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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
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© TARG All rights reserved. (Former ZARP & PARG Newsletter)
Monthly Newsletter for July-August 2000
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To nearly fifty of you brand new to TARG this is the first newsletter
you have received. Vi'tany' & Powitanie! (Welcome!) I've printed up hard
copies of all of our previous newsletters dating all the way back to the
beginnings of both ZARP and PARG to mail out (snail-mail) to new folks and
to anyone else who wants copies. If you have anyone who is not online who
would like copies just let me know. Its a good
way for them to get caught up. Also anyone new online who wants these back
issues, I can e-mail you the copies you need.
My sincere apologies for not answering e-mails personally and quickly as
I usually try to do -- and also for the tardiness of this newsletter. Our
family has been envolved in the process of moving to another state. We are
moved now. Our belongings are all inside the house and our kids are back in
school. We not at all organized beyond that yet, but relocated in any case.
I told my wife that I can see why we haven't moved in seventeen years. It
will take me at least that long to even accept the idea of doing it again!
The e-mail, too, is back up and running now -- the address is still the
same: bingham@iols.net. IMPORTANT: TARG's mailing address has changed,
though. It is now: P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033. Please don't send any
more to the Mesa address as it is not reliably forwarded. Don't want
anything important getting lost.
Also of note: Team Member Megan Smolenyak's genealogy special (episode
#4 of the series) was airing in various markets in July on PBS. It was a
GREAT SHOW and showing scenes from our Tatra area -- even caught a glimpse
of Helene Cincebeaux "in her element"! Great job, Megan!

-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG Team Leader
bingham@iols.net

IMPORTANT TARG DISCUSSION_________________
A few months ago I merged what was two separate research groups, PARG
(The Podhale Area Research Group) and ZARP (The Zamagurze Area Research
Project) into one group called TARG (The Tatra Area Research Group). I have
really heard nothing but positive response to this, for which I am grateful.
But aside from saving me from editing but one newsletter per month, this
move has deeper logic behind it. Both of these areas from either side of the
mighty Tatras are predominantly Goral. The culture, the history, the
language are very closely connected, as one knows if they've been there.
There is also a book I found in the LDS library (available for order on
Fiche from any of their 3000 libraries world wide) called "The Surnames of
Nowy Targ". In this fascinating book, all of the surnames from the area
around the old city of Nowy Targ, Poland -- including south to Zakopane --
are listed along with ALL of the occurrances by date in all of these little
villages for each surname. And it also gives variant spellings and meanings
information. And guess what? The origins of many, many PARG and ZARP
surnames came from this area between Nowy Targ and Zakopane! And neither of
these were included in either group. So the new TARG group was formed.

WONDERFUL NEW GUIDEBOOK AVAILABLE__________
There is another brand-new guidebook we found while over there last
Summer called "The Slovak-Polish Tatras" by Dajama Press. It is available in
English and covers all of the towns and villages surrounding the Tatras --
regardless of whether they are now Slovak or Polish in nationality. It is an
indispensable reference and gives a writeup on most every village, even the
small ones. We are trying to find a way to get a large order of this
wonderful book and make them available to you. Really, every TARG member
should have a copy.
Dajama has a website and offer to ship individual copies
to the U.S. -- but paying by credit card on an unsecured overseas site and
not knowing the final shipping cost or exchange rate in advance has sounded
like trouble. If any of you are adventurous and want to try a single copy
order, do it! Just let us know about your experience. The URL is:
http://www.dajama.sk/default_en.htm

MEMBER SPORTS NEWS__________
From the pages of the "Butler Eagle" in PA, we hear of the remarkable
accomplishments of our own Spisz Team Member Karen Melis's daughter Kerri:
On 6/8/00, Kerri Melis age 14 set the Youth National Javelin record of 34.46
m in Illinois. The former record for the age group was 29m. This meet
qualifies Kerri for international competition with the potential of
representing America in the World games in Hungary in 2001. We are extremely
proud of her dedication, work ethic and mental attitude to achieve this
record. It is truly an individual's achievement!
Kerri also qualified for the National Jr. Olympics in Buffalo NY and took
Silver in the same competition. Kerri has already set the regional United
States Track and Field Region II Championship Record and was seeded first.
We are all extreemly proud of her. Our congratulations to her and to her
proud parents Terry & Karen Melis. (Some of you may remember Kerri as last
year's "bride" off the webpage nearly married off to Lendak's Jan Budzak. He
will be very sorry he let her get away!)

MICROFILMED RECORDS AVAILABLE THROUGH LDS_____________
Our thanks to Andrea Vangor for this news for those interested in
getting LDS microfilms of Slovak church records:
"I received a very kind reply on my answering machine from a lady named
Sylvie at the international desk of the LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City.
She had a lovely accent and is the resident expert on things Czech,
Ukrainian, and Slovak. I learned that the on-line Family History catalog is usually
months out of date.
So if you are looking for some place and can't find it, call the
800 number at Salt Lake City and ask them to find the microfilm number. It
is: 1-800- 453-3860, extension 2881."

USTIE & SLANICA, ORAVA FAMILIES__________________
Our thanks to David Sulik for this letter that lists Ustie and Slanica
families and gives an offer to help. (Ustie & Slanica were two of the five
villages lost to Orava dam's construction in the early 1950's.)
"I have a pedigree of my grandgrandfather Andrej Kavuljak from
Ustie. In his pedigree (10 generations back ) is many families from Ustie
and Slaniaca, like a Kavuljak, Bernolak, Kavjak, Gallas, Kohuth, Pacak,
Sperlagh, Kruzlic, and Kovalik. One Jan Kovalik was a manufacturer, his wife
was Anna Kruzlic. They had two children Apolonia Kovalik and Jan Kovalik.
His son Jan Kovalik was a manufacturer too, his wife was Anna Habernal. They
have a son, who was a famous Slovak poet. Jan Kovalik-Ustiansky. He is in
the Slovak Encyklopede. His wife was Frana Murin. Apolonia Kovalik had a
husband Jan Pacak who was a teacher. They have a daughter Alojzia Pacak."
If you want to know more e-mail me at:
sulik.david@slsp.sk -- David Sulik

OTHER NOTES______________________________
(1) Contact us if you would like the e-mail address of someone in TARG. (2)
If you have comments, questions, someone's address to add to our mailing
list or missed any newsletter issues, just ask! (3) This e-mail newsletter
is sent out free to all who want it (due to ISP anti-spamming policies in
groups of <20). Newsletter Editor: bingham@iols.net
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