Letter to the editor
To the Editor:
My name is Dan Tajchman and I live in Wichita. My father, Lawrence Tajchman, was born two and one-half miles north of Pilsen in 1940. In 1962 he joined the Army and was stationed at Ft. Riley. He subsequently met my mother and they relocated to Wichita upon his discharge from the service. When Dad relocated to Wichita, his uncle Ben Srajer bought Dad a subscription to the Marion County Record and renewed it every year as a Christmas gift. As a kid, the Marion County Record always was on the kitchen table and it was fun to read through for the local news from Pilsen and Lost Springs and to read the articles with all the familiar Bohemian names. So even though I never lived in Marion County, I always thought about it as my "home away from home."
When Uncle Ben died in 1991, Dad picked up the subscription for himself. Of course by this time I was an adult and didn't have a whole lot of time to be hanging around Dad's and reading the paper. During this time I sort of lost touch with the goings on in the area.
This past December, Dad died. My wife and I made the decision to purchase Dad's house and since we have a large family we had to spend most of the spring doing some renovations to get ready for our family. Every Thursday the Marion County Record would show up in the mail. At first I thought I was too busy to take the time to look it over so they piled up on the counter for a few weeks. But eventually I started to read them as they were delivered and found it to be very comforting. Reading the paper helped me to reconnect to a part of Dad's past and my own that I'd sort of forgotten about. It's nice to know that a place still exists where not everyone is in a big hurry, people seem to have more relaxed attitudes, and that good news is still worth reporting.
So, I'd like to pick up this subscription for myself. After all, it's been in the family for 40 years.
Daniel Tajchman
Wichita
