September 5, 2005
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Dear Readers,

Welcome back to the 2005-2006 school year! A new school year often brings a sense of excitement and anticipation. I strongly encourage all the parents to be engaged member of the school community because you are the primary educators of your children. It is for this reason that you need to ensure that the lines of communication between the school that your child attends and your home are strong. Be involved and volunteer to help in the schools, or dance groups that your child attends. We wish you all a successful and challenging school year.

It is hard to believe that this summer is almost over. As many of you know from my last article, my husband and I took few weeks off to join PRCUA dance groups at this year’s International Festival of Polish Folk Dance Ensembles in Rzeszow, Poland and in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Dance festivals have had a difficult few years. Some have disappeared, others have downsized and all have felt the heat from rock festival’s expending dance arenas. But the International Polish Folk Dance Festival held every three years in Rzeszow, Poland has been getting bigger. With considerable experience in organizing the festival since 1969, today the peaceful and traditionally hospitable city of Rzeszow has earned its place on the map of world International Dance Festivals. It receives much attention from traditional folk dance lovers, and deservedly so. The love of the people from that region for traditional dance, embraced the Festival throughout the years. This most famous festival in Poland is under the patronage of “Wspolnota Polska”. Its aim is engage young people of Polish descent (POLONIA) to care and preserve the old traditions and culture, specifically dancing and singing and to prevent them from falling into forgetfulness. It encourages our youth of Polish descent to relive and learn Polish customs through beautiful Polish traditional songs and dances by participating in dance groups in their home country, far away from Poland. This year, among many entries from all over the world, only 40 of the best dance groups were chosen to participate in this Festival. The PRCUA is proud to announce that among those chosen were two of the PRCUA adult dance groups – “Wesoly Lud” choreographed by talented Misia and Richard Jaminski from Chicago, IL., and “Echo’s of Poland” choreographed by talented Paulina Ortyl from Toledo, Ohio. This Festival has very unique atmosphere, it attracts many thousands of visitors from all over the Poland and of course, from the rest of the world, which proves that even in this day and age, an event that honors age-old traditions can attract crowds. The host city of Rzeszow and its surrounding towns receive many benefits from hosting this event. Just before and after the Festival, Rzeszow and surrounding towns receives much publicity in many newspapers, magazines, on the radio and on TV all across Poland. Foreign visitors associated with the dance groups that come to the Festival rarely have enough time to really enjoy the surroundings because of the hectic schedule, but this exposure to Rzeszow makes them want to return when they can just be relaxed “tourists”. For my husband and I, it was our first visit to that part of Poland. It is very beautiful and picturesque area, clean, and you can smell the fresh air.

The traditional opening of the Festival started with a Mass, which was held in the modern and beautiful Rzeszow Cathedral. The Mass was celebrated by Most Rev. Bishop Kazimierz Gorny. All the dance groups in different Polish colorful costumes participated in the Mass with many dignitaries, leaders from different organizations from Poland as well as from other countries. During the Homily, Bishop Gorny welcomed the dancers of Polish descent from all over the world. He told us how proud and emotionally overwhelmed he is to see so many young people dressed in the traditional Polish costumes, who are willing not only to dance dances and sing songs from the past, but who are also retaining their Catholics faith. He reminded us that we should never forget our roots and be always proud of our Polish heritage. After the Mass, some of the organizers of the Festival together with some of the dignitaries visited the local cemetery to lay the wreath of flowers on the graves of the past Festival organizers. It was an emotional moment. That same day, in the late afternoon, the streets of Rzeszow were filled with thousands of people as over 1,400 dancers, ranging from age 16 to 70, and representing almost every continent, in traditional Polish costumes proudly marched, danced, and sang their way through the streets of Rzeszow in colorful parade that ended at Rzeszow’s outdoor arena. With much fanfare, the official opening of this very colorful spectacle of dance and song, now in its in 36 year, the 13th International Polish Folklore Festival was open. After the introduction of all the dance groups, few short speeches and a presentation of the “Keys” to the city of Rzeszow, the Festival was underway. The colorful display of songs, dances and traditional folk dress, virtually from every region of Poland and extensive repertoire, the 40 dance group ensembles entertained the crowds to the late hours of the evening. What we had seen was just a taste of what was yet to come in the days ahead. Each day was filled with practice, workshops, and later in the day with concert performances throughout the region in the different cities in the vicinity of Rzeszow. There was something for our dancers to do and enjoy from early morning hours until late at night. The dance groups also had an opportunity to see different small towns, meet with the people of many different backgrounds and traditions. We also had an opportunity to sample the traditional ways activities such as bread making, woodworking, sampling the home made cheeses and for us adults some home made brandy, traditional cooking, horse drawn open wagons and much more. Many of the dancers were in Poland for the first time. Many of them did not speak the language, but with the song and dance and big smiles they made friends throughout different towns and villages in Poland and were always received with great enthusiasm.

