St Stanislaus Choir at The Grotto — Sunday, December 7th at 6pm
Once again, the St. Stanislaus choir will sing Polish carols at the Grotto. This is a great opportunity to hear Polish carols in the beautiful scenery of the Grotto’s Festival of Lights. The Festival, featuring over 150 choral concerts, it is the largest music festival of its kind in the world. Tickets: $7.50 ($3 children), The Grotto, NE 85th and Sandy Blvd, Portland, Oregon, More information:
The following is a recording of the St. Stanislaus Choir at the Grotto in 2006:
New Owner of the Koffeehouse Kraków
Longtime Polish Festival volunteer Mark Ziaja Kirchmeier has now become the sole owner of Krakow Koffeehouse & Deli, immediately north of the St. Stanislaus rectory. Mark looks forward to offering Krakow as a resource for any Polonia groups needing meeting space, or to borrow kitchen equipment chairs or tables. “I am happy to say that 95% of our hours, will compliment our good neighborhood, Grandpa’s Cafe’s schedule, and not overlap with them,” Mark says. Krakow’s hours are Mon-Fri, 6:45am to 6:30pm; Sat 8am to 6:30pm, and Sunday 9am to 6:30pm.
Mark and his wife, Jane, are also interested in organizing a meeting with interested Polonia, and East Indian, Afro-American and Polish-American-owned eateries such as Fire on the Mountain on Interstate Avenue, to better market and improve the historic Interstate area. For more information, contact Mark.
Polish cellist Asia Grzesik will play at Krakow Koffeehouse
Grzesik performed last year with the touring Cirque du Soleil. Krakow admission is free.
Polish Library Association New Year Eve Party
The Polish Library Association would like to invite you to the New year Eve Party. The theme of this year party is “The Phantom of the Opera”. Tickets: $75.00 ($65.00, for PLBA members) available in the Polish Library every Sunday, 12:00-1:00pm (ask for Grzegorz Traczyk).
Looking forward to 2009
Some of the events which have already been scheduled for next year include:
Dance Party at Polish Hall – Saturday, Jan 31, 2009
Valentine’s evening with Cabaret “Vivat Amore!” – Saturday, February 14, 2009
Film Festival featuring the films of Andrzej Wajda – March, 2009
A tribute to Odetta by John Guzlowski at Living in Partial Light:
…She was just there sitting on the lawn playing her guitar. They had asked her down for a concert or something, and she was just playing a guitar and singing on the lawn.
Her voice was so natural. She saw me standing listening to her, and she asked me to sit down and sing with her, and I was embarrassed. I apologized and said I didn’t have much of a voice. She said that’s fine, “If you can talk you can sing.” Then she started humming. It was a song called “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out.”
She played it and then she started singing it, but it was more like talking than singing, and I knew the song so I talked it as she talked it.
It was pleasant, like a conversation. She wanted me to feel comfortable.
What I like about the post is that it recalls a person who lived her humanity. All talent aside, one person’s humanity is worth more than 10,000 forgotten concerts or millions of dollars. Odetta Holmes stood up, lending her voice to the struggle for civil rights. Standing up is more than words. If it is only word those are the words of false prophets, gangsters, and hucksters. When words meet actions we stand in moments imprinted by Christ Jesus, moments that call us to our potential. May the angels guide her home.
May we praise, adore, and thank our gracious God who blesses us with a bounty that is without end.
I wish you every blessing on this Thanksgiving Day. May our Lord be gracious onto you, granting you every gift, and most particularly the gifts of family, friendship, health, and peace. Let us render our thanks unto Him.
Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom his world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in his grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son, and him who reigns
With them in highest heaven-
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore. Amen.
Saturday November 29th, 2008 beginning at 7pm
$30 per person
Buffet dinner & after midnight snack
Entertainment by EKSTAZA Band
For reservation & information please call:
Dariusz Figiel 518-235-6001
Marian Wiercioch 518-235-5549
Margaret Leoniuk 518-221-6406
—Ostatki—
Sobota 29 listopada 2008 — 7 wieczorem
cena biletu $30 od osoby w tym wliczony obiad i po pÏŒłnocy (czerwony barszcz z przekąskami)
Bawimy się z orkiestrą EKSTAZA!
po bilety proszę dzwonic do:
Dariusz Figiel 518-235-6001
Marian Wiercioch 518-235-5549
Małgorzta Leoniuk 518-221-6406Â
The Bishop Hodur Choir of St. Stephen’s PNCC, Reading, Pennsylvania has recorded a new CD containing fourteen Christmas hymns, songs, and kolędy. From traditional Polish kolędy to contemporary numbers and instrumental works, this CD would be a great addition to your Christmas collection.
