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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
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© TARG (Formerly ZARP & PARG) All rights reserved.
Newsletter for November 2001
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Vi'tanje & Powitanie (Welcome)
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Hello TARG members! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And a
huge THANK YOU to all of you who snapped up so many of those books offered
in our last newsletter! We raised enough money for my cousin Lucjan to get a
camera. In fact, he's now decided to do a "matching funds" arrangement. He
will put in some of his own money and buy an even better megapixel digital
camera. This will surely help our future TARG causes in the old country.
Again, many thanks to you! (We still have a few books left...check the
section at the end of this newsletter for details.)
If you have tried to visit the TARG website at www.1avenue.com/targ
in the last month, you will discover that it HAS DISAPPEARED. That's right,
like so many of these free websites, it seems 1Avenue has gone off the
internet...and without any warning, too.
Around the first of November I set up two new TARG webpages on two other
"free" webhost servers...but in testing them found out that whoever logs on
to them gets lots of annoying "popup" ads and also starts getting junk
e-mail sent to them. No thanks. I already get enough of that myself and
don't want to be the cause of you members receiving even more.
Really the only solution is to have a dedicated TARG website. So I have
bitten the bullet and as of November 18th, the domain: www.ancestral.net is
now in existence. In the coming months a new place where we can share
information will be constructed. It will be a more private place with far
fewer limitations, no ads and hopefully be much more reliable for us, too!
-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG Founder

TARG WEB SITE UPDATES__________
(1.) If you type in the URL of our future TARG home at: www.ancestral.net
you will get a screen off the new server that looks like this:
Index of /
Name Last modified Size Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Parent Directory 18-Nov-2001 07:38 -
cgi-bin/ 18-Nov-2001 07:00 -
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Apache/1.3.20 Server at www.ancestral.net Port 80
***We hope to have a homepage up soon! Keep checking!
(2.) Our wonderful mother-daughter Old World Tour Team of Helen and Helene
have a new website, too. Theirs is much further along...go have a
look! It's at: www.helenezx.homestead.com

UPCOMING TOUR_________
I have day-by-day details about one of Helene's 2002 tours which has
many days in our TARG area. This info isn't even on her website yet!
NEW! - 3 Countries: Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine! Aug 7-Aug 18, 2002
Wed, Aug 7 - Depart JFK Airport 5:15 p.m.
Thurs, Aug 8 - Arrive Kosice; travel to the Tatras, see Spis Castle & Zehra
(UNESCO church) and arrive in picturesque Zdiar (2 nights in Zdiar).
Fri, Aug 9 - Visit Spis villages of Lendak, Stara Lubovna, Cerveny Klastor,
Dunajec River raft ride through Pieniny National Park & Goral festival.
Sat, Aug 10- Cross Polish border to quaint Zakopane; stroll its amazing folk
market, bookstores, museums and cafes (3 nights in Zakopane, Poland).
Sun, Aug 11 - Explore Spisz, Poland - including Niedzica Castle, Debno
(UNESCO site), Grywald, Czorsztyn castle and Nowa Biala's library.
Mon, Aug 12 - Spend the day in historic Krakow; Old Town, shops, cafes.
Tues, Aug 13 - Back into Slovakia; journey through Bardejov; Michalovce and
Sobrance, then into Ukraine (3 nights in Sub-Carpatho Rus).
Wed, Aug 14 - Sightsee in Uzhorod and villages where time stands still.
Thur, Aug 15 - Explore Mukacevo-Palenok, remote villages & Nevitsky ruins.
Fri, Aug 16 - Return to Slovakia thru Michalovce, visit a potter's workshop
and in Kosice walk to the Singing Fountain (2 nights Kosice, Slovakia).
Sat, Aug 17 - Mini-tour of historic Kosice, crystal factory and shop in
restored Old Town or visit villages in search of family. Farewell evening.
Sun, Aug 18 - Do videnia! Fly home via Bratislava; arrive JFK 3 - 4 p.m.
***I have more information to e-mail you if you are interested or you can
call Helene directly toll free at 1-888-529-7150 or e-mail her at:
helenezx@aol.com or visit the tour company at: www.our-Slovakia.com.
(Remember, a deposit of just $300 per person will hold you a place.)

