HUNGARIAN HARVEST DANCE 2009

. The Árpádhon Hungarian Settlement Cultural Association once again sponsored the annual Hungarian Harvest Dance that took place on Sat., Oct. 3, 2009 at the American Legion Hall on Hwy. 43 in Hungarian Settlement, Louisiana. Doors opened at 5:00 p.m. and guests were greeted with Hungarian folk music playing over the loudspeakers. A food booth provided an array of
Hungarian-style cuisine that included Töltött káposzta  (cabbage rolls), kolbász (Hungarian
sausage), uborka saláta (cucumber salad), and káposztás tészta (cabbage noodles). Helen Kropog,
Rose Szizak, and Liz Bordok could be seen a nearby table preparing and serving freshly made jelly or turos (cottage cheese) palacsinta (crepes). Kathleen Mocsary Green of the Olde World Bakery provided other Hungarian pastries such as kiflik and dios kalacs (sweet nut bread). At a table near the entrance, Irene Good Demars made available some of her beautiful artwork in the form of Hungarian Settlement posters and dolls dressed in intricately made Hungarian Harvest Dance costumes. At another table near the bandstand, Royanne Kropog sold and signed copies of her book, entitled The Story of Arpadhon. Proud parents took photos of young people dressed in
traditional Hungarian Harvest Dance attire that could be seen mingling throughout the hall. The program began about 6:30 p.m when  Jim King, president of the AHSCA welcomed the crowd then led the Pledge of Allegiance. This was followed a magnificent performance of the Star-Spangled Banner by Suzanna Green. Reverend Ernest Breaux led the invocation, which was followed by a special guest invocation in Hungarian by Rev. Gyula Juhasz of Debrecen,Hungary, who was visiting the U.S. The guest speaker for the event was Dr. Steven Gergatz,
honorary Hungarian consul of Louisiana. He encouraged

community members to support their heritage by joining the AHSCA or the HSHS (Hungarian Settlement Historical Society). He also said that his wife, Julia Bika, had written an article about Hungarian Settlement that was published in an Hungarian Encyclopedia. (Dr. Gergatz brought a copy of the book with him to show the guests at the Harvest Celebration.) Davy Brooks, a very talented local musician, started the entertainment portion of the program by performing on guitar an original song that he had written called Árpádhon Nights. He then followed it up with an astounding guitar version of Stars and Stripes Forever. Next, Victoria Mocsary played guitar and performed severalHungarian folk songs with Suzanna, Samantha and Megan Green, along with Christina Mocsary. All these singers are descendants of Adam Mocsary, one of the original founders of the community. The songs included: Piros Piros Piros, Kis Kutya Nagy Kutya, Az a Szép, Debrecen, Ég a Város,, and Megismerni a Kanászt. Then came the  highlight of the evening-- the traditional Hungarian Harvest Dance. President Jim King introduced the dancers by name as they walked across the dance floor, each accompanied by their partner, to line up for the dancing. The dancersincluded Nichole King McMorris (dance group leader and teacher) with Thomas Mocsary & Tonya King Kirkland; Adam Green & Emily Anthony; Raymond Murray & Amanda Arceneaux; Steven Good & Meagan Riggs; Trey Latino & Christina Mocsary; Jake Green & Megan Green; Barbara Robinson & Kaylee Demars; Brian Graef & Rebekah Graef; Samantha Green & HeatherDegenhardt. With the completion of the last dance called the Szureti Tanc, came the traditional “stealing” the fruit that was hanging above the dance floor. Many who jumped for the fruit came away with arm-loads of apples, oranges and grapes. Following the conclusion of the Harvest Dance, strawberry wine, donated by Pete Pffifner, was auctioned off to the highest bidder. Also auctioned off was a beautiful doll, dressed in Hungarian Harvest Dance attire made by Irene Good DeMars. Afterwards, the Poo-Yai Band, led by Ernest Breax, performed variety music for public dancing.