Polish community features pre-Lenten celebrations

March 2, 2014 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley’s Polish community enjoyed its own Mardi Gras party Saturday at the city’s landmark B&O Station Banquet Hall.

The event, billed as “Ostatki: A Polish Carnival Celebration,” was a Slavic-inspired, pre-Lenten gathering featuring elite vodkas and Polish beers imported for the event and not usually found in Ohio.

“It’s basically our last hurrah before Lent starts,” said Agata Khoury, an event organizer, who was born in Poland, Europe, came to the United States as a 2-year-old and now resides in Poland, Ohio.

“It’s just a lot of fun, and it’s an opportunity to share our heritage,” said Mary McCarty of Lisbon, who was attending the annual event for the third time. McCarty, who is of 100 percent Polish descent, said she enjoys “the fellowship and the food and watching the people” at the carnival.

Sponsored by Zywiec Beer, Bison Grass Vodka and Polish Youngstown, the downtown celebration, which attracted more than 75 people, featured a buffet, music, dancing, gift baskets, paczki and a Polish trivia contest.

Paczki, which resemble jelly doughnuts, are made from rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk.

A small amount of grain alcohol is traditionally added to the dough before cooking, and, as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough. Paczki are available in numerous flavors, including apricot, custard, poppyseed and rose hip.

Amateur and professional mixologists competed in an annual vodka cocktail contest.

Arriving guests received a beaded Mardi Gras necklace and a passport that would be stamped with the towns of origin of the Polish vodkas and beers they sampled. This was the sixth year for the local event, but its first time at the B&O.

“It’s a historical location. It’s representational of the beauty and history of Youngstown, coupled with the immigrants who came over from Poland, who settled here, and it’s a beautiful place,” Khoury, a graphic-designer at Turning Technologies in downtown Youngstown, said of the B&O.

“It’s really a nice, historical place,” McCarty said of the former railroad station.

Those who missed Saturday’s celebration can still enjoy the Polish Fat Tuesday celebration, which will feature a Slavic specialty menu.

That event, billed as “Paczki, Polkas and Piwo,” and translated as doughnuts, dancing and draught, begins at 7:30 a.m. and runs all day Tuesday at Kravitz Delicatessen on Belmont Avenue and at the Poland Library.

More than 200 dozen paczki were sold at last year’s event.