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A Summer in Spillville in 1893

A HISTORICAL NOVEL ABOUT THE JOURNEY OF THE DVOŘÁK FAMILY TO IOWA

The Texas Czech Heritage & Cultural Center in La Grange presents a presentation and book signing of A Summer in Spillville in 1893 on Friday, October 6, 2023, at 2pm in the Hanslik Hall. TCHCC welcomes author Barbara Ortwein of Germany to Texas during her short tour. “Her novel brings to light the life of a famous Czech composer with a large family. It is appropriate for the teenage reader. We are pleased to have her present the book to you as you will also be introduced to some Czech words and customs” says Retta Chandler, TCHCC president.

In Ortwein’s novel, she introduces us to the composer Antonín Dvořák. He was already famous throughout Europe in 1892 when he accepted a very well-paid position at the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York City. Relocation from Prague, then the Czech Republic, to New York City with his family, was required. However, by the following year, 1893, homesickness for his Bohemian homeland led him and his family off on an adventurous trip to the small, rural Iowa town of Spillville for several months. This was an area where many of his countrymen had settled because of the similarities to their Bohemian countryside. The experiences of the composer and his family in this “Wild West” not only allowed him to find a little Bohemia in America, but also an America of diverse influences, to which Bohemian immigrants also had made their contributions. It is hardly surprising that this journey echoes through countless musical works of the composer due to the special inspiration that he found in Spillville and its surroundings.

Barbara Ortwein, a former music teacher herself, moved from Germany to her current home in Prague, CZ where she was surrounded with Antonín’s greatness. This inspired her to visit this place in Iowa and experience what Antonin did when he was there; the early morning walks along the banks of the Turkey River, sitting quietly and listening to the songs of the birds that inhabited the area, writing the musical score they sang to him over a hundred years before.

Ortwein wrote this story, the life of the composer Antonín Dvořák, as told through the eyes of Antonín’s beloved young daughter. Barbara introduces this talented musician, Antonín Dvořák, as one who provided outstanding service to the intercultural exchange between Europe and North America. His contribution of a unique blending of European and American elements in music is legendary. Needless to say, the small town of Spillville, in northeastern Iowa, played a special role in assuring the success of this fusion, as the author clarifies in a manner both informative and entertaining.

Czech Out the Fun at Heritage Fest & Muziky

The Center will host the 11th annual Heritage Fest & Muziky on October 20th and 21st.  The Festival will begin on Friday afternoon in front of the Main Center and TCHCC’s famous homemade Chicken & Dumplings will be served while it lasts in the Hanslik Banquet Hall beginning at 5:30 pm.  The KJT Octoberfest on the Deck will begin at 4:30 pm with music by the Dujka Brothers from 6-9:30 pm.  Mark and John Dujka have been making music together for over 35 years and have several acknowledgements to their name.  Bring your lawn chairs but leave your coolers at home, please!

Saturday, the big day kicks off at 10 am with an opening ceremony at 10:30 am.  The Hospoda will be filled with cold pivo and musical entertainment by the Jodie Mikula Orchestra of Ennis and Al Sulak & The Country Sounds of Orchard from 11 am-6 pm.  In the Fraternal Mutual Pavilion, enjoy hospitality and music, including a performance by the Round Top Brass Band from 11:30 am-1 pm. The Czech Fraternal Organizations will sponsor a variety of fun activities all day in the area.   No admission for the grounds and events on Friday evening and Saturday during the day.              

Enjoy more music at the Muziky, Muziky event from 7-9:30 pm in the Sanford Schmid Amphitheater.  Always a popular part of the Heritage Fest, this year’s Legends Series continues with a show that is sure to leave a nostalgic glow in your heart!  The big finale for 2023 will be the Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys Tribute Show, celebrating 90 years!  When Texas Playboys front man Jason Roberts steps onto a stage with his fiddle and utters his first “Ah-ha” of the evening, western-swing fans know they're seeing and hearing nothing less than the living embodiment of a tradition that stretches all the way back to 1933. That was the year the charismatic fiddler Bob Wills and several other musicians in a group called the Light Crust Doughboys broke away from Fort Worth's Burris Mills and its autocratic business manager, W. Lee “Pappy” O'Daniel, to form their own band. As Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, they became one of the most popular touring and recording acts in the nation, offering audiences the highly danceable musical mixture that came to be known as western swing.

Presale tickets for the Amphitheater Show are $20 and are available at the TCHCC Office in La Grange and online at Eventbrite.com from September 1 until Thursday, October 19.  Gate admission is $25. Finishing off the night with a real BANG will be the huge HEB Fireworks Finale above the Amphitheater (weather permitting).

In addition to enjoying the great music, you’re invited to stroll the Czech Village, an early 1900s recreated village complete with residential houses, barns, and stores. Demonstrations of early life for the immigrants will take place throughout the grounds all day, including working in the Zapalac Saw Mill, the operation of the Czech Newspaper Museum press and engine, blacksmithing, corn shelling and grinding, hay pressing, and the making of textiles, soap, noodles, sausage, honey and more.  Children activities will be available by the Leo’s Club (train ride), KJZT (pumpkin painting) and RVOS along with many other activities for everyone to take part in.  The famous SPJST Kolace Eating Contest and the Beer RVOS Tasting Competition are a few favorites.  

An antique farm equipment show sponsored by the South Texas Wheel Spinners & Crank Twisters Club and an antique/classic car show by H&H Automotive, Schulenburg, will spread through the Czech Village.  The Janak Barn & Texas Czech Agricultural Museum displays farm practices and implements from the late 1800s to 1940.  There will also be mule drawn wagon rides around the grounds all day!  Visit the country store and vendors for some good buys, including fresh, stone-ground corn meal for cooking.

The Czech Village houses two music museums.  The Czech Music Museum of Texas, located in the Kalich House, features four genres of Czech music – classical, folk, polka, and liturgical.  The Polka Lovers Club of Texas Museum, located in the Hoelsher House & Huebner Center, features a display of Texas polka bands, as well as memorabilia and photos of the Polka Lover’s Club of America, Texas Chapter.  

Inside the TCHCC Main Center, stop by the Kopecky Gift Shop to browse the brand-new stock of authentic Czech items, T-shirts, caps, crystal, periodicals, music CDs, and new Christmas decorations for 2023.  The Hanslik Hall will be the site of the annual KJT State Taroky Championship.  Swing in there and they’d be happy to teach you this fun card game.  The Czech Heritage Society of Texas and US Queens will have displays and be more than happy to visit with you and tell you more about their role in Czech Heritage.

Enjoy the current featured exhibits at the center: Neighbors Helping Neighbors for Prosperity in the Museum and the updated Military and Glass Exhibits in the Library.  Have you always wondered about your Czech roots?  The spacious Melnar Library will offer help with genealogy research.  

Plenty to do for the entire family!  Come Czech out all the fun and variety you could imagine!