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Traditional music, food and crafts were on display
Heritage celebration draws hundreds to St. Luke Church
BOARDMAN
Polish pride was on full display over the weekend at the seventh annual Polish American Heritage Days at St. Luke Church.
“I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s when Polish jokes were considered OK by many. But, my mom was so proud to be Polish, she couldn’t understand it,” said Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer, director of Polish Youngstown Inc., sponsor of the festival.
“People used to come up to me and say they were part this and part that and kind of mumble they were also part Polish. Now, people say with pride that they are Polish. That’s the most gratifying thing to me that the Polish American Heritage Days have accomplished,” Heschmeyer said.
“It’s Imperative to Know Your Heritage” is the Heritage Days catch-phrase, she said.
“If you know where you are from and what your family went through, you have a better sense of yourself,” said Heschmeyer, who has been to Poland several times including with her father in 1972, and as part of a folk-dance group from Alliance College in Pennsylvania in 1983.
Sieglinde and Larry Warren of Poland, who have spent some time tracing their family roots, made a trip to Poland and hired a guide and driver to visit the places that her mother used to tell her about.
“We found my mother’s house and the hospital where I was born. We walked the streets and met the people. It was wonderful,” said Mrs. Warren, a trustee of Polish Youngstown.
“Poland is a modern country, and the people are warm and friendly. When you know your heritage, it’s an important part of you. You’re not any less American, but you have this other part,” she said.
Two cousins who attended the festival, Krystyna Ruminski of New Middletown and Jadzia Yanchick of Poland, married 39 and 29 years respectively, were living in Poland (the nation) when, through friends and relatives, they were introduced to and married Polish men living in the United States.
They laughed and said they were not mail-order brides nor were their marriages arranged by their families. But after exchanging pictures and meeting, members of each couple’s family, very quickly tied the knot.
“It’s important to preserve the heritage, the language, food, traditions, music and friendships within the Polish community,” Mrs. Ruminski said.
Polish Day attendee Ruth Fletcher of New Bedford, Pa., is quick to say she is half Polish.
Her grandfather immigrated to Pittsburgh from Poland and decided to move the family west – to Girard, said Fletcher with a laugh.
“Polish people have had it hard, but we are resilient, said Fletcher, a former Youngstown City Schools elementary-school teacher who is trying to trace her family history.
As part of keeping Polish heritage alive, the Polish Days festival featured Polish Polka bands, traditional food such as pirogis and kielbasa, crafts such as egg decorating and classes in language and Polka line dancing.