CleisDesign

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR

Every June my family has a reunion of it's stubborn, proud and loving Slovenian members. The Turks and the Zores. This was my mother, Evelyn's idea and well, I had to help out the woman who gave me life by turning it into a marketing campaign. It's a labor of love really...

I've started a blog (which has very little activity), I've mailed out postcards and I've had t-shirts made. Even if it's only for my Slovenian family, I'm proud to make this happen. I'm in my third year of helping my mother motivate the 100 or so Slovenian American family members to come and join us every year at the NASH picnic grounds. If you want to know more about the NASH check it out here.

The NASH plays host to Slovenefest or "Sausagefest" every year...and well all I can say is I'm a vege-quarian(only vegetables and fish) and the homemade sausage that my godmother and her husband (and the rest of the Jaggers men's club) make from real venison, beef and pork make me and any other vegetarian-friendly person salivate with lust and a hunger that cannot die. I digress...

Well, I've been working on my family's reunion for the last six months and I believe the word is getting out. We have Turks and Zore's coming in from Michigan, Florida, California and Ohio--as well as the hoosiers who live locally around these parts.

I love doing the advertising for this cause I get to use photos like this one:



This photo is of my hot Slovenian number of a grandma, Louise Zore Collins. My Irish grandpa was not kidding when he said he would only marry the prettiest girl in his Haughville neighborhood. Can you believe their marriage in 1947 caused a scandal because it was thought that an Irishman marrying a Slovene was considered interracial by my grandparent's Catholic archdioceses?

My grandfather was a member of St.Anthony's parish (mainly Irish and Italian) and grandma was a member of Holy Trinity (mainly Slovenian), and well even my grandmother's parents almost boycotted the ceremony. It's crazy how times have changed but still society has some weird hang-ups about marriage--like now with same sex marriage--if two people love each other, leave them alone and let them be happy.

Well the reunion is next Saturday (6.21.08) and if my brother/sista in law have their baby by then it will be a very interesting and rejoiceful event!

Na Zdravje! (may god give you life!)