A cousin to Alex Kudrick's children, Mary Lazar (pronounced laser), is born to John and Anna Kudrik Lazar on November 5, 1917 in McKeesport, Pennsylania.  Her birthday happens to be the same birthday (November 5) as the birthdays of Joseph R. Kudrick and William E. Kudrick, both sons of Joseph Kudrick, Mary Lazar's first cousin.  Mary is baptized and confirmed on November 11 at St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church in McKeesport.  She will grow up and marry John Crans after which they both will become good friends of several of the Bartko/Kudrick families.

Mary's mother, Anna Kudrik Lazar, is Alex Kudrick's younger sister (13 years younger).  She is also the second child of Michael and Elizabeth Kudrik, Alex being the first.  She emigrated to America in 1906 with her younger brother, Michael.  Alex conveyed to his family in Hungary (now Slovakia) that if his sister and brother were planning to come to America, they should stay clear of the coal mining region because it is dirty and dangerous work.  Anna Kudrik Lazar (age 22) and her brother Michael Kudrik (age 17) therefore emigrate to the western part of Pennsylvania and Michael seeks work in the steel mills in and around the city of Pittsburgh.  Soon after their arrival in McKeesport, Anna marries John Lazar.  It could very well have been a pre-arranged marriage similar to the Anna Scšur/Janos Bartko marriage in 1890. 

Events of 1917:  With inflation running at 23%, America enters the war in Europe.  The entire country is engaged in the conflict either directly or by making necessary sacrifices at home.  Sacrifices are made, heartache is felt and pain is shared by many.  The American spirit is changing.  Teddy Roosevelt visits a military training camp and remarks that, "The enormous majority of our men are drilling with broomsticks or rudely whittled guns."  In school, children are sold twenty-five-cent Liberty Stamp books with the slogan:  "Lick a stamp and Lick the Kaiser."  Churches, business firms and schools erect tablets with the names of the fighting men and home windows display flags starred with the number of men in the service.  We, as a country, will repeat this again and again.  The cartoon "Katzenjammer Kids" is renamed "The Captain and the Kids" because of anti-German sentiment.  Tons of peach pits are saved to make charcoal filters for gas masks which is a critical and necessary item in this specific war.

Internationally, on May 13, three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal report seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary and across the water in England, the British royal family adopts the Windsor name.

The American spirit remains strong as Father Edward Flanagan founds Boys Town outside Omaha, Nebraska and dedicated scientists develop a vaccine against Rocky Mountain spotted fever.  However, sadness prevails as the American people lose two colorful characters this year:  "Diamond" Jim Brady and "Buffalo" Bill Cody.

Movies and music propel star status to Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks while the hit song of the day is "The Bells of St. Marys."

Electric trolleys are very popular in the United States and a normal ride costs 5¢.  There are 80,000 electric trolleys in the United States connecting major cities.

The National Hockey League is formed with Frank Calder as the president.  In the January 1, 1918 Rose Bowl, the Mare Island (Marines) beat the Camp Lewis (Army) by a score of 19-7.  Managers John McGraw of the New York Giants and Christy Mathewson of the Cincinnati Reds are arrested in a game in the New York Polo Grounds for violating the Sunday ball-playing prohibition.

For the first time, tax revenues from income taxes surpass those from custom taxes.  Can you believe this?  For the first time people are aware of regular air mail, Phillips Petroleum, Union Carbide and Carbon, electric food mixer and beater, "Cloture" rule in the senate and the Travelers Aid Society--and the connection between food freezing and freshness is discovered by a person named Clarence Birdseye.