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FOR OCTOBER 2008
Phone: 602-275-9329
We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization,
all donations are tax deductible
*President s Corner*
Dear Fellow Members and Friends,
I feel that I owe everyone an apology for the confusion with our dance schedule due to the construction delays but it was unavoidable as we encountered a lot more work than was originally anticipated but remember that our building is, after all, almost 60 years old.
Frank Tomaszkowicz took matters into his own hands and coordinated all the work and the various contractors along with his own sweat equity to make this project a success, which was not without setbacks and difficulties.
Frank with the assistance of Ziggy Korsak did all the design work and installation of the plumbing as well as a lot of the demolition of the concrete sub-floor underneath both bathrooms. This situation was unexpected and the concrete had to be broken up by hand with an electric jack hammer. We actually filled up a 10 yard dumpster in the process.
Numerous volunteers, too many to name individually, donated their labor in tearing down, rubbish removal and cleaning up after the workers.
The project would never be completed without the generosity and cooperation of several folks who donated their labor and/or materials to this project.
As mentioned previously, the bathroom fixtures and granite counters were donated by Ziggy Oparowski of Saturn Enterprises.
Bruno Klus and his crew from BK Architectural Millwork, installed the beautiful oak doors on both bathrooms to match the rest of the woodwork, done by him previously. In addition, the rest of the trim work in the bar area was done by Bruno and his crew. Thanks Bruno – we all appreciate it very much. Nice to have you on board!
Steve Gierszewski of White Eagle Construction donated the wood beams needed for the structural integrity of the building and some of the labor. Thanks Steve!
Andrew Czerski and his company K&C Associates Electrical Contracting donated the pre-wiring labor and materials for both bathrooms as well as the light fixtures.
The granite counters and sinks were generously fitted and installed by Damian Szakal. Thank you Damian.
There are not enough words that can be written in this newsletter to express our appreciation for all the hard work and sacrifices but there is nothing like a personal handshake and your own way of showing your gratitude to all those who worked so hard and made all those sacrifices.
Even with all the generous donation of labor and materials our budget still came up way short of covering all the expenses. Therefore, I’m appealing to all our members to donate $100 per household. If you can’t afford that amount then contribute what you can. It is important that all members participate, so search your heart and your pocketbook, if you have to, break your piggy bank but write your check and be counted. Your contribution can and will make a big difference to OUR Pulaski Club. So please, let’s ALL take responsibility, let’s ALL take care of our home away from home.
With the 70th anniversary of the existence of the Pulaski Club coming up in 2009 we can proudly show off OUR club to our family, our friends and to our community. Please - we need your generosity.
Thank you in advance for your support and your understanding.
Your President, Casimir Kosinski
NOTE: We will have a Members Meeting on two consecutive months as a result of the construction delays. We will have a meeting in October and one in November.
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*OFFICERS 2008*
PRESIDENT: Casimir Kosinski 623-487-9821
1st Vice President: Chez Falkowski 480-892-0737
2nd Vice President: Halina Kosinski 623-487-9821
Sergeant At Arms: VACATED 480-612-3070
Recording Secretary: VACATED
Financial Secretary: Diana O'Loughlin 480-834-5484
Treasurer: Mary Kiselus 602-526-7321
*BOARD OF DIRECTORS*
CHAIRMAN: David Bonczkiewicz 480-380-8887, ends 12/31/10
Bob Keith 602-510-7435, ends 12/31/10
Frank Tomaszkowicz 480-539-1995, ends 12/31/09
Frank Kanios 480-423-9480, ends 12/31/09
Cindy Lofgren 480-710-4192, ends 12/31/08
*TRUSTEES*
Shane Prosser 480-814-9240, ends 12/31/10
Paul Chojnacki 480-961-4180, ends 12/31/09
Henrietta Nemecek 602-955-5509, ends 12/31/08
*COMMITTEES*
Publicity: Paul Chojnacki 480-961-4180
Sunshine: Shirley Sztuk 480-964-8275
Entertainment: Halina Kosinski 623-487-9821
*NEWSLETTER*
Editor/Publisher: Chez Falkowski 480-892-0737,
E-Mail: chezf@yahoo.com
*WEB SITE*
Original Web-Design: Sylvia Kosinski
Webmaster: Casimir Kosinski 623-487-9821
E-Mail Pulaski Club: pulaskiclubaz@yahoo.com
Pulaski Club Phone: 602-275-9329
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1st VICE PRESIDENT - Chez Falkowski:
I too apologize for the last minute cancellation of the Club's membership meeting and dance in September. I would like to thank Henrietta Nemecek & Francis Spychalski for making numerous phone calls regarding the cancellation. Unfortunately our remodeling took a long time and a lot of effort of only a few. Frank Tomaszkowicz, the pointman of the project, spent countless hours working in the club without the sufficient support from the membership.
