the feast is preceded by a dance.
Locally, in Parnell there is Saint Pat’s Church that celebrates the feast last weekend in June. It is a major fundraiser for Saint Pat’s School.
It usually features a polka band on Sundays and chicken dinners. The dinners are very popular, and people come from all over. The parish women bake desserts, and there is a display of old cars, 50:50 raffle and cards on Friday and Saturday nights.
Of course there is a beer tent and an auction. The patron feasts are important to all the parishes as a way to celebrate the saint.
Lowell, MI -I must say I am at a loss with today’s blogging assignment #7 to create an event, whether virtual or real.
I’ve been thinking about WordPress Camps for some time. But, I live in the Midwest, and other than Chicago, I can’t seem to find a hub for bloggers.
Come on fellow bloggers step up. Where are you?
A dam in Czech Republic to me resembles a surge of ideas.
I know I can create an event with a long stretch of imagination. I am inclining towards a virtual blogging event, maybe a weekly or biweekly discussion on a theme that will attract attention and not disputes and complaints.
I have some friends around here who are on Goodreads. That’s it. Of course I haven’t searched high and low either.
I tried the Coffee Cake Internet Discussions page on my EW Emma’s Writings and I did not get a lot of response. But, I wasn’t advertising or marketing it either, and as a new blogger I didn’t have that much time.
All of the above seem like excuses for not creating an event. This is my goal. After the virtual event weekly or biweekly depending on interest, I would like to create a “reality blogging” event in a manageable dimension. That is with or without an avocado dip, on the couch or at Ella’s Coffee & Cuisine with or without the Kardashians.
Any ideas on either the format of the event or the subject?
Following is a picture essay of the holiday season in the Grand Rapids area, Michigan. From big events such as the annual Christmas party for the ABC Undercar employees in Amway Grand Plaza counting 400 people to a small pioneer one-room school house in Fallasburg Historic Park. That all happened in one day on Dec. 13, 2014. I was overwhelmed by the disparity of both events. One was like a magical kingdom, the other inviting like a tiny cottage in the woods. Enjoy.
The lobby of Amway Grand Plaza was decked out for Christmas.
The humble one-room school house, home to the Fallasburg Historical Society.
The annual Christmas fundraiser for the Fallasburg Historical Society.
Watch for the big story ” 25 years in the USA” Copyright (c) 2014 Emma Blogs LLC, All rights reserved
The third Sunday before Christmas in Czech Republic is bronze Sunday. On that day all stores open their doors to shoppers, and the Christmas markets begin on the major squares in towns. The town squares shine with decorated Christmas trees to the nines.
The timing coincides with the four weeks of Advent. I’ve noticed the same trend here in the USA. Area communities such as in Honey Creek, Cannonsburg decorate and light their Christmas trees around the same time, so does Lowell in Michigan prior to the annual Santa parade held this year on Dec. 6th.
Small stores like the nickel and dime store Springrove Variety in Lowell are open on Sundays starting Dec.7th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Springrove Variety in Lowell will be open for the next two Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Typically, this is the time when you get your mistletoe coated with white or gold for Christmas at the markets. The parasite plant that brings abundance and love is a must in European households.
Kissing under the mistletoe.
To stay warm, the markets offer mulled wine with cinnamon sticks, grog or rum with tea, and hot beer. At this time of the year, I bought some of the most beautiful crochet linens.
But, probably the biggest of all Christmas traditions is the holiday baking that starts around this time.
Frozen kingdom
The most famous pastries with almost a sacred quality are vanilla crescents and Linz sweets. Baking takes place at least two weeks ahead of time so they soften by Christmas.
Famous vanilla crescents.
The aroma from baking with vanilla and nuts fills the homes with that special holiday atmosphere. And as my facebook friend and real life cousin Marta Krajcova posted, and I quote:
“I love the smell of vanilla as it bakes in the crescents, it fills the house,” she wrote. “We’re almost done.”
I will feature the recipe on the new Travel & Food page on http:// etravelandfood.wordpress.com
Lowell, MI- ‘Tis the season to be merry, and to shop merrily. After all the wedding turmoil, I find it hard to immerse myself into the holiday spirit or to go back to a full writing, design and marketing schedule.
With a full house, for the last 17 days, I had to steal time to write about the International Wedding and to post other writers’ stories like Sarah Harmon’s Pumpkin 5K run.
The great pumpkin ride at Klackle Orcards
But, on the flip side, I found out that I would not be able to live without writing. There is so much value in the written word. Writing is such a powerful tool not only to express oneself, share information, facts and communication, but it is also a means of escaping the real world.
Call it a reprieve, if you will. It helps organize thoughts and different experiences.
Christmas through Lowell attracts hundreds
Grand Volute is still accepting vendors for Christmas through Lowell
Our EW team plans to cover Christmas activities throughout the area such as the 23rd Christmas through Lowell from Nov. 14 through Nov. 16. The tour is one of my favorites as people open their decorated homes to the public and offer Christmas gifts and nick knacks, along with cookies and cider. The tour features more than 50 houses, businesses and organizations from Alto, Lowell to Vergennes Township. More than 300 vendors will be offering their crafts and arts.
River Edge B&B still accepts vendors for Christmas through Lowell
The Christmas tour attracts people from all over Michigan.
There are still locations willing to add more vendors such as the Red Barn Market, Riveredge Gathering Place and B&B, Grand Volute Ballrooms and many more. For a complete list go to www.christmasthroughlowell.org
New vendors are Gless Board, Lowell Women of the Moose, Our House to your House, Small Town Sentiment, Riveredge B&B and Red Barn Market.
