The third Friday in November, school children in Slovenia receive a free, traditional honey breakfast consisting of honey, milk, butter and bread from local farms.
Alenka Jerak, counsel general of the Republic of Slovenia, shared the custom with about 80 students at St. Jerome School in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood, the Five Pointe Community Center in Collinwood and with Bishop Edward Malesic on Nov. 20.
Jerak said Collinwood was chosen in order to support the community and renew the bridge with the area where most of the Slovenian community used to live.
The meals were modified with jam substituted for the honey and a Slovenian fruit drink substituted for the milk. A small bag of baby carrots also was included.
“This is done to make them aware of the importance of breakfast,” Jerak said. “With this project, we educate children and youth about the importance of a morning meal, healthy eating and the benefits of local or home-grown food, the importance of agriculture, beekeeping and bees on food production and the environment, as well as proper waste and package management.”
She said it also points out the importance of beekeeping and honey, a key product in Slovenia, a country of about 2 million people with a strong Catholic presence.
Her visit with the bishop – who is of Slovenian heritage on his father’s side – also gave her an opportunity to talk about her homeland, its culture and her plans as counsel general.
Jerak said this year’s celebration of Slovenia’s Independence Day was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. But plans are underway for next year’s festivities on June 25 in the rotunda of Cleveland City Hall.
“We invited the bishop to attend,” she said. The event will include a visit from a Slovenian minister and a traveling exhibit from the Bistra Museum, a major institution. She said the exhibit will focus on inventors and scientists from Slovenia and their contributions to the United States.
During her short visit, Jerak also presented Bishop Malesic with a book of photos from Slovenia and a bottle of wine from the Bela Krajina region, which was home to the bishop’s grandparents before they immigrated to the United States.
The bishop, who is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, said he had hoped to visit Slovenia this year, but the pandemic forced cancelation of the trip.
“I’m hoping I can go next year,” he said.
Jerak, is a career diplomat with three decades of service in Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands and the United States. She and her family have been in Cleveland since August 2019. She is a liaison for Slovenians in 10 states, helping them with visas and other issues.