As a Club we did not do even a mediocre job in the sense of organizing ourselves. Hopefully we will avoid such errors in the future.
On the other hand we still do a better job then our federal government agencies. A short time ago, "our dear leaders" assured us that the US economy is sound and in good shape. Now they rush to charge $2000.00 every soul in USA in order to keep solvent private financial institutions. The alternatives suppose to be "a financial crash" like on October 29th, 1929.
2nd VICE PRESIDENT - Halina Kosinski:
After an extended summer break we are opening the fall season at Pulaski Club with a dinner and dance on October 5, 2008, starting at 2 PM.
Our menu will be as follows: Breaded pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy, hot vegetable, coffee and pastry.
Our postponed meeting from September will take place on Oct. 5th, at 12:30 PM - I hope to see many of your smiling faces there..
TREASURER - Mary Kiselus:
Hello! Members. With only two club functions and one rental during the month of May our income totaled $4385.00. Expenses for the month totaled $7710.00 (This figure includes parking lot improvement of $3549.90). May loss reduced our net worth by $3325.11. In the month of June income totaled $1602.70. Our expenses totaled $6621.54 (This figure includes remodeling expense of $5,000.00). Total loss for June $5018.84. As the club was not in operation during the summer financials for July thru October will be reported in our November newsletter. See you all at the October club events.
FINANCIAL SECRETARY - Diana O Loughlin:
Thank you for all the renewals. Dues are $24.00 a year. Check your membership card, and send a check to the Pulaski Club. If you know of anyone with address changes, have them fill out the form in this newsletter or they can contact me with the changes.
SUNSHINE COMMITTEE - Shirley Sztuk:
No news is good news!! Stay healthy, and have a happy and healthy summer. Keep smiling.
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Nickelcity Dave's
News and Notes
·
· Better late than never; Well Pulaski members, polka dancers and friends, the fall season is upon us and time to get back in the swing of things. I hope everybody had an eventful summer. The club restrooms are finally finished and with the long hours and leadership of Frank Tomaszkowicz and a few volunteers and numerous donors.
I’m proud to say they did one heck of a job! It’s an honor as chairman of the board to serve with such talented and dedicated board members and cooperate with such motivated friends and volunteers. I’m not one who knows all about construction and remodeling ins and outs, but I must say they did an excellent job. I think they all deserve our applause, a pat on the back, a hand shake, a squeeze on the cheek, a kiss…get your camera out and have a picture taken with the guys on the new toilets. Heck I think they would just enjoy a free drink and tell them they did a great job!! “Na zdrowie”.
· January 14th, 1951 Pulaski Club history started with the first building cornerstone laid, and now September 2008 history continues with another major project completed, and with the future to unfold we can enjoy our wonderful Polish-American club and I’m sure will bring many memorable times to come.
· Mark your calendar for October 17th, 18th and 19th the board of directors are once again going to have another weekend polka party with the “Full Circle” Polka Band featuring Polka Hall of Famers, Lenny Gomulka, Jimmy Weber, Al Piatkowski, Mike Matousek and polka legends Mike Stapinski, Roger Malinowski. Look for more information on the Pulaski web page and flyer advertisements’ at the upcoming dances.
· BARTENDER: After closing time at the bar, a drunk was proudly showing off his new apartment to a couple of his friends. He led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong and a mallet. 'What's that big brass gong?' one of the guests asked. It's not a gong. It's a talking clock,' the drunk replied. A talking clock? Seriously?' asked his astonished friend. 'Yup,' replied the drunk. 'How's it work?' the friend asked, squinting at it. Watch,' the drunk replied. He picked up the mallet, gave the gong an ear-shattering pound and stepped back. The three stood looking at one another for a moment....... Suddenly, someone on the other side of the wall screamed: “You moron! It's three-fifteen in the morning!”
