2009 was a big year for the Serbian Cultural Garden.

The First Annual Serbian Golf Outing was held on Saturday, July 11, to benefit the Serbian Cultural Garden.  Despite a rainstorm, 70 golfers were able to play nine holes at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course.  Almost 200 people attended a dinner that evening at Sterle’s, which included music and dancing and a silent auction.

Proceeds from the Golf Outing, dinner, silent auction and donations helped fund the new centerpiece of the Serbian Cultural Garden: an icon of St. Sava, Patron Saint of the Serbian People.  The icon was designed by Chris McConnell, a student at the Cleveland Institute of Art.  The bronze work was done by local studio Light Sculpture Works and the granite base and inscription was done by Marko Dimitrijevic, a Serbian immigrant and owner of Euro Stone and Tile.

The icon of St. Sava is now proudly displayed in the center plaza of the Serbian Cultural Garden and was officially dedicated on Monday, September 21.  Present at the dedication was Boris Tadic, President of the Republic of Serbia.  President Tadic paid a special visit to Cleveland at the invitation of Alex Machaskee, creator of the Serbian Cultural Garden.  President Tadic was greeted by over 100 local Serbians and toured the Garden and read the inscriptions on the busts of Bishop Njegos, Mihajlo Pupin, King Peter I and Nikola Tesla.  Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson met President Tadic at the Serbian Cultural Garden and presented him with gifts from Cleveland, including a miniature guitar from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Mayor Jackson and President Tadic also posed for pictures in front of the newly-dedicated icon of St. Sava.

2009 brought the permanent return of Tesla’s bust to the garden after a five month absence.  New plants, shrubs and trees were planted this year, including a Serbian Badnjak (Pin Oak) and Serbian Lipa (Linden) trees that now compliment other foliage from native Serbia.

We also had the first “Gourmet Dinner in the Garden,” when the Serbian Cultural Garden hosted the Batkovich family of 12 as their prize from the 2008 fall fundraiser at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Serbian Cultural Garden plans to hold the Second Annual Serbian Golf Outing on Saturday, July 10, 2010.  Additionally, a Serbian Film Festival is being planned for 2010.

Daniel Budin for the Serbian Cultural Garden organization