AFoCR Leading Project to Reconconstruct Wilson Monument in Prague.
Copies of English language edition of "Nicholas Winton's Lottery of Life" now available.
2008 Annual Gala Event in Houston, Texas-Civil Society Vision Awards Presented
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| 2008 Annual Gala Event in Houston |
AFoCR's gala dinner, held in Houston, Texas on November 12th was a significant success, graced with a star-studded group of speakers and honorees. Nearly 300 people attended from across the country and the Czech Republic. The main goal of the gala was to kick off the effort to raise the funds to rebuild the Woodrow Wilson Monument at Prague’s main train station, and substantial funds were raised.
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| 2008 Annual Gala Event in Houston |
Mayor Bill White of Houston, the seventh largest city in the U.S. welcomed the distinguished audience. Former President George H.W. Bush called for a redoubling of Czech and American efforts "to strengthen our alliance and promote the common values that we share." He then presented AFoCR’s Civil Society Vision Awards to two patriots of Czech and Slovak heritage who more than 40 years ago "pushed back the horizon of discovery" as American astronauts, Capt. James Lovell and Capt. Eugene Cernan, (both USN, Ret.).
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| 2008 Annual Gala Event in Houston |
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a previous recipient of the Civil Society Vision Award, offered a toast to the memories and legacies of Woodrow Wilson and Tomáš Masaryk as well as to the enduring friendship between the peoples of the Czech Republic and the United States. Picking up on James Lovell's theme of universality, she noted that Masaryk had "wanted more than an independent Czechoslovakia. He wanted to build a nation that, like the U.S., would inspire people everywhere who believed in justice and loved freedom. Tonight these leaders have proven that the sons and daughters of George Washington could make common cause with the descendents of Jan Hus.” She concluded, "Our collective job in the years to come will be to support democracy in order to make the world safe."
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| 2008 Annual Gala Event in Houston |
The Co-host of the evening with President Bush, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, sent a video message for the occasion. He described the effort to raise funds and reestablish the Wilson Monument in its rightful spot in Prague after its destruction by the Nazis in 1941 "a meaningful cause." He said, "I support this project which will further extend the strong historic bonds which exist between our two nations and countries." Czech Ambassador to the United States Petr Kolář gave an inspiring talk on the extraordinary closeness and strength of the Prague-Washington relationship and between the two peoples as represented by the evening's audience and the work of AFoCR.
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| 2008 Annual Gala Event in Houston |
