February 16th 2003 Celebration

Our common Lithuanian heritage unifies us all into a single Lithuanian-American community that cherishes our culture and freedom. The struggle to re-attain freedom in Lithuania was difficult and took the efforts of many generations. Previous Lithuanian Independence Day commemorations, helped make our nation's leaders aware of Lithuania's plight, leading to the U.S. not ever recognizing the occupation. As we remember we now can also celebrate these victories, so we invite you and your family to a special celebration of the 85^th and the 13^th anniversaries of the re-establishments of Lithuania's independence.

The celebration will occur on Sunday, February 23^th and commence in the morning with the observance of a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving. Mass will be held at St. Andrew Lithuanian Church at 10:30 a.m.  Parishioners of each of the three Lithuanian Churches as well as non-parishioners and friends are cordially invited to attend.  St. Andrew Church is located at the intersection of 19^th & Wallace Sts. in center city, Philadelphia.

Following the mass everyone will be proceeding to the Lithuanian Music Hall for the second part of the Ceremonies.  Excellent dining with Lithuanian style food and beverages (including Lithuanian beer) will be available. The Lithuanian Cultural Center will be open, and its committee is inviting all who are interested in books, Lithuanian films and periodicals to visit before and after the program. The Lithuanian Music Hall is at 2715 East Allegheny Avenue, near the Allegheny Avenue exit of I-95. 

The program will be more festive,  focus on our own local cultural groups, and be shorter this year.  It will start at 2 p.m. It includes new performances by our folk dance group "{ilvinas", the children's choir from our Vinco Kr<v<s Lithuanian School, the newly re-vitalized St. Andrew Parish Choir, the newly re-organized youth folk dance group "Aušrine" and our own beloved Lithuanian village band "Kaimo Kapela".  We will also show, on the large screen, news coverage by American & Lithuanian TV networks, of the formal NATO invitation to Lithuania during the Prague Summit and full coverage of the historic visit by President Bush to Vilnius, Lithuania. We are again encouraging those members of our community who don't frequent our events, to attend this year, enjoy the performances, socialize and get reacquainted. Refreshments will follow.

As always, admission is free; however, your donations are needed to offset the high costs of producing the celebration and to support the important projects of Lithuanian-American Community, Inc. Last year, the Lithuanian-American Community asked for your help by contacting your Senators, asking for their vote in passing the Senate's Freedom Consolidation Act (S.1572) and support for Lithuania's admission into NATO. The Freedom Consolidation Act was enacted.  Thank you for your help. Some of LAC's priority goals for 2003 are; persuade U.S. Senate to finalize Lithuania's invitation to join NATO by ratification of the NATO treaty in 2004; maintain the LAC Public Affairs office in Washington, DC.- the only Lithuanian-American visibility in our Nation's capital; provide assistance to the expanding network of Lithuanian heritage schools with text books, learning tools and teacher conferences; intervene where Lithuanian parishes are in danger of closing; commence preparations for the 2005 Lithuanian Folk Dance and Song festival; encourage active participation of youth.

Please continue to generously donate to the Lithuanian-American Community so that it can continue to be effective. Remember, your actions do make a difference, but you have to continue to help! If you can not attend the ceremony in person, but would like to ensure that the Lithuanian-American Community as an organization continues to be an effective voice representing all Lithuanian-Americans, continues to provide the information and opportunities that are needed to nurture our ties with today's Lithuania and to preserve our unique cultural heritage, please send your fully tax deductible contribution to the Lithuanian American Community, 2715 E. Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia PA 19134.   Thank-you for your help, your continued support, and your attendance at this year's celebration!