The CD is available for $14 (shipping and handling included). Please mail your order with pre-payment (check or money order) to:
The Bishop Hodur Choir
% Sally Urban
541 Summit Ave
Reading PA 19611-1964
Kosciuszko Foundation Marching In 71st Annual Pulaski Day Parade
The Kosciuszko Foundation will be joining the New York Polish-American community in the 71st Annual Pułaski Day Parade, and we invite members, their families, and friends, to join us. It gives us a chance to join thousands of Poles and Polish Americans in celebrating our heritage. Since this year is also the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Poles in America, in Jamestown, it is especially significant.
The Parade is Sunday, October 5, beginning at 12:30 PM.
New York’s Pułaski parade is a huge event for Poles and Polish-Americans. Check it out if you are in the New York Metropolitan area.
Rafał Olbinski Art Show opening Thursday, October 9th
Rafal Olbinski, the renowned Polish artist, will have a show of his works at the Rotunda Gallery of the Kosciuszko Foundation in October. The exhibition will open with a presentation by Olbinski on Thursday, October 9, at 7 PM, and continue through Sunday, October 26. The Foundation is located at 15 East 65th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Visitors can see the show during office hours Monday-Friday, 9-5 PM, and on Saturdays, October 11, 18, and 25, from 3 —“ 7 PM. Since other events take place at the Foundation, it is best to call ahead of time. Office phone is (212) 734-2130.
Olbinski is an architect by professional training, as well as painter, poster artist, graphic designer, and illustrator, and has lived in New York since 1981. His illustrations regularly appear in the press, including Time, Newsweek, Der Spiegel, Business Week, and other newspapers and magazines. For many years he has been creating opera posters, including commissions for the New York Metropolitan Opera and City Opera. In 2002 Olbinski designed stage settings for the Philadelphia Opera Company’s production of ”Don Giovanni” He also created a famous poster after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Since 1995, he has taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Rafal Olbinski’s posters are a synthesis of surrealistic mood and, from the other side, symbolism, characteristic of the Polish school of poster design. He has received more than 100 awards for his work, including Gold and Silver Medals from the Society of Illustrators and Art Directors Club of New York. In 1994 he was awarded the International Oscar for the World’s Most Memorable Poster, “Prix Savignac 1994” in Paris. In 1995 his poster was chosen as the official New York City “Capital of the World” Poster in an invitational competition, by a jury led by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. In the following year he won the award for the best painting in the annual exhibition of the Society of Illustrators.
Olbinski was born in city of Kielce, Poland, and graduated from the Architectural Department of Warsaw Polytechnic School. In 1981 he emigrated to the US, where he soon established himself as a prominent painter, illustrator and designer.
The Mariacki Altarpiece, Its theft by Nazi Germany, and its complicated post-war return
Mariacki Altarpiece
Agata Wolska, archivist of the Mariacki Cathedral, the oldest and richest archive in Poland, will give an illustrated talk on the Cathedral’s magnificent altarpiece, stolen during World War Two and only returned more than a decade after the war ended. The talk is on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, at 7 PM. The talk is open to the public and no ticket is required; donations are welcome.
Krakow, Poland’s ancient capital is blessed with world-class art and architecture. Wit Stwosz (German Viet Stoss, ca. 1440-1533) one of the greatest Gothic sculptors lived and worked there for 19 years. For twelve years he worked on his masterpiece; the 3-story-high altarpiece in the Mariacki (Basilica of the Virgin Mary) on the city’s central Rynek Glowny (Grand Square). The altarpiece is the largest Gothic sculpture in the world, 42 feet high and 36 foot-wide. It consists of some 200 fine limewood sculptures treated with color and gold foil.
