The Slovak-American community was represented at One World Day on Sunday, October 21, 2006 by Ms. Denise Ivan-Antus and Mr. George Terbrack, who welcomed His Excellency Ronen Sen, Ambassador of India to the U.S., with flowers and the traditional Slavic offering of bread and salt. 
Slovak-Americans Denise Ivan-Antus and George Terbrack
A gesture of intercultural goodwill, the offering was made during the first part of the day’s events, which began with the ceremonial interment of soil brought from India into the crypt located at the American Legion Garden and ended with the dedication and unveiling of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the new India Cultural Garden. The pair was dressed in authentic Slovak dress: Denise in the native folk wedding costume from the western Slovak village of Krakovany, and George in the traditional dress of the Raslavice/Bardejov region of northeastern Slovakia.
Mr. Terbrack brought another exotic element to the festivities, arranging for the presence of a Bengal tiger cub named Bennie.
The mascot of the Benedictine High School football team, the tiger, from his cage, delighted the children and other attendees, under the supervision of his handlers Brother Theodore Girard, O.S.B., of the Benedictine monastery St. Andrew Svorad Abbey in Cleveland, and fellow Benectine alumnus John Dujan.
One World Day - in front of the Gandhi statue
Ms. Ivan-Antus, whose parents hail from Kosice, Slovakia, is an employee of Cleveland State University’s Nance College of Business Administration and teaches the Slovak language to adults in her free time. Mr. Terbrack is a member of the board of the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation and helped to arrange for the installation of the permanent lighting and other logistics for the India Garden.
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