On Sunday, June 21, 2009, The Cleveland Hungarian Cultural Garden presents "The Great International Gulyás Cook-Off" where you and your family can sample from many different varieties of Hungarian gulyás, or goulash as most Americans know it.

Starting at noon at St. Emeric Church, the Gulyás Cook-Off is being held to benefit the on-going restoration and renovation of the Hungarian Cultural Garden, which was rededicated last year on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.
 
Are you a guly ás chef? Enter as a chef and show everyone your great gulyás! Download this form and be one of our chefs

Make Father's Day special this year by treating the father in your life to a tasty gulyás meal while doing your part to preserve a Cleveland Cultural Gardens landmark and promote the contributions of Hungarians to world peace.

Download the Gulyas Cook-Off flyer here and make your reservation today to save over the door admission price.

On April 23, 2009, the Hungarian Cultural Garden will be the topic of discussion at the third of six sessions in a special Cleveland Cultural Gardens course at Baldwin Wallace College, East, located at the Landmark Center college campus in Beachwood, OH.

Mary Hamlim, Executive Secretary of the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation, will be teaching the course, which begins on Thursday April 2, 2009 and runs through Thursday, May 14. Classes will be held as part of Baldwin Wallace's Institute for Learning in Retirement (IRL) program (http://homepages.bw.edu/ilr/).

Insights regarding the history of the Hungarian Cultural Garden will be presented by guest lecturer Lél F. Somogyi, who was keynote speaker at the Rededication of the garden in August 2008 and is part of the cultural garden oral history project of CSU.
 
For more information about the course, including enrollment information, contact Mary Hamlin at mwhamlin@adelphia.net or call at 440-461-2533.

by Lél F. Somogyi

    It's that time of year again. As Spring approaches, the Hungarian Cultural Garden team is again beginning its work on the garden.

    Last year's wine tasting event was a huge success. "Spring F!ing II" promises to be just as much fun (but probably more). Planned for April 3, 2009, it will be held at Colonial Beverage, voted one of the best wine shops around.

    Plan now to attend because space is limited and time is short.  Download the full color Spring F!ing II flyer (click here).

    The Hungarian Community has one of the largest gardens in the Federation of Gardens. Just published, the 2009 version of the Hungarian Cultural Garden brochure tells the brief history of the this garden and provides an opportunity for anyone, individually or through an organization, to help support the ongoing work of restoration and renovation.

    As written in the latest version of the HCG brochure (click to download):

    

    We have the responsibility to do what we can to preserve and renovate this priceless treasure. Although we have started the work of renovation, and rededicated ourselves and the Hungarian community to doing it, we still have much work ahead of us to  repair the many decades of deterioration. The 70 years of weathering and inaction took a severe toll on our beautiful garden.

    In preparation for the rededication of the  Hungarian Cultural Garden on August 24, 2008 on the occasion of its 70th anniversary, we were able to make significant headway in removing overgrowth and stabilizing some of the main structural elements. 

    There is still much to do to renovate the garden to its previous grandeur. We need your help and donations to keep going on our work to eliminate the deterioration. We started Phase I, weed and overgrowth control, in late 2007. We completed a major structural repair project in late 2008. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done this year and in coming years.

    We have a number of fundraising events planned over the coming months to help finance the urgently needed work.
 
        Wine Tasting ‒ April 3, 2009
        Gulyás Cook-Off ‒ June 21, 2009
        Liszt Program ‒ July 2009
        Golf Outing ‒ August  2009

Your Membership & Donation Helps Preserve & Renovate Our Hungarian Cultural Garden
 
    Join the many Hungarian individuals, families, organizations, clubs, and churches of Greater Cleveland in supporting the preservation and renovation of the Hungarian Cultural Garden, since 1938 a living symbol of the culture, history and contributions of Hungarians to America and the world. We need your support!  
 
    Csatlakozzunk minél többen ehhez a közös munkához, mert ha mi nem tartjuk fenn örökségünket, akkor más nemzet könnyen átveheti tőlünk. Őrizzük és ápoljuk a Magyar Kultúrkertet,  kultúránkat és hagyományainkat! Kérjük a clevelandi magyarságot és a Clevelandban működő szervezetek, egyházak és egyesületek támogatását!
 
    Download the Hungarian Cultural Garden (HCG brochure) brochure and please send in your membership and donation.

by Lél F. Somogyi

CSU's Department of History has a project underway to expand the information it has about the history of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. Along with representatives from other communities, I was invited to participate on behalf of the Hungarian Cultural Garden.
You can hear the full 54 minute interview here

Download | Duration: 00:56:52

Eventually you will be able to find all or part of the interview on the www.culturalgardens.org website as well.

According to Erin Bell, the Project Coordinator and Archivist at the Center for Public History and Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University, in email preceeding the interview, "We are ready to conduct a new round of oral history interviews with the folks from the Cultural Gardens Federation, as well as with other community members who have been or continue to be involved in specific gardens."
 
The interviews were recorded in sound studios on the CSU campus by trained oral history specialists. They will be published to CSU's digital archives for the benefit of students and researchers.  Additionally, highlights from each interview will be edited and posted on the Cultural Gardens website to add to that rich community resource.

Bell noted that Professor Mark Tebeau of CSU's Department of History has been interested in the Cultural Gardens for several years now and has collected dozens of oral history interviews on the subject, producing an excellent website at www.culturalgardens.org, which features historical descriptions, archival images and oral history audio for individual gardens. 

The goal of this most recent work is supplement the audio record that is lacking for many of the Gardens.

