Czech president’s Nebraska visit to include stop in Wilber, Czech capital of the US

Randy Kozeal, president of the Nebraska Czechs of Wilber, home to the annual Czech Festival, said Pavel will make a visit on Sept. 24. The southeast Nebraska community is a 40-minute drive from Lincoln. 

“This is pretty big for us,” Kozeal said. “They had enough time they could carve out some time to come down here to Wilber. We are the Czech capital of the U.S.”

Another president, Ronald Reagan, declared it the “Czech Capital of the United States” in July 1987.

Marie Brenkova, a member of the Czech consulate in Chicago, confirmed the visit to The World-Herald. She said she was not yet able to share any more information about the rest of Pavel’s time in the U.S.

“Every time he comes to us, he chooses one part of the U.S (to visit), mostly because of the Czech community,” she said. “In Wilber, it is a huge community, and he would love to meet them.”

Brenkova herself visited Wilber during its annual Czech Festival on the first weekend in August and was impressed. Kozeal said anywhere from 46,000 to 56,000 people attend the event.

“We would like to show him part of this culture, how it still exists in Wilber,” she said. “It’s very amazing.”

Kozeal said they’d like to take Pavel on a brief walking tour of Wilber, in which they could stop by the Wilber Czech Museum, the Wilber Hotel, the Wilber Cultural Center and different businesses on Main Street, some of which still sell Czech food.

Some time will be spent at the Sokol Hall. Apricot, cherry and poppyseed kolache could be on the menu.

Kozeal said many residents still speak Czech.

“We are very excited and humbled to have the president of the Czech Republic,” Kozeal said. “I’m so hopeful that we are done with this heat. We’ll keep praying for that.”