YOUR LETTERS__________
Dear Paul, Greetings and many, many thanks for your immediate response
to my e-mail. I am looking for records from the Catholic parish(es) prior to
1920 since my grandparents migrated to the US in 1902 and 1904. Back in 1998
the archivists at Levoca did a wonderful search on the families of my
Paternal grandparents from Zehra with its church that dates back to 1245. My
grandfather's family name was Osisek and my grandmother's was Jasica from
the Lipnica Wielka, PL area. A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and to your
family. -- Frank Luther
***Hi Frank, Thank you. I did visit the beautiful church in Zehra back in
1999. It's truly a treasure. My Polish phonebook lists seven Jasica families
in the town of Lipnica Wielka. There were none in nearby Lipnica Mala,
Jablonka, Zubrzyca Gorna or even Nowy Targ. There was one Jasica listed in
Zakopane. (Almost every family in the region has a relative who has moved to
take part in the fabulous tourist industry there.) Osiseks do appear to be
from Lipnica Wielka, too. I checked one 1929 book I have and the name is
listed there, but like Jasica, from nowhere else. -- Paul
Hi Paul: Thank you for those two books on Spis. I received them
on Tuesday. Just what I wanted. -- Eleanor Kehoe
***Hi Eleanor. Glad they arrived safely! -- Paul
Hello Paul, I just joined the group, is anyone researching the name
Subisak? My Subisak great-great-grandparents settled in Passaic, NJ in the
1890's. But I'm trying to find out where to go from there, as far as getting
info from "the old country". Any help is much appreciated. -- Steve Banks
***Hi Steve, The surname Subisak (also sometimes spelled Subicek, Subiszak
and Subisiak) are known from the villages of Frydman and Krempachy in Polish
Spisz. Many members of TARG have ancestry from these villages and some may
have Subiszaks in their trees as well. -- Paul
Dear Paul, I am looking for information on the family name of Hobor or
Hober, from the town of Gnezda, SK (now called Hniezdne). I would
appreciate any information anyone has. -- Raymond Hober
***Hello Ray, Hniezdne, SK is a village of about 1,360 on the outskirts of
Stara L'ubovna built in 1250. It was a German village of tradesmen and
craftsmen. The surname Haber exists in many TARG villages, but the variation
Hobor does exist in Hniezdne. I found a Frantisek Hobor living in house #281
listed. If you need help writing to a possible relative in Slovakia, e-mail
me and I will send you some back issues that can help you. -- Paul
Dear Paul: I read your two articles in Helene Cincebeaux's Slovakia
newsletter. My surname is Orsulak and my ancestry goes back to 1750 near the
city of Trnava. Two years ago my wife met a Polish woman who spotted my
wife's "Orsulak" name tag and told her that a very small village called
Harklowa 3 miles from her home town has the name Orsulak. I presume this is
too small to be on the map since I can't find it. My research has also found
the Orsulak surname in Presov, SK and Krakow, PL. Pretty good range. What's
your thought's on the Migration and let me know if you can find this Orsulak
village on any map. Thanks! -- John C. Orsulak
***Hi John. Thanks for your e-mail. Harklowa, PL is a TARG village on the
north side of the Dunajec, 10km east of Nowy Targ and just west of historic
Debno. The population there is about 450, so that may explain why it does
not show up on many maps. It was a knight community started before 1325 and
was part of the Czorstyn Castle estate. Its Roman Catholic church of the
Holy Family was built in the late 1500s. Orsulak is definitely a surname in
the village. But if your Orsulaks date back to the 1750s in Trnava,SK, you
would be best advised to look there. I'm not sure what "Orsulak" means, but
many names appear often throughout Slavic countries. One such name is
Kolodzej which appears all over Slovakia and Poland. The name means
"wheelwright" and naturally at one time every village had one! -- Paul

OSTURNA DNA PROJECT_________
TARG's Greek Catholic village of Osturna, SK group led by Megan
Smolenyak is more active than any other's within TARG. One of their latest
endeavors is creating a DNA database. Here is a little discussion off their
Osturna Family website on www.MyFamily.com:
"If anyone from any Osturna family is interested, please let me know as
I'm coordinating with the company so they know which samples are to be
included in the Osturna database. Just a note: the Y chromosome (the testing
that allows us to connect those of the same surname) is passed from father
to son, so women wouldn't have it in their blood samples. By contrast,
mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to both sons and daughters. So a man
can be tested for the Y chromosome, your mom's maiden name mitochondrial DNA
or both." -- Megan Smolenyak

BOOKS FOR SALE__________
Most of the books listed last time were sold. Thank you! One new superb
Slovak-English/English-Slovak dictionary was inadvertently left off the list
last time (Oops, sorry!) and is now available. This is hardcover and much
better than the little Hippocrene book you find here in the U.S. for nearly
the same price. It contains 32,000 words with 756 pages. Cost is only $13.-
(plus 4.- s&h)
And here is a list of the few remaining items and their prices:
1. Complete Polish Atlas: 27.- (plus 5.- s&h) Can't believe this hasn't gone
yet! Polish atlases with this detail are not available in the U.S.
4. New Dajama Guide to Liptov, SK in English: 13.- (plus 3.- s&h) Brand new.
A must-have if your family is from Liptov county.
5. New Dajama Guide to Orava, SK in English: 13.- (plus 3.- s&h) Brand new.
A must-have if your family is from Orava county.
13. Zdiar History 1590-2000: 23.- (plus 5.- s&h) Truly a one-of-a-kind book
with tons of old photos and summary in English.
14. Orava Lake Villages Memorial Book: 9.- (plus 5.- s&h) An absolute
must-have for those with ancestry from in and around the Orava Lake area.
Filled with historic B&W and color photos. Sold one, another was on
hold...but no check arrived. First-come, first-served.
15. Jurgov History 1941-1995: 9.- (plus 3.- s&h) Also a one-of-a-kind book
with historic old photos.
Checks or M.O.s can be mailed to the TARG mailing address below. (Please
make these out to "P. Bingham" as TARG does not have its own account.) Thank
you in advance for your support!

CONTACTING TARG_____________________
To contact TARG the e-mail address is: TARG_NET@hotmail.com
Our new website will soon be at: www.ancestral.net
TARG's mailing address is: P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033.
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