Category Archives: traditions

blogging, business, celebration, Christmas, content writing, traditions, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Happy holidays

December 23, 2015 emmapalova Leave a comment

Holiday gatherings

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI- Ah, the holidays at our household. Even though I was born in former Czechoslovakia, I have a feeling we must have had Italian ancestors. I should check our family tree that’s more like a shrub.

Whether celebrated in the old country or in the USA, holidays are rough. The preparations are endless and exuberant. By the time you are prepared, you are exhausted.

It’s kind of like with security. You can never have enough preparations because something always goes wrong. And the good old saying “the more the merrier” works its magic.

For any gathering my parents arrive with my brother. They get out of the car already fighting.

Mom brings food and we make food. The food is a combo of Czech and American dishes. We eat with a fork and a knife. Mom likes to be the center of attention at any gathering. The focus must be on her.

Beware if not or don’t dare to invite other guests because she wouldn’t be able to show off. I made that mistake last summer that I invited other people than family to a birthday party.

We eat and drink. We eat more and drink more. Mom stands up from the table and gives a speech. Usually, it’s something self-centered.

“I was the most beautiful one at the party,” she said, “and she talked too much. She wouldn’t allow me to say a word.”

That was directed at a guest whom she invited to her home.

“She told me her entire life story and I couldn’t speak,” mom said.

My brother is getting increasingly drunk sneaking in an extra drink downstairs when nobody is watching. Dad doesn’t say much. He likes it that way.

Mom either hits on my brother or on me. Most often on both of us. And then comes the pinnacle in front of all:

“I should not have had either one of you.”

And we fight and we fight more. We raise our voices and mom cries.

Depending on the occasion of the gathering my husband joins in. He laughs out loud. Our son is the peacemaker. He should have been a diplomat.

If it’s Christmas, our son plays Czech carols on the saxophone, I play the piano. My daughter-in-law is also low key. She’s not a Czech.

On top of all of this we’re supposed to have a super moon as if family and alcohol were not crazy enough.

We depart in peace, only to do it all over again.

Happy holidays and a great new year 2016 from Emma Blogs, LLC, Fallasburg Today and CJ Aunt Jarmilka’s Desserts.

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blogging, business, celebration, Christmas, coaching, consulting, traditions, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

26 years in America

December 22, 2015 emmapalova Leave a comment

Celebrating 26th anniversary of arrival in USA

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI- It’s been 26 years since we’ve landed at JFK on this day, Dec. 22, 1989. The long flight from former Czechoslovakia finally ended. We took the Czechoslovak Airlines flight (CSA). People were still smoking on jets back then.

I was exhausted with two children and from the previous night ride to the Prague airport.

It was a journey into the unknown, although I have lived in the USA in the 70s. My parents were waiting for us at the frozen airport. I only had a Benetton denim jacket on and I was freezing. I was still sporting long hair and jeans from Austria.

We spent the night at a friend’s house in NYC. And then a long trip to Big Rapids, Michigan ensued. Any water tower that we passed, my son Jake wanted to climb on it. Also he insisted on sitting in my lap over and over despite the fact that he had to be buckled up.

“I’ll make you a chock for you to sit on,” said my dad.

The windows of the gray station wagon have frozen up. We were like in an ice cave from the film Elsa. That increased the claustrophobia in me, as well as anxiety.

We finally arrived on Christmas Eve in Big Rapids. We picked up my brother Vas from his trailer with an enormous flood light in Roger’s Heights.

Mom had the festive supper ready ahead of time. The Czech traditional fare for Christmas Eve is mushroom or fish soup, fried fish and potato salad. And of course traditional Czech pastries. The only choice of fish back in Czech homeland was carp.

We opened presents and all I could think of was if I could go to bed. Dad turns on TV and there’s the Rumanian revolution. I just have escaped one, the Velvet Revolution. I participated in it on frigid town squares including Wenceslas Square in Prague. I shouted along with two million other people:

“Havel na hrad.”

That translates as, “Havel for president or Havel to the castle.”

I finally laid in bed thinking about all of this.

“What’s ahead of me?”

My husband received immigration visa to Montreal, Canada. I had to make decisions again what to do, “Stay or leave?”

We moved to Montreal and we lived in that great cosmopolitan city for three years. In 1993 we returned to Michigan. I took journalism classes at the Grand Rapids Community College.

In 1995, we built a house outside of Lowell in Vergennes Township and that sealed it for us.

The details of all of this are in my memoir “Greenwich Meridian” that I have to complete. It is my goal to pick it back up in January 2016 and to finish our story.

I wish happy holidays to all.

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Christmas, community, traditions, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Prague Christmas markets

Image December 13, 2015 emmapalova Leave a comment

Happy holiday season to all from Emma Blogs, LLC. A Czech tradition, the three Sundays of Christmas. They are bronze, silver and gold Sundays prior to Christmas Eve. People head out and shop in outdoors Christmas markets.

blog design, blogging, business, Christmas, content writing, history, traditions, travel, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

30 Day Blogging Challenge #14

Image November 30, 2015 emmapalova Leave a comment

For the love of the Fallasburg Park.

