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Some events

Spaghetti Dinner: Good Shepherd Polish National Catholic Church, 269 E. Main St., Plymouth, PA. on Saturday, November 15th from 4-7pm. Spaghetti with meat sauce, breadsticks, salad bar, dessert and beverage served. Adults pay $8; $4 for children younger than 10 years old. Takeouts available! A gift card raffle is included. Call 570-690-5411 for more information.

Cirque du Soleil’s WINTUK: The Polish Community Center is sponsoring a bus trip to see Cirque du Soleil’s WINTUK at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, November 20th. Tickets are $85 and include a show ticket plus round trip charter bus transportation. A regular ticket alone costs $150!!! The bus leaves the University at Albany from the Collins Circle bus stop at 7am. The show begins at 11am. There will be free time in afternoon to see NYC. The bus departs NYC at 6pm arriving back in Albany around 9pm. For more information, please contact Susan or Cathleen.

Thanksgiving Service: St. Mary’s Polish National Catholic Church will host Duryea’s annual ecumenical Thanksgiving service Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. at the church, 200 Stephenson St., Duryea, PA. The members of the Duryea Police Department, the Duryea Ambulance and Rescue Association, the Excelsior Hose Company No. 2, and Germania Hose Company will be honored at this time. Clergy from other Duryea area churches will participate in the service. Following the service, refreshments will be served in the church hall. Lori Biscontini is the chairwoman for this event. The Rev. Carmen Bolock is the pastor of St. Mary’s PNCC, and Byron Wescott is the church chairman.

St. Andrew’s Ball: The Polish Community Center of Albany cordially invites everyone for our annual Fall Dance on Saturday, November 27th, beginning at 7pm. Food from our Polish-American kitchen will be served and there will be a cash bar. Tickets are $15 per person. Entertainment by the Galicja Band. The Center is located at 225 Washington Ave Ext., Albany NY. For reservations and information please call Dariusz Figiel at 518-235-6001 or Marian Wiercioch at 518-235-5549.

Andrzejki 2010: Zapraszamy na wspólną zabawę Andrzejkową która odbędzie się w Polskim Klubie, 225 Washington Ave Ext, Albany, NY na 27-go listopada o godzinie 7-ej wieczorem. Wstep $15 od osoby. Polsko–Amerykańska kuchnia! i “cash bar!” Gra zespół “Galicja” z Connecticut. Po bilety prosimy dzwonić do: Dariusza Figiel 518-235-6001 albo Mariana Wiercioch 518- 235-5549.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Remembering Ś+P Eddie “Double 300” Lubanski

He Travelled as a Polish-American Ambassador: World Famous, Native Son Passes
By Raymond Rolak

TROY, MICHIGAN– In 1992, I became acquainted with Eddie Lubanski. When I was a little boy, I would watch him on Saturday television with my father. They had cigars. When I became Chairman of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, I got associated with Eddie Lubanski. He was much older and so very gracious when I told him the parallels between our fathers and baseball and bowling. Even more attentive was he, when I started to brag about Detroit and cigars. Eddie Lubanski was an original Motor City Ambassador.

He told Mark Danielewicz and me about old time Detroit baseball. “I wanted to play baseball at Wayne State but I started to make money bowling,” he said.

Lubanski was born in Detroit, a son of the depression but tough times did not get him down. Baseball was his first love, “I got to play for my dad in American Legion Baseball and in Federation ball. He was hard on me but I knew it was for my best. My cousin Leonard was a star with the Ternstedt Post- #166 team. He was the State of Michigan MVP in 1954. He won the Kiki Cuyler Award. The factory was on Livernois Avenue.”

That was Eddie Lubanski, deflecting the attention to somebody else.

Eddie was dominant on the diamonds in his own right. “We loved it when we got to play on Diamond # 1 at Northwestern. The infield was manicured like a pool table,” he said. Lubanski signed as a pitcher with the old St. Louis Browns and bounced around in the minors. “I got my perseverance from my father, Edward. The minors were depressing. I was playing in Wisconsin and decided that I had a better future in bowling. It wasn’t a good life for Betty.”

