Slovenian National Home Annual Membership Drive is Underway!

In 1987 a group of dedicated local Slovenians had an idea that became their mission. They wanted to maintain and preserve the Slovenian National Home on St. Clair for future generations to come. Through their efforts and hard work, the Friends was organized exclusively for the purpose of assisting the historic hall in its preservation and maintenance as a cultural landmark facility. This group was spearheaded by Jean Krizman, Charles F. Ipavec, Stanley Frank, Edward Kenik, Ann & Sophie Opeka, Sylvia Plymesser and Don & Rose Slogar. Because of Jean Krizman’s tenacity and the tireless effort of Charles Ipavec, Friends applied for and received an Internal Revenue Service tax exempt status becoming a 501c3 organization. Thirty-eight years ago, that was not easy to accomplish. Because this organization was now in place, Friends began to move forward with its fundraising efforts and accomplishments that have continued to this day.

Friends has maintained the longevity, success, and preservation of our beautiful hall and has accomplished this with the hard work, dedication, and commitment from the efforts of our Trustees and fellow Board Members, as well as our friends like you! Friends has completed many restoration projects and with your financial support Friends can continue its efforts that began with the visionaries of years ago.

Our annual membership drive is under way. 
Kindly go to slovenianhome.com to renew your membership or become a new member.

With the closing of several local Slovenian Homes over the past years, we are grateful for your belief in our cause, the preservation of our mother hall, the historic Slovenian National Home. Thank you for your generosity and continued support. On behalf of the Trustees and Board of Directors we wish you good health, good will, and peace in the New Year.

President, Friends of Slovenian National Home
Shelli Slapnik March
The current Trustees of Friends of the Slovenian National Home
Sharon Lenarcic: Vice President, Treasurer
Marilyn Cimperman: Secretary
Clare Godic-Miller: Trustee
Geraldine Hopkins: Trustee
Bob Hopkins: Trustee

Celebrating Our Heritage and Embracing the Future.

By Brad Nosan

I became the President of the Board of Directors of the Slovenian National Home almost two years ago after over 30 years of dedicated leadership by Bob & Gerri Hopkins. The Hopkins along with board members over those decades made sure that the historic Slovenian National Home not only survived but also thrived. With the Hopkins taking a step back, our board looked towards the future and asked ourselves what it means to run a 111-year-old, though vibrant Slovenian American community center, in a world where peoples’ interest and attachment to their cultural and ethnic identities unfortunately continues to wane. 

In doing so, we made the commitment that we need to not only re-invite members of the Slovenian American community, but also Slovene Americans who have never been, and even those who are not Slovene but share an affinity or interest with Slovenian culture, back to the Slovenian National Home. I think of this mission as being one in which our community celebrates and embraces our history and heritage, but by opening our doors to more people, we embrace our future. Luckily, as evidenced by the increased number of events and attendees we continue to have, we believe this mission is working! 

Building on the models of the Cleveland Bocce Club, located in the basement of the Slovenian National Home, and the overwhelming success of the Cleveland Kurentovanje team, both of whom have successfully spread their outreach to the entirety of northeast Ohio, the board of the Slovenian National Home endeavored to create new events such as Zabava! our summer Slovenian festival complete with live music, a Kranjska klobasa eating tournament and a balinca tournament, as a way to invite the entire community to experience Slovenian culture. 

Additionally, this summer we did a pop-up beer garden event in collaboration with Noble Beast Brewery in our back garden complete with sausage, cevapi, and live music. There were many familiar faces from our community there, but just as many people who had never been to the Slovenian National Home! And most likely by the time you read this article, we will have hosted our first ever European Style Craft Beer Festival & Slovenian Beer Hall on January 10th where we will have 14 local craft breweries and live music from Festa Bend and North Coast Prost. We are working to incorporate our Slovene heritage into these events but also make them feel open and accessible to non-Slovenes as well. 

Unfortunately, we’ve had our share of setbacks this year, including the untimely demise of our ever-faithful freezer, which is integral to our fish fries, as well as the malfunctioning of our hot water heater, which not only needs to be replaced but also led to thousands of dollars in damage to the club room. As such, we pursued an aggressive holiday fundraising campaign which has helped immensely with these repairs and replacements. But as a non-profit, we can always use your support!

I am truly hopeful that by opening our doors to the Slovene American community and others, that we will get to enjoy at least another 111 years of the Slovenian National Home. 

Running this non-profit organization is challenging, but it’s very rewarding. If you would like to get involved as a volunteer or a committee member, I welcome you with open arms. Feel free to reach out to office@slovenianhome.com and they will put us in touch.

I look forward to seeing you in 2026 and hopefully for many years to come! 

Hvala lepa, 
Brad Nosan
President of the Board of Directors, Slovenian National Home