It is a Flugelaltar (German style “wing altar”) with two wings framing the center. The central part, with huge lifelike statues of the saints, depicts dramatically the Virgin Mary’s Dormition, surrounded by the Apostles. Looking upwards one sees the Ascension of Our Lady and Lord. At the top there is the Madonna’s Heavenly Coronation by the Trinity. The wings are covered with relief scenes from the life of the Holy Family. The huge structure is ceremonially opened at noon each day, and closed at night.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, the altar was dismantled and taken to Germany. Its rescue and return by the Americans is a thrilling story.
Agata Wolska studied art history at Krakow’s ancient Jagiellonian University, and received further training in archival maintenance and computerization. She has received a grant from the Kosciuszko Foundation to do research in the Library of Congress and U.S. National Archives in connection with the altar’s return. Ms. Wolska is in charge of the Mariacki archives, and is preparing a book on the altar’s troubled wartime history.
Dorian Wind Quintet featurning Grazyna Bacewicz will open Chamber Music Season
The Dorian Wind Quintet, recognized worldwide for its uniquely polished and passionate performances, returns to inaugurate the 2008-2009 Chamber Music Series on Sunday, October 26, at 3 PM, at the Kosciuszko Foundation. The program includes works of Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz (1909 – 1969) as well as Darius Milhaud, Anton Reicha, and Lalo Schifrin. Tickets are $40 ($30 KF members), including a reception with the musicians, and can be reserved by calling the Foundation Office at (212) 734-2130.
Since its formation at Tanglewood in 1961, the Dorian Wind Quintet has performed repertoire ranging from the Baroque to Pulitzer Prize winning commissions, in the world’s most renowned concert halls. The Quintet has literally been around the world, concertizing in 49 of the 50 states and Canada, touring Europe eighteen times, and playing throughout the Middle East, India, Africa and Asia. The Dorian made history as the first wind quintet to appear at Carnegie Hall in1981.
The Dorian Wind Quintet collaborates often with well-known artists, and has appeared at numerous festivals including the American and international festivals. It has served as the resident ensemble for many institutions including the Mannes College of Music, Brooklyn College and the State University of New York System,and for over 10 years, at the Festival Institute at Round Top, Texas. Dorian currently serves as Ensemble-in- Residence at Hunter College in New York City. It has recorded on the Vox, CRI, Serenus, New World, and Summit Records labels.
Every member of the Dorian is a virtuoso in his or her own right, as well as a dedicated chamber player. Each has been associated with the most prominent performing ensembles, venues and musical institutions in the world and has joined the Dorian Wind Quintet out of passion for the repertoire and the joy of its performance.
The current members of Dorian are Gretchen Pusch, flute; Gerard Reuter, oboe; Jerry Kirkbride, clarinet; John Hunt, bassoon; and Karl Kramer-Johansen, horn.
During last year’s Polkas at the Pavilion, the floor of the Pavilion was hopping almost as much as the dancers. This year, organizers hope to have an even bigger crowd for the daylong event Saturday, Sept. 20.
“Last year, we had around 900 people in attendance and raised almost $9,000 for the pavilion,” said organizer Ron Raczkowski. “We’re trying to build on that for this year.”
Raczkowski, along with his wife, Kathy, and brother, Dan, started the event after attending a rock music event at the pavilion and thought it would be fun to fill the 6,725 square foot building with polkas. They got eight polka bands together, organized refreshments and donated all the proceeds to pavilion restoration efforts.
“We had a blast,” Raczkowski said. “It was really fun seeing all the different musicians mingling with the crowd.”
…
The success of last year’s event allowed the Raczkowskis to increase the number of bands this year.
“All the bands said yes to donating their time last year, not knowing how the crowd would be,” Raczkowski said. “But when they saw how big the crowd was, they all said yes again for this year. We even got two more to come.”
The event also will feature a polka dancing competition.
…
Our Saviors National Catholic Church in Mosinee will be selling authentic Polish food including four types of pierogies, golobki and kielbasa, said the Rev. Marion Talaga.
“Last year was wonderful. People loved the golobki and the pierogi and the Polish sausage with the real Polish sauerkraut,” he said.
Details:
What: Polkas at the Pavilion
When: Noon to midnight Saturday, Sept. 20
Where: Rothschild Pavilion, 1104 Park St., Rothschild
Cost: $10 for ages 18 and older; $8 ages 12 to 17; children younger than 12 get in free.
