Nick 'Tillie' Klaich Inducted - Pittsburgh 1984
	Tillie Klaich -- The name is synonymous with tambura.  A man known and loved wherever tambura is played or talked about, a man who literally has lived and breathed tambura and Serbo-Croatian music for most of his life.
	Born August 7, 1925, in Lackawanna, New York, to Save and Petar Klaich, Tillie's introduction to tambura and our music came at an early age.  Although there were no local orchestras in Lackawanna, Tillie developed a passion for tambura very early in his life when orchestras such as Mali Rade, Joko Dokich and Milan Verni would come to town.  The Smilinich Brothers from nearby Tonawanda (Gastown) were to the Wester New York area what the Popovich Brothers are to the tambura world today.  During the winter months, gypsies would pass through Lackawanna with their violin and bass orchestras, playing for tips.  Tillie soon discovered all of the spots they played and would eagerly follow them, listening, watching, and learning.
	Tillie's mother had hopes of his someday becoming a priest, and accordingly 'encouraged' Tillie to serve as an altar boy and join the local Serbian choir, Kosta Manojlovich.  In 1937, at the age of 12, Tillie became the youngest member of the choir and thus began his formal introduction to our music.
	The choir, directed by Hugo Talbert, consisted of 80 members.  Having also directed the Croatian choir, Sloga, including their tamburitza orchestra, Hugo decided to also start an orchestra within the Kosta Choir, realizing that once bitten by the tambura bug, many would lose interest in choral singing.  The first orchestra consisted of 28 volunteers with Tillie playing prim, and they played solely for choir accompaniment and church socials.  Tillie was shortly switched to bugarija when the original bug player left.
	In 1939, out of this initial group, Tillie's first small combo was formed, featuring Tillie on the bugarija.  Others in the group were Leo Germanovich - lead, Nick Kosanovich - terc, George Kosanovich - cello, and Nick Vasilovich - bass.
	The group played the local church and tavern circuit from 1939 through 1941 until the war resulted in the disbanding of the group.  At that time, Tillie was encouraged by his mother to begin teaching the youth of the parish.  In 1942, the Veselo Srce Orchestra was organized with 20 boys and girls, all taught to play by Tillie Klaich.  Instruments were purchased from Ivan Hlad, Jim Kovacevic, Bencic and Valentich.  Costumes were sewn by parents and women of the parish.  Since the group was without a bass player, Tillie taught himself to play the bass and performed with the group.  Their initial repertoire consisted of 13 songs, and their first booking was a 'fill in' when a hired orchestra failed to appear for a church picnic.
	This group proved to be extremely popular, entertaining not only locally, but throughout Serbian and Croatian communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Canada.  The group presented concerts, variety shows, and dances.  They played a live morning radio show every Sunday on WWOL for five years, and were featured on CBS's Channel 4 inaugural broadcast.
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