I know this is not exactly about Texas Czechs, but I thought maybe this town might interest some of you.
While traveling to Crofton, Nebraska for the holidays, we ran across a Czech town named Verdigre. The town had a sign welcoming us (Vitame Vas).
Verdigre is a small town with a population just under 600 people and is known as the “World Kolache Capital”.
My husband and I made a beeline to the town bakery. We pulled up to the Verdigre Bakery and proceeded inside to take in all of the baked goodies. The bakery had a good variety of kolache flavors. (One little tidbit I found, was that most bakeries, at least in the area of Nebraska I was in, do not make meat kolaches. My husband was sad because he is used to those yummy meat ones found in West, Texas).
We made our purchases and began a conversation with the owner about Czech genealogy, of course 🙂 I found that some of the popular Czech names of this town are: Pavlik, Sukup, Vesely, Bartos, Ruzicka, Kucera, Pavelka, Filip, and Svoboda.
After talking with the owner, my husband and I then headed out to the car to try each product we bought. The kolaches tasted yummy! They were different from those made in Texas. (I am not a food critic, so I cannot explain how they were different). We also purchased some Bohemian Rye bread, which was delicious!
If you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods, Czech out Verdigre!
More pictures found on facebook.
