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Zichydorf Village Association
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eMail Message from Barry Anwender

© copyright 1996 by ZVA and FEEFHS; all rights reserved

First Posted: 28 August 1996

The following eMail message was sent by Barry Anwender of Regina Canada on Wednesday, 21 August 1996 to some of his ZVA friends:

"To: John, Bob (on behalf of all Banater) and to all Zichydorfer:

I hope that the summer season is treating the you and your loved ones well. I have some news that I want to share because it will introduce some changes to the Zichydorf Village Association (ZVA).

Three weeks ago, I finally arrived at a settlement for an auto collision that occurred over three years ago. In a nutshell, that settlement closes some chapters in my life and begins a new one. Then, this past Monday, afternoon I recieved confirmation from Archbishop Peter Malin for the Regina, Saskatchewan Diocese that I will re-engage my seminarian studies toward the Roman Catholic Diocesian Priesthood.

I say re-engage because I previously completed two years of studies/formation at St. Joseph's Major Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta (1991-93). So after three long years of recovery, I will be returning to St. Joe's in Edmonton to continue my studies and priestly formation -- beginning August 24 ( Feast of St. Bartholomew-Apostle), this Saturday. I expect that I will be packed and moved out of my appartment by tommorrow afternoon. So the events are occurring at God's Speed it seems and surely feels like :-)

We are permitted to have private telephones in our Seminary rooms; however, as much as I would like, funds will not available for a telephone or an Internet account. Thus, I will not be able to function as the ZVA Coordinator. I will still remain in contact with the ZVA and contribute as time permits. My Post Office address on the ZVA home page will continue here in Regina and I will make arrangements to have my mail forwarded to Edmonton on a regular basis. Anyway, after this Thursday August 22,1996 (Feast of Queenship of Mary) it's s-mail for me, at least for this semester or until Divine Providence interviens with some monthly income. Be assured that if/when I get a telephone it will come with an Internet account to communicate with the friends of the ZVA and all the wonderful people on the Banat newslist.

Glenn Schwartz has graciously agreed to take on the duties of ZVA Coordinator. Glenn participates regularly on the Banat listserver so he certianly has the zeal and visibility for the job. Glenn and I met yesterday to discuss the transition and the three ZVA projects that I will continue to work at.

I know that Laura Grzyb (a ZVA Founder) has had a busy summer with her family and new job so the three of us were waiting until September to meet again and fire-up our planned ZVA initatives. Laura and Glenn have been a super inspiration to the ZVA and I feel confident that they will keep nourishing the FEEFHS web pages with new Zichydorfer names and history.

I've been on the Banat ListServer for about a year. A year ago, I new absolutely nothing about Banat, about Zichydorf and certianly nothing about relatives outside of the sunny province of Saskatchewan, Canada. At that time my genealogical research and family tree consisted of members dating back to 1900 A.D.. Today, I can share with confidence, a tremdously rich Banat history.

The Internet is an awesome resource because it is there that I met other Zichydorfer so that we could discover fragments of information about our village and begin to piece togeather the puzzle of village history and ancestory. The last village in the Banat village list, but from humble beginnings the first Banat village with a HomePage -- Thank you John, Bob, Laura, and Glenn. Then, Dr. Junkers provided a blessing I shall not forget by putting me in contact with relatives in Germany.

It turns out, the Awender / Anwender's have several active genealogists around the globe. So, with great joy, I came into the presence of relatives in Europe, Chile, Australia, USA, and Canada with a documented "family forest" that dates back into the 14th century. For me this experience, is tremendously life-giving and it profoundly reconciles/heals the human spirit because of a blood-heritage that is deeply rooted in the mystery of our being.

Please accept my heartfelt thanksgiving for sharing your gifts of patience, friendship, hospitality, generousity, inspiration, encouragement, and as Shirely Gibbard puts it so wonderfully -- for discovering others who have a passion for genealogy. In the tradition of my birth patron, St. Francis of Assisi: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He show His face to you and have mercy on you. May He look upon you with kindness and grant you His peace. May the Lord bless you.

sincerely & humbly in-through-with Christ Jesus

Barry J. Anwender
Zichydorfer Pioneer"

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