Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 24, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 10, 1964 Page: 42 of 68
sixty eight pages : ill. ; page 11 x 9 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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40
cation, a momentous, well-timed deci-
■sion was conceived. That we, as a Pro-
gressive athletie and eclueational orga-
nizatiou shoul-d in tlie very near fu~
ture -consider relocating to a more
spacious loeation, to better serve our
members and comnumity. Wit.b pro-
longed hesitaticn this motion was raťi-
íied and inimediately a site committee
čcneisting of Emil Hrabina. Walter Ho-
šek, and Miro Jurcik was appointed.
The Site Committee’s objeetive was
to present to its membership a centrál-
located tract of land. After viewing
many sites, over a period of months,
several were presented to the member-
ship for approval. The present four-
acre, wooded plot was chosen over all
others — by the membership.
The purchase was made in 1957, and
the grounds improvement committee
was appointed, headed by Miro Jurcik,
Joe Maca, Franeis Smitli, and Walter
Kalmus. Haif a hundred members eaine
to Work to clear the grounds, to make
way for an entranee and road.
A Building Committee was appointed
for construction of the Center, Ap-
pointments consisted of Chairman Wal-
ter Hošek, Emil Hrabina, Vine Ondru-
sek, Julius Podhrasky and John Kebrle
Jr.; for SPJST, Chairman Arnold Vrla,
Joe Janiček and Hattie Sebetka.
Wide acceptance of ideas frorn the
membership were considered, formula-
ted and expedited. A scale model of a
proposed building was built by W.
Hošek, presented to, and approved by
the committee and accepted by the
membership. George Marble was ob-
tained as the architect. A group of re-
putable bu-ilders was selected to pre-
sent bids for consideration. Prior to
the awarding of the contract to a
builder, exhaustive study and analysis
of plans and specifications were made.
J. L. 0’Rourke Construction Company
was selected to construct the building
with the committee participating in
the project.
Tribute to foresight and confidence,
Sokol and SPJST had their ground
breaking ceremony on Sunday, Febru-
ary 15, 1959. A few days thereafter ac-
tual construction began on the new
project. It required six months to com-
plete, cost well over one hundred thou-
sand dollars, covers 11,000 square feet
of floor space. The overall size is 100
feet long and 110 feet wide The gym-
nasium and ballroom is 80T.80’; ceiling
towers to 22 feet in height. It houses
a modem stage, nursery, apparatus
and engine room, ladies’ lounge, men’s
locker and shower room, a spacious
V Ě S T N í K
Wednesday, June 10, 1964
75’xSO’ kitehen, banquet and refresh-
mer.t room. The entire building is com-
pletely air-conditioned with a 50-ton
unit. The eííeetive use of brick, steel.
metal, combined with glass creates a
structure of strengt.b, prestige, dignity
and pride.
May this facility encompass persons
wlio will always search for freedom,
truth, strength and sound morals, so
that these two organizations will for-
ever be an effective fcrce for the pro-
gress of cur comnumity, and our great
naťon. (Submitted by Bro. Hugo
Schefcak, Dallas. Information írom
souvenir dedication program).
--SPJST—
Features
BIOGRAPHY OF BROTHER J. P.
NEDBALEK
Bro. John Paul Nedbalek, the sou of
Peter and Rozina (Pečena) Nedbalek
was born on August 30, 1876, in the
province of Moravia, in Czechoslova-
kia.
With his parents and two sisters, the
Nedbalek family came by boat to the
United States of America, landing at
Baltimore, Maryland in May 1881 and
inimediately left by train for Ellinger,
Texas.
From Ellinger the family moved to a
farm located between Schulenburg and
Hallettsvile, a settlement called Hack-
berry, where young John started at-
tending school at the age of seven
years, walking a distance of over three
miles in the morning to school and
back horné in the evening after school.
He had to walk through pastures that
had wild and mean cattle in them.
At the age of nine years, young John
wms bitten by a copperhead snake
while coming home from the field
where he had been pieking cotton, and
since the local doctor lived nearby he
receivedi prompt medical attention,
which no doubí: saved his life.
Fom the Hackberry Settlement, the
Nedbalek family moved in the fall of
the year 1887 to a farm located near
Shiner, in Gonzales County, where
young John got his first reál experience
in farming,
In the summer of 1890, John’s father
bought 120 acre of prairie land in Bee
County, located about four miles south
of the town of Skidmore where Johnls
father built a house and barn, and
where the Nedbalek family moved to
from Gonzales County farm in a cov-
BRO. J. P. NEDBALEK
ered wagon, bringing along about 15
head of cattle and horses. Young John,
then 14 years of age, helped drive
these animals on horseback all the
way, a trip which lasted 3 days, The
family arrived at their new home on
Decemlber 14, 1390.
The new farm was raw prairie land
that had to be workecl into cultivation;
most of it had to be grubbed since it
was full of mesquite roots and took
much hard, manual labor. Young John
had to help, and was able to attend
the school at Skidmore only three or
four months during a school term.
As young John grew up, he realized
the necessity of having more education
so he enrolled in a eorrespondence-by-
rnail school. He studied the leíisons sent
to him very hard, at night by the aid
of a kerosene lamp, and after about
two years received his diploma. After
receiving his diploma, young John de-
síded to také a course in business acl-
ministration, and upon completion of
this course at the age of 24, he left the
farm, and on January 1, 1900, accepted
a position as a clerk in a drug store at
Yoakum, and started to study as a
pharmacist. However, upon the death
of his mother, in April 1902, young
John resigned his position and went
back to Skidmore to live with his fath-
er.
While John’s mother was still living,
she taught her son the Czech alphabet
and showed him how to read Czech
newspapers, so that at the age of 14
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Morris, Nick. Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 24, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 10, 1964, newspaper, June 10, 1964; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth624945/m1/42/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.