He started to talk about me. We wanted his stories, but he acted interested in us. “Ray, I heard you and Tom Paciorek speak about perseverance. That is the key. I told my boys during their youth hockey, don’t give up. You two played baseball at Wayne State, I followed that. Mark, I used to watch your brother play football. I am Michigan State through and through, you know. My boys are Spartans.” We were stunned. How would Eddie Lubanski know that? Why would he know that? “Mark, you caught Doug Konieczny. He is the only baseball player from Wayne State to make the Major Leagues,” Lubanski added. Danielewicz and I looked at each other in amazement.

The astonishment of Eddie Lubanski’s sports knowledge had not worn off yet. Another former NPASHF Chairman, Buck Jerzy put it in perspective. Jerzy got to talk and travel with Lubanski extensively during the Detroit All-Star Classic days in the 60’s. Jerzy said, “Eddie was class, he was a gentlemen’s-gentleman. Classy and humble, he would focus and help the younger guys. He helped me; we would talk bowling and college hockey. He always gave me the angle.”

During our dinner at the American Polish Cultural Center in Troy, Lubanski reminisced, “My father took me to the old Chene-Trombly Recreation Lanes. Joe and John Paulus were the owners and they were instrumental in getting me started as a pin setter. I started with the Stroh Team and Fred Wolf really helped me.” Wolf had a televised Bowling show, ‘Championship Bowling’ that ran from 1954-1965. It was carried in more than 200 cities. “Wolf got me into the big time of bowling,” he added

That future was fulfilled and bowling brought Lubanski international notoriety. His television matches on ABC-TV with Johnny King were legendary. King would sport giant Churchill cigars, much bigger than Eddie’s. During the pro-ladder matches Lubanski would use body-English to coax his pin roll. It was pure theater. King was known to jump over the ball returns after a double strike. King would trash talk and play to the crowds. Eddie was more reserved and ever so watchful. It was the equivalent of Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier. The King-Lubanski matches always got the largest ratings, they were the heavyweight performers. Don Carter and Dick Weber were other notable and popular television foes.

Lubanski’s two-finger, five-step delivery began to show great results along his bowling tournament travels. He won the World’s Invitational Championship in Chicago in 1958, and then followed that with an amazing four titles in the 1959 at the American Bowling Congress tournament in St. Louis. He was voted Bowler of the Year in 1959 and named to the All-American Bowling Teams in 1958 and 1959. He won numerous BPAA titles.

“I loved the feel and control the two-fingered ball gave me and most especially the revolutions I was able to manufacture,” said Lubanski. He also told about the old Detroit Recreation Center on Lafayette and Shelby. “It had six floors of lanes and billiard tables, and a lot of ‘sharpies’. It was a bowler’s palace,” he said. “Eighty-eight lanes and the best cigar stand in the city. I won a lot of money there. People came there just to see the place, so much action. That was Detroit.”

He is noted in the Guinness Book of Records for carrying a 204 average for 25 years. “The fifties and sixties were so alive and exciting in Detroit,” he added.

Also, in 1959, Lubanski got to icon status when he bowled a 300 game on television. He had the “Great Double 300” in Florida at Miami’s Bowling Palace. “I was in a zone that you only find a few times in a career,” he told me about that night in 1959. “It was easily my proudest moment as an athlete. Don’t think bowlers aren’t athletes. Most times we would bowl six games and that took a toll. I advocated bowling to become a varsity sport in the NCAA.”

Lubanski has been inducted to five separate Halls of Fame. He was inducted into the NPASHF in 1978. He was very proud to advance Polonia. “Everything I earned was related to my Polish-American upbringing, he said. With a smile and a twinkle he added, “And my wife’s faith in God and family.” Betty overheard, she smiled even longer.

Most recently along with writers Kevin Allen and Del Reddy he was promoting his autobiography, “King of the Pins”. He was forthcoming about a past drinking problem and his new passion was for mentoring in Alcoholics Anonymous. “I owe my life to Betty,” he said. “I can afford to give back.”