The highlights of the Festival were two concerts which were held in Rzeszow indoor sporting arena. The first concert performance was dances from the dance group’s countries of origin. All the groups put on very good and beautiful show. PRCUA dance groups were fantastic. The dance group “Echo’s of Poland” “Swing Danced”, ladies in colorful dresses and men’s in colorful shirts boogied did the jitterbug and were able to mix different steps perfectly to very fast music. During their performance the audience were clapping and stomping their feet to the rhythm of the music! They danced with high energy and creative choreography. Way to go “Echo’s”, you were FANTASTIC! The dance group “Wesoly Lud” presented the “Chicago Szalona Polka”! They were AWESOME- that is the only word I can think of to describe its performance. We could not take our eyes from the stage. These young, energetic dancers were sooooo goooood! The dancers were rocking with so much energy and different moves that is no wonder that their performance brought the audience to their feet! PRCUA dance groups – CONGRATULATIONS – you deserved all the attention, you were the ones doing the great stuff! The climax of the festival was a Gala performance that took place on the last day of the festival. When the Gala concert began, nearly every seat in the huge hall was occupied. The air was hot; the air-conditioning was not working properly, but this inconvenience did not stop the dancers from going on stage and giving a very impressive performance which was televised throughout Poland. Each dance group was constantly striving to provide the very best in entertainment in an exciting and artistic manner. The performances were rich in repertoire and elegantly portrayed the different regions of Poland. Some of the dances performed were very vibrant that could get you on your feet while the emotional slow dances took your breath away. Watching over a thousand dancers all at once on stage and the arena floor, all in traditional, bright, colorful and very beautiful Polish costumes, along with the audience rousing ovations made this festival a uniquely wonderful experience. At the end all the dancers, choreographers, dignitaries and the gathered on the stage and around the stage, the festival director, Mariusz Grudzien, thank everyone for participating and taking part in this festival. He reminded the dancers that they are always welcome in the Mother’s Country – Poland and never, never forget who we are. Poland will be awaiting them with open arms when all the invited groups come back again in 2008! As the lights dimmed, all of us gathered joined by the hands sang together the last song, there was not a dry eye in the arena. Through tear brimmed eyes, these new friends bid goodbye to the universal love of dance and song, presented a beautiful sight at this festival. All the participants once again proved that despite the short time, despite all the differences, competitiveness did not separated us, but made us richer in appreciating one’s another work and our roots and made us more aware of who we are and what we strive for. After the Gala performances, all the dancers returned to the “festival city”, otherwise known as university dorms and they transformed the “festival city” into one great party. Everyone was enthusiastically dancing and making music and saying goodbyes. Most of the dancers from “Echo’s from Poland” departed the very next day for the United States, but the dancers from “Wesoly Lud” packed their bags and early next morning departed on a long journey to Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a long, bumpy 15 hours bus drive. ”Wesoly Lud” dance ensemble was delighted to be one of only ten dance ensembles from all over the world to be invited to take part in this special festival concert in Vilnius. Folklore festivals in Lithuania have long standing tradition of attracting thousands to the performances. The dance groups were received very warmly at the Festival, which was held in an ice arena. Unfortunately, the air conditioning was not working properly. The temperatures outdoors were over 100F and inside was not much cooler. Over 6,000 people attended the concert and enthusiastically giving our dance groups much deserved standing ovations. We were all impressed by the dancers who in this heat, still performed with such energy, presence and technical versatility that they gave very beautiful presentations of Polish dances and songs. This rich performance proved once again how much we are enriched by maintaining our love for our Polish roots, no matter what continent we live on.

