Draugas News

08/22/2025

Always something interesting in Vilnius Review.

08/22/2025

The Lithuanian American Youth Assn annual meeting will be in LA this fall. It's a great place to meet young Lithuanian Americans! Lithuanian language skills are not required!

08/21/2025

This sounds great!

Chicago Lithuanian Center Golf Day #5
Please join us September 28, 2025 for a day of golf at Marquette Park Golf Course. After golf, come back home to the Center for brunch. Proceeds of the event will benefit the renovation of the north wing in establishing a new home for the Lithuanian newspaper “Draugas”.

More information and registration:
chicago-lithuanian-center-golf-day.perfectgolfevent.com/

08/20/2025

Chicago Lithuanians will commemorate the 36th annuiversary of the Baltic Way on Aug 24 with a long distance run. Run or cheer the runners on!

🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪 𝐊𝐯𝐢𝐞č𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐢 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐣𝐨𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧ė𝐣𝐢𝐦𝐨 𝐛ė𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐨 – 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐦. 𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐩𝐣ūč𝐢𝐨 𝟐𝟒 𝐝.! - Č𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐣𝐞.

Minėdami šio įkvepiančio įvykio metines, bėgsime per svarbiausias lietuvių, latvių ir estų bendruomenių vietas Čikagoje – ne tik pagerbdami mūsų tautų istoriją, bet ir dar kartą parodydami vienybę bei draugystę.
🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️Nepamirškite atsinešti tautinių vėliavų, geros nuotaikos ir šventinės dvasios.
Būkime kartu, prisiminkime, kodėl esame stiprūs, ir tęskime laisvės kelią, kurį pradėjome prieš daugiau nei tris dešimtmečius.

🪙 JAV LB Vidurio Vakarų Apygarda finansiškai remia Čikagos lietuvių bėgimo klubo Baltijos kelio bėgimo iniciatyvą.

🏁 Finišas planuojamas apie 14:00 valandą Estų namuose.

- - -
𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞.

Final Plan for the Baltic Way Commemoration Run – August 24, 2025

🔔 Dear friends and fellow runners, Here is the finalized schedule for our Baltic Way Commemoration Run. Thank you all for your enthusiasm and commitment to honoring this historic legacy together.

🕡 Meeting Point:
6:30–6:45 AM Location: 5401 S Western Ave, Chicago – Horizon Science Academy backyard parking lot This is where personal vehicles can be parked. From here, we’ll board the van and head to the starting point.

🏁 Run Schedule & Stops:
• 6:55 AM – Darius and Girėnas Memorial (W Marquette Rd & S California Ave)
• 7:00 AM – Start of the Run
• 7:05 AM – Nativity BVM Lithuanian Church (6800 S Fairfield Ave)
• 7:30 AM – Chicago Lithuanian Center (5620 S Claremont Ave)
• 9:15 AM – Southwest corner of Western & Milwaukee Ave (1953–1965 N Milwaukee Ave)
• 10:30 AM – Ligzda – Chicago Latvian Community Center & Latvian School (6551 W Montrose Ave)
• 2:00 PM – Estonian House (14700 Estonian Ln)

📍 Route Map: Google Maps Link

🚐 Transportation Notes:
Everyone is welcome to choose their own way to arrive at the meeting point (5401 S Western Ave). You’re also free to arrange transportation that doesn’t require returning there after the event. The van is spacious and comfortably seats 14 riders.

🎌 Flags & Spirit:
National flags—large and small—are essential. Though our team has more women than men, the gentlemen will do their best to carry flags and give our ladies a well-deserved break when needed.

💧 Essentials to Bring:
We’ll have bottled water on board, but it’s always wise to bring your own snacks and drinks. Please dress appropriately for the weather, and consider bringing a change of shoes. August has been kind to us so far—let’s hope it continues!

🎉 Community & Celebration:
This seven-hour journey will be anything but dull. At the Latvian and Estonian stops, local communities will greet us warmly. For the final destination, it would be lovely to wear something special to mark the occasion.

📬 Stay Connected:
Let’s keep in touch as we approach the big day. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to text me at 708-275-6469 or email [email protected].
Looking forward to running together in unity and pride, Algimantas.

08/20/2025

Come out and support JC's! Only 40 tickets left! Don't miss this opportunity!

On AUG.23 at 6:30pm we will ROCK THE DOCK!
Join us for happy hour before the cruise starts.

