embassy events

The Grabers display a cake presented to them in Třebíč

Southern Moravian Towns Warmly Welcome Ambassador and Mrs. Graber

During a November 6-7 trip to Southern Moravia, Ambassador and Mrs. Graber met with local leaders, students, NGOs and Rotary Club members in the towns of Znojmo, Moravsky Krumlov and Trebic.  A meeting with Znojmo Mayor Petr Nezveda was followed by an address to the local Rotary Club; the Ambassador also greeted a future Junior Ambassador, Ales Buchta, who will be participating in a November 15 day at the Embassy for outstanding high school students chosen by local Rotary Clubs.  At the Znojmo NGO Protected Workshops, Ambassador and Mrs. Graber toured the facilities, where handicapped people produce high-quality handmade crafts such as candles, baskets, and stuffed toys, and picked up a few early Christmas gifts in the gift shop.
 
At the next stop, Moravsky Krumlov Mayor Jaroslav Mokry, accompanied by girls dressed in local costumes, offered the Grabers the traditional Slavic welcome of bread and salt.  The Ambassador participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a newly renovated hall to be used for weddings and other important events.  After that, the Grabers enjoyed tasting the famous Moravian wines and snacking on sandwiches and sweets prepared by a local vocational high school.  A true highlight of the trip was touring the castle which houses the Alfons Mucha's Slav Epic, 20 enormous canvases which depict key moments in Slav history that Mucha devoted a decade of his life to completing.
 
The last stop on the trip was the town of Trebic, where Mayor Ivo Uher and his staff arranged for the Ambassador to speak with 240 high school students from two local prestigious schools.  Questions ranged from the war in Iraq, to the threat that Iran presents and the need for a U.S. missile defense radar in the Czech Republic, to China's growing economic power.  The Ambassador also visited the TEDOM company, which manufactures ecological buses.  After an overnight stay at a pension in Trebic's quaint Jewish Quarter, a protected UNESCO site, the Grabers toured the quarter and learned about the history of the Jewish people who once lived there.