Veselo Selo Folk Arts Center

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THIS IS HISTORICAL INFORMATION ONLY

In early 1970, Pat Adamek Thomas and Ann Billingsly realized that Orange County needed its own place to enjoy folk dancing. Their first meeting place opened in downtown Anaheim at 719 N. Anaheim Blvd. They named their new home "Veselo," or "happy." Veselo was open as many as seven nights a week. They sold Veselo to Jerry and Bill Woods.

In 1977, Bora and Marge Gajicki ran it for several years, changing the name to "Veselo Selo," or "happy village," for, as Bora said, "Veselo means happy and [it} is not enough of a proper name for our folk dance club."

I worked for a short time for Bora and Marge. One of the things I did was to make several flyers to advertise the classes being offered at the time.

In 1991, dancers from Veselo Selo moved to Hillcrest Recreaton Center in Fullerton, but kept the name of the original "happy village."