PHOTO GALLERY: Sugar Creek Slavic Festival
The first day of the Slavic Festival reminds Mario Viskovic of his last days in Bosnia.
But the volatile world of Bosnia, where Viskovic was born and from where he and his family fled in 2000, was far from his mind Friday night, standing before the mammoth grill at the Mike Onka Memorial Building Grounds in Sugar Creek.
This is home.
“I was afraid back then, and I wanted to find safety for my family and me,” Viskovic said.
He’s wiping sweat from his brow, keeping a steady eye on the growing crowd for the 23rd Annual Sugar Creek Slavic Festival. The tongs in his hand is his wrench, a sacred item, a utensil to be bronzed.
In 1998, Viskovic, married and with one child, applied for American citizenship. Two years later, two years of violence and bloodshed and becoming a near prisoner of war, he and his family were accepted into America. He soon made Gladstone his home.
Becoming a member of the Croatia Fraternal Union of America was both a testament to his past and a prayer for his future.
And becoming a participant in the Slavic Festival is a way to make his past live again.
“I love it here,” he said. “They’ve kept a tradition here that reminds me of Croatia. I love seeing the flags, seeing the people, smelling and making the food. I have a lot of pride when I see the Croatian flag.”
At home, Viskovic, who works as a machinist, continues to keep his heritage alive by speaking to his three children in Croatian and cooking the native food.
“They say they don’t like it, that it’s hard to understand, but it’s important to keep it going,” he said.
When the festival started, most – if not all – the food was made by the ladies of St. Cyril’s Alter Society, but when the festival became too big to accommodate all the mouths and hungry stomachs, organizers looked elsewhere. Perhaps a break in the festival helped.
When it returned, the Croatia Fraternal Union of America, based in Strawberry Hill in Kansas, began helping with the food. On Friday, tradition reigned, with pork kabobs and slaw and tater salad served happily by Viscovik and friends. Their food joined other food, a mixture of culinary tastes: kielbasa, baklava, povitica, sarma, and stuffed cabbages.
To Joe Hotujac, president of the Croatia union, his organization’s participation in the Sugar Creek Slavic Festival makes sense.
“There was a Croatian community there (in Strawberry Hill), and there was a Croatian community here in Sugar Creek,” Hotujac said. “There was a connection.”
Amy and Dan Salva, daughter-in-law and son of Mayor Stan Salva, have always participated in the event, which runs the weekend before Father’s Day and ends today. They saw the growing connection between Sugar Creek and Strawberry Hill in the old days – not to say that other connections within the city were not forged.
“We scheduled our honeymoon so we could be back in time for the festival,” Amy said, dressed in Croatian outfit, preparing to dance with the Sugar Creek Ethnic Troupe.
This year, their son, Mitchell, plans to dance. But half an hour prior to the dance, Mitchell had yet to dress.
“I get teased a little bit at school because of it,” Mitchell said.
Today, events continue at 3 p.m., with the Strawberry Hill Ensemble to perform at 6 p.m. and LynnMarie and the Boxhounds scheduled for 8:45 p.m. Several acts will be included during the day as well.
Admission to the festival is $3.