In all, Lubanski posted 11 sanctioned 300 games. He captained the Detroit Thunderbirds in the team National Bowling League in 1961 and 1962. They won the championship.

Son Paul said, “My father was a hero, a true hero and he inspired. He defeated his alcoholism and he anonymously helped save the lives of others.”

A Memorial Mass will be held on Friday at 10:00 A.M. at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Oak Park. Lubanski is survived by his wife Betty. They were married for 62 years and travelled the world together because of bowling. Children, Janis, Edward, Paul and Robert survive their father. A daughter, Denise, predeceased him and he will be cremated and interred with her. All the Lubanski children graduated from Oak Park High School in Michigan. Edward and Paul played hockey at Michigan State.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

National Independence Day (Narodowe Święto Niepodległości)

On November 18, 1918, after 123 years of occupation, the Polish state was reborn and regained its independence. November 11th marked the end of World War I and the defeat of all three occupiers. Russia was plunged into the confusion of revolution and civil war, the multinational Austro-Hungarian monarchy, held together by its government’s perpetuation of inter-ethnic conflicts as a means to divide and conquer, fell apart and went into decline. The Germans, of course, lost and were punished.

For Poles was their opportunity to reclaim their right as a nation, something they had continually fought for since they were invaded by the three occupying powers.

Marshal Józef Piłsudski speaking to the to the Polish people in a radio broadcast on November 11th, 1926 speaks about November 11th 1918 (originally posted here).

“Two dear little ones are sitting by me and begging for a tale. So I will tell the ladies and gentlemen a tale for children and grown-ups alike. “As much happiness as in a dream, as much truth as in a song.” So one man wrote, and we who read sometimes believe him and sometimes not. But today I tell you truly that there are charms and spells, so long as we are happy. Once I saw a crowd of children bending over something on the ground. Wondering what they could find to look at in a dirty courtyard, I espied a little frog. Filthy and frightened the frog hopped clumsily on its long legs and glared at the children with its goggle eyes.

“What are you gazing at?” I asked the little ones. One lad answered that he had read of a frog which was jumping about in the dirt, but suddenly by charms and spells, there came a great golden chariot drawn by six big horses. Six big lackeys held their bridles, and from the chariot ladies alighted dressed too gorgeously for words. They took a box from the chariot, and – oh! Charms and spells! The frog turned suddenly into a magic maiden, with lovely eyes and countenance.

The maiden looked at herself and marveled. For her robes were gleaming with pearly-white and rose color shot with gold and silver. Snow-white stockings covered her legs, which had been red with gold, but now were so warm that they gleamed like white marble through the silk. The dirty frog, transformed into a charming maiden took her place in the chariot and drove to a great white palace. The parquet mirrored her beauty, and maidens yellow with envy, whispered that she was an evil changeling. So there are charms and spells when a maiden is happy. They say that on earth there are no such tales.

I do not know if fairy-tales are true, but it is true that there are charms and spells when one is happy. I have heard with my own ears, I have seen with my own eyes, I have touched with my own fingers such charms and spells that of them I fear to speak. None of us, indeed, may have seen the dear child who was picking strawberries and suddenly espied a forest where, instead of branches, the trees grew cakes, ready to break off and eat. Who has seen the child who, as he hopped, found himself in an enchanted garden where magic birds chirped joyously between themselves? Or the dear girl in that garden where big juicy pears came of their own accord to her lips and red apples dropped into her pocket? Such, I believe, exist, and I will tell you about the wonder of wonders that I have touched and seen.

On a bright November day, not many years ago, along a road drowned everywhere in mud, a short grey serpent of lads big and small pressed forward. Like the clumsy frog, they wearily stumbled on, often stamping with frozen legs on the grey and marshy track. Poor fellows! They were hunched up and trembling with cold, their eyes dimmed by a toilsome night and many toilsome days. Their feet, soaked through their worn-out, mud-caked shoes, stumbled over the ground, lingering as though they clung to it for a moment’s rest. On the eleventh of November, they found themselves somewhere under the walls of Krakow. Before them rode another lad – rode on a young chestnut with a white-starred head.

