Ron Stiles, Czech Komensky Club President:
If feel that this conference was a success on a great many levels.  It was extremely well planned, having a great variety and selection of panels, made use of excellent facilities, and had a fantastic amount of supporting entertainment and spectacle.  We were able to achieve our objective of focusing on youth admirably by allowing young adults to lead and present on panels, by incorporating the Wilber children's' exhibition of traditional dance during the Czech Language foundation dinner, as well as exhibiting the singing talents of the Czech and Slovak National Anthems by young Maureen Beck for the Conference Opening.  We were very fortunate to have such a rich showcase of heritage in the 40th Annual Wilber Czech Days festival as a crescendo.  In the end though, we achieved the main goal of any conference, which is to meet new people, establish new ties, and forge new friendships.  As President of the Czech Komensky Club, I was proud to have been a part of such a collaborative effort and feel excited by the potential of new projects forthcoming form the new Nebraska SVU Chapter.  Nebraska has risen to a new level of cultural recognition on a national level.  The future indeed looks bright!

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Daniel Hrana, Texas:
The conference was very well organized. The topics were well covered and all were of very high caliber. It was interesting to note what a fine job the presenters did with a very difficult topic to address-the youth of our culture and nation. Keep up the good work and thank you and all of the people who worked with you to make our visit to Nebraska a very enjoyable happening!

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Lawrence F. Jindra, M.D., New York:
I was made to feel more at home than I do at home.

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Margaret Hermanek Peaslee, Pennsylvania:
Thought it was a great meeting.  Housing excellent; food excellent; papers and program excellent; facilities excellent; projection equipment excellent.  I was kept very well informed through your extensive use of E-mail.  Can't think of any other specific areas to comment upon.  Everything was great.  I found the people at the meeting and in the region to be very helpful, also.  Thanks for being great hosts.  You can use my name. 

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Jan Klinka, British Columbia:
Mila Kacenko, it's hard to believe that only a month ago I/We, participants of the SVU gathering had such a fabulous time in Lincoln (heat & humidity index notwithstanding), namely in and around the University of Nebraska. I still experience a sense of excitement and discovery pertaining to getting acquainted with so many topics of interest and people with incredibly varied destinies. There, of course, always will be regrets from impossibility of encompassing everything worthwhile or meeting those you thought you should.
It may be difficult for future SVU meetings to match the Kauffman, Selleck, Union Bldg.etc.,and dedication of people "behind the scene"; fortunately we know who they were...Once more, thank them and you for major contribution to the conference success, and for being such a good sport ! In addition, I was able to manage a trip to   Wilber, Omaha, Cedar Rapids and Spillville, even Protivin.

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Mary Stretton, Colorado:
I enjoyed the Conference very much, and I received a lot of valuable information.   The accommodations in Kauffman Hall were excellent, and the food in the cafeteria was plentiful and good.
With so many sessions running concurrently, it was sometimes hard to choose which to attend.  I only wish the conference had lasted a few days longer; there simply wasn't enough time to hear and see it all.  And many of the panelists were limited by time to give  only a short version of their papers; I hope to see some of these in the forthcoming issues of Kosmas.
It takes a tremendous amount of time and work to organize such an event--congratulations and thanks to all who made it possible.

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Nelson Havel, Oregon:
Well this is the first time I have ever gone to anything like this. It was all very interesting and there was just too many things to take part in. I did enjoy the History of Immigration and Genealogy since I'm in the process of tracing my family roots. The Czech Architectural experince was great as it gave me an Idea of what kind of house that my great-grandfather lived in. I enjoyed the literature part, it was all very good and I hope to be able to go to Plizen this next year. You can use my name if you want.

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Vlasta Becvarova Barber and Tom C. Barber, Oregon:
Congratulations to the organizer Cathy Oslzly; chairperson Miluse Saskova-Pierce; SVU President Mila Rechcigl and all others who worked together to organize the successful conference. It was very well run, with something for everyone. We acknowledge and appreciate the time, effort and organizing talent that went into bringing all facets of this event together. We recognize that organizing such an event is like trying to capture tiny balls of mercury and bring them together. We met some fine people whom we hope to keep as friends. We enjoyed comfortable quarters and great variety of good food for an exceptionally low cost. The Czech dinner available at Selleck Hall on Thursday was tasty. Thanks to Tom Zumpfe and others who furnished makove and merunkove kolace for coffee breaks. There was a wealth of speakers and subjects. The highlight of the Wednesday reception was the classical music performed by Svetlana Yashirin and Budimir Zvolanek. The magic hands of John Fiala were fun to watch at the Friday night banquet. The drawings for prizes at the Friday night banquet certainly kept everyone's attention.

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Ladislaus J. (Laci) Bolchazy, President, Slovak-American International Cultural Foundation:
Let me again try to thank you for a well organized conference. I came home with five   pounds of that choice irresistable food that I consumed with pleasure; attaching an affair like the Czech festival to the conference was an icing on an already great experience; there was a good mixture of topics  and a variety of "gravitas;"  I loved the entertainment produced by colleagues;  I   enjoyed the personal public recognitions both during the conference  and the visit at Wilbur.  Next year I'm  again going to invest time, effort, and money to enjoy the fun,  work toward SVU's goals,  and get inspired & charged up as a fellow Czecho-Slovak.  I will present for consideration to SVU the following:    (1) the feasibility of growing a data base of photographs of Czechoslovak personalities by  collecting them, digitizing them, making them available to the media, and giving them a longer life;   (2) the feasibility  of creating a "publishing" committee to promote Slavic books, co-publish with Czechoslovak publishers, encourage more books in English about   Czechoslovak culture & history and sponsor, personally & collectively , new books in English. Slavic books in English can be our best cultural embassadors.  A sponsored book can be a more lasting monument  to our
individual existence than marble and stone. And most likely less expensive!
***   Dovidenia.   ***

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Nebraska SVU Conference