This is the road that led us into the village in 2005 and 2006 and it is the same road that led our families out of the village in 1888 to become American Immigrants.
We often looked at maps such as this one and had doubts that we'd ever find our village. Not only could we not speak the language, it goes without saying that we could not read it either. Thankfully Radio cz click here was able to put us in touch with an American scholar who had written his master's dissertation on the six lost Czech villages. Daniel Mair had actually spent three months in our village during this time. Once he realized that we were seriously planning to go to the village, he really helped us in many ways. Mainly by communicating with his village friends and the village officials. Often this took him weeks, then the same amount of time to get back to us. Joyce and Dan made all the travel arrangements between them which took the better part of a year. Once we had all agreed upon a date, to our amazement and wonder, that was the exact weekend of their festival. Not only that, the festival is held every other year in a different village. That it was the same weekend we were to arrive, the same year and in OUR village, tell me there was no divine intervention at play here! Finally as the time drew near for us to go, Dan Mair agreed to meet us in Prague and to go with us. To our amazement he had also invited Dr. Dzenek Uherek, an anthropologist at Charles University to go with us. Dzenek was happy for the opportunity because he could observe the "reunion" and continue to study the villagers as they still speak the old Czeck dialect which is fast disappearing. The old czech language goes back hundreds of years and has not changed even with the emergence of new words or with the Czech villagers being in a different country. This is a source of interest to anthropologists in several worldwide universities. Dzenek also agreed to serve as our translators, which meant that he would translate their words and our words verbatim. They agreed to make our introductions and to translate the languages for us when meeting our families and during the events in the village.
All the same Village – just different names
Weizenried – German name
(This name was spelled phonetically in America by immigration officials who completed various official documents. For instance on the “Declaration of Intention, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization papers*, our grandfathers had a heavy accent and the name of the village was spelled as the officials heard it pronounced:
Vitzried
Vutzen Reid
Vutzenried
Vajcen Reid
The above spelling of the village were seen on the Declaration of Intention of the following gentlemen: Mathias Vinces Blaha,John Kuska, Jospeh John Blaha, Matthews Frank Blaha, and others. (Copies of these documents are in our files.)
SZORENYBUZAS- Hungarian name of the village
GERNIK* - The Czech name & spelling of the village
GIRNIC* - The official Romanian spelling of the village
GARNIC - The Slovak spelling of the village
*We tend to use “Gernik” or “Girnic” interchangeably.
Leaving Prague we traveled by train 14 hours into Romania. There we boarded a bus for a one hour drive to the airport in Timasora to pick up our rental cars. We still had a five hour drive ahead of us and with only a few more miles to go before reaching the village our headlights shown on this one and only directional sign confirming we were on the right trail.
The village name is written in Czech, Slovak, and Romanian on this shelter. It was the only directional sign we came upon and it meant the world to us because it confirmed that our 24 hour journey from the Czech Republic was truly leading us to out desired destination-at last!
Going to the fields to work in their crops means traveling on roads like these that lead into and out of the main village.
The village is a long way from home. The journey was long and hard. Our hearts were anxious, out bodies tired and our emotions heightened. But.......It was worth every moment. The experience was beyond our hopes and dreams in every way. As we neared the spot on the map we had been studying for more than a year, the reality set in and we knew we had been blessed to have had this opportunity - that of visiting our ancestral Czech Village - Gernik, far away from the former Czechoslovakia, far away from any large city in Romania, far away from modernization, and far,very far away from Southside Virginia
The only road into the village was rocky - however this was the smooth part.
The Roman Catholic Church in the village is named after the patron Saint of Bohemia, St. John of Nepomuk. He was thrown into the river by King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia because he would not reveal the confession of the queen. When our ancestors immigrated to Dinwiddie, Virginia, they built their church in the image of the village one and also named it St. John's.
A recent renovation was made to the inside of this beautiful church.
Since we were in the village during the weekend we were able to attend the Sunday morning mass held prior to the opening of the festival.
Memorials were often placed throughout the village in honor of an important life within the community. It may be a memorial depicting a plague or a war or of their heros. Always they are of a religious nature.
Most of the homes have water piped in from this stream that runs through the center of the village.
Wooden wagons are made by hand with tools that are almost always made by hand as well. Farm animals are very important to these farmers and are well cared for.
Never forget the story that is in our hearts. What is your story?
Reach back into the past and bring it forward.
