August 2016

The Historical Society at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church has assembled a special exhibit that will debut during Serb Fest 2016 titled, “The Halyard Mission: Classified” and will be open to the public during the fest taking place August 5, 6, & 7.

It’s the story of the largest rescue ever behind enemy lines that was finally de-classified by the U.S. Government.

The heroic Gen. Draza Mihailovich and his Serbian Chetniks and villagers rescued and cared for 512 Allied airmen shot down by Hitler’s forces during WWII in occupied Yugoslavia.

The Allied assault on Ploesti, Romanian oil fields forced hundreds of Allied airmen to bail over Nazi-occupied eastern Serbia, an area patrolled by the Allied-friendly Chetnik guerrilla army.

Villagers hid and cared for the airmen for months at great personal sacrifice until the OSS (Pre-CIA) arranged for their evacuation. 7,500 Serbian Chetnik soldiers from Ravna Gora Corps carved a dirt runway at Pranjani and defended the airlift of the Halyard Mission.

Major Richard Felman was rescued and befriended by Serbian Chetniks. As a result of the Halyard airlift, he often spoke of a debt of honor he owed the Serbian people.

Major Felman repaid that debt many times over, tirelessly speaking in support of the truth and honor of General Mihailovich and the Serbs throughout his remarkable life.

View his personal artifacts – uniform, Medals of Honor, documents, and personal effects, all donated to St. Sava’s Serbian Historical Society at the HALYARD MISSION Exhibit during Serb Fest 2016.

Honoring Veterans From All Conflicts

Additional exhibit features will honor St. Sava’s US Armed Forces Veterans from all conflicts including WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Also learn about the historic WWII Memorial Monument located at the south end of the Church complex and how it was moved to its present location.

For more information about Serb Fest 2016, visit www.serbfest.org or call 219-736-9191.

*Special tribute to U.S. Armed Forces and Gen. Draza Mihailovich and Serbian Chetnik

You are invited to join the dozens of people that have been showing up each week to celebrate the cultural and healthy exercise benefits associated with traditional Serbian Folklore Dance at St. Sava Church, 9191 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, Indiana.

The Adult Folklore Dance Sessions meet each Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the South Wing Social Center at the church learning new dances, getting a dose of exercise, and simply having fun.

The open group formed earlier this year at St. Sava seeking to gather people interested in learning traditional Serbian Kolo dances and to just have fun. The group welcomes those with no previous dancing experience from the greater Northwest Indiana community along with people who learned the traditional dances growing up in youth folklore groups and want to keep dancing with friends in an adult environment.

Everyone is welcome to attend – men and women, members of St. Sava, members of other churches throughout Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland, and anyone in the community who simply wants to learn about the culture and the fun, circle dance called the Kolo (no more sitting on the sidelines during Serb Fest 2016 which takes place August 5, 6, and 7 – you will be dancing like a pro by the time the fest rolls around – www.serbfest.org).

The dance sessions each Monday evening start at 7:00 p.m. and end by 9:00 p.m. Each session begins with some general dance instruction and review for dances that are commonly performed at various Serbian festivals and celebrations. The second half of the session focuses on more structured types of folklore dances. All of the instruction is provided by Miloš Drljević Djakovac, the dance instructor for St. Sava’s youth folklore group named Srbadija.

The focus of the dance sessions is to have fun, so don’t worry if you don’t have traditional Serbian “opanke” dance shoes in your closet. Wear your tennis shoes and comfortable clothes because dancing the kolo can be a serious workout!

Magda Serdar, organizer of the dance sessions, explained her reasons for wanting to help form such a group. “I just love folklore. You are never too old to dance. A lot of people have talked about forming such a group and there are so many people who have danced in the past when younger, now is the time to do it,” Serdar said.

Dance sessions begin at 7:00 p.m. Monday evenings at St. Sava and take place in either the South Wing Social Center or the Pavilion, depending on group size and room availability. A small fee of $5 per week will be collected and used to support the church, children’s folklore, and children’s choir.

For more questions or more information, please call Magda Serdar at (440) 954-2039.