They came from Vilnius. Digging for Hidden Treasure Finding Lithuanian markers across America

A meeting with local contacts (from l.) Aistė Žemaitienė, Stephen Kwedar, M.D., Susan Eby, Mary Ann Rackauskas, D.D.S., Rick Dunham, Augustinas Žemaitis, Gražina Macius, Sheila Mack, Maureen (Mack) Mueller. Photo by Sandra Baksys

Sandra Baksys. After 25 days and 4,500 miles criss-crossing the Midwest, following upon the heels of a similar expedition on the East Coast last year, Augustinas Žemaitis and Aistė Žemaitienė, both of Vilnius, Lithuania, have visited more Lithuanian-American heritage sites than anyone else in the world. This year’s “Destination Lithuanian …

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The Hippie Movement in Lithuania – Forerunners

Dress rehearsal for the rock opera “Jesus Christ SuperStar” before its premiere on Christmas Day, 1971, in Vilnius.

by Skaistė Plaušinytė. The largest and most significant youth movement in Lithuania during the Soviet period was that of the hippies. This movement, which started in the West at the beginning of the 1960s (in the U.S., Great Britain and Western Europe), reached the Soviet Union as well. The hippies seemed …

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Femme au Foyer – 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas

Found a great blog by Latvian-American Liene Kukainis. It’s called “Femme au foyer” which translates to “woman at the hearth.” For the past several years Liene has been putting together a list of posts each December each having something to do with a Baltic Christmas. Here are the postings to-date …

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Aloyzas Baronas and the Christmas harmonica tale

We received an inquiry at Lithuanian Heritage relating to a very short story written by Aloyzas Baronas, about “Kaziuko Armonika.”  The reader wanted to know where one could find more stories like this to read to children about the magical goings on during the night before Christmas, where animals are …

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First trips to Lithuania in 1977–78

by Raimundas Balsys. Over the years, Mom and Dad kept in touch with relatives who had stayed behind in Lithuania. Mom was always writing letters and sending boxes of used clothing to the old country. The relatives thought that America’s streets were paved in gold. They would send letters requesting …

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On the Road Again in Lithuania

A collection of wayside crosses encountered on the road from Šiauliai to Vilnius.

John Baltrus. As promised almost two years ago (in Draugas News, July 2017) this past summer, I returned to Lithuania to continue my exploration of its countryside by bicycle. All I needed to do was dust off my bike, put air in my tires, and hit the road. I thus …

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The Oklahoma Saga Continues

Lithuanian Oklahomans gathered to establish the Oklahoma Lithuanian Club.

Vilius Žalpys. In the April 2018 issue of Draugas News, Vilius Žalpys conveyed his initial findings of Lithuanian pioneers in Oklahoma. Here he continues to report on the latest developments in this fascinating but little known Lithuanian enclave. The Oklahoma File Revisited This fall I returned to Oklahoma for a …

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75 Years and Going Strong. The American Legion Lithuanian Post Commemoration in Baltimore

Lithuanian Legion Baltimore Post 154 at the annual Kosciusko Commemoration at West Point in 2010.

Henry L. Gaidis. This year the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Lithuania is being celebrated by virtually every Lithuanian enclave throughout the world. The American Legion Lithuanian Post 154, Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday, September 16, 2018, took the occasion to also commemorate the 100th Anniversary of …

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The Draugas digital archive

By Jonas Daugirdas. I presume that most of our readers are quite familiar with the Lithuanian – language Catholic newspaper Draugas, founded in 1909 as a weekly publication by a consortium of priests in Wilkes Barre, PA, and moved to Chicago a few years later. The Marian Fathers of the Immaculate …

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From Vilnius back to Chicago. Going Global. An interview with Marijus Gudynas

Lithuania’s Consul General in Chicago Marijus Gudynas leads his compatriots in the singing of the Lithuanian national anthem at Chicago’s popular tourist attraction – the Bean.

Virginija Petrauskienė. The Chicago-based Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture has announced that the 2018 “Man of the Year” is Marijus Gudynas, diplomat and Director of the Department of Lithuanians Living Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Lithuania.  Most recently he successfully served as Lithuania’s Consul General in …

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