· DID YOU KNOW: A pregnant Italian woman gets into a car accident & falls into a deep coma for nearly six months. When she wakes up she sees that she is no longer pregnant & frantically asks the doctor about her baby. The doctor replies, "Ma'am, you had twins, a boy & a girl. The babies are fine. Your brother from Sicily came in & named them." The woman thinks to herself, "Oh no, not my brother, he's an idiot!" Expecting the worst, she asks the doctor, "Well, what's the girl's name?" "Denise," the doctor says. The new mother thinks, "Wow, that's not a bad name, I guess I was wrong about my brother. I like Denise!" Then she asks the doctor, "What's the boy's name?" The doctor replies, "Denephew."
· BARTENDERS WANTED: A schedule is posted inside the bar area. If interested ask the bartenders to sign ya up we still have some openings. Or call me and I’ll e-mail ya a schedule. David @ (602) 741-8214 (nickelcity_dave@yahoo.com).
· RENT THE HALL: The Pulaski Club is available for all your social events. Basic club price is $1,200.00; this includes a 6 hr. rental, cleaning and $200 damage deposit (refundable). In addition, we offer full bar service, a house “DJ” service (Nickelcity Dave), security, kitchen, and a list of available catering services for your event. Call to reserve the club for your special event. (602) 275-9329
Pulaski Club is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.
All donations are tax deductible.
Dumb Pollack Jokes . . .
I recently read some comments on a discussion board about “Pollack Jokes” and felt compelled to share my own experience.
There were numerous comments from people that felt that the “Pollack Jokes” were all in good fun and were harmless. However, for those of us who were raised in that environment of prejudice and ridicule, we can’t say that any of it was in good fun at all and still carry the psychological scars from our youth.
As I am an immigrant and was raised in Chicago’s North-West side where many thousands of immigrants made their first steps on the US soil and were the recipients of the bigotry that prevailed. I went to school in the 60's and 70's and have heard the "Dumb Pollack" jokes all through grade school and high school and hated each one of them as I never took them as good natured humor but as mean spirited and prejudiced jabs at my ethnicity and my lack of language skills, while I was still learning. This gave me a good reason to try and develop my English skills better than of those of many born here.
Some of the jeers even came from first or second generation Polish-Americans who seemed to dislike the new immigrant kids and made sure that we knew it. It may have been the fact that they were ashamed to be affiliated with the Polish ethnic group because of the “Dumb Pollack” jokes and were deflecting the ridicule from themselves. As a result, we, the new comers, hung out together and didn't mingle with the rest and probably took much longer to assimilate into the cultural melting pot of America. This type of behavior is what created the “Ethnic Ghettos” in the large industrial centers like Chicago, New York, Detroit, Cleveland and others. The same is prevalent now in the Southwest as the Spanish immigrants, both legal and illegal, crowd into their own “Ethnic Ghettos” and refuse to learn English, mostly due to the fact that they’re too busy making money to support their families either here or in Mexico.
Now I live in Arizona and have a grown child of my own. Luckily, my wife, also a Polish immigrant, felt very strongly about preserving the language and traditions of our homeland but also in becoming an American in every sense of the word.
As a result out daughter learned the Polish language first and than around 3 or 4 years old she slowly assimilated the English language and when she first went to preschool the teacher, in her ignorance, thought that she could not fit in with the rest of the kids because her English was inadequate. Where, in fact, she was just shy and well behaved and not as boisterous as the other kids.
When my wife asked the teacher if she could speak two languages at the age of 5 or even now, she promptly shut up and started doing her job.
Sadly, one gentleman wrote that his mother kept him from the language and traditions of Poland and later from her own relatives when he went there to visit as if to "shield" him from something. She refused to give him the addresses to her relatives still living in Poland. Now he seems to be missing that something from his past and will never have the satisfaction of knowing his ethnic past. Maybe his mother was just ashamed and didn't want to expose her children to what she had to go through herself as a newly arrived immigrant. The alternate theory is that she was ashamed of her own humble past and didn’t want her son, who was well educated with a PhD, to see her family and the place where she used to live.
I did come across some immigrants who tried so hard to assimilate that they stopped speaking Polish as soon as they learned enough English and, sadly, after 10 or 12 years became so totally absorbed in the American dream and could barely speak their native language.
