It's "World Cepelinas Day"

Are you cooking Cepelinai today? We're not, but it's a nice day to revisit the recipe:

The last time Mr. Irene and I had Cepelinai was when we visited Grand Duke's Restaurant:

*     *     *     *     *

Memorabilia

Summit, Illinois, November 14, 2015. Lithuanians love basketball.

Modern-Kaunas Reunion

Kaunas, Lithuania, August 2011. This is my Parents' hometown as it looks today. When she emigrated, my Mom found American architecture startling: she thought the flat-roofed Brooklyn houses looked like matchbooks. She smiles every time she sees a tiled roof.

"smiley barn?"

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

A Sad Basketball Day

Suburban Chicago, March 1964. The Wisconsin Badgers today lost to Ohio State.

A spat ...

... develops at Mr. Irene's high school: Illinois Governor "Pat Quinn lashed out Thursday night at his alma mater, Fenwick High School, for firing his brother as boys basketball coach after 28 years."

A Capella

Lithuanian fans in Kaunas defy a Euroleague rule prohibiting the singing of national anthems before basketball games.

Kaunas fans sang the anthem before a game previously, too.

When basketball and tradition intersect.

Yesterday, the Toronto Raptors celebrated "Lithuanian Heritage Days." During the halftime show, the folk dance group, "Gintaras," performed.

Remember, only the sport of mushroom hunting comes as close to Lithuanian hearts as basketball.

Language Lesson

Can you pronounce "Jonas Valančiūnas?" He plays for the Toronto Raptors.

Mushroom hunting is a sport.

"Mushroom hunting is probably Lithuania’s second most popular sport, after basketball."

Many Eastern European countries share a cultural affinity for mushroom picking. Mushroom recipes ripple through Lithuanian cuisine; Lithuanians even bake cookies that look like mushrooms. (There's a recipe in this book.)

I've always been nervous about eating wild mushrooms. I make an exception for morels because it's easy to identify them. Otherwise, I stay away. For example, Danutė—the wife of Mr. Irene's great uncle, Uncle D—used to harvest wild mushrooms in Indiana and Michigan. She then pickled and canned them. Everyone got several Mason jars—filled with the slimy preserving liquid and rubbery mushrooms—each time they visited her. I never tasted them: not even from the jars Danutė gave us on our wedding day. Or from the jars family found squirreled away in Danutė's basement after Danutė died.

I went mushroom picking one time, and I then was accompanying natives who'd been differentiating mushrooms for nearly a generation.

Choosing the wrong mushroom can be deadly.

Door County, Wisconsin, Spring 1978. Get some safety training before you go hunting.

Madison Arrival

"The Other Dream Team" opens in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 26, 2012, at the Market Square Theater, Odana Road.

I plan to go! The last movie I saw in the theater was "Titanic." Before that, it was "Truth or Dare." I don't like going to the movie theater. I have trouble watching fiction, and it's too dark in the theater to knit.

ADDED: Review with link to trailer.

"Badgers football coach Bielema had no idea Obama was on campus[.]"

That's one of today's Madison headlines.

Meanwhile, the UW—Madison Men's Basketball team secured an audience with the President.

"The Other Dream Team"

"The Other Dream Team" premiers next month. It's a movie about the Lithuanian 1992 Olympic Basketball team. Here's a trailer.

(Lithuanians love basketball. I'll keep watching despite today's loss.)

Thanks to my friend V for pointing this out to me.

UPDATE: Here's a review of the movie.

Basketball Victory

Würzburg, Germany, about 1946. My friend Kris's maternal Uncle Al, second from right, poses with his Displaced-Persons-camp team after a basketball game. Uncle Al wrote on the back of the photo, "After a successful match with our brothers, the Latvians."

Thanks to Kris for making this photo available to us.

Timeless

Würzburg, Germany, about 1947. Lithuanian Displaced Persons enjoy a game of pick-up basketball.

Thanks to my friend Kris for making this photo available to us.

Friendly Competition

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 27 and 28, 1951. Lithuanian-Canadians stage a sports tournament with Lithuanian-Americans. Kadis, the husband of my Dad's twin sister, Jonė, is the fellow with the tie who is handing out trophies.

Spring Recess

Aušros Gimnazija, Kaunas, Lithuania, May 1, 1937. Members of my Dad's high school class gather for a game of basketball.

Basketball is serious business.

Würzburg, Germany, March 31, 1946. The Würzburg basketball team gathers for a more formal photo. We assume they posed for this shot on the same day the team won the title of runners up in a league game. My friend Kris's dad, Vytenis, stands, second from left. Her Uncle Al—brother of my Mom's best friend, Donna—stoops, second from right.

Sixty-Six Years Ago

Lithuanians cherish their history of playing basketball. Basketball games were common forms of recreation in the DP camps. Like other sports, basketball helped the Lithuanian Displaced Persons cement their national identity once their country lost its independence.

Displaced Persons from the different DP camps engaged in basketball rivalries and tournaments. Last night, my friend Kris sent this photo of her Dad, Vytenis, and her maternal Uncle, Al, when they played for a Würzburg camp team:

Würzburg, Germany, March 31, 1946. Kris's Dad, Vytenis, stands in the last row, on the far left, and her maternal Uncle, Al, stands on the far right.
 

*     *     *     *     *

 
The Würzburg DP camp team on which the two men played won a "runners up" trophy—coincidentally, sixty-six years ago yesterday. Kris explains that the DPs crafted the trophy from old munitions parts dumped near the camp:
 

 
Würzburg, Germany, March 31, 1946. The trophy celebrates the team's status—in the English language.
 
Thanks to my dear friend Kris for making these photos available to me.

The Sporting Life

Sports were among the cultural activities that bonded Lithuanian nationals in the DP camps. The DPs often staged basketball games and volleyball matches with Lithuanians from other camps. The Lithuanian DPs also waged athletic rivalries with other nationals housed in nearby DP camps.

Schweinfurt, Germany, about 1946. I don't know the sport in which this group was about to engage. It is unusual, though, because it is a team made up of both genders. Maybe it was a race?

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to me.

Pick-up Basketball

Lithuanians historically have been crazy about basketball.

Do you remember how the Grateful Dead sponsored the 1992 and 1996 Lithuanian Olympic Basketball Teams? The band created the uniforms for those games.

Sometimes Lithuanians play their best games in times of real adversity.

Schweinfurt, Germany, Summer 1948. A group of Lithuanian Displaced Persons plays basketball on a Sunday afternoon.