"You’re right, there’s practically fucking 95 percent of our citizens in 'Miamiland'."

Russian diplomat jokes about a pretext for another invasion.

Rewarded

"Woman celebrates 107th birthday by [crocheting] hats for newborns."

Related by Marriage: Party Band

Chicago's Lithuanian DP community maintained busy, annual social calendars from the 1950s through the 1970s. In the fall, political, cultural, and relief organizations held fundraising dinner dances. Christmas and New Year's Eve galas followed. Easter Balls heralded the start of spring and a new season of wedding parties. Occasional picnics and neighborhood festivals punctuated the summers.

Many banquets and dances took place within the main assembly hall of the Lithuanian Youth Center (what we called "JC's"). The Center—located in Gage Park—was part of a complex built in 1957; it housed the residence of Lithuanian Jesuit priests, an art gallery, a chapel, research archives, and facilities for conducting Lithuanian language school on Saturdays. The Center also is the place at which I (sometimes) attended weekly choir practice.

 

Each gala featured live dance music, from the simplest, single accordion player to combos covering American big-band dance standards and rock music.

Mr. Irene played electric guitar for a Lithuanian dance-music trio throughout his college years. The other musicians were our contemporaries; their families were part of the Chicago Lithuanian network. One, an accordionist, was lead singer, and the other, a drummer, sang harmony and managed the bookings. The trio played waltzes, tangos, and polkas. They also substituted Lithuanian lyrics in pop tunes. Mr. Irene remembers many quaint translations and arrangements; "King of the Road," "Besame Mucho," and "Spanish Eyes" were popular numbers. A lively rendition of "Mack the Knife" or "Proud Mary," sung in English, usually closed out a night's performance.

 
For New Year's Eve 1978, the accordionist's parents contracted the group to perform for an annual gathering of Chicago snowbirds near Juno Beach, Florida. Mr. Irene packed up the drummer's van and departed for the 22-hour drive on a snowy December morning, just before Christmas Eve.

Juno Beach, Florida, December 31, 1978. Mr. Irene accompanies his band mates on guitar as the revelers prepare to take the dance floor.