The chestnut, daughter of the meadows, went mincingly into the town whence came those ragged lads, who now, as dirty as the earth itself, marched in. They had marched the whole night long, with death always staring them in the face. They had marched through the gate of death, through its strait and stifling portal. Like the frog, they longed to stumble into safety – safety within the walls of Krakow. But the country chestnut with the hairless head gazed on the city with disgust. When she reached the first houses, a scarecrow lorry came along, groaning and hissing, and she jibbed in terror. The lad upon her back caressed her and began to tell her of charms and spells. “Fear not, chestnut,” he murmured, “you are going into the capital, where thousands will gaze upon your lovely neck and golden hair.” For in Krakow there are charms and spells when a lad is happy, whether they be in the twin-towered church, or in the mighty bell, or in the crypt where kings for ever sleep, or in the hero’s or the poet’s tomb.

Not many years passed by, and the same chestnut gazed upon the same city on a new eleventh of November. Charm on charm and spell on spell – where were the grey and dirty lads, and where their leader? The same leader, but see how he has changed! On his breast as many stars as there are countries in the world. Trumpets and drums sounded as the infantry, in their steel helmets, marched firmly by, and the heavy guns made the windows rattle as they passed. An enchanted world, transformed!

But my time is up, and I must close with a wish for the next eleventh of November. Even if the month brings storms which roar in the chimney and shriek of death and terror, I know that restoration of the body and the soul’s rebirth give strength and beauty. In them we find an inward warmth which baffles the damp and poison. And may you smile then as on the magic eleventh of November in 1918! May the autumn sun burn your cheeks and a gentle breeze cool them, and may we laugh together from happiness at being great-souled and reborn! This, men and women and dear children, I wish you all.” — Marshal Józef Piłsudski

Everything Else, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia

Children of the rich

After reading the story I will point to below, my sarcasm meter went off the scale. I’ve long held that the rich, those who made their own wealth through enterprise are occasionally faced with a child or children who, if left to run the business would destroy it in a matter of minutes. As such, the rich are faced with a challenge in determining some future for their less than adequate (in a business sense) children. Where do these children end up? Typically politics. George W. Bush was a prime example – failed in every business he touched from oil wells to baseball, soft landing in politics. Looking at the pedigree of certain politicians, well, you know why they are there – let them screw up the government, just keep ’em away from the family business.

It appears that another alternative for these children is the arts.

If you have some modicum of common sense, looking at the pictures below might give a clue as to who one might consider trusting:

Trustworthy business people with insight into international intrigue?
Polish Priests and members of Opus Dei seeking to rule the world?

…but, a scion of the rich?

Hi, I'm Roger. Which did I choose? -- Photo via Roger Davidson Music

From the Gothamist and Interia: Laptop Repair Leads To $6 Million Scam Involving Opus Dei, More

If a 58-year-old pianist, whose family founded a huge oilfield services company, is worried about his laptop being infected with a computer virus, why not grift him for $6 million by telling him that not only was the laptop infected, but that he needed physical protection from the worm’s creators based in Honduras and that ” Polish priests affiliated with Opus Dei were attempting to possibly harm” him? That’s what computer repairman Vickram Bedi and Helga Invarsdottir are accused of doing to victim Roger Davidson.

Back in 2004, Davidson went to Bedi’s Mount Kisco, NY repair shop, Datalink, because he was worried music composition on the laptop would be lost. The Westchester DA’s press release about the alleged crime is kind of amazing, so here it is:

The scheme commenced in August 2004, when the victim’s computer developed a virus. Concerned that documents, photos and more importantly the music he had written and had stored on the computer could be lost, the victim took the computer to the defendant’s premises to have it repaired. Bedi confirmed that victim’s computer had a virus and indicated that the virus was extremely virulent and had also damaged Datalink’s computers.