By Emma Palova

Fallasburg, MI- I love everything about the Fallasburg Park and the village: the Covered Bridge, the Flat River, the house museums. It truly takes you back in time, away from the fear of technology, from the fear of the unknown and much more.

I live approximately three miles away from the park and I do social media marketing for the Fallasburg Historical Society. The park and the village serve as a major venue for many regional events such as the Fallasburg Festival for the Arts in the fall, the Fallasburg Bazaar and the upcoming Christmas in Fallasburg traditional party on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. Please join us to celebrate the season.

Memories of Fallasburg Park from Connie Elsasser.

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celebration, community, history, traditions, travel

Happy blogging to FHS

September 11, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

This is my latest status update. I am working with clients on social media marketing for the Fallasburg Historical Society (FHS), CJ Aunt Jarmilka’s Desserts and potential clients the Lowell Women’s Club and Americas Voices.

My first order of business was to set up a blog for them on the WordPress platform using different themes.

One room school house, a museum for the Fallasburg Historical Society

For FHS I designed “Fallasburg Today.” Then came social media, that is establishing accounts on Facebook and twitter. And posting on regular basis.

I think the posting on regular basis is the biggest challenge, but also the key to success.

I do have to say that the folks at FHS embraced the social media project 100 percent. They gave me materials, photos and maps.

I don’t think one can do it alone with the quantity of data. I appreciate all their help and their efforts to raise awareness of the 1830s Fallasburg village with modern means.

The village will hold its first annual bazaar on Sept. 19 & 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Come and explore. A big deal for the village is the annual Christmas party. Stay tuned for details.

I am looking forward to creating the October newsletters and bringing on board the Lowell Women’s Club and Americas Voices.

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celebration, traditions

Czech Harvest Festival “Dozinky”

August 13, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

Czech Harvest Festival “Dozinky” in Bannister celebrates ethnicity

By Emma Palova

Bannister, Michigan- For years I’ve been going to the Czech Harvest Festival to honor my Czech heritage. I consider it a miracle that I even found out about it through a press release to the Ionia Sentinel-Standard from an insurance agent.

Considering that it takes place in the middle of nowhere in Central Michigan in the August heat, I think about what made me go that first time.

First of all, it must have been curiosity if anyone will speak Czech there at all. I am by nature a lover of new things, whatever they may be.

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

I was in for a surprise. A gentleman sang folk songs in Czech even though he didn’t speak a word of Czech to the lonely tunes of an accordion. A Czech polka band accompanied the hymns at the Czech Heritage Mass at the Saint Cyril Catholic Church. The hymns were in Czech. The gifts included bread and plum brandy.

The harvest festival opens with a parade of dancers and singers carrying decorated rakes and sickles. Then follow the three national anthems, American, Czech and Slovak.

And the absolute highlight were the dances in folk costumes starting with two-year-olds all the way up to 70.

Coming from a region in Moravia in Czech Republic which is big on folk costumes and traditions, I felt a sincere appreciation for dance masters Tom & Diane Bradley. The Bradleys completely recreated the Czech tradition of celebrating the wheat harvest based on research only.

The tradition in Bannister will live on despite the aging population of the organizers. The hall published a cookbook dedicated to future generations during the 100^th anniversary celebration in 2011, so they will not forget the recipes of their ancestors.

We always eat the main meal at the ZCBJ fraternity hall either inside or on the large porch. That brings me to the staple of the festival which is Czech food. The women of the hall prepare traditional Czech fare that is dumplings, sauerkraut, fresh cucumber salad, ham and chicken. The dessert is either apple strudel or rolls filled with nuts.

Of course no Czech festival would be complete without beer.

Most of the participants have never been to Czech or Slovak republics. I admire the zeal that has lasted, thanks to the ZCBJ lodge, for more than 100 years.

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celebration, traditions

Happy birthday America

July 4, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

Celebrate Independence Day

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI- I love the Fourth of July holiday for many reasons. Most of all the Independence Day reminds me of my independence when I decided on my own free will to leave my homeland Czech Republic to pursue a better future in America.

Most of my dreams have come true and I am working on the ones that haven’t materialized yet. I am grateful to this great country that I have the freedom to express myself without censorship, that I can fly as high as I choose to, that I can be a woman entrepreneur.

While honoring the past in Czech Republic, I am moving ahead with life in the USA. Sometimes seemingly small steps lead to bigger victories. The path is not always straight, it winds and twists much like life itself. We now have deep roots in USA with the fourth generation already born here on the continent right at Bronson and Borgess hospitals in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

I trust that Josephine, 19 months old and the new guy will be fully bilingual in this ever-changing world. I know they will be able to travel to the old country to trace their roots and marvel at the European culture, try some Czech beer and the national dish; pork, dumplings and sauerkraut.

Have a burger, a Budweiser and a great holiday,

Emma and the EW team

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community, events, history, traditions

Memorial Day 2015

May 25, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

Memorial Day brings in tears & rain

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI – Under the gloomy skies Monday, the people of Lowell honored the 629 veterans who found their final resting place at the Oakwood Cemetery.

