The Czech connection in Scio

There is a little town south of Salem called Scio, where 100 years ago there were 170 Czech farm families living. It was a thriving Czech community. Today, what remains is a cemetery where there are scores of graves of members of that community, and a lodge building that was once the center of community life.

J.E. has a strong interest in the Czech people, culture and language. She has worked in and visited the Czech Republic several times and hosted Czech visitors. Years ago, Ellen visited her in Prague. For a long time, she had wanted to visit Scio, but never did. Today we did it. We found the cemetery and the many Czech graves, and looked around Scio, which today has a large community of Mennonites, part of a small branch called Holdeman Mennonites. We stopped twice to ask directions to the cemetery, and both times were directed by a Mennonite mother, who was at home and outside with her children.

The cemetery was fascinating and was in a beautiful setting. All in all, it was a very interesting visit. Scio is also in "covered bridge country," which interests us as Vermonters. We went through a covered bridge near Scio. We had a picnic in a park across from the school and afterward got coffee at the Covered Bridge Coffee House, where the walls are covered with pictures of Oregon covered bridges. Then we went back to J.E.'s house, left her car there, and walked downtown to the Humane Society thrift shop, where Ellen found a trove of old picture post cards - her favorite thing to collect. More on the rest of the day later. 

View of the Franklin Butte Masonic Cemetery at Scio, home to many Czech graves. 

The grave of Vaclav Kruml (1880-1815), with the inscription in the Czech language.

The grave of John Chrz  (1857-1922 ) and his wife, Barbora (1861-1911)

     The Czech ZCBJ Lodge in Scio, OR.  ZCBJ = Zapadni Ceska Bratrska Jednota

                       (Western Bohemian Fraternal Organization) 

                                    J.E.'s house and garden in Salem