Bedi told the victim that he had the facility, the contacts, and the means of tracking down the source of this virus that specifically targeted the victim’s computer and that he and his family were in grave danger. As a result, Bedi convinced the victim to not only begin paying for computer data retrieval and security, but also to begin paying for necessary personal physical protection.

Bedi subsequently advised the victim that he successfully tracked the source of the computer virus to a remote village in Honduras. Bedi informed him that the hard drive was the source of the worm that had invaded the computer and advised the victim that Bedi’s uncle, who Bedi contended is an officer in the Indian military, flew to Honduras in an Indian military aircraft during a reconnaissance mission and obtained the hard drive.

Bedi further related that his uncle obtained information that Polish priests affiliated with Opus Dei were attempting to possibly harm the victim.

Bedi also advised the victim that the Central Intelligence Agency had subcontracted with Bedi to perform work which would prevent any attempts by the Polish priests associated with Opus Dei to infiltrate the U.S. government.

Over this period Datalink charged the victim’s American Express card accounts on a continuing and monthly basis, resulting of a larceny of more than six million dollars.

It’s possible that the pair may have scammed Davidson, whose great-grandfather and great-grand uncle founded Schlumberger Ltd., for $20 million. Harrison police uncovered the scam when investigating a separate complaint against Bedi. Bedi and Invarsdottir were charged with grand larceny and their bail was set at $5 million bond over $3 million cash each. The pair also had to give up their passports.

Westchester DA Janet DiFiore said, “As is charged in the complaint, these two defendants preyed upon, duped and exploited the fears of this victim with cold calculation and callousness. The systematic method with which they continued the larceny over a period of more than six years is nothing short of heartless.”

I think they could have told him that an invading Martian army had infected his computer, or perhaps it was the Jews. The sorry fact is that people are indeed dumb enough to read Dan Brown and other fiction and draw real life conclusions from it. They believe in every conspiracy flight of fancy from Nostradamus, to Masonic, Bilderberg, and Trilateral Commission plots. There is a scary cleric around every corner just waiting for a piano player with some “very important world shattering sheet music.” Why isn’t he running for office?

Of course there is the unsaid: Where did Mr. Davidson learn (from mom, dad, grandpa?) that Polacks and Catholics can never be trusted. Does he have a load of bigotry that feeds his fears?

By the way, the Star Trek tie is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Maybe the Vulcans will beam him up to save him from the Polacks?

More info from Pressan – the Icelandic Press:

Helga Invarsdottir’s father claims that Mr. Davidson was having an affair with her, even though he is/was married. Ms. Invarsdottir and Mr. Bedi sat on the “board” of Mr. Davidson’s Society for Universal Sacred Music, Inc. It appears that she was its Treasurer.

Art, Events, Media, Poetry, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, , , , , , , , ,

Catching up with the Cosmopolitan Review

The Cosmopolitan Review is published by the alumni of Poland in the Rockies, a biennial symposium in Polish studies held at Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Here is a video from last summer’s sessions:

Each Review is a wealth of information on everything from books to politics, history to poetry. The following are links to articles from the Summer 2010 and Fall 2010 editions I thought you might find interesting and enlightening:

Summer 2010, Vol. 2, No. 2

Poland

… And beyond

Art

Essays

Books & Docs

Poetry

From the Past Into the Present

Fall 2010 Vol. 2, No. 3

Poles & Poland

… And beyond

Books, language, poetry…

Media, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political, ,

Setting the record straight

From the Kosciuszko Foundation and the American Center of Polish Culture: Please sign the petition demanding that the media stop calling “Auschwitz” a “Polish concentration camp.”

The Kosciuszko Foundation has posted a petition on it’s web site demanding that the media stop using libelous phrases such as “Polish concentration camps” and “Polish death camps,” which amounts to a form of Holocaust revisionism. News outlets that use these defamatory phrases are teaching new generations of impressionable newspaper readers, and the general public, that the Holocaust was carried out by Poles rather than Nazi Germany.