Red Barn Market accepts vendors for Christmas through Lowell
You will find delightful treasures, jewelry, Christmas decorations, folk ad fine art, antiques, repurposed treasures, primitives and garden art, beeswax candles and home-made candles, crocheted and knitted crafts, purses, bags and totes, home-made rugs and quilts.
The Lowell Area Historical Museum also opens its doors beautifully decorated for Christmas.
The Christmas tour attracts people from all over Michigan.
We will also cover the Santa Parade and all related activities.
International wedding brings huge success, creates memories
By EMMA PALOVA
EW Emma’s Writings
Wabasis Lake Park, MI- On a beautiful last Saturday in October, Jake Pala and Maranda Ruegsegger became husband and wife.
They got married in the historical Saint Patrick Church in Parnell, Michigan. As the sun rays passed through the colored windows, the sun beams spread all over the altar, the floor, on reverend Mark Peacock and the bride and the groom. Peacock in the homily talked about love, relationships and the importance of wholesome families.
“That is a beautiful church, I was married there,” wrote Jeana Schwacha on facebook. “It looks like it hasn’t changed much.”
Mr. Pala and Mrs. Palova at Saint Patrick Church in Parnell
Anthony Amelia, brother of the bride, read the wedding classic reading on love 1 Corinthians 12 : 31.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs,” resonated through the church.
The bride’s colors were purple, beige and lavender which carried over to corsages, ties and sashes. The bride, the matron of honor Jessica Kraima and the groom’s sister Emma Chavent wore the ever-popular bustier strapless dresses. The bride’s wedding gown had a long train that dropped down several steps from the altar. The best man was Pala’s longtime friend Ken Kline. The French flower girl was Ella Chavent, 4.
It was a picture perfect afternoon with degrees in mid to upper 60s Fahrenheit.
Mr. Jakub Pala and Mrs. Maranda Palova enter the Wabasis Lodge
Just a few miles northeast of the church, overlooking Wabasis Lake covered with autumn golden carpet, sits the park lodge which was the place for the reception.
The scenery for the wedding featured blue skies and blue waters of the Wabasis Lake. The lodge has a large fireplace and it was decked out for a grand wedding celebration. French doors and windows span the entire northern and southern walls. It seats approximately 130 to 140 people.
“It will be rustic chic,” said the bride Maranda Ruegsegger in a previous interview for E Brides & Fashion blog.
The first dance belonged to Maranda and Jake
The tables were decorated with stumps that served as bases for large vases with candles floating in them.
“Grandpa Tom made the stumps for me,” Maranda glowed.
As Mr. Pala and Mrs. Palova entered the lodge, they got a standing ovation from the crowd.
The song “When a man loves a woman” settled into everyone’s heart as the husband and wife danced the first dance. Turning and swirling to the catching melody, the couple danced passionately and skillfully.
The buffet dinner included chicken marsala, roast beef, mashed potatoes, salad and more.
Three-tier wedding cake by CJ Aunt Jarmilka
“The food was delicious,” I kept hearing comments.
A separate dessert station was set up by the fireplace. Wedding baker Jarmila Karmaskova of CJ Aunt Jarmilka’s Desserts set up the three-tier wedding cake on a stump. The cake was topped off with pine cones in the spirit of the rustic theme.
“The desserts are very good,” said friend Jean Jeltema. “Bring me some of that cake log.”
CJ spent three days baking the wedding cake, cake logs and traditional Czech kolache. Karmaskova baked well into the wee hours of the wedding day.
“I was kind of scared out there,” she confessed later.
She and her two sons George & Paul flew 6,000 miles to get here for the wedding.
The wines featured Fenn Valley’s sweeter Lakeshore white and red Capriccio, French Vouvray chardonnay, Rodney Strong chardonnay and Spanish Sangre de Toro red and Sangria. The bar also offered plum brandy, pear brandy and Becherovka herbal liqueur.
The wedding wines
“Everybody liked that,” said father of the bride Dan Ruegsegger at the tailgate party on Sunday.
No Czech celebration is complete without beer. Since it is the month of the Octoberfest, the groom ordered Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Ichabad pumpkin ale.
The international selection of wines and brandy reflected the international spirit of the wedding. Mr. Jakub Pala was born in former Czechoslovakia and Mrs. Maranda Palova, born Ruegsegger, is American. The groom’s sister Chavent is Czech, but her husband and children are French.
The difference in the names Pala – Palova lies in the gender and the grammar. All females in Slavic languages after marriage take on the man’s name, but because of the grammar rules, the last name is modified by adding either –ova to the end or –a to the end.
For example the famous Czech tennis player Martina Navratilova, a man would be Martin Navratil or Ivanka Trumpova, the man is Donald Trump.
My parents Ella & Vaclav Konecny stayed the longest on the dance floor celebrating 55 years of marriage.
And my dad Vaclav Konecny fills in the Spanish gap as a big fan of the Spanish language.
During the wedding, my parents Ella & Vaclav Konecny received a blessing for their 55th anniversary and danced the longest on the dance floor. They had the greatest longevity of marriage of all the couples present.
Groom’s sister Emma Chavent made the wedding video accompanied by a great selection of music including Queen. It covered the groom’s childhood all the way to marriage.
The dance floor was busy until the closing. The DJ was accommodating also to requests for slow dancing music.
So Mr. & Mrs. Palova danced the night away under the bright stars.
authoremmapalova 