GLENSIDE - Readers may remember previous articles involving Glenside area resident Larry Mikulcik and his efforts to preserve and highlight the local area's deep-rooted Czech heritage.
These have included the preservation of the Jan Hus Church, as well as the arrival in April 2022 of Czech Ambassador Borek Lizec to the area, where he was hosted by Mikulcik as well as a large turnout of fellow citizens who come from Czech backgrounds.
Such efforts by Mikulcik have not gone unnoticed. On June 20, Larry attended the Czechia 30 Celebration event in Ottawa in the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. The event, entitled 'Czechia 30 - Celebrating Three Successful Decades of the Czech Republic' included a rock concert by Jim Peterik, with special guests the Czech-Canadian Saxophone Star Petr Cancura. This was followed by a farewell cocktail reception hosted by Ambassador Lizec and Mrs. Katerina Lizcova Kulhankova.
At this event, Mikulcik also received a medal for his efforts in preserving Czech heritage in his community. Some background information on those efforts, from the viewpoint of Ambassador Lizec:
"Mr. LARRY MIKULCIK, a distinguished representative of GLENSIDE, founded at the beginning of the 20th century in central Saskatchewan close to a significant number of other Czech settlements. Several of the 18 branches of the Bohemian National Alliance that were founded in Canada during World War I, were established in the area, including one in Glenside.
Mr. Mikulcik has played a key role in preserving the local Czech history and heritage. As President of the Glenside Jan Hus society, he has led the efforts to transform the community protestant Jan Hus Church into a museum. He has also led the efforts to reunite Czech communities in central Saskatchewan."
Of course, Larry himself is humble when he discusses such events that have recognized his efforts, as he states that it's very much a group effort in trying to arrange events and do all that can be done to ensure that the local area's Czech heritage remains alive and well.
Speaking to this reporter recently, Mikulcik says that all he's been able to experience as part of this unique journey has taken his breath away.
"You know, coming from very humble beginnings in Saskatchewan, all the way to having these connections is amazing," he said. "It's humbling too, to think that there's an interest in little old us here in Saskatchewan and in the farming community. I've been doing a lot more reminiscing and thinking about the past, and I'll be driving down a country road and looking at old farm yards and thinking about who used to live there, and then I'll think about the Czech background, and then I realized that these were things you took for granted in school. None of us spoke Czech, and my parents didn't teach me Czech. I think about the road where the Jan Hus Church by Glenside is, and along that road, I think about the seven different farms that are within a two-mile stretch, and those are all Czech families. It's amazing for the world to kind of reach out back to here and they want to know. I find it very humbling to think that we are important, not just as Canadians to Canada, but we're important as Czech-Canadians to groups from our homeland. It's been so great for them to reach out and say that, 'We're a proud group and we hope that you're maintaining some of that pride in your culture as well.'"
Receiving a medal for the work that he's chosen to carry out to preserve local heritage was something that Larry didn't see coming. It's something that while he's fully appreciative, he also feels that he may not have earned it quite yet.
"It was completely unexpected, and it was so incredibly humbling," said Larry. "I don't think I've done anything more than what anybody else would do if they were in my shoes, but it's gratifying to know that it's appreciated. I've got so many things that I want to do and haven't been able to do yet, so I don't really feel that I've earned it yet, but I hope to fully earn it in the coming years. I've had to put on the shelf a lot of what I had planned to do, so I'm hoping to pick that up this winter as well as other things that I have in mind."
As far as the local Czech heritage is concerned, there are a couple of ideas for future events if things can be worked out.
"I don't have any concrete plans as far as right now," he said. "I really would like to have something like a rededication or reopening, that type of event at the Jan Hus Church. I've had people reach out who've said they'd like to be part of a church service. As well, I'd like to see a few more things to the building done. Maybe even an event or something at the hall in Glenside after we do something at the church."
Mikulcik is just happy to see that the goal remains the same when it comes to the preservation of the local area's Czech heritage. He's happy to see that the small area's story has reached great distances, and even had some offers to help with what they're trying to accomplish.
"It's alive and well," he said. "I've got goals and ideas, and we have our small board with three of our board members from the Delisle area. It's definitely in its infancy as far as a Czech cultural revival, if that's the term to use. Something that just happened to me about a month and a half ago, I got a contact out of the blue from a lady in Ontario, with no connection whatsoever to our community, but her aunt had a full Czech ethnic outfit that she offered to the museum there in her Ontario community, and they weren't interested, so she said, 'Would you like it for YOUR museum?' She went online, found our Facebook page, contacted me through that, and said she'd be happy to send it to me if I could make use of it. If I can find a mannequin, we can have an example of Czech ethnicity. These type of contacts are fascinating, and I think they contribute to a hopeful renewal in interest from people of my generation and younger."
