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Hungarian Americans Celebrate the 20th Annual Mikulas Dinner Hosted by the Hungarian American Coalition

Hungarian President Pal Schmitt Attends Dinner. Coalition Chair Emeritus Edith Lauer Honored for Her Work in the Hungarian and American Community

Washington, D.C. - December 3, 2011 - A room full of proud and festive members of the Hungarian American Coalition (HAC) and their esteemed guests celebrated the 20th Annual Mikulas Dinner, hosted by Ambassador Gyorge Sapary at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The affair was filled with celebration, including the commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of HAC, a keynote from Hungarian President H.E. Pal Schmitt, and a tribute to the evening's award recipient, Coalition Chair Emeritus Mrs. Edith Lauer.

Master of Ceremonies and Coalition Vice President Andrea Lauer Rice welcomed attendees and gave special recognition to "all of those who have built the Coalition and do so much to make our organization one of the leading and most respected voices in our community, particularly the founding members and the past and present board of directors."

Lauer Rice, founder and CEO of the multimedia educational firm Lauer Learning, introduced and thanked the over 110 attendees including H. E. Pal Schmitt, president of Hungary and Mrs. Katalin Schmitt; Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulus Kounalakis, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary; Ambassador Donald Blinken and Vera Blinken; Ambassador Nancy Brinker; Ambassador George Herbert Walker III; Ambassador April H. Foley, Janos Horvath, Doyen of the Hungarian Parliament; Ambassador Robert R. King and Dr. Kay Atkinson King; Tomicah S. Tillemann, senior advisor to the Secretary for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies, U.S. Department of State; Jeno Felegyhazy-Megyesy, senior policy advisor to the Prime Minister of Hungary; Dr. Lee Edwards, president of the Victims of Communism Foundation; Annette Lantos; Annette Tillemann Dick; Ambassador Kurt Volker, ,Center for Transatlantic Relations at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University; Damon Wilson, vice president of the Atlantic Council; John Lipsky, distinguished visiting scholar, International Economics Program, Johns Hopkins University and Zsuzsa Karasz Lipsky; and Hungarian General and Honorary Consuls from all over the United States.

Lauer Rice went on to recap significant milestones of the 20-year history of the Hungarian American Coalition beginning with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991. She reviewed the original goals of the organization and highlighted the successes "of our dreams and activities which have grown substantially over the past 20 years".

"These programs include an internship and scholarship programs, human rights advocacy, critical information campaigns between Hungary and the U.S., and the development and implementation of a variety of seminars and cultural programs both in the U.S. and in Hungary," she told to audience.

"The biggest challenge we face today, 20 years after our founding, is preserving our culture and language and passing these on to the next generation of Hungarian Americans," said Lauer Rice. "The tradition of our Mikulas dinner tonight is a perfect example of celebrating our heritage. It highlights some of the many creative and memorable ways Hungarian Americans choose to celebrate our Hungarian heritage...sometimes with a unique American twist."

Lauer Rice said that just as the Coalition has evolved, so has the Mikulas dinner tradition. "This is a special evening when members and guests gather together with the common goal of strengthening transatlantic relations between Hungary and the U.S. and celebrating our Hungarian heritage," she said.

The evening's first speaker, U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Tsakopoulus Kounalakis, talked about the symbiotic relationship she is seeing between Hungarians and people in the United States. She underscored the importance of the role of civic organizations such as the HAC in nurturing cultural, economic and political ties between the two nations.

Hungarian President H. E. Pal Schmitt, took the podium and spoke of the excellent relations between Hungary and the United States, and discussed the importance of the Hungarian Diaspora during this present day time of change in Hungary where they are enacting a new constitution and passing laws that affect the institutional infrastructure of the country. He shared with the attendees a handful of direct quotes from the new constitution. Following his remarks he was joined onstage by Hungarian Ambassador Gyorgy Sapary, who read a laudation for award honoree, Coalition Chair Emeritus Mrs. Edith Lauer.

"This award is a long overdue formal expression of a nation's sincere gratitude for the hard work of Mrs. Lauer," said Ambassador Szapary. "She is a testament to selflessness, magnanimity and patriotism - both Hungarian and American - at its best."

The Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary was presented to Mrs. Lauer by President Schmitt, who thanked her for more than 20 years of service to the Hungarian nation. Mrs. Lauer accepted the award on behalf of the Coalition as well as herself.

"When I accept this award on behalf of the Coalition, I am not merely being polite. I am utterly convinced that the excitement and deep desire I felt in 1989 of helping the newly democratic Hungary establish an effective network of contacts with US decision-makers would have never been fulfilled without the institutional framework, the leaders and the members of our Coalition," she said. "I am privileged to do the work I love."

Signaling the end of the evening's festivities, Lauer Rice thanked those who were responsible for the event, including Coalition President Max Teleki, and wished everyone a Happy Mikulas Day. "When the Coalition was first founded twenty years ago, no one could have imagined how fascinating and challenging this journey would be," she said. "The past two decades have presented us with many challenges, on both sides of the ocean. While we are extremely proud of our accomplishments as an organization, we are also mindful of the continuing and changing challenges as we begin the next 20 years of work together."

Lauer Rice concluded the night by congratulating her mother Edith Lauer and thanking "all of the people who have made these last two decades successful."

"Please don't forget to polish your shoes and put them in the windowsill December 6th…may they be filled with candy, chocolate and toys and no krampusz or virgacs," Lauer concluded.

The Coalition's weekend activities included the traditional White House briefing attended by a delegation of about 20 Coalition members. There was also the annual Board of Director's meeting at the Kossuth House in Washington, D.C. They met and renewed a roster of officers, welcomed new members into the Coalition and elected future executive committee members. Sandor Kremer, president of the Magyar Club of Chicago, took over the rotating chair of the organization and the board elected Dr. Peter Kovalszki, president of the Hungarian Communion for Friends, as rising chairperson.