Pre-Lent bash will have a Polish flavor

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The pre-Lenten revelry of Carnival in Brazil and Mardi Gras in New Orleans are legendary, but lesser-known celebrations have taken place for generations in other parts of the world, including Poland.

Polish Youngstown is inviting the entire Mahoning Valley to join them this year as they host Ostatki: A Polish Carnival Celebration, at 7 p.m. Saturday at The Youngstown Club, 201 E. Commerce St., downtown.

Tickets are $40 in advance ($5 discounts are available if purchased before Feb. 14). For information, call 330-518-9963.

Payment can also be made online at Polish-youngstown.com.

Directly translated as “the last,” Ostatki is the last chance at merriment before the solemnity of Lent.

“This is a big event back in the villages where my ancestors came from outside of Warsaw,” said Angela Messenger, event chair.

“People traditionally start their festivities a whole week before, and it doesn’t stop until late on Shrove Tuesday. We wanted to re-create the spirit of that time so Valley residents could enjoy it right here.”

Once again, Ostatki will include a Vodka Cocktail Contest. Sponsored by Vesica Vodka, it is open to amateur and professional bartenders, too. All will compete for prizes before a panel of celebrity judges. Each drink will be tested for creativity, flavor and originality.

Ostatki also will include tastings of Polish vodka, beer, wine and liquors, complemented by a large Polish buffet.

There will be live music, basket raffles, trivia games and dessert, and the evening will climax with the presentation of the celebratory paczki: special oversized donuts with a hidden surprise for one winner. The person who picks the paczki with the hidden prize wins a one-year membership to the Youngstown Club.

Paczki were traditionally made to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house, which are forbidden during Lent.

Each guest at Ostatki will receive a string of beads and a personalized passport, which will serve as a guide through Poland and the array of imported vodkas, beers and wines.

Visitors will go from station to station learning a little about each and sampling up to five of them.

After all the stops listed on the passport have been made, the holder earns a string of beads.

Beads also can be earned by completing a trivia card. The answers are on the back of the cards — but not the card you are holding. Guests must learn them by asking other guests.