Papradno won the prestigious award in 2019 also thanks to the care for heritage and the development of agrotourism.

The jubilee tenth year of the Village of the Year competition met its winner. The prestigious title was earned in 2019 by the municipality of Papradno (Považská Bystrica district).

At the beginning of the Papradňany valley, clumps of fog prevailed in the morning, but in Papradno itself, the sun bit through the white veil. At the municipal office, sellers were located on the small market, and several people interested in the displayed assortment were hanging out between the stalls. Peaceful, almost dormant morning atmosphere of a normal day.

The municipal office was busy, we had to wait for a while for the mayor Roman Španihel to arrange the most necessary things related to life in the village. We are not delayed, we ask the first question how he perceives the competition. "We entered this competition and received a thematic focus that needed to be prepared. Then came the work of the jury, on which our results depended. The commission assessed the overall functioning of the municipality, management, creation of conditions for business development or use of natural resources. In addition, it focused on the care of tangible and intangible heritage, the use of tourism opportunities, but also the protection of the environment and the countryside. The municipality of Papradno convinced the members of the commission especially by the importance it attaches to the preservation of the natural heritage and the heritage of the ancestors, "the mayor began. According to him, they try to combine modern elements with old houses, they also take care of the beautiful nature in the area of the village and above all they respect their inhabitants. "Thanks to Hanka Beníková, a mountain development developing agrotourism has started here. Thanks to the work of entrepreneurs in the village, life here is becoming better. With the commission, we visited mainly restaurant facilities, and although we are not among the large municipalities in Slovakia, we have three of them here. In the summer season, there are also three ice cream shops in the village, which are visited by visitors from the Štiavnická and Marikovská valleys. The infrastructure is set up here so that people do not need to go to the district town for everything and almost everything can be provided here in Papradna. Tourists can eat here at affordable prices. ”Job opportunities in the village are covered mainly by the agritourism sector, several family businesses, schools, local governments, there is not much, only within the possibilities. You can work in Považská Bystrica, which is a 15-minute drive away, there is also a bus service.

Roman Španihel adds happily that he lives well in the village. He also sees this in the arrival of young people who are beginning to move to the village. In the past, parents went to Považská Bystrica to work in factories and children are now returning. Alternatively, the elderly leave their apartments in the city for the children and move to their hometown. Reconstruction of old houses is spreading and there is also great interest in land. The beautiful nature in the largest area in the district (almost 6000 ha) offers opportunities for various activities, e.g. mushroom picking, hiking, agrotourism or cycling. In winter, the ski lifts in Podjavorník are especially attractive, the lift on the northern slope is snowy until April. Beautiful trails for cross-country skiers are from the valley to the ridge of Javorníkov, or to the neighboring villages of Mariková and Štiavnik. Cycling routes are being prepared to Považská Bystrica and others to Púchov via the Marikovská valley. Unsettled plots pose the biggest problems in their preparation.

Voluntary units in Papradna work reliably, the municipality supports them, but they can also obtain their own resources through brigades. "We have the Union of Pensioners, the Union of the Disabled, Hunters, Tourists, and I can always count on the fire brigade. They intervene in crisis situations in the district and are connected to an integrated rescue system. Retirees are activated during the maintenance of cemeteries and during the cleaning of the village, we are also proud of the folklore group Podžiaran, "said the mayor. However, he added with one breath that they have a problem concerning the whole of Slovakia, which is waiting to be solved. The village has a retirement home, which belonged to the local government, but the costs were high and the county had to pay them extra, so she gave it up. Now it is run by the local government and is struggling to make ends meet financially. Client pensions do not cover costs, in addition, it is necessary to invest in the reconstruction of the building.

Fern is also known for its specific dialect. "In neighboring villages it is not known, it is not spoken as softly as in our country, the dialect belongs here and we are thus exceptional," Španihel explained. He highlighted the work of members of the local folklore group, which preserves the language, songs, embroidery, spiritual and material elements of folk culture. For example, they collected and published a book about homemade food on their own. These are characterized by the fact that they cooked from their own ingredients. The basis of all dishes are potatoes, cabbage was often used. Meatless meals were once used to be cooked, and meat was consumed only during the big holidays. Their names are also original - hailstorm, spoľnica, together and others.

The fourth largest organ in Slovakia is located in a cultural monument - the Church of St. Ondrej. It was reconstructed with the help of several financial contributions and the subsidy was also provided by the municipality of Papradno.

Modern times demand a changed view of the world, tourists need more comfort and have higher demands, so they built a bicycle charger for three electric bicycles at Koliba and the municipality submitted a project to make an electric car charger.

It is also planned to build an apartment building, with the apartments being sold to the residents for personal ownership.

So what did the competition bring to the municipality? "It's a satisfaction that even a smaller community can shuffle cards. We have positively publicized the village and I am a proud Papradňan, so I believe that this will also help our children stay here. In addition to the moral side, we should get a small tractor with accessories, which will definitely be used in the village. Cash is also part of the rewards, but we will practically miss it in the European competition for the Village of the Year, in which we entered. We will have to finance a lot of things there from our own resources, "Roman Španihel concluded.

So we chose to "taste" the atmosphere of the Village of the Year. We were fascinated by the veiled figure and the concrete pedestals, which were watered by a nice man. "It will be a life-size statue," Pavol Hikaník told us. In his free time he makes large concrete sculptures. Virgin 10 at the end of the region at the end of the region / currently 11 Life-size Mary stands in Košice, st. Dominik Savio near Nové Zámky and another mother of God is in the area. The immediate man offered to take us to her by off-road car. Along the way, he introduced us to his work. He began at a young age when he was fascinated by the self-growns he completed. He gradually began to carve wooden statues. "The woodcarving bored me, so I tried it with concrete. Even more of concrete and I mainly focused on hunting and fishing, it was again from wood. When I asked for something else, I started doing fujari, first bes adornenja, then with wood carvings on that fujara. Now I continue with the concrete sculpture and it's for a longer time, "Pavol Hikaník was not ashamed of the Papradno dialect. He took us to Dolný Križovec, where three wooden bears climbed a tree, we were fascinated by the cat's self-growth, and a little further down the slope, a bunny with a water drive cycled. Behind the stream, a life-size statue of the Virgin Mary stood out, which is visited not only by the Ferns, but also by many tourists. The amateur artist does not make orders because it does not allow him time. It is necessary to do this and that, to prepare the wood for the winter, to help the son on the construction site. He devotes himself to art only in his free time and he doesn't have much. During our walk around the village, we were attracted by a man with a wand directing white ducks to the stream. Despite the difficult destiny of life, Papradno cannot be allowed. He showed us where the sawmill was, where the mill, he had thrown something about his life. He boasted a hen with chickens, a beautiful rooster, bushy rabbits. Asked how he perceives the location of the village in the competition, he replied briefly: “I am satisfied, we are proud of it. It depends on the people, "Vilo Klabník muttered.

This thought resonated in the mind on the way home: It depends on the people.

Note: Dialect texts are written in simple phonetic transcription.

text: Leo Kužela, Radovan Stoklasa

photo: Denisa Macošíncová