Szeleste 2004
2004. The 16th of October marks the 100th anniversary of my grandfather Antal Szelestey's birth. We held our first reunion on that day. 54 of us were present in the Festetics castle hotel. The castle was built in 1855 by László Szentgyörgyi Horváth, later earl Andor Festetics bought it. He began to plant the castle park's the present-day arboretum's trees. On the grounds of the fate's vicissitude the next owner earl Mihály Baich is a qualified botanist. He consummated the park's present-day image on 13 hectares. On its switchback roads trellised with ivy or on its scenic glades one is susceptible to promenade and to revere into the past. I started to organize the Meeting a year before. It took four-five circular letters to get more than half of those invited to come. Apart from my closer family, my mother her three sisters and brother, and except her other brother’s sons, their children, their grandchildren, their first second and third cousins, have arrived. With one word I’m calling it evangelistic or Boban branch because at the end of the 17th century they moved from Szeleste to Köcsk later at the end of the 18th century they moved from there to Boba where they are living to this date. Respectively during the 20th century they moved to Szombathely, Pápa, Várpalota etc. The branch’s founder is András the youngest son of Ádám the vice count of Vas (~1560-1621). From the family branches of his other two sons’ György the middle child’s branch no one, from his eldest son’s Sándor’s branch one family arrived whom we were very happy to meet. 10th and 11th cousins could meet. At this time luck was also not on our side rain poured down all day long desolately. Apart from this we had a good time, we schmoozed, and later we went over to Jákfa to the burying-place of the Szelesteys where we had a mass for the spiritual salvation of our ancestors. We travelled along to Uraiújfalu where we laid a wreath on the memorial tablet at the birth home of László Szelstey poet, chief scrivener of Vas county, ’48-er national guard major, county superintendent, member of the parliament as the representative of Sárvár and Körmend districts. After returning to Szeleste with the help of Mr. István Bánó the head of the Arboretum we a planted a service-tree in the park. We ate a wonderful lunch under the shadows of the castle’s restaurant’s arches. After that we walked out to the terrace for a collective picture, where mayor dr György Galántai also honored our family. The majority started to go home towards the evening, but some of us stayed in the castle. The next morning we walked over to the brand new, modern thermal bath which has very high water quality. Not so many people know about it because of the Sárvár and Bükk baths overshadowing it, but maybe this is one of its virtue, because not like the aforementioned ones it is not overcrowded and its surroundings speaks for itself.
