Slovenia Bulletin: International Children's Games founder honored in Cleveland

ponedeljek, avgust 02, 2004

International Children's Games founder honored in Cleveland

Metod Klemenc of Ljubljana was honored with a plaque at the Slovenian Cultural Garden in Cleveland, Ohio, on 29 July. In 1968, Klemenc organized the first International Children’s Games in Celje, Yugoslavia (Slovenia). In 2004, they were held in Cleveland. [Plain Dealer / 30.07.04 / Cultural Garden plaque honors Games founder].

Accepting the award, Klemenc said, “You can observe the world – and change a child’s soul,” speaking of the impact of the games on the lives of the more than 24,000 children who have participated in the International Children’s Games in the past 36 years.

According to the 2000 US census, 49,308 Slovene-Americans live in the Cleveland area, making it the largest concentration of Slovenes outside of Slovenia. Before the founding of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) in 1918, Cleveland had the third-largest

The Cultural Gardens in Cleveland's University Circle neighborhood are a collection of gardens dedicated to 23 of the area’s ethnic groups, including the Slovenes. The Slovene Cultural Garden was inaugurated on 4 December 1932 – the 14th anniversary of the founding of Yugoslavia – as the Jugoslav Cultural Garden.