We want to SELL OUT the Aug. 23 boat cruise!
The Chicago Fireboat Tours boat has a capacity of 100 guests - we have sold 60 tickets already- a sold out boat cruise will bring an end to two of the Centers yearlong fundraising undertakings. Earlier this year we rescued a stained glass window from being lost and it is now at the center. The wayside cross is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month. Join us August 23 and celebrate!
Reservations - [email protected]

Plaukim kartu rugpjūčio 23d. ir sėkmingai užbaiktume du Centro lėšų telkimo vajus - Jonyno vitražas jau Jaunimo centre ir koplystulpis bus neužilgo atstatytas! Noras yra išparduoti 100 vietų - jau 60 parduota! Švęskime kartu!
Rezervuoti vietas - [email protected]

08/19/2025

🇱🇹-🇱🇻-🇪🇪 | Join the Embassies of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, and the Joint Baltic American National Committee at McPherson Square on Friday, August 22, at 11:00 am to commemorate the Baltic Way and the Black Ribbon Day.

08/13/2025

08/04/2025

Golden Girl Rūta Meilutytė wins Gold at the World Championships in Singapore in the 50m breaststroke on Aug 3.

SwimmingWorldMagazine.com reports: "No one can stop Ruta Meilutyte in the 50 breaststroke. The Lithuanian swimmer, now 28, returned to the sport in 2022 after a multi-year retirement, and she has now captured gold in the breaststroke sprint at the World Championships for four consecutive years. This one was never close.

"Meilutyte had been the top qualifier after the prelims and semifinals, going under 30 seconds in each round while no one else had managed a mark that fast in Singapore. In the final, Meilutyte exploded off the blocks to a significant lead right away and never looked back, leaving the remaining competitors to sort out silver and bronze.

"Meilutyte finished in 29.55, almost a half-second clear of the field. She now owns nine of the 15 quickest performances in history, with all but one of those times achieved since her comeback to the sport. Of her world-title wins in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, her fastest performance came in Fukuoka two years ago when she achieved a world record of 29.16.

“I got emotional singing the national anthem, it means a lot to me, as well as for my country, and I love my country, and I’m just really grateful to be able to do it at this level,” Meilutyte said. “It’s hard to say, or explain this, but I enjoy this very much, and so long as I enjoy it, as long as it’s meaningful, I can continue.”"

08/03/2025

The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture invites you to an Evening of Literature on August 7th at 6:00 PM.

Join us for a one-night-only literary event featuring acclaimed New York author M. M. De Voe in conversation with Chicago’s own Ben Tanzer. Experience a dynamic exchange of ideas and readings in the evocative new space of the Balzekas Museum.

Register now through Eventbrite or using the linktree in our bio!
https://balzekaslateratureevening.eventbrite.com

Featured Guests:

Milda Motekaitis De Voe (pen name: M. M. De Voe) is a salonnière and dynamic public speaker whose genre-spanning work includes literary fiction, poetry, flash, humor, essays, theater, long-form nonfiction, and horror. Born to Lithuanian parents and raised bilingual in Texas and Germany, she earned her BA magna cm laude from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and an MFA from Columbia University, where she was a Writing Fellow under Michael Cunningham. Her debut story collection, A Flash of Darkness (2023), showcases her “wickedly fun, deeply cutting” fiction. In 2009, she founded Pen Parentis, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting writer-parents. Over her 25-year career, De Voe has won numerous arts grants and awards for her work, including First Place in the 2021 Indie Book Awards for Book & Baby, multiple Pushcart nominations, and inclusion in Twisted Book of Shadows, a Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthology. She has interviewed over 400 writer-parents (YouTube.com/penparentis) and continues to write, speak, and lead from her home in Manhattan, where she lives with her two children.

Ben Tanzer is a Chicago-based Emmy-award winning coach, creative strategist, podcaster, writer, teacher and social worker who has been helping nonprofits, publishers, authors, students, small business owners and career changers tell their stories for over 20 years. As an author, Ben has had eight books published, and been a nominee for Pushcart and StorySouth awards, a finalist at the 13th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards and 2019 Eric Hoffer Book Awards for Be Cool - a memoir (sort of), the recipient of the 2015 Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival Nonfiction Prose Award for his essay collection Lost in Space and a Bronze medalist at the 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards in Science Fiction for his novel Orphans.

Free Registration
Light Refreshments Will be Served
Live Q & A

Come celebrate literature, conversation, and community at this special cultural evening.
All are welcome!

This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Arts Council, the City of Chicago Department of Culture and Special Events through CityArts, and the members and private donors of the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture.

08/03/2025

Three weeks from today: the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) in partnership with the Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC), and the Embassies of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will commemorate the and Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact ( ) at 11:00 am on Friday, August 22nd in McPherson Square (right across the street from the Museum).

We kindly invite you to join us! All nations are welcome and invited! Bring friends and family, your country flags, and any symbols of freedom.

For event details, please visit: https://lnkd.in/e56-nA-Q.

07/31/2025