One young man approached me about gathering information for his master’s thesis about Poland’s Solidarity movement which led to the abolishment of over 50 years Communist rule. After I found out that he immigrated only 12 years ago, I refused to help him and told him to get the information for his research elsewhere. I just could not see wasting my time trying to help a guy who forgot or pretended to forget everything about where he came from after only 12 years, as I immigrated in 1963 and speak and write the Polish language fluently and keep up with news from and about Poland as well as function very well in US society.
Many, here in Arizona, feel that an immigrant is one who comes across the border from the south and most who hear me speak Polish, are generally surprised that my origins are from Europe and not the Spanish speaking North or South America. Since we have such a large influx of illegal immigrants from south of our border the European immigrants pale in numbers. As a result one doesn’t hear too many ethnic jokes here in the Southwest.
As for the “Pollack Jokes” - I found out that a few of my predecessors in the oldest ethnic social club in Arizona, the Pulaski Club, did in fact put together a "Pollack Joke" book way back in the 60's or 70’s and took some criticism for it from the club’s members and the rest of the Polish immigrant community.
However they were first and second generation Polish-Americans and felt, like many others, that the jokes are harmless and just in good fun. Fortunately for them they didn’t have to endure some of the mean spirited ones directed right at them. They may not ever have been called a "Dumb Pollack" in a derogatory manner. It is one thing to laugh at yourself but to be laughed at feels a whole lot different.
Someone even named a neighborhood bar "Pollack Joes" here in Phoenix. When I first saw it I wasn’t sure if I had misread it or was this guy really that naïve. I guess he felt it was funny or eye-catching.
It seems that the jokes died down considerably after Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II, known worldwide as the Polish Pope. Than the first and second generation Polish-Americans took a more active sense of pride in their heritage and some frequently ask me to translate old documents or letters from Poland or even Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania, thinking that it's all in Polish. This fact has made me aware of how little some people know about the history of Europe and even less about their own family history.
I talk to so many older folks who remember their mother’s or grandmother’s cooking and the Polish words or songs that she thought them when they were kids. Their eyes light up as they chat about their childhood with such fondness.
I encourage everyone to try and learn as much as you can about where you came from as it is never too late to trace your own ancestry. Consider what the movie "Roots" did for the black population of the United States. No, I'm not being derogatory by saying "black" as it was only after the "Roots" revolution that the words “African American” came to being.
Just think of how many generations have gone by and how little was ever known about the African slaves and some still managed to find out where they came from, what village, tribe or at least what part of the African continent. That gives them so much pride and identity as is obvious just from the fact that we are now using “African-Americans” as a description for the ethnic Africans. Folks with even 25% of African-American heritage consider themselves as part of that ethnicity.
Consider how many ethnic Africans make the trip to Africa to get in touch with their homeland and their ethnicity after so many generations have gone by.
In conclusion, there is much more to the ethnic Polish-Americans than dancing the Polka and eating Polish sausage. Don’t wait until it’s too late!
Casimir Kosinski, President
Pulaski Club of Phoenix Inc.
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FALL SCHEDULE
2008-2009 ACTIVITIES
Date, time, & bands are subject to change
September 7:
meeting & dance cancelled due to remodeling delays.
September 13 :
meeting & dance cancelled due to remodeling delays.
September 27 : SATURDAY - rental
Polish Highlanders - Dinner Dance
Zbigniew Galazka Trio will entertain.
From 8PM – 2 AM
October 5:
Members Meeting 12:30,
Dance to Varitones, 2-6pm
October 17-18-19:
“Full Circle” Polka Band weekend party with Polka Hall of Famers
(see News & Notes)
November 1:
Saturday, Halloween Dance,
John Smoltz, 6-10pm
November 9:
Sunday, Membership Meeting 12:30pm,
Dance, John Smoltz. 2-6pm
November 30:
Sunday, Dance,
John Filipczak & AZ Classics, 2-6pm
December 14:
Sunday, Christmas & Dance,
Dinner 1-3pm, Dance to Varitones, 3-7pm
December 31:
New Year’s Eve -
Polish Highlanders – all invited
January 1, 2009
New Year s Day
Fundraiser/Potluck/Polka Jam/Dance Party!!!!
Invite your friends and join us for a fun day ..
Date, time, & bands are subject to change
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