Create your own memorials - art is a response to rehumanize.
Memory is unstable - people forget - human emotions leaves a mark on the world.
Home of the Josef Blaha - the original site was #12
Beautiful hand stenciled walls are a source of pride in the villagers homes.
Didn't we all grow up with lace curtains in our homes? I can't remember a window without them but I never thought about it being a part of our heritage. What else have we forgotten?
CULTURAL ART AND HERITAGE FESTIVAL HELD IN OUR VILLAGE (The very same weekend of our visit! Imagine!)
Shelly and I are presenting a banner to the people of the village Gernik. It is one that I made before leaving for the village. The falling leaves from a Family Tree represents the families who left the village for America during the chain migration beginning in 1888 and ending about 1915.
This solid wood shelter was built to stage all of the festival events during this particular weekend. The festival is held in one of the six ethnic villages every two years. Different villages bring their own songs, dances and costumes to entertain night and day. Bands played late into the night where drinks, food, dancing, and festivities never seemed to be unending.
This is Gernik's official folk-dress.
East meets west at the festival.
Village ladies always wear their kroje (which is the Czech word for folk dress or costume) complete with a head covering which is tied in a specific way under their chin. The scarf and apron usually coordinate with each other.
During our visit we found the village seamstress who allowed us to purchase several kroje. Since that time back in the states we wear them during special presentations and always when invited to NATO events in Norfolk, VA. We're often told by the officers and guests that It reminds them of home and they are pleased to see this authentic dress.
Waiting their turn to perform, these kids were patient. Although It wasa hot day for them to wear these beautiful wool coats, along with their boots and head-dressings they did not complain.
A road leading into the Village.
We often looked at maps such as this one and had doubts that we'd ever find our village. Not only could we not speak the language, it goes without saying that we could not read it either. Thankfully Radio cz 
Leaving Prague we traveled by train 14 hours into Romania. There we boarded a bus for a one hour drive to the airport in Timasora to pick up our rental cars. We still had a five hour drive ahead of us and with only a few more miles to go before reaching the village our headlights shown on this one and only directional sign confirming we were on the right trail.
The village is a long way from home. The journey was long and hard. Our hearts were anxious, out bodies tired and our emotions heightened. But.......It was worth every moment. The experience was beyond our hopes and dreams in every way. As we neared the spot on the map we had been studying for more than a year, the reality set in and we knew we had been blessed to have had this opportunity - that of visiting our ancestral Czech Village - Gernik, far away from the former Czechoslovakia, far away from any large city in Romania, far away from modernization, and far,very far away from Southside Virginia
The Roman Catholic Church in the village is named after the patron Saint of Bohemia, St. John of Nepomuk. He was thrown into the river by King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia because he would not reveal the confession of the queen. When our ancestors immigrated to Dinwiddie, Virginia, they built their church in the image of the village one and also named it St. John's.
A recent renovation was made to the inside of this beautiful church. 
Since we were in the village during the weekend we were able to attend the Sunday morning mass held prior to the opening of the festival.
Memorials were often placed throughout the village in honor of an important life within the community. It may be a memorial depicting a plague or a war or of their heros. Always they are of a religious nature.
Most of the homes have water piped in from this stream that runs through the center of the village.
Wooden wagons are made by hand with tools that are almost always made by hand as well. Farm animals are very important to these farmers and are well cared for.
Never forget the story that is in our hearts. What is your story?
Reach back into the past and bring it forward.
Create your own memorials - art is a response to rehumanize.
Memory is unstable - people forget - human emotions leaves a mark on the world.
Home of the Josef Blaha - the original site was #12
Beautiful hand stenciled walls are a source of pride in the villagers homes.
Didn't we all grow up with lace curtains in our homes? I can't remember a window without them but I never thought about it being a part of our heritage. What else have we forgotten?
Shelly and I are presenting a banner to the people of the village Gernik. It is one that I made before leaving for the village. The falling leaves from a Family Tree represents the families who left the village for America during the chain migration beginning in 1888 and ending about 1915. 
East meets west at the festival.
Village ladies always wear their kroje (which is the Czech word for folk dress or costume) complete with a head covering which is tied in a specific way under their chin. The scarf and apron usually coordinate with each other.
Waiting their turn to perform, these kids were patient. Although It wasa hot day for them to wear these beautiful wool coats, along with their boots and head-dressings they did not complain.