On Saturday morning, November 13th, we drove over to the Bohemian National Hall on Broadway Avenue to enjoy the 2021 Annual Czech Holiday Fair presented by Sokol Greater Cleveland.
Occupying all three floors of the building, attendees could purchase such items as beer, baked goods, and books (i.e. the three “B”‘s) on the first floor; a hot meal (i.e. including chicken paprikash and cabbage and noodles) in the basement; and beautiful imported Czech and Slovak entities like ornaments, costume jewelry, and embroidered clothing in the grand ballroom on the third floor.
We visited for a while with Mr. Howie Wise, a very active Sokol member, who estimated that the Czech Holiday Fair has been taking place for some forty years now (i.e. even last year during the pandemic there was a modified version) and, although some years are more well-attended than others, each year is a success, and he was quite pleased with the turnout so far that day.
Mr. Wise went on to note that probably 100-125 Sokol members volunteered in some capacity to help at the Fair because it is the organization’s largest yearly fundraiser, and everyone is eager to share their culture with others.
While we were browsing in the ballroom, we ran into our good friends, Mr. Paul and Mr. Fran Burik, who told us that 2022 will mark the 125th anniversary of the Bohemian National Hall being constructed and quite a few festivities are being planned which those of us at Margaredwe plan to take part in.
