News

From the desk of the Supreme Secretary
by Scott T. Pogorelec, F.I.C.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Greetings from the Home Office and Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! It is a magical time and seeing it through the eyes of children is surely something special. We pray that 2025 will be one of good health, happiness, and prosperity for all! The New Year will mark our organization’s 120th Anniversary. Not many institutions can boast of more than a century of success with outstanding fraternal and sporting activities, along with our stable financial strength. It was on July 4, 1905, that a group of your Slovak immigrants met in Passaic, NJ and established our great organization. Our founders, along with generations of hard-working members, have built our Society which today has over 26,000 members with assets of nearly $90 million. I wonder if our founders would ever believe how successful their venture would become!

New year’s resolutions are something you hear quite often during this time of year. Exercise more, complete jobs around the house, and save more money are a couple that come up quite often. Allow me to give you one that will not only make you feel good about yourself, but also benefit your community and our wonderful organization. Try to make a commitment this year to get more involved in your local Assembly/Wreath and/ or Group. Local level functions are the cornerstone of the Slovak Catholic Sokol. It is through these events and our national fraternal functions that our message is delivered to our current members and potential members. We would especially like to see our younger members take a more prominent role in creating and assisting at your local level. Creating a Facebook page for your Assembly/Wreath or Group would be a wonderful start that can possibly kickstart some interest and participation at your local events. As we all know, this can be done very easily by the younger generation! For our youth, especially those who have received so much from the Slovak Catholic Sokol through scholarships or the ability to participate at our national functions, what better way to give back than to help at your local level. If you need assistance or are looking for ideas, please feel free to contact me at the Home Office and I would be glad to help.

During this time of year, we should also look at our individual life insurance needs as well as that of our family. Life insurance can be a financial blessing in the event of a lost loved one. The purchase of it can mean saving your home, sending your kids to college, or preserving the quality of life of your family. If your children do not have a policy yet, it is a wonderful time to get them one. Since premiums are based on age, the younger the child is, the lower the premium will be. In addition to the financial protection, the child enrolled by their parent or grandparent will enjoy the many benefits our society offers such as our sporting activities and our scholarship grants. If you have any questions, please contact the Home Office and we would be glad to assist you.

We are looking forward to a successful fraternal year in 2025 and we realize that we need to continue to evolve. Change is not something that happens easily, but it is necessary, especially in a volatile fiscal environment. We will continue to keep our members abreast of any changes that may come. One change to note will be the publication going to a bi-monthly. We will be able to expand the Falcon with more content every two months, but, as always, we will rely upon our membership to supply that content. Please continue to send in details of any local events you may be having and/or are attending.

As seen in this issue, I am proud to announce that Martin Degnan will be posthumously awarded the 2024 Fraternalist of the Year. As we all know, Brother Marty was a fixture at many Sokol events, usually helping in any way we could. He will be missed immensely by our organization, and we are proud to be able to recognize his many years of service to the Society. Congratulations to the entire Degnan Family and we look forward to celebrating Marty later this year.

Until next time, stay safe, stay strong,
and STAY POSITIVE!
Zdar Boh!