This year, for the 23rd time, the Triglav Association celebrated the holiday dedicated to St. Martin. On Saturday, 19 November 2022, we gathered in a pleasant atmosphere in the hall of the Astorya hotel.
November 11, or St. Martin’s Day, was a very important day in the past, because its roots go back to the deep past, so far that even today the reason for its celebration is not entirely clear to us. The fact is that it is celebrated in a wide area of Europe, including here in the Balkans, as St. Martin or Mratindan. Today it is a holiday that is traditionally associated with the baptism of wine, when must turns into wine. It is important for winegrowers and winemakers! It is celebrated with good company, food, drinks and, of course, good wine, so this year we have repeated the good atmosphere that this celebration creates for us.
The program was led by Mihaela Lunić, who first asked those present to observe a minute of silence in honor of our dear president Marija Grbić, who we lost in July this year.
Then she invited Mladen Lunić, a member of the Executive Board, to address the audience. In his speech, he looked back at the year behind us, and stated that, regardless of everything that happened, we can still boast of numerous projects and activities that we implemented in 2022 (the workshop Lepljenka for young people, the presentation of Samo Dražumerič's book, creative workshop for children, visit of the Minister for Slovenians around the world Mrs. Helena Jaklitsch, literary evening by Barbara Hanuš, World Bee Day, event at the end of the school year of supply teaching lessons, 13th Slovenian Day in Slatina, 9th quiz for children, publication and promotion of the bilingual book by our young member Milica Marjanović, gathering of Slovenian choirs in Bosnia and Herzegovina).
He especially greeted H. E. Damijan Sedar and thanked him for his support when it was most difficult for us, as well as for his presence at this event. He also thanked all our active members who preserve Slovenian culture and tradition, especially the students of supply teaching lessons and their teacher Barbara Goršič, members of the Mixed Choir Davorin Jenko and members of the children's folklore group. He also thanked all the bodies and institutions that followed our work this year, namely the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, i.e. the Office for Slovenians around the World, the Government of the Republic of Srpska - the Ministry of Education and Culture, the City of Banjaluka and the City of Laktaši, the Slovenian Immigration Society, the Primary School "Holandija" Slatina, and especially the Society for the Development of Voluntary Work from Novo Mesto.
At the end, he sent greetings from Dušan Tomažič to those present from faraway Argentina and invited H. E. Damijan Sedar to address the audience.
In his speech, H. E. Damijan Sedar said that it was his pleasure to follow the work of both our association and all Slovenian associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He particularly referred to young people, who were also present at this event, and emphasized that they are the future.
After that, the Mixed Choir "Davorin Jenko" performed two compositions under the leadership of Mrs. Vesna Šišljagić, namely "That’s where my home is" by Anton Petl and "Come back" by Andrej Maroš.
This was followed by the solemn moment of the evening - the "christening" of the wine. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenians are known as good winegrowers and winemakers. In the past, the "baptism" of our grandfathers' wine was performed by their neighbors, compatriots, whose judgment on the wine was very important. For this occasion, we invited none other than Saint Martin and his assistant Moštek to sprinkle us, burn incense and bless us. They came straight from Prlekija, Ormož. In an interesting way, they showed us the rite of baptism of wine, which we all enjoyed and toasted at the end.
All this was accompanied by the watchful eye of the RTRS camera, our friend Draško Ignjatić, host of the show "Little Europe".
After the festive part of the program, the "Efekt" ensemble from Novo Mesto provided good entertainment, and everyone present enjoyed their music.
Ana Marjanović
