Pony Express in Kosice

In an open-air ceremony at the Great Vats pub at Tahanovce last Saturday afternoon, nine riders of the eastern branch of the Czecho-Slovak Pony Express swore the oath of allegiance. This event, organized by the Kosice Western Club and also supported by U. S. Steel Kosice, was meant to commemorate the sublime ride of the famous Pony Express delivering mail in the Wild West in the year 1861.
The riders of the Czecho-Slovak Pony Express have been carrying mail on horseback over a 2500-kilometer route from Haaren in Germany to Kosice for a grand total of nearly 20 years - aiming all along to emulate the original as much as possible. The route through Slovakia is divided into three branches, eastern, northern and western, and the around 280-km distance is covered by a team of 33 riders, riding 20-km legs in a relay system. They can choose their own paths, but they should take the shortest and of course the safest way. All of their actions must be subject to the basic condition that whatever happens, the mail must be delivered.
The Pony Express riders set out from Haaren exactly a week ago, and on Sunday, August 22nd they crossed the border into Slovakia. Late yesterday afternoon all the East Slovakian branch riders, saddled up on their horses, reached the Lower City Gate on Main Street, and after a promenade of honor in full harness through the city they experienced the ceremonial presentation of the traditional belt buckles. These were given to all riders with at least three years of service with the Pony Express.

Young designers in U. S. Steel Kosice

Monday of this week saw the beginning of the third edition of the annual international workshop named U. S. Steel - Metal Inspirations 2004. This is being attended by design students from four universities, who will be using the facilities of the Metallurgical Apprentice School in Saca through the week to create utility objects, souvenir objects and interior sculptures in metal. The young designers will be presenting their finished works from August 31st onwards in the U. S. Steel Kosice Gallery.

Hot wide-strip rolling line undergoes medium overhaul

Monday of this week also saw the beginning in the Hot Strip Mill of a seven-day medium overhaul of the wide-strip rolling line. In terms of extent, duration and amount of capital investment, this is the biggest overhaul at the plant this year. Renovation and replacements are planned for the pusher furnaces, blooming train, finishing train, run-off section, coilers and power supply systems. At the same time repairs will be carried out on pusher furnace no.3.

Third in the Tatras Cup

The players of Kosice Ice-Hockey Club are continuing their summer preparation training with a series of pre-season matches. After the Nitra tournament, where they finished in third place, at the end of last week they underwent another demanding test on the ice in Poprad. In the "Gateway to the High Tatras" they took part in the 57th edition of the annual Tatras Cup tournament, in which just as in Nitra they took third place in the final ranking.
Some more new players have now made their debut in the HC Kosice squad. After a year in Karlove Vary, former Kosice defender Vantroba has returned, and the trainers are giving chances to the Czech attacker Polasek, who played for Liptovsky Mikulas and Zvolen last season, and to the talented defender Hruska from Topolcany. Yesterday the Kosice team played hosts to Liptovsky Mikulas in another pre-season match, and on Friday in an away game they measure their strengths with vice-champions Zvolen.