Poland did not exist from September 1939 until 1945. German maps from this time period show that the camps were built in “The Greater German Reich,” and the “General Government” area which were part of Hitler’s German expansion to the eastern conquered territories. The camps were established by Germans, run by Germans, and guarded by Germans. The Nazis gave them German names like “Auschwitz” and hung German words over the entrance, “Arbeit macht frei.”

Please assist in sending a message to media companies: They must stop using use these historically erroneous phrases. Please let the media hear our outrage about this by signing the petition.

Fundacja Kościuszkowska rozpoczęła akcję zbierania podpisów pod petycją do mediów, aby przestały używać określenia “polskie obozy koncentracyjne”.

– Jeśli nie narobimy hałasu, nic się nie zmieni. Jeśli Polacy chcą, aby świat myślał, że obozy koncentracyjne są naszym dziełem, to niech siedzą cicho. Jeśli chcemy przekonać wszystkich, że były to obozy niemieckie, nie siedźmy z założonymi rękami i podpiszmy petycję” – apeluje prezes Fundacji Kościuszkowskiej Alex Storożyński.

Christian Witness, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Wypominki – Holy Remembrances

Ś.P. Andrzej Weroniczak
Ś.P. Emilia Weroniczak
Ś.P. Józef Konicki
Ś.P. Rozalia Konicki
Ś.P. Louis A. Konicki
Ś.P. Bernice Konicki
Ś.P. Walenty Opach
Ś.P. Maria Opach
Ś.P. Marianna Nowak
Ś.P. Jan Nowak
Ś.P. Marianna Nowak
Ś.P. Marcin Nowak
Ś.P. Louis T. Konicki
Ś.P. Rita Konicki
Ś.P. Sister Mary Agnese Nowak
Ś.P. Agnes and Joseph Kolek
Ś.P. Angeline Nowak
Ś.P. John Nowak
Ś.P. Walenty Nowak
Ś.P. Walerka Nowak
Ś.P. Francis and Mary Nowak
Ś.P. Ludwis Nowak
Ś.P. Anthony and Laura Nowak
Ś.P. Joseph Balnis
Ś.P. Chester Kucharski
Ś.P. George and Joan Smyntek
Ś.P. Paul Caito
Ś.P. Bishop Franciszek Hodur and all the departed Bishops of the Polish National Catholic Church
Ś.P. All the departed Priests, Deacons, and Clerics of the Polish National Catholic Church

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon them.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon them.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Wieczne odpoczynek racz im dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj im świeci.
Wieczne odpoczynek racz im dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj im świeci.
Wieczne odpoczynek racz im dać Panie, a światłość wiekuista niechaj im świeci.
Niech odpoczywą w pokoju, Amen.

Events, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, , , , , , ,

Upcoming events – activism, authors, food, and more

At Good Shepherd PNCC in Plymouth, PA: Potato-Cheese Pierogi Sale on Sunday, October 31st from 3-5 p.m. at the Parish, 269 E. Main St., Plymouth, PA. To place pre-orders, please call 570-690-5411.

At All Saints PNCC in Rome, NY: Parish Dinner and Food Sale: All Saints will be holding a fund raiser to raise money for a new heating system for the Parish on Sunday, November 7th from 12 noon to 3pm, or until sold out. A choice of Chicken Riggies or Pork Chops will be served with tomato basil soup, and salad. Appropriate side dishes will be served. Homemade desserts will be included. Orders for Thanksgiving pierogi and galumbki will also be taken. Cost for the dinner is is $10.00 per person. For more information, please call 315-337-2382 or send an E-mail.

From IWJ: National Day of Action Against Wage Theft: A National Day of Action Against Wage Theft is being scheduled for Thursday, November 18th. November 18 is one week before Thanksgiving, a time when we celebrate our plenty at feasts throughout the nation. But workers who have had their legal wages stolen will be struggling to provide for their families this season. IWJ and workers across the country whose wages have been stolen need your help.

