Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus in Knights of Malta Soup Kitchen, Lithuania, 2015

How’s this for 2016 #GivingTuesday? The Lithuanian-American Club of Springfield, Ill., just donated $2,300 USD to the Knights of Malta Relief Organization in Lithuania (Maltos Ordino Pagalbos Tarnyba) in partnership with Mr. Robert Narmont, CEO of United Community Bank. The Club and 24 of its members donated $1,150.00, which was generously matched 100 percent by Mr. Narmont, a third-generation Lithuanian-American also proudly known as “Robertas Narmontas.”

On Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving, Bob and UCB also provided a free international wire. That enabled the entire sum of $2,300 USD (minus $15 for the incoming bank wire fee) to be received right on Thanksgiving Day to coincide with an official visit to the charity and some of its elderly beneficiaries in Vilnius, Lithuania, by our Club officer Viktorija Bieliauskaite Legge.

Mr. Eitvydas Bingelis, the Knights’ General Secretary in Vilnius, reports that our donation will provide approx. 1,500 hot meals delivered to impoverished, homebound elderly through the group’s “Meals on Wheels” program. He invites us to follow the Maltieciai’s daily works on the following social media channels:

www.facebook.com/maltieciai

www.youtube.com/user/MaltieciaiLietuva

twitter.com/maltieciai

www.instagram.com/maltieciai/

In September 2016, the Knights of Malta received special recognition and thanks from the government of Lithuania for their 25 years of charitable work in the country–especially for their success in reviving the spirit of volunteerism and fighting poverty with volunteer “boots on the ground” in towns and villages across the country.

https://www.orderofmalta.int/2016/09/13/lithuanian-prime-minister-thanks-the-order-of-malta-for-25-years-of-service/

Here’s more from the Knights’ Maltiečiai website: 

“Today, the Lithuanian Relief Organisation of the Order of Malta has 1,200 volunteers in 40 towns in Lithuania who help the poor, the old, people with disabilities, and children from disadvantaged families…

“…It is important to note that the Maltesers remember elders not only on the day of the Seniors, but assist them all the year, every year expanding our projects. At present, our “Meals on Wheels” are delivered in 18 cities. More than 116,000 hot meals were brought to lonely elderly people; additionally, seniors were visited more than 61,000 times in 2015.

“…Another big Malteser project for seniors’ “Social care at home” is currently running in 10 cities. Maltesers supervise constantly at home 552 old, ill and disabled people. In another 19 areas Maltesers regularly attend more than 1,500 lonely elderly people, communicate with them, and help them at home. 80 years is the average age of elderly who are visited by Maltesers. Our volunteers visited their fostered elders at home more than 30,000 times in 2015.

“…Stronger seniors are invited to join Malteser clubs for seniors in 5 cities. The Malteser social service “Let’s go” helps the disabled and seniors. At present,  Maltesers constantly take care of more than 2 300 seniors in Lithuania.

“…Our projects for seniors are extremely important for our single seniors, who are often completely alone,”– shared his thoughts MOPT President R. Abunevičius. – “Visiting them, Maltesers become very close to them, helping them with managing their illnesses, disability, and loneliness.

“…Aid for disabled persons is one of the priority activities of the Order of Malta; every year they organize a pilgrimage to Lourdes, as well at least a few Lithuanians are transported to the International Youth camp for Disabled “Malta Camp”, more than a year ago we introduced the transportation service for the disabled. In particular, we want to help the individuals with experienced spinal injury; the support and sharing success stories are essential to cope with stress. This is precisely what we will seek in the special camp.

“…The camp uniqueness is the fact that people with disabilities are the mentors. They as well as disabled people live a full life. They will share their experience of a disabled person adaptability, e.g., about a disabled person’s ability to travel, drive, use public transport, dress up, take a shower, regulate the bladder operations, work and recreate. Mentors help the participants and inspire young people with disabilities to believe in life by their success stories.

“…Currently the Maltesers in Lithuania have 11 child day-care centers (including the new Malteser Tauragė Children’s Day Care Center) and our youth center in Aukštadvaris.

“Jau daug metų esu akcijos “Maltiečių sriuba” globėjas, kiek galiu, dalyvauju jos renginiuose. Nuoširdžiai kviečiu visus prisijungti prie maltiečių akcijos, parodyti širdies taurumą, auka prisidėti įgyvendinant kilnius pagalbos tikslus. Dėkoju visiems Lietuvos žmonėms už gerumą ir teikiamą viltį…“

Prezidentas Valdas Adamkus

All images courtesy of Knights of Malta international and Lithuanian websites

Joe and Susan at their boiling kettle.

Well, not exactly…But our local Lithuanian American Club is blessed with craft “brew meisters” Susan and the Rev. Joe Eby.  Please join them at 2 p.m. (“Black Friday”) Nov. 25 at Obed & Isaac’s bar and restaurant downtown, where the Ebys’ special-recipe English spiced ale “£200 Windsor Ale” will be on tap.  

Each year the Prairie Schooners Home Brew Club, to which the Ebys belong, picks a beer to be brewed at Obed & Isaac’s. This year, the Schooners selected  the Ebys’ entry, and the brew-loving couple worked with Obed & Isaac’s Head Brewer Ryan Walker to make a six-barrel batch for sale to the public.  According to Susan, the member of this husband-wife team with a Lithuanian background, “Windsor £200” is “basically an English spiced pale ale based on a recipe from the late 1700’s – early 1800’s, to which we added caraway, coriander, ginger, grains of paradise, licorice root, and orange peel.”

