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THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 189 |
| This newsletter has just one section. It concerns: 1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen) a) 2ND BB STAFF MEETING b) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH HAS A NEW STAFF MEMBER 2) HOMEPAGE NEWS 3) EDITOR'S NOTES 4) EMMERICH KOLLER / EMMA WENZEL MEETING (by Tom Glatz) 5) THE 2009 MIDWEST BURGENLAND BUNCH PICNIC (by Charlie Deutsch) 6) ALL CHICAGO BURGENLAND DECEASED Part 2 (by Tom Glatz) 7) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) |
| 1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen) The weekend started on Friday night with some staff members attending the Button-box Jam
Session at the Sängerbund. On Saturday, the staff met for nearly five hours as we worked
through a large agenda assembled by Margaret Kaiser. That evening, spouses and other family
joined us for a nice Hungarian dinner at Paprika's in Hellertown, PA. Sunday's afternoon and
early evening Stiftungsfest continued our festivities, where I must admit I danced my feet
sore to Emil Schanta's band, after first attending the choral concert, of course. Then Emma
Tanczos Farkas, sister of VP Anna Kresh, topped off our weekend by graciously fêting us with
an succulent array of Burgenland delicacies, sweets and drinks as we whiled away the last of
the evening with food and conversation at her home in Northampton. Emma, thank you from all of
us! The meeting itself revolved around six key topics. We first discussed finding a new home for Gerry Berghold's large collection of Burgenland books currently residing in his former home in Winchester, VA. Although the Staff weighed the merits of a number of potential recipient libraries (and preferred libraries in the Lehigh Valley), it was agreed that the first step should be to assemble an inventory of the books. (Chris Berghold has graciously allowed John Lavendoski and me to do so on August 6th.) We next held a discussion about a potential BB DNA project. John Lavendoski, who has been involved in a number of DNA studies, provided a tutorial to the staff about the basics of DNA-based genealogy, delineating what can and cannot be achieved with such work. It appears that current DNA capabilities are particularly suitable for examining relationships among men of the same surname, slightly useful for "generic" information about the maternal lines of women, but not useful for examining most other family relationships. John's belief was that a nonspecific study among members of the Burgenland Bunch would likely be disappointing and he recommended against taking on such a project. Our third topic concerned establishing a Burgenland Bunch presence on Facebook, primarily to serve as a tool to introduce the BB to a younger demographic. Staff member Steve Geosits (who I had the pleasure of sharing dinner with in NYC during the week before this meeting) created a private test site to show what might be done. He also noted the presence of a generic "Burgenland" group on Facebook that has nearly 600 members and often discusses Burgenland genealogy. The Staff concluded that a BB site on Facebook would have value and voted that we ask Steve to open it up to the public. Frank Paukowits led the discussion of our fourth topic, a new "Connecticut" module for the BH&R (Burgenländers Honored and Remembered) site. If you know of Burgenland-born individuals buried in a Connecticut cemetery, or would be interested in documenting Connecticut cemeteries, drop Frank a note. Our fifth major topic was succession planning. This topic is an ongoing concern for me because most of the staff members are 55+ in age and are already (over-)loaded with ongoing BB duties (plus having other, non-BB interests). Hannes Graf is the BB Newsletter Editor, Editor of the Membership page (which requires monthly updating) and co-Webmaster with me. Anna Kresh handles our BB Links Page, which is a never-ending cycle of discovering new links and discarding broken links. Frank Paukowits, Bob Strauch and Margaret Kaiser are deeply involved in managing and adding to BH&R while also contributing articles and material for our Newsletter and website. Steve Geosits and John Lavendoski operate the extensive Szent Péterfa Genealogical site and Steve will lead the efforts for our new BB Facebook site. Fritz Königshofer is our key resource assisting users of the Burgenland Query Board and provides research and translations for us. Klaus Gerger is the developer and maintainer of the BB Maps Pages and continues to lead efforts to transcribe Burgenland house records. Maureen Tighe-Brown is Copy Editor for the Newsletter (while also attempting to complete a Ph.D. and take care of her aging mother). I am Editor of the Surnames and Villages pages (which require monthly updating), co-Webmaster, a frequent (though often anonymous) contributor to the Newsletter, and the BB interface that deals with problems or questions (while also being employed full-time). What all this implies is that the current staff (as large as it seems) does not have the time or energy to back up other staff nor to take on any new BB tasks. Our discussion indicated that none of the current staff plans to "retire" from the BB any time soon, however our collective age suggested that it is only a matter of time before illness or events force one or more of us to withdraw temporarily or permanently. When that happens, we will not have the ability to maintain the abandoned task. We determined that the only reasonable approach to ease this situation is to recruit new staff members to take over existing tasks (or to take on new tasks) and to free current staff from some of the monthly burden. This would allow the current staff to step in when needed as back up or as a temporary resource. Thus, if you have considered becoming involved as a BB staff member, please make your interest known... we need you! Researchers and writers are of great interest to us and we have a particular interest in finding individuals with HTML, PHP or web-based database experience, as we would like to convert our key datasets from static HTML pages to dynamic database-driven pages. However, if you have another talent to offer, we will find a way to use it. Our final topic, and one which caused us to move our dinner reservation a bit later, concerned our status as an informal, unincorporated organization with no "legal" standing. That status affects both our relationships with other organizations and our ability to accept funding. We are not a non-profit and thus hold no special tax status; from a U.S. tax viewpoint, we simply do not exist. We charge nothing for memberships and any actual costs of running the organization are covered by staff members absorbing whatever they spend on our behalf (for example, we each paid all of the expenses we incurred to attend this staff meeting). Therefore, we need no "treasury" and do not file anything with the US government. However, it also means we have no way to accept contributions when offered to the BB. This has led to lost opportunities, occasional hurt feelings, and confusion about why we reject "free" money. It also has led to some conflict among staff members and with other organizations. Our discussion evolved around understanding these conflicts and the pro's and con's of formalizing our organization. The clear advantage is we would have a well-defined non-profit tax status with the ability to accept funding. The clear disadvantages are that we would need to be much more formal in our day-to-day activities and would need to prepare the ongoing and annual paperwork that documents our status and our transactions. In reality, we might need to add or designate a treasurer who would keep books, establish a checking account and do our tax returns and other paperwork. Whether this added complexity is justified by the occasional contribution offer (even if generous) is not clear. The staff was clearly divided by this issue but, as a group, recognized that we do not know exactly what might be involved in changing our status. Thus, we will explore further. That was our meeting... we advanced the cause on Gerry's library, made a decision on Facebook, were educated about DNA, had a heads-up on a BH&R Connecticut module and discussed two issues without easy solutions: maintaining our existing capabilities and formalization (or not) of the organization. The meeting provided a first-time opportunity for every staff member to meet at least one other staff member whom he or she had not met before. It allowed us to share fellowship and to talk through some difficult issues. Already, emails are raising the possibility of doing it again in a year or two. So I leave you with this question: Will you consider becoming a staff member and joining us when we next meet again? |
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b) THE BURGENLAND BUNCH HAS A NEW STAFF MEMBER Emmerich Koller become the Hungarian Editor Emmerich provides the following biographical sketch: |
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2) HOMEPAGE NEWS |
| 3) EDITOR'S NOTES |
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4) EMMERICH KOLLER / EMMA WENZEL MEETING (by Tom Glatz) Last May I arranged a meeting at my home between Emma Wenzel and Emmerich Koller, author of the autobiography, Good Dogs Do Stray. Ms. Wenzel is the niece of Franz (Ferenc Jahrmann) born in Pinkafeld. Emma's mother, Ida Jahrmann, also born in Pinkafeld, was Franz's sister. Emma's uncle was the highly respected schoolmaster in Pernau and a teacher to members of the Koller family. An article was previously written about Koller's book, but I thought it would be interesting to submit something brief to the Burgenland Bunch about this meeting and of my views about his book. Emma and I were pleased to meet Emmerich. Besides this Wenzel/Jahrmann connection, the Körper sisters from Pernau and who live now in Chicago would sometimes attend our Burgenländische Gemeinschaft events. For years BB member Bob Strauch would talk about this village of Pernau where his ancestors also hail from. He once sent me some historical village data concerning Pernau which I shared with Emma and the Körper sisters. They enjoyed reading and reminiscing about their birthplace. Emma and Emmerich spent the afternoon at my home trading stories and looking at pictures of the Jahrmann family that she brought.
Emmerich joins the list as the third American autobiographer born in Burgenland after Robert Unger and Frances Panny that I am aware of. All live or lived in Chicago! Since Pernau stayed with Hungary after the founding of the Burgenland and did not change much going into the twentieth century, Koller's book gave me insight as to what life might have been like for my ancestors before they left their villages fifty years previously. The Hungarian government and the Catholic church at times had a negative impact on the lives of the people that lived in Pernau. They stifled entrepreneurship and creativity. Koller was able to succeed despite his past. He recognizes this past in the book and brings it all out in the open. |
| 5) THE 2009 MIDWEST BURGENLAND BUNCH PICNIC (by Charlie
Deutsch) |
| 6) ALL CHICAGO BURGENLAND DECEASED Part 2 (by Tom Glatz) |
| 7) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) |
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Helen Kaminsky Helen Kaminsky, 98, passed away June 26, 2009 in Cooperstown, N.Y. |
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Karl Santa Im 93. Lebensjahr ist Karl Santa (geb. in Jakobshof) in Kornwestheim/DE gestorben. |
| END OF NEWSLETTER NOTICE (Terms and Conditions): The Burgenland Bunch (BB) was formed and exists to
assist Burgenland descendants in their research into their heritage and, toward that end,
reserves the right to use any communication you have with us (email, letter, phone
conversation, etc.) as part of our information exchange and educational research efforts. |
Emma
said that she truly felt a connection with her uncle spending the afternoon and speaking with
Emmerich. She always wished that she could have met her him. Despite circumstances due to the
war and communism her family and the Jahrmann family in Pernau were close. Emma was thrilled
to see a picture of her uncle with fellow teacher Bankorsos in the book. Emmerich explained
that Franz was often referred to in the village with the Hungarian diminutive Feri Bacsi and
his wife as Neni. This is a non-related uncle and aunt. He had a positive impact on Koller's
life and probably hoped that Koller would not have to follow in the life of his shoemaker
father. Koller was also a good friend of Franz Jahrmann's son Tibor. There is mention of him
in the book. Tibor fled across the border to Austria in 1956. He later immigrated and joined
others from Pernau in Chicago.