American Center Interview

Czech-Slovak USA Queen Ms Michelle Wiedel at the American Center

Czech-Slovak USA Queen Visits the American Center

Ms. Michelle Wiedel, the reigning Czech-Slovak USA Queen, visited the Czech Republic, the land of her ancestors, on Tuesday, May 13.

Michelle, tell us about you, your family and heritage?

I just finished my junior year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  I am currently studying to obtain two degrees: Business and Journalism, majoring in marketing and advertising.  This summer I have an internship in New York City to explore a career in the advertising and public relations field.  I am also very involved in activities in the community and on campus.

I grew up and graduated high school in Hebron, Nebraska.  I had always been very interested in my family heritage.  Many of my peers didn't know much about their background, so I was fortunate to be able to find out about mine.  So I started asking questions and researching our family history.

Through some research, our family found that my great-great grandmother was from Moravia and my great-great grandfather was from Bohemia.  Just this week while visiting the Czech Republic, we found out that my grandfather was actually from Moravia as well!  His papers to America said "Sviny, Bohemia," so we assumed this was the village south of Prague.  However, we were not aware there is two Svinys in the Czech Republic.  The other Sviny is in Moravia by my grandmother's village.  I was so excited to share this information with other family members when we got back!

I believe it is very important to find out about your heritage while you are young.  When you get older, your sources of information may be gone.

How difficult it is to become miss Czech-Slovak 2007, what you have to do to win and what are your duties as a beauty queen in 2008?

Each state has their own pageant and rules for selecting a queen.  For Nebraska, I had to be selected as the York Czech Queen before I could compete for Miss Czech Nebraska.  There was 10 area queens running for Nebraska all over the state.  Once I won that competition, I competed against 10 other girls from all over the United States.  We were judged on four categories:  modeling a kroj, talent, public interview, and private interview.

For the kroj area, you could choose to be in the authentic category or americanized category.  An authentic kroj is a Czech dress that is imported from the Czech Republic, or an original dress passed down.  An americanized is recreated or designed specially for your family.  I designed my own americanized kroj.  Each part represented a region where my ancestors were from and also had my own family meaning.  I hand stitched a pattern on my vest that symbolized special things from my family.  My grandmother's name, Ruzicka, means "little rose."  So I stitched a rose with seven hearts above it.  My grandmother had a huge flower garden and her favorite flower was seven sisters climbing rose, and she also had seven children that passed down the Czech heritage.  I also found a pillowcase that my grandmother made and turned it into an apron for my outfit!

For my talent, I did a ballet dance to the Czech national anthem.  My voice was recorded over it explaining the importance of being an ambassador for the Czech community.  Then, I changed my shoes and tapped danced to my grandfather's favorite polka.  I won a talent award for this in both the state and national competition.

The public interview was challenging.  You drew two questions out of a bowl and did not know what the questions were going to be beforehand.  Also for the private interviews, the judges could ask you anything about the culture, current Czech Republic, or personal questions about yourself.  I studied up before the pageant!

I have been quite busy this year.  I have traveled to many states for their pageants and festivals.  I also have been in a lot of parades, spoke at different events in Nebraska, and visiting some schools to get children excited about their heritage.  A few months ago I got a chance to judge a state pageant.  It was different being on the other side!  In two days I leave for Washington, DC.  There is a dedication of a cemetery in Baltimore.  One of my proud accomplishments is that I got another state interested in starting a pageant in their state, Arizona.

How is the life of the Czech-American community in Nebraska and in other parts of the US you visited?

Everybody is so excited to share the Czech heritage!  Each event is a celebration of such a preserved culture.  It is primarily a lot of older generations at these events.  It is the job of the Czech queens to spread this culture further and get younger people involved so the heritage can grow stronger!

A few years ago I knew nothing about Czech festivals or events or about these pageants.  I have learned so much over the past few years.  I am amazed at the strong clubs and communities around the US.  I also  have visited many events that are not Czech related to gain interest in other people that may not know about these opportunities.

How was your trip to the Czech Republic? What was your program and what do you like about this country?

I had such a fun time in the Czech Republic.  It was definitely a highlight of my year and the perfect gift for winning the title.  It was my first time in the Czech Republic and I was amazed about the buildings and the history behind them!  It was a great learning experience. I first went to Prague for a few days. I visited tourist spots, went on a boat cruise down the Vltava, and took a day trip out to Karlstejn Castle.  I also got a tour of the American Embassy in Prague. I then went South to Cesky Krumlov for a few days.  One of these days I traveled to Moravia and found where my ancestors used to live and the crosses they built in the city.  This was very special to me.  I was interviewed for a paper that same day.  My plane back home flew out of Vienna, so I spent my last day visiting there.

You can also visit my webpage to find out a little more of what I have done this year: http://web.mac.com/mjwiedel