CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A crowd marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by tearing down a smaller version built by students. The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library partnered with Metro STEAM Academy, Iowa BIG High School and Alburnett High School to build the 60-foot-long wall earlier this year. […]
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Category: Czech
Photos: 2019 Goulash Day and CzechFest
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Mother Nature can put a damper on a festival, no matter how carefully planned the event might be. Such was the case with CzechFest in Czech Village, where Jennifer Stewart, owner of The Create Exchange, 98 16th Ave. SW, volunteered countless hours to organize the annual festival, only to see rain […]
CzechFest and Goulash Day offer double d...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Two festivals have joined forces to provide a day of Czech family fun, with the St. Wenceslaus Church Goulash Day and CzechFest in Czech Village, both on Sunday. Sept. 22, 2019. While the two still operate independently, free hayrack rides across the Bridge of Lions will allow visitors to easily participate […]
Photos: Dinner on the Bridge of Lions in...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Organizers couldn’t have asked for a better night to launch a new event for the Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street District. Clear skies and temperatures in the 70s on Friday, Sept. 6, provided the first Dinner on the Bridge of Lions with a picture-perfect evening. Main Street Executive Director Abby Huff […]
Rural Iowa parish keeps Czech-flavored f...
NOTE: The 2020 Fall Festival has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. CHELSEA, Iowa — Carefully kept records describe dinner donations from parishioners of St. Joseph’s Church for its annual Fall Festival. “Mrs. Anthony Novak: strudel, kolaches, potato salad, cream. Mrs. Jos. Musil: meatloaf, sauerkraut, potato salad. Mrs. John Sichra: loaf of rye bread, […]
Quaint Iowa town hosts vibrant Czech cel...
Like many small Iowa towns, Clutier helps keep its community alive with an annual celebration. With a population of just over 200 people, Clutier is located in east-central Iowa, in an area fondly dubbed the “Bohemian Alps” and more formally as the Scenic Czech Trail. Related: Find three cultures along the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway […]
Celebrating 150 years: Photos of Czech S...
CEDAR RAPIDS — In its early years, the Czech School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ended sessions with an ice cream social, a tradition that continues today. Past students recalled the socials held along the banks of the Cedar River, behind the school on Second Street SE. The school building is no longer used for Czech […]
Czech national tree makes fragrant scent...
Its flowering season is fleeting, but catch the scent of a linden tree in mid-June and the rewards are extraordinary. With fragrance akin to a lily, but not as overpowering as some, lindens embody the spirit of the dawning summer in Iowa. The tree — called lípa in Czech — is not only the national […]
St. Ludmila volunteers bake thousands of...
By Cindy Hadish CEDAR RAPIDS – Even as kolache sales kick off early this Friday for the St. Ludmila Kolach Festival, Karen Billick can be assured there will be customers waiting even earlier. Drive-up kolache sales run 6-9 a.m. that day, but, “they’ll be here in line at 5 a.m.,” said Billick, who oversees the […]
Old and new: Photographer creates unique...
CEDAR RAPIDS — Slovak photographer Monika Klučiarová has long been passionate about taking photos of newborns, and had always held a fascination with Slovakian folk costumes, called kroje. Combining the two created a unique art form “that merges the innocent beauty of newborns with the treasured works of our ancestors,” Klučiarová said during the opening […]