The full-sized flyer for this dinner can be downloaded as a PDF file here.



by Lél F. Somogyi

The Cleveland Hungarian Cultural Garden committee is holding an "Autumn Celebration" general meeting and appreciation dinner for all supporters in the community on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm. The dinner is being held in the St. Emeric church hall at 1860 West 22nd Street, Cleveland, OH 44113.
 
Starting at 6:30 pm, there will be an open meeting at which the committee members will give a financial report for the past year, detail fund raising related issues, talk about garden restoration plans and accomplishments, as well as discuss plans and solicit ideas for 2009.

Following the meeting, all are invited to a no-charge social and "potluck" dinner. Attendees are asked to bring a covered dish or a bottle of wine to share.

L. F. Somogyi will hold an encore presentation recapping his speech at the Rededication Ceremony, for those who missed it, and sharing some interesting insights about the Hungarian Cultural Garden. Everyone attending is asked to bring their memorabilia, including old photos, printed materials about the Garden, audio recordings, videos and any other items of interest. Information and items are sought for inclusion on this website for future reference.

The full-sized flyer for this dinner can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

The Rededication of the Hungarian Cultural Garden was a colorful and entertaining event, where hundreds of attendees from the Hungarian community, as well as friends of the community, were in attendence.

Lél F. Somogyi gave the keynote address, focusing on an overview of the history of the Garden, interspersed with some unique insights. You can listen to the speech here or download it to listen to on your mp3 player.

HCG Rededication Keynote Speech by Lél F. Somogyi

In the coming days and weeks, this website will be publishing photos from the event, addition audio of the speeches and presentations, as well as video excerpts. Additionally, articles on the history of the Garden and other interesting materials will be available on the website.

The Hungarian Cultural Garden Committee and the Hungarian community have rededicated themselves to the full restoration of the Garden to its original grandeur.

HCG discussion on Kapossy Radio 7-28-2008 
Listen to the 55 minute program with Paul Burik, Lel Somogyi and Mark Tebeau
Click on the "PLAY" button above to immediately begin playing the program.
Click on the link to download this mp3 file to your PC to play later with your music player program or IPOD.


Download Rededication Flyer as PDF



The Cleveland Hungarian Cultural Garden
Invites you to the
70th Anniversary “Rededication”
Sunday, August 24, 2008

Program: 1 pm – 3 pm (This event is free and open to the public.)

1:00 pm Enjoy live Hungarian music, dance group performances and poetry recitals. Hungarian food will be available!
2:00 pm Rededication Ceremony (additional program details at the event)

Keynote Speakers:

Paul Burick, President, Cultural Garden Federation
Lél F Somogyi, HCG & Hungarian community member, historian
and writer, on “A Garden of Peace”

Come early and enjoy the beautiful park surroundings,
music & entertainment. Then stay for other garden events.

Location: Hungarian Cultural Garden, 1070 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44108
In the middle of historic Rockefeller Park

Plan to arrive early so you can park and get to the HCG. The HCG Rededication is part of a full day of Walk+Roll events in the Gardens and MLK will be closed to car traffic.

To make donations for the ongoing renovation work
make check payable to Cleveland Hungarian Cultural Garden
Kori Smith, 8775 Fox Hollow Lane, Mentor, OH 44060
Phone: 440-256-2264 -- Email: TomSmith3201@adelphia.net

This event is free and open to the public.
See our website at http://www.HungarianCulturalGarden.org
for the latest information.

by Lél Somogyi

On the same day that the Hungarian Cultural Garden has scheduled its rededication ceremonies, Sunday, August 24, 2008, thousands of people are expected to converge on the Walk+Roll Cleveland event in Rockefeller Park and the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

     

Walk+Roll promotes bicycling, walking, alternative transportation, public health, diversity and community-building through human-powered neighborhood programs that combine fun with active living, learning and participating.
 
The Hungarian Cultural Garden is pleased to be one of the key focal points of this unique event as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the formal dedication of the garden.

The schedule of events are in the process of being finalized, but already a number of gardens have embraced the opportunity to showcase themselves and emphasize the contribution of their culture to the region and to the country. Historically, the Cultural Gardens were established to foster understanding between cultures and promote peace.

The all-day Walk+Roll event runs from 11 am to 6 pm. The Hungarian Cultural Garden program, including a formal rededication, features a number of speakers, performers and dance groups, and is scheduled to run from 1 pm to 3 pm. The Walk+Roll event and the Hungarian Cultural Garden program are FREE and open to the public.

You can walk, bicycle, or take free transportation into the garden. The Walk+Roll is along the whole 2 mile stretch of the The Rockefeller Park and the Cultural Gardens.

You can learn more about the Walk+Roll at http://www.walkroll.com/cleveland/ and get the most current schedule information as it becomes available. For more information about the Hungarian Cultural Garden, its rededication program on August 24, and the ongoing efforts at restoration, visit http://hungarianculturalgarden.org.

by Lel Somogyi

If you are a Golf Enthusiast, then we have a great event planned for you that benefits a great cause as well.

The Hungarian Cultural Garden of Cleveland is hosting a Golf Outing as a fund raiser for the benefit of the garden.

As we celebrate our 70th Anniversary of the Hungarian Cultural Garden and begin our historic restoration project, we would like to invite you to join us.

The Golf Outing and Fund Raiser is scheduled for Monday, August 11, 2008 at Hawthorne Valley Country Club in Solon, Ohio.

You can participate by being a Sponsor (Title, Corporate or Company), by joining us on the course for day, or both.

Complete details and reservation forms for the event can be found in the Golf Outing brochure you can download here.