Groomed to the nines by Don DeYong and the crew, the lovely cemetery whispered its own stories of 151 Civil War veterans. The Boy Scouts marked each veteran’s grave with a star and a flag.

Emotional Dave Thompson was the featured speaker for the ceremony located by a monument to the unknown soldier.

“I like to think the rain are tears,” he said. “This is the first time in many years it is like this.”

Thompson introduced the beautiful strings band of Wendy Tinney. As the violins played their sad tunes and rain sprinkled, many people were wiping off tears from their faces.

The only two remaining veterans from WW II laid flowers to the monument, much like representatives from the local organizations.

The flags were flying half staff in the wind that was blowing from the south.

“We have 29 new veterans here at the cemetery,” said tearful Thompson.

Mayor Jim Hodges also laid flowers to the monument.

Even though it started to rain heavily, people stood there in the rain under the umbrellas listening to Thompson hauntingly name the deceased veterans followed by a bell ring for each.

We thank you all veterans for our freedoms and your sacrifices.

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celebration, community, dance, ethnic, events, love, traditions, Uncategorized

May Day in Czech Republic

May 1, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

May Day brings romance & opens beer gardens

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

May Day is not only known for the International Worker’s Day to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, but it is also a Northern Hemisphere spring festival.

It was an official holiday in former Czechoslovakia, complete with parades. But, most importantly, it was and it is a celebration of spring called Majales accompanied by the opening of the beer gardens. Majales are dances around May poles decorated with ribbons.

May Day pole tied with ribbons signifies love and spring.

The first day of May is known as the day of love immortalized by many artists, poets and writers. It was mainly the work of Czech poet Karel Hynek Macha who attached love to this day and the entire month with his poem May.

Here are the first few verses from the poem translated by Edith Pargeter:

Late evening, on the first of May—
The twilit May—the time of love.
Meltingly called the turtle-dove,
Where rich and sweet pinewoods lay.
Whispered of love the mosses frail,
The flowering tree as sweetly lied,
The rose’s fragrant sigh replied
To love-songs of the nightingale.
In shadowy woods the burnished lake
Darkly complained a secret pain,
By circling shores embraced again;
And heaven’s clear sun leaned down to take
A road astray in azure deeps,
Like burning tears the lover weeps.

A haze of stars in heaven hovers—
That church of endless love’s communion—
Each jewel blanches and recovers
As blanch and burn long-parted lovers
In the high rapture of reunion.
How clear, to her full beauty grown,
How pale, how clear, the moon above,
Like maiden seeking for her love,
A rosy halo round her thrown!
Her mirrored image she espied,
And of self-love, beholding, died.
Forth from the farms pale shadows strayed,
Lengthening longing to their kind,
Till they embraced, and close entwined,
Coiled low into the lap of shade,
Grown all one twilight unity.
Tree in the shadows writhes to tree.
In the far mountains’ dark confine
Pine leans to birch and birch to pine.
Wave baunting wave the streamlets move.
For love’s sake—in the time of love—
Anguished goes every living thing.

The poem takes place by Doksy and the castles of Bezdez, Pernstejn, Holska and Ralsko point toward east and west, noon and midnight.

Castle Pernstejn the setting for the poem May.

Czech parks and castles invite to romance many designed in classical English style with strict hedges and groves.

A castle park in Vizovice where a big part of my book takes place.

Typical flowers for May are lilacs. Some have grown into trees and have been cross-bred into different colors. Some Czech customs have carried over to the USA. In the photo below, Americans of Czech heritage are dancing around a May pole easily recognized by the ribbons.

May Day pole with ribbons in Bannister, Michigan

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celebration, Easter, ethnic, traditions, Uncategorized

Easter Monday in Czech Republic

April 6, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

Easter Monday traditions in Czech & Slovak villages

By Emma Palova

Stipa, Czech Republic- Emma & Ella Chavent get Easter whipping with custom home-made whips on Monday. For French girl Ella, it is the first time participating in an age-old tradition. She will tie a ribbon to the whips.

According to most, the lashing does not hurt.

On Easter Monday in Czech Republic, boys and men in villages head out to whip girls and women of the house. In turn for the whipping, they get shots of plum brandy, eggs and treats. The tradition resembles the whipping of the Christ. It is a holiday. Most men make their own braided whips from willow branches. The big whips have 12 willow branches, that have to be soaked overnight in hot water before braiding. They also have a braided handle. The girls tie ribbons to the whips.

At the end of the day, the groups walk the sidewalks with colorful whips. The whip with the most ribbons becomes a token of pride. The most popular girls run out of ribbons.

In neighboring country Slovakia, the men pour water on the women and girls, sort of like the “bucket challenge” here., as well as the whipping.

The cold water signifies health, beauty and purification.

Here is an excerpt from a Globe & Mail article by Slovak-Canadian writer Miriam Matejova:

“My Slovak Easter traditions mixed paganism with blatant gender inequality,” she wrote. “As a naturalized Canadian, I have treasured my ability to choose the traditions I find appealing and disregard those I detest. I have come to understand that it is fine to let go of some pieces of home and adopt a few new ways instead.”

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