A Conference Call discussing the event will take place next Thursday, November 4th where you can learn what you can do in your community on that critical day. Please join in at 2pm EST. The call-in number is (760) 569-0111 and the Participant Access Code is: 1085004#. Groups across the country are organizing rallies, bus tours, prayer vigils, educational forums and legislative visits to highlight the ongoing crisis of wage theft and the many ways that workers and communities are fighting it.

From Duke University: An evening with Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk: One of Poland’s best contemporary writers, Olga Tokarczuk, will be reading from her work at The Perkins Library, Duke University on Thursday, November 11th at 7:30pm. This is a great opportunity to learn more about contemporary Polish culture, the literary scene, and to meet the author of Primeval and Other Times. Please E-mail Beth Holmgren for more information.

Olga Tokarczuk was born in 1962 in Sulechów near Zielona Góra, Poland. A recipient of all of Poland’s top literary awards, she is one of the most critically acclaimed authors of her generation. After finishing her psychology degree at the University of Warsaw, she initially practiced as a therapist. Since the publication of her first book in 1989, a collection of poems, Tokarczuk has published nine volumes of stories, novellas, and novels. In English her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, as has her novel House of Day, House of Night. In 1998 Tokarczuk moved to a small village near the Czech border and now divides her time between there and Wroclaw. For her latest novel, Bieguni [The Runners], she received Poland’s top book award, the Nike Prize, in 2008.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, , , , ,

Happy Name day Generał

October 28, is a Special Names Day Celebration
By Raymond Rolak

October 28, is Name Day for people named Thaddeus and thus, General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a good reason to celebrate for sure. His ideals were lofty and he prized honor and liberty for all.

In Poland, Names Day celebrations are customary. Like a ‘Birthday Party’ in America, one would celebrate with friends and family on the feast day of the Saint one is named after. On October 28, because of his cherished celebrity and honored courage, everyone considers themselves ‘Tad.’ Tadeusz Kosciuszko, that is.

After his exploits in the American Revolution, Kosciuszko returned to Poland to help restore the Polish borders.

After Poland passed the May 3, Constitution in 1791, it was attacked by Russia, Prussia and Austria who wanted to stop these democratic reforms. King Stanislaw Augustus created the Virtuti Militari medal to honor the Polish soldiers, who had fought to defend the first democratic constitution in Europe. But the Poles lost the war, and the Russians demanded that these medals not be worn or displayed.

While the officers who received this honor took the medals off their chests, they sent the blue with black ribbons from these honors to their wives and girlfriends, who used them to tie their hair in ponytails.

On Oct 28, 1792, Prince Czartoryski held a Names Day party (imieniny) at his palace for the name’s day of Tadeusz. General Kosciuszko was celebrated. The women wore white dresses with black and blue sashes and tied their hair in ponytails with the medal ribbons. The women also made a garland crown of leaves from an oak tree planted 100 years earlier by King Sobieski, and placed it on Kosciuszko’s head to honor him.

General Kosciuszko was described by Thomas Jefferson as the “Purest son of Liberty”. When Kosciuszko died he left his money and property in America for the freeing and education of slaves. George Washington commented, “He served America with courage and distinction.”

Because October is Polish Heritage Month in America, remember to be Tad that day. Wear a blue and black ribbon. Remember parents, grand-parents and all those who came before us. Remember the sacrifices of veterans, teachers, mentors and most of all, remember the examples of Kosciuszko. “Happy Names Day- Tadeusz.”

Events, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

Harvest Dinner at St. Valentine’s

From WWLP: Polish church holds ‘Harvest Dinner’

Harvest Dinner is a time honored occasion at St. Valentine’s Polish National Catholic Church in Northampton, Massachusetts.
 
Parishioners filled the Church’s social center to celebrate what’s become a tradition at Polish National Catholic Churches everywhere.
 
“It’s a celebration of all the wonderful gifts that God has given us through the growing seasons. And we always gather together as a church family,” said Father Senior Joseph Soltysiak.

And as part of that longstanding tradition, the St. Valentine’s spiritual leader told 22News, parishioners invite members of other churches to share the celebration.

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