During our short stay in Vilnius we had an opportunity to do panoramic sightseeing of this over 600 years old capital of Lithuania. Vilnius is known for its more than 1200 medieval buildings, around 48 churches. During our short walking tour of the city we were able to see Old Town, Vilnius Cathedral, St. Peter and Paul’s Church, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit, Town Hall Square and Vilnius University (founded in 1579). We also had an opportunity to see the Gates of Dawn with a holy image of the miraculous Virgin Mary icon (Matka Boska Ostrobramska) and historical Polish cemetery “Rossa”. Our tour took us to town of Trakai, about 15 miles from Vilnius, former capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There we visited Trakai castle of the 14th century, erected on small island in Lake Galve. This castle for ages served as a defensive structure and residence of Lithuanian Grand Dukes. In such a short stay, we could not see everything; many of us are planning that in next few years we will once again visit Lithuania and with leisure see its beauty.

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all the dance groups from all over the world, especially to the PRCUA groups, their talented choreographers and PRCUA members who danced with different dance groups who also participated in the Festival, for the fantastic performances. It was such a pleasure to meet with you, get your input and share your joys. You all were wonderful! Special thank you, to “Echo’s of Poland”, “Wesoly Lud” and other PRCUA members at the Festivals for being so kind to my husband and me. Thank you for spreading the good word about our organization. I was so touched when PRCUA dance groups, over and over, publicly praised our organization and extended a heart-felt thanks to the PRCUA who helped in making this unforgettable trip to this wonderful festival a reality. I am proud that PRCUA has such dance ensembles of world class caliber representing our organization. Their outstanding performances are tribute to the PRCUA. I would like to thank the press – radio and television station in Rzeszow and Vilnius for conducting the interviews with our dance groups and choreographers, my husband and I and letting us talk about our dance groups, our organization and for giving such extensive coverage to the Festival. I should not forget Richard Jaminski – “Wesoly Lud” talented choreographer, who daily participated in the Rzeszow radio program and his very kind words about our organization. Thank you to Janet Gawle-Gnida, member of “Echo’s of Poland, who made those special calls from Rzeszow to Toledo, Ohio radio program with the updates and news from the Festival. Special thank you also goes to the Chicago TV station POLVISION for their coverage of “Wesoly Lud’s” departure to Poland. Our dance groups brought much attention and good publicity for the PRCUA locally and abroad. The International Festival of Polish Folk Dancing could not run so smoothly without the organization “Wspolnota Polska”, its officers, workers and volunteers and the festival Director – Mariusz Grudzien - our sincere Thank You for a job well done.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Lets all sing Happy Birthday and Sto Lat to these PRCUA employees with birthdays in September: Mary Jane Robles – my efficient secretary, to our PRCUA President – Wallace Ozog, to Philadelphia office employee -Elaine Burkhard, to our Polish Museum employee and guide- Richard Kujawa. Also, Happy Birthday to Bernice Adamkiewicz, Ralph Raczynski, Jacek Chaba – youth ministry coordinator Vicariate IV – Chicago archdiocese, Happy First Birthday to Thomas Robaczewski, grandson of PRCUA employee, Alice Robaczewski, and Misia Jaminski – Wesoly Lud dance group director, PRCUA National Chaplain, Rev. Walter Ptak, past Resident Vice-President, Regina Ocwieja, past District #8 National Director, Clara Winiecki and Jolanta Tatara school director of John Paul II Polish Language School in Lemont, Illinois. Happy Names Day to my Mother-in Law – Rena Sokolowski. We wish you all many happy and healthy years to come!

CONGRATULATIONS

Happy Wedding Anniversary to Anetka (Bleka) and Daniel Waligora and to Diane (Muszalski) and Brian Little.

Happy 36th Wedding Anniversary to Elaine and Ronald Burkhardt and Happy 57th
Wedding Anniversary to Ralph and Irene Raczynski, belated First Wedding Anniversary to Alicia (Sokolowski) and Chris Marron, Basia (Sokolowski) and Sean Ackerman and to all the loving couples who are celebrating Wedding Anniversaries - congratulations! Hope that your life is especially sweet for each of you and may your hearts always be filled with joy, happiness and love!!!

Best wishes to our son-in-law, Chris Marron, who as of September is being deployed to Iraq. We want to let you know how proud we are of you as you go forth in service to our country. You are in our thoughts and prayers today and every day. We pray for your safe and speedy return.

Until next time, take care and keep in touch. Write to vicepresident@prcua.org or call 1-800-772-8632 and share your news with us. Hope to hear from you soon!