Her Slovenian Heritage
Cecilia Dolgan was born in December, 1937 in Cleveland's Collinwood area. She is
one of three children, right in the middle of an older sister and a younger brother.
She is a graduate of Oliver Hazard Perry grade school and then Collinwood High School
and took classes part time at Kent State's extension at Euclid High School. She was
more concerned at the time with her music. "I'm a singer so I decided I should sing
while I'm young. There are only so many years you can use your instrument." Cecilia
sang with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. At the time Robert Shaw was attempting
to inspire the young Chorus and was tremendously successful. Some say this Chorus
became one of the finest Orchestra Choral groups in the country. Cecilia was accepted
into the Chorus after an audition in 1956. Her participation gave her the opportunity
to sing at Carnegie Hall. She stayed with the Cleveland Orchestra over ten years.
This was not a paid position, but from there she went on to be a paid soloist singing
in a number of places including temples in Beachwood. She simultaneously was singing
with The Glasbena Matica Slovenian Singing Society. She was trained in classical
music at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Music Settlement. Both
of Cecilia's parents were born in Slovenia and her heritage is very important to
her. "One of the amazing things about being first generation is the things I was
taught to appreciate such as classical music. Even though my parents did not have
that appreciation themselves they knew how important it was and instilled it in me.
And the other thing was community service. It was always emphasized how important
it was for us to give to a community, not just take from it." Her parents had "agricultural
roots" so Cecilia was always amazed at their appreciation of classical music. She
was very grateful as well. She believes that having music in her life creates good
feelings and harmony. "Music is not political - it can't be! You can express yourself
in music, but to truly be music it cannot be harmful." Cecilia's mother "threw" her
into the Slovenian Cultural scene when she was about 9 years old and she has been
embedded in it ever since. Ohio boasts the largest population of Slovenians in any
one area of the United States, and northeast Ohio has the largest concentration.
She is quick to point out there is a difference in one's heritage if you are Slovak
vs. Slovenian just as there is a difference between Serbs and Croats. "Many people
think of these as one big ethnic group. If you have one of these as your heritage
though you know there is a big difference. Like Irish vs. English or something like
that. There are some similarities but they are different countries." Cecilia thinks
understanding your roots is a matter of identity. "With the world shrinking and with
global connections and because of greater communication capabilities, children can
get a feeling for what it is like in other parts of the world, including the part
that their parents or grandparents came from. It is not just stories of "the old
country" any more. There is a much greater understanding of the rest of the world.
It is nice to know where you come from - but it is important, too." She speaks Slovenian
fluently and studied French "but it has been a long time since I have spoken French.
Slovenian I speak every day". She can sing in ten languages (including Hebrew, Hungarian,
French, Italian, and Slovenian) As a child she was the first American ever to perform
on Slovenian television on the show "Pokazi Kaj Znas" (Show Your Talent) in Ljubljana.
She was then asked to sing in on shows in Cleveland such as Polka Varieties and Festival
Five. She sang at the Festival Casals de Puerto Rico in 1963 and 1964, a world-acclaimed
music festival started by Pablo Casals, the great Spanish cellist. In 1965 the Director
of the Slovenian Children's Chorus died and Cecilia took over. She is retiring at
the end of this year (2006) after 41 years of service. She knows she is leaving the
Chorus in good hands with the new Director, Shirley Stall. As the only Slovenian
Children's Singing group in Cleveland "we have more children to draw from." She has
taught hundreds of children Slovenian music and culture over the years, Some have
gone on to have careers of their own in music (Joey Tomsik, Nancy Hlad, Christine
Mihelich) while others benefited on a more personal level; learning the language,
knowing the cultural and preserving their ancestry. In 1966 Cecilia recorded her
first album and has recorded ten since then. Her "Slovenian name" is Cilka and her
recordings often have that name in the title. (Ex., Smooth as Cilka, Touch of Cilka
and a Polka Cilka-bration) Cecilia was both the producer and host of the Slovenian
Night Radio Show for over ten years. Among her credits as a lyricist are the words
to "Save the Last Dance", "Hey, Prijatelj, Means My Buddy" and "Friends Polka". She
has also written numerous original polkas. Cecilia is married to Plain Dealer sports
writer, Bob Dolgan for 33 years (1976). Together they have two children, Bob and
Ann. Cecilia worked as an executive secretary for the Cleveite Corporation for many
years but after her children were born she became a stay-at-home mom. "I was fortunate
