If you have been here in Martin, Slovakia, one of the first bits of history that you learn is about the Memorandum. This was when some Slovaks, including many pastors, met with some Hungarian officials. The meeting was basically about allowing the Slovaks to be Slovaks. By this, they wanted the Slovakian language to be an official language; they wanted to be recognized as a unique area in the Hungarian Empire, recognized for its Slovak roots. They especially wished to have some schools established, that would have the students learning in their first language. That incident is what this big metal casting represents.
Well it has been a hundred and fifty years since that event happened right here at the Bible School. In fact, when everyone convened, it was raining so the representatives asked if they could meet inside the church. The church doors were opened and that is where the memorandum was debated, written, read, changed etc.
The week before 05-06-2011, it had rained most of the week. However, on Sunday, it was sunny and chairs were set outside the church, between the Bible School and the building that has the plaque. This is where we celebrated the writing of the Memorandum. The area was filled with as many chairs as they could put out. By my counting, multiplying and estimating, over four hundred people attended this worship service. This included an official each of the Roman Catholic and the Greek Catholic churches. The Bishop of all Slovakia was there to give the sermon and the mayor was there to dedicate a wreath to celebrate the occasion. The church’s choir sang and there was a choral group, The Continental Singers. They were all Slovaks, but they sang praise songs in English.
First, there was the church service with the Evanjelicka Bishop giving the sermon. Next came the presenting of the wreath and the talks that came with that. I will say that the mayor mentioned that a good many of the Slovaks who helped write the Memorandum were pastors. He also gave mention of the necessity of our religious values. All this from a politician, the elected mayor of Martin.
Pastor Milan and the Bishop are both wearing a hat that is worn only for special occasions like this (and funerals, we were told.)
After the wreath and speeches, we had about an hour before the first singing group gave a concert. This was The Continental Singers. I will try to up load a short video clip for this.After this group, there was another band.
Then at 17,00 (5:00 PM) we went into the church to see an reenactment written to remind people of this big event. Most of the players (actors) were from the Martin church. However, there were about four professional actors, also.
Gary and I were blessed to have Donna sit with us and tell us the main events of the play. Donna is a language instructor at the Medical University. We first met here in 2006 when she took us to her home and hosted us for a wonderful afternoon of dinner and conversation. At the end of the play, Donna shared that she felt as if she had been right at that meeting that took place in 1861. 
There was one more band that played after the reenactment. This was truly a city-wide event. More people came to the church service than usually attend. And other people just came to the Bible School Square, sat down and enjoyed the music, and then went their way. 
Unfortunately, our computer caught a virus and was at the “hospital” for a while. I thought I had more photos than I can find. But we wanted to share these.
