A short History of the Tamburica & Folklore Club "Croatia" and Children’s School at St Anthony Croatian Catholic Church
At the turn into the 20th century two major groups of the Croatian immigrants began to settle in Southern California. Among the first to arrive were Croatians from Dalmatia. They mostly settled in the coastal town of San Pedro and worked in the fishing industry. The other group
arrived from Hercegovina and from the continental Croatia. They settled in the heart of Los Angeles. Having been involved in the heavy construction industry, they greatly contributed to the Los Angeles area’s impressive growth. The Exodus continued throughout the 20th century. Three large waves of the Croatian immigrants kept inundating the greater Los Angeles area, where most of them settled down. These immigrants were motivated to leave both for economic and political reasons. They were arriving in between the two world wars, after World War II and just recently during the Croatian war for independence. In order to advance their ecclesial adaptation, in 1910 the Croatian national parish was formed, and the present church building was built and named St Anthony Croatian Catholic Church. In 1959, to preserve and promote the Croatian Culture to the children of these immigrants the Tamburica and Folklore Club "CROATIA" was established. Soon after that, in 1965, the Croatian Children's School was formed and began teaching language, kolo dancing and singing to the school aged children in the community. Tamburica and Folklore Club "Croatia" and Croatian Children's School have been able to share the traditional folklore of Croatia with many generations through song and dance. Our members learn choreographies, music, and songs from all regions of Croatia maximizing their knowledge on the different cultures, lifestyles, and energies of the differing regions of our beautiful homeland. Our members put on performances for various cultural events/festivals, weddings, banquets, holidays, and have even traveled throughout the world sharing our Croatian culture! Kratka povijest Tamburaško-folklornog kluba "Croatia" i Dječje škole pri hrvatskoj katoličkoj crkvi sv. Ante u Los Angeles-u
Na prijelazu u 20. stoljeće južnu Kaliforniju počinju doseljavati dvije velike skupine hrvatskih useljenika. Među prvima su stigli Hrvati iz Dalmacije. Uglavnom su se nastanili u obalnom gradu San Pedro i radili u ribarstvu. Druga skupina stigla je iz Hercegovine i iz kontinentalne Hrvatske. Smjestili su se u srcu Los Angelesa. Budući da su bili uključeni u tešku građevinsku industriju, uvelike su pridonijeli impresivnom rastu područja Los Angelesa. Egzodus se nastavio kroz cijelo 20. Tri velika vala hrvatskih useljenika neprestano su preplavljivala šire područje Los Angelesa, gdje se većina njih nastanila. Ti su imigranti bili motivirani da odu iz ekonomskih i političkih razloga. Stizali su između dva svjetska rata, nakon Drugog svjetskog rata i tek nedavno tijekom Domovinskog rata. Da bi se pospješila njihova crkvena prilagodba, 1910. godine osnovana je Hrvatska narodna župa, a izgrađena je i današnja crkvena zgrada koja je nazvana Hrvatskom katoličkom crkvom sv. U cilju očuvanja i promicanja hrvatske kulture djeci ovih doseljenika 1959. godine osnovan je Tamburaško-folklorni klub "CROATIA". Ubrzo nakon toga, 1965. godine, osnovana je Hrvatska dječja škola koja je počela podučavati jezik, kolo i pjevanje za djecu školske dobi u zajednici. Tamburaško-folklorni klub "Croatia" i Hrvatska dječja škola uspjeli su pjesmom i plesom prenijeti hrvatski tradicionalni folklor mnogim generacijama. Naši članovi uče koreografije, glazbu i pjesme iz svih krajeva Hrvatske povećavajući svoje znanje o različitim kulturama, stilovima života i energijama različitih krajeva naše lijepe domovine. Naši članovi izvode nastupe za razne kulturne događaje/festivale, vjenčanja, bankete, praznike, pa su čak putovali po cijelom svijetu dijeleći našu hrvatsku kulturu! Executive Board:
Pastor: Don Ivan Jordan
Ensemble Director, Heidi Granic, at
[email protected]
Executive Committee:
President: Jasna Grbavac
V.P.: Katica Ban
Secretary: Bozica Goricki
Treasurer: Dragana Marich
Dancer Representatives: Mellanie Grbavac and Julijana Ban
Parent Representatives: All Remaining Parents