to be home and be a hands-on mom. Once the kids didn't need a chauffer anymore it
was time to express myself." So, in her 50's she decided to write. She submitted
samples of her writing to The News Herald. She wrote travel articles and press releases
for the Orchestra. Later, in order to write on a more permanent basis for the News
Herald she had to take a journalism test, which she took and passed. In January 1994
she became a freelance writer, writing exclusively for the News Herald and still
does so to this day. "It has been amazing!" Her first month there she covered a press
conference with the Israeli Ambassador to the United States. "There were only three
press people there. Me, someone I don't remember and Kelly O'Donnell! Look where
she is today!" She reported on the 50th Anniversary of WWII, which gave her the opportunity
to speak to survivors of the war and was fascinated by the stories they told. Cecilia
also covers the ethnic and cultural stories involving Northeast Ohio. Cecilia has
taken three groups of children to perform in Slovenia as well as groups to Florida
and California. They perform in Canada every year. "It is wonderful because some
of the children in the Chorus are now 3rd and 4th generation!" She recently came
back from a trip to Disney in Florida with the Children's Chorus. "We sang eleven
songs. Ten were in Slovenian and one was "Cleveland, The Polka Town." One of Cecilia's
proudest accomplishments is the Polka Hall of Fame. The Hall was formed in 1988 as
a museum in a classroom at Shore Cultural Center, in Euclid. As the museum and its
potential grew she knew the building had to move as well. Euclid's old city hall
had stood empty for 11 years. The Soft Ball Hall of Fame was moving into the upstairs
of the building and in 2002 the Polka Hall of Fame moved to the downstairs. The Hall
of Fame raised over $100,000 from members for the renovation. Cecilia was elected
president in 2000 and has been re-elected every year since. The Hall of Fame has
about 1500 members. Just recently they hosted a reception of over 70 museums from
the Cleveland Inter-Museum Council looking and learning from the success of the Polka
Hall of Fame. She attributes polkas popularity to the war, stating that polkas gave
people something to smile about at a time when that was much needed. There is a definite
difference in Cleveland Style Polka, according to Dolgan. Cleveland Style polka has
its roots in Slovenia where other styles, like that of Chicago, are more Polish in
nature. "And Cleveland styles have less brass and more accordions". She is responsible
for starting the Button Accordion Festival in 1983 here in northeast Ohio - the largest
in the country! Fifteen to twenty clubs play for 8 hours at a Super Button Box Bash
every spring. The Bash usually draws over a thousand people. Cecilia's latest project
is an attempt to update data entry and computer projects at the Hall so that people
could come in and play portions of any album recorded from 1925 to date. "Like a
computerized juke box." She has established an archives system and is now trying
to catalog all artifacts and recordings. "This is not just a gift shop. The archives
are a full time job. I have made it a pet project to get them all computerized."
Cecilia would like to write more music. She has translated over 100 songs into English
that other bands then pick up and record. All of this is volunteer work because "as
a board member you can't be paid." Cecilia herself is a member of the Hall of Fame.
In addition to being a singer she is a disc jockey, music director, lyricist and
composer. She has sung on television with the famed Polka King, Frankie Yankovic.
In 1975 she was named the Slovenian of the Year and was the youngest woman ever named
to this honor. She is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Hall
of Fame joining such famous Slovenian Americans as Al Tercek, William Lausche, Tony
Petsovek, Johnny Pecon and Kenny Bass. She has also been inducted into the Collinwood
High School Hall of Fame. She is remarkably handy in other things as well having
just finished renovating her own basement. "I started with the concrete and put in
1300 tiles. I did insulation and drywall and painting and I even put in a drop ceiling
- but I don't do electrical." Although her Slovenian heritage is of utmost importance
to her she is a very proud American. "The greatest thing about this country is that
there are no limitations to what you can do or be. If you are willing to do it you
can do anything!" She is often amazed at the opportunities available to her here,
because her parents came to this country, and how different her life would have been
had she been born in Slovenia. "It would not have been a bad life, Slovenia is a
wonderful country. But it would have been so very, very different. I would never
have dreamt of doing so many of the things that I have done here." Cecilia is a very
intelligent woman and a very generous one. She is ready, willing and certainly able
to pass on what she has learned to children and anyone interested. She knows the
importance of heritage and history. She is a woman of faith and ethics and believes
in passing strong moral values from one generation to the next. People like Cecilia
Dolgan provide hope for future generations.