Joe and Susan with Obed & Isaac’s Head Brewer Ryan Walker (center).

To learn more about the Ebys and their home brew hobby (that was something of a survival skill for many of our Lithuanian ancestors who did not brew beer, but operated whiskey stills during the Roaring ‘20s), please read on. Susan is the granddaughter of Lithuanian immigtantsJohn Matekaitis and  Bessie Tolisiasus (sp?).

Question: How did you get started brewing your own beer—was it always a couple’s thing, or did it precede you becoming a couple?

Answer: We have enjoyed crafts beers for several years, but Springfield has not always been very big into the craft beer scene. Then we ran into the Prairie Schooners Home Brew Club out at Friar Tuck (out by Target then) on National Home Brew Day in 2012. We joined the club and enjoyed tasting their home brews and sharing unique craft beers we found on our travels. Then we started brewing with friends from the club, at their houses, with their equipment. In 2014, a couple in the club was moving out of state and asked if we’d like to have their home brewing equipment. And so, we entered into the wonderful world of home brewing.

Joe Eby adding malted barley to crushing machine. The grain must be well-soaked so that it releases maximum sugars when crushed.

Q.What roles do each of you take in the brewing process—and who is the official “taster?”

A.We work together in the process from start to finish, from cleaning and sanitizing to brewing, transferring, and bottling. Often one of us is stirring while the other is measuring and/or weighing the next ingredient to be added. So, it’s a real team effort. When it comes to bottling, Susan is the filler and Joe is the capper. The brewing process steeps malted grain to extract the sugars from which the yeast makes alcohol. After the brewing has been done, Susan has enjoyed taking those “spent” grains, drying them and using them to make delicious breads, brownies, and cookies. As for tasting, we’re both into that. We usually taste our batch before the fermentation begins, after the fermentation ends, prior to bottling, and, of course, when we’re ready to open the first bottle of the beer.

Q. What is the home brewer’s most important goal, and what are the most important skills or talents required to succeed?

 A.The most important thing when home brewing beer is sanitation… sanitation… sanitation!  Making sure all your equipment is clean and sanitized is crucial to brewing good beer. Any bacteria that somehow gets into the system can spoil your whole batch. That being said, if you can boil water and follow a recipe, you can brew beer. Then as one gains more experience in the brewing process, it’s fun to imagine new beers with unique flavors and ingredients. For us, the most important goal is to brew a beer that tastes good to us and our friends.

Susan making sure the mash is well-soaked and evenly covered.

Q. What defines a distinct brew—and which do you consider your most successful, and why?

A. We think that a distinct brew is defined by its many layers of flavors. Brews that emphasize the malts are sweeter. Those that emphasize the hops are more bitter. We enjoy and have brewed a broad range of beer styles. To date, our most “successful” brews have been the Windsor Ale we brewed at Obed & Isaac’s (more about that below)–and Joe’s Breakfast Stout. Joe enjoys oatmeal for breakfast just about every morning. His favorite thing is to have it with maple syrup and red pepper flakes. So we thought, “How about making an oatmeal stout and adding maple syrup and red pepper flakes?” It turned out great!!

Q.How did you come up with this year’s selection for the Obed & Isaac’s brewing opportunity? Do you get a share of the sales—or just the glory of your beer’s sales on Black Friday?

A.The beer we brewed at Obed & Isaac’s was a Windsor Ale. It’s an English spiced ale based on a recipe from the late 1700’s – early 1800’s. It’s basically an English pale ale to which was added caraway, coriander, ginger, grains of paradise, licorice root, and orange peel. Our beer was selected by the Prairie Schooners Home Brew Club through a blind tasting process. The reward is being selected is to get to brew a 6-barrel batch, have it for sale on tap, and share it with our friends – which we hope will include many of the Lithuanian Club folks – starting November 25 at 2:00 PM.

Susan cleaning out the spent grain, some of which is used in her baking.

Q. Do you have any secret special ingredients—like maybe a special yeast that you nurture in some dark corner of the basement, like they do in Lithuania?

A. No special yeast strains, but lately we’ve been brewing some unique ales using various herbs, including mugwort, wormwood, rue, coriander, sage, juniper berries, and licorice root — but not all in the same beer!

Q. Do you have any interest in attempting an ethnic beer variety, like Lithuanian?  What do you know about Lithuanian beers, if anything?

A. Yes!  We hope to be brewing a Lithuanian-style or two (and sharing them with the Lithuanian-American Club) in the near future! We’ve enjoyed Lithuanian beers brewed by Svyturys, Utenos, and Rinkuškai. For reference, here are a couple links to good info on Lithuanian beers:

http://www.garshol.priv.no/download/lithuanian-beer-guide/book.pdf

http://draftmag.com/lithuania-and-its-peculiar-little-known-farmhouse-ales/

Joe driving the forklift to move grain at Obed & Isaac’s.

Dear Ebys, don’t forget your promise to brew for our Lithuanian-American Club! See you at Obed & Isaacs next Friday….