Throughout history there have been men and women who have campaigned for a cause or their country. At times these efforts have been for good and positive causes but others efforts may have been for negative or evil.

Tomas Garrigue Masaryk was the first president of the newly formed Czechoslovakia.

Masarayk was in Germany at the outbreak of WWI.  With great difficulty he returned to Bohemia to find political life dissolved.  Freedom, though meager, had vanished.  Political parties were not allowed to meet.  Police spying created an atmosphere of distrust among citizens.  Papers and journals were threatened with persecution if they did not publish what the police mandated.  Freedom for the people, press, assembly and associations was forbidden.  This Library of Congress article also cites cruel persecution of Sokols.  Thus the treatment of the people, as in any oppressed population, added to the push for freedom.

In America, citizens of Czech and Slovak origins were vocal.  Masaryk had a great lobbyist in the USA in Ludvik Fisher.  Fisher spoke for the Czech American organizations.  Fisher was able to get President Woodrow Wilson’s ear in stressing the existence of the Czechoslovakian independence movement.

Meanwhile Masaryk was working to organize Czech colonies in Switzerland, France, England and Russia.  He could no longer return home and the Czech soldiers began to revolt against the war effort and many paid the ultimate price, death.  America helped finance this movement, revolution costs money.  This was in 1915 and this organized effort succeeded.  Masaryk now presented the declaration against the Austrian government.

The Cleveland Agreement, held at Bohemian National Hall on October 22 and 23, 1915, was important in the founding of this new country called Czechoslovakia.  Two expatriate groups, the Bohemian National Alliance and the Slovak League of America, prepared a document stating they would unite and work toward the formation of an independent federal union of Czech and Slovak states. {SGC Newsletter, June/July, 2015}

In May of 1918 the Pittsburgh Agreement was drafted by a gathering of the Czech-Slovak National Council.  Here, the Agreement outlined certain organizational elements of the new republic.  They also decided the role that these American groups would play in this effort.  This goal was realized later that year in Pittsburgh in October, 1918 when Tomas Masaryk declared the independent state of Czechoslovakia.  Masaryk became the first president of this new country one month later. {SGC Newsletter, June/July, 2015.

Masaryk assumed the presidency at the age of 69 and led his country for the next 17 years.  Because of failing health he resigned his presidency in December of 1935.  Masaryk passed away on September 14, 1937 at the age of 87,

In the Czech tradition Mikulas walks the streets accompanied by an angel and a devil. The children are asked to recite a song or a poem.

Now comes the test, Mikulas asks the children if they have been good during the past year. If good is the answer the kids are given candies, fruits or nuts by the angel. If bad, the kids receive lumps of coal or a potato by the devil, so children are forewarned what they might expect at Christmas, so shape up.

Growing up in Cleveland during the 1940’s and 50’s our family tradition was to hang a sock up on December 5th then go up to bed. The next morning, we would pile out of bed and rush downstairs to see how Mikulas had treated us. I for one, was often but not always the recipient of a lump of coal or a potato. My older sister, much wiser than me, and my younger brother were more apt to get candy, pencils or a coloring book.
So, there you have it, the tradition in the Czech Republic and how Mikulas Day was experienced in my home.

praguego.com/honest-tips/saint-nicholas-day/
praguevisitor.eu/czech-christmas/
tresbohemes.com/2016/12/tradition-svaty-mikulas/

Throughout the Second World War Sokol was among the most prominent source of resistance. Over 3,000 Sokol members were executed during the Nazi totalitarian regime and another 8,000 were imprisoned.

During 2018, the Civic Democratic Party proposed the inclusion of Sokol Memorial Day as an “Important Day” of the Czech Republic. In January of 2019 the Senate of the Czech Republic approved October 8th to be recognized as Sokol Memorial Day. President Milos Zeman signed this legislation.

At the October 22, 2019 Executive Board meeting of the American Sokol, a motion was approved that American Sokol will observe Sokol Memorial Day. We share our roots with Sokols and together we will always remember October 8th with Sokols around the world.
This content was prepared by Susan Bares, National Education Director of ASO

Population
Ohio-11.5 million
Czech Republic-10.7 million

Area
Ohio-40,948 sq. Miles
Czech Republic-30,450 sq. Miles

Agriculture
Ohio-top producer of Swiss cheese,3rd in egg production in USA, 6th in soybeans, 9th in corn
Czech Republic-winter wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, hay fodder, 54% of the total land in the CZ. Is used for agriculture purposes

Industry
Ohio-produces 15% of the raw steel, is important in production of plastics, rubber, fabricating, metal and electrical equipment, medical research, aerospace, defense and bio tech Czech Republic-largest industry is automotive, machinery, iron and steel production, metallurgy, chemical, electronics, transportation, textile, glass and pharmaceuticals

Natural Resources
Ohio-coal,natural gas, rock salt, fertile soil Czech Republic-timber, hard and soft coal, graphite, clay, garnets( is a gem stone and its’ abrasive nature makes it ideal for industrial applications

Additional Ohio Facts
Fortune 500 companies based in Ohio: Proctor and Gamble, marathon Petroleum, Nationwide and Progressive Insurance, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, First Energy.

I’ll end with this bit of trivia. Maybe as a kid you had a Duncan Yo-yo. The Duncan Yo-yo is manufactured in Middlefield, Ohio, Geauga County. In the late 1920’s business man Donald F. Duncan bought the rights to the name Yo-yo. From the 1930s through the 1960s the Duncan Yo-yo Company sold 85% of all yo-yos sold in the USA.In 1968 Duncan Yo-yo was Purchased by Flambeau Products Corp.

References

www.heritage.org>index>country>czechrepublic
www.britannica.com>place>economy
www.development.ohio.gov>files>research
www.britannica.com>place>ohio>state
www.britannica.com>countriesofthe world
www.agriculturejournals.cz>publicFiles
www.ohiolivestock.org
www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Whirligig
www.ohiowins.com>yo-yos

The first Arbor Day was on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. Sterling Morton was a journalist and politician on the State Board of Agriculture in Nebraska. He was interested in improving agriculture in Nebraska. He owned 260 acres of land where he planted orchards and timber trees. Later President Grover Cleveland appointed him as Secretary of Agriculture. He knew the value of planting trees.

1. Food and shelter for animals
2. Prevention of erosion
3. Trees help moderate heat
4. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen

Tree City USA was created by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Johnny Appleseed is a famous person in history known for planting apple trees. He was born. John Chapman, in 1774 in the state of Massachusetts. At the age of 13, his father got him an apprentice job at an orchard. This is where he found his love for planting, mostly apple trees.

Around 1802 he started his nomad journey that took him through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. He handed out apple seeds and saplings to farmers, sometimes in exchange for a meal, clothing and money.

Johnny eventually owned 1,200 acres in the above-named states. He spent much of his time in Richland County, Ohio. Richland County is in the Mansfield, Ohio area, half way between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.

Most of the apples he grew in orchards and plants that he provided were for apple cider. Cider was a safe substitute if clean, safe water was not available.

Louisville Slugger

What professional sports in the USA uses some type of wooden equipment? BASEBALL

The Louisville Slugger Company is located in Louisville, Kentucky. The company makes the bats out of Maple, Ash and Birch. Maple wood is the most preferred wood for professional baseball players.

The company owns large tracks of land in eastern Pennsylvania on the border of New York State. This is called a sustainable wood lot. This means that while trees are harvested new trees are being planted.

Arborday.org/celebrate/history.clm
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed
https://www.sluggermuseum.com