Contact: 715-571-8236 or 715-359-3660
The festival features Holy Mass at 11am at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral, 529 E. Locust St., Scranton, PA. More details below as excerpted from the following article in the Scranton Times Tribune: Polish staple pierogies one of features at upcoming Polka Fest 2008
Around these parts, folks take their pierogies as seriously as their polka.
So, you can bet that at this weekend’s Pennsylvania Polka Fest 2008, they won’t be serving the stuff from the supermarket freezer section, no offense to Mrs. T.
The highly versatile Polish staple will be among the edible highlights at Polka Fest, the WVIA-sponsored celebration of the music, food and culture of Eastern Europe. It’ll be held all day Saturday and Sunday at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel.
Among other things, Polka Fest will feature: performances by acts like The East-Side Groove and Ed Goldberg and the Odessa Klezmer Band; strolling accordion players; dance lessons given by Matt and Elaine Bonowitz, the No. 1 ranked Polka dancers in the country; a Polish Ethnic Mass in St. Stanislaus Polish National Catholic Cathedral, 529 E. Locust St., featuring Stanky and the Coalminers; and a live broadcast and show tapings of WVIA’s popular program, —Pennsylvania Polka.—
And then there’s the food. Area churches and nonprofit groups will be on hand selling a variety of Eastern European delicacies, including halushki, kielbasa, potato pancakes and, of course, pierogies. Saturday’s festivities will include a Best Pierogi Maker in Northeast Pennsylvania contest, for which WVIA is still searching for contestants. Those interested should call Wendy Wilson, WVIA vice president for corporate communications, at 602-1181…
Note that the article includes a pierogi recipe. Smacznego, Bon Appétit…
The Led Zeppelin and AC/DC anthems rank outside the top 10, but have gained ground in recent years as more Australians give up traditional Christian hymns…
As Christians we could do some headbanging over this trend, but only if we have done enough to reach the unchurched. Otherwise stay tuned because you may be hearing this at your local funeral home:
Sunday, September 7, 11am: 31st Annual Harvest Festival/Dożynki, Holy Mother of Sorrows PNCC, 212 Wyoming Ave., Dupont, PA. The blessing of the Harvest Wreath will take place at 2pm.
Friday, September 12, 7pm: Blue Mass Our Lord’s Ascension PNCC, 2105 Jennings St., Bethlehem, PA. The Mass honors firefighters, police officers and EMS workers. Emergency personnel are asked to attend in uniform. The victims of 9/11 will also be remembered. A social will follow the Mass. Info: 610-694-0164.
Saturday, September 20, 10am: Eastern Diocese SOCL Seminar – Teaching the Sacrament on the Sacrament of the Word of God, St. Joseph’s PNCC, 1300 Stratford Rd., Stratford, CT.
Thursday, September 25 – Saturday, September 27: 10th Synod of the Buffalo/Pittsburgh Diocese, All Saints PNCC, 500 Fifth St., Carnegie, PA.
Saturday, September 27, 9am – 3pm: Tag Sale and Flea Market, St. Joseph’s PNCC, 1300 Stratford Rd., Stratford, CT.
Saturday, October 4, 1pm: Blessing of the Animals in honor of the Commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis PNCC, 1752 Harton Avenue, East Meadow, Long Island, NY.
Sunday, October 5, 4pm: Holy Mass and Blessing of the Renovated Church and Reception in honor of the 76th Anniversary of St. Francis Parish. St. Francis PNCC, 1752 Harton Avenue, East Meadow, Long Island, NY.
Saturday, October 11, 1pm – 5pm: Homemade Polish Platter Dinner, Holy Trinity PNCC, 619 Center St., Throop, PA.
Friday, October 17: 3rd Synod of the Canadian Diocese, Holy Trinity PNCC, 880 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Thursday, October 23 – Saturday, October 25: 10th Synod of the Central Diocese hosted by the Plymouth Seniorate with the theme “To Grow in Faith, Witness and Commitment to Christ.” Holiday Inn, Wikes-Barre, PA.
Sunday, October 26, 4pm: Holy Mass of Thanksgiving, 50th Anniversary of the Ordination to the Holy Priesthood of Bishop Thomas J. Gnat, Holy Trinity Cathedral, 166 Pearl St., Manchester, NH.
