Monthly Archives

July 2007

“Lucky” Gordon Gerbick, the man and his hat

By | General Information/News, Serb Fest | No Comments

hatguysm“Lucky” Gordon Gerbick wants to sell you a winning ticket for St. Sava’s Annual Building Fund Raffle. Did you know that statistically, Gordon has sold the most grand prize winners ever?

Of course, we encourage you to buy a ticket from anyone, but at least shake his hand for Good Luck! Last year’s Raffle helped make the dream of paying off the mortgage a reality. Now it’s time to look to the future, relocating once our Hall sells.

The drawing will be held at 9:00pm, Sunday, August 5th, at the hall on 49th. Tickets are $100.00, and you can even share a ticket.

Winner need not be present, call Vinko (219)972-3252 or Gordon (219)663-9188 for tickets. Checks accepted, payable to St. Sava Church.

If you see Gordon Gerbick this weekend, be sure to say “Hi, Lucky Gordon, nice hat!”

NWI Times Interviews Milan Opacich: Museum

By | Historical Society, Serb Fest | No Comments

The NWI Times interviewed Milan Opacich about the Serbian Cultural Mini-Museum at the upcoming St. Sava Serb Fest. From the article:

This year’s temporary museum will feature a new Wall of Fame that will illustrate the achievements of St. Sava’s most famous parishioners, including the following:

Gary-born Bishop Varnava, who was venerated to sainthood in the Eastern Orthodox church; Diana (Chirich) Henery, who became the leading soprano for the Volksopera in Vienna, Austria; Nicholas “Jumbo” Strincevich, a retired American Major League baseball player; Walter Bogdanich, who won Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting in 1998 and 2005; and Milo Komenich, a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

Probably the most famous parishioner in the Wall of Fame is Mladen George Sekulovich, better known as Karl Malden, who won the 1952 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and was nominated in 1954 for his supporting role in “On the Waterfront.”

A past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Malden was named the 40th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild’s Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.

“Karl has never forgotten his roots,” Opacich said.

“He has made many donations to St. Sava’s.”

WANTED: Serbian Cultural Items for Museum

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WANTED:

Historic photos, publications, books, documents, costumes, music recordings, films, artifacts, and memorabilia about St. Sava, Serbs, Gary, Yugoslavia, and Serbian culture.

We would like your help in gathering historical items for this year’s mini-museum at Serb Fest and future projects such as the up-coming library and temporary museum exhibits that will be displayed there. If you wish to donate original photos or publications, it would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise, please allow us to copy them and return the originals within 14 days. We would also need as much information about the event as you can provide: Date, Location, Subject, and Names if you know them. Please write your name, address, phone along with the event info on a separate piece of paper and tape it to the back of the photo so you don’t cause any damage. We will credit you for providing the items.

Some of the topics we will be covering include:

Photos of events from our first church built in 1914, from 1300 Connecticut, old plays, programs, zabavas, concerts, style shows, Sunday School, St. Sava Day, banquets, Easter egg hunts, Serbian School, church office, holidays in Libertyville, picnics on 49th, (candy store, dances in the pavillion, kitchen), Serbian Day, Vidovdan in Chicago, individual photos of historical members (Sava Vrtikapa, Glisho), community events in which our church participated, construction of our facilities, political protests, and other topics of interest. The photos can be of groups or individuals.

Other topics of interest include: KOLO SESTARA and KARAGEORGE, formal events, kitchen scenes, bake sales, bus trips, charitable deeds, fundraisers, pioneers, ad books, programs, etc. FOLKLORE GROUP (especially early days-60’s, 70’s) Performances, groups, trips, books, programs, costumes, all or part, VIDEO, etc. BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS both SNF and Diocesan, teams or indiv., uniforms, trophies, photos, ad books, souvenirs, articles, etc. ATHLETES past to present, success in schools, college, professional, career. Any publications or memorabilia, honors, uniforms. CAMP-Libertyville or Gracanica, indiv. or group, talent shows, outings, priests, camp publications, etc. SERBS IN THE STEEL MILLS, and BUDD PLANT, photos, uniforms, equipment, badges, tools, documents, books, honors, publications. SERBS IN BUSINESS, small and large businesses, photos, documents, their success stories, articles, honors, accomplishments, etc. KING PETER, photos, articles, books, collectible memorabilia, etc. FATHER PETER, and all priests before him, photos, letters, articles, etc. SERBS IN THE MILITARY, both the U.S. ARMED FORCES and the YUGOSLAV ARMY and CHETNIKS, Prisoners of War, individual or group photos, documents, full or part uniforms, medals, honors, accessories, weapons, correspondence, books, flags, etc. DRAZA MIHAILOVICH, Art, photos, books, articles, records, documents, anything of historical interest. SERBIAN CELEBRITIES, Karl Malden, Danica Chirich, Nikola Tesla, any famous Serb. ST. SAVA TAMBURITZA ORCHESTRA, photos or memorabilia.

Contact the church office at (219) 736-9191 and ask for the museum committee members’ contact information.