The Board of publishers of Tėviškės žiburiai Lithuanian Weekly sincerely thanks everyone who has helped the “Lights of Homeland“ shine for all these 75 years.
It is the end of an era, and, as with any such conclusion, brings nostalgic feelings. Yet change is inevitable, especially for newspapers in this day and age. We can be proud to say that we did our best, keeping our weekly newspaper and then our website alive for nearly 75 years. And that was made possible by our membership, our supporters and volunteers. There are so many of you, that to list so everyone would be impossible. We express special gratitude to the former pastor of Anapilis, Monsignor Jonas Staškevičius; Jonas and Salomėja Andrulis, for their long service with the newspaper; Joana Kuras, who chaired the board for several years; Rimas Paulionis, president of Anapilis Corporation; Giedra Paulionis, who has long carried the burden of leading our efforts; editors Česlovas Senkevičius and Ramūnė Jonaitis; Dr. Česlovas Jonys, who was most generous with his time and patience solving the financial and technical aspects of our operation that allowed us to progress; and Aušra Trussow, who so graciously moved mountains of administrative and non-administrative work to keep the “TŽ machine“ moving. She was also kind enough to teach her son Tomas to take over her position before she left. Thank you to Sigina Katkauskaitė and Akvilė Minkevičienė, as well former assistant Rima Žemaitytė-DeIuliis, the last additions to our editorial staff, who added their talent and creativity over the last few decades and enabled the newspaper to persevere.
With great respect we remember our founders and our eminent editors Dr. Adolfas Šapoka, Mons. Dr. Pranas Gaida, their faithful deputy Antanas Rinkūnas, and our resident writer, Vytautas Kąstytis Tvardauskas, and pastor Rev. Petras Ažubalis, who, since its inception, ensured that the newspaper had a home. They are alive in our memories, and their example remained a beacon for our continued journey.
We thank you all for helping us shine the light of the Lithuanian press in Canada for so long.
Board of Directors – Lithuanian Canadian RC Cultural Society Žiburiai
