After the NATO Summit held in Chicago in mid-May, five Chicago District members represented the Home Office at the installation ceremony of Naperville resident, Rosemary Macko Wisnosky as honorary consul of Slovakia in the Chicago area on May 21, 2012.
The ceremony was attended by approximately 400 people, all by special invitation. As a special surprise, the President of Slovakia, Ivan Gasparovic, also attended the installation ceremony before returning home from the NATO Summit. The ceremony and reception were held at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL where Mrs. Wisnosky serves as a trustee for the university, which was founded by immigrants from Slovakia and Czech and educating students since 1887.
Mrs. Wisnosky’s accomplishments in promoting Slovakia and the Slovak culture in the Chicago area are many and varied. Her most prominent accomplishment is the establishment of the Sister Cities partnership between Naperville and Nitra, Slovakia, which was formalized almost 20 years ago. She is well known in the area for her tireless advocacy and support of Slovakia and also for her efforts to develop a partnership between businesses from the State of Illinois and U.S. businesses and businesses from Slovakia. Her duties as honorary consul will be to help organize official Slovak visits, develop Slovak commercial, economic and tourist events, extend assistance to scientists, teachers, students, and assist citizens of the Slovak Republic abroad who find themselves in “distress” as defined by international law.
After the ceremony, the five Chicago District members, through their own member interpreter, were able to meet with the President of Slovakia and he graciously consented to having his photo taken with them and the new Chicago honorary consul for our magazine. President Gasparovic stated to the Chicago District members representing our organization that he was familiar with the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association.
To view photos from this event, check out the Chicago District Photo Gallery!
