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PULASKI  CLUB  NEWSLETTER

Pulaski Club Phone: 602-275-9329

We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, all donations are tax deductible

MARCH 2008

*President’s Corner*

Dear Members and Friends,

This month we have our bi-monthly Member’s Meeting on March 9, 2008 at 12:30pm.  Please take the time to attend as the bi-monthly format is more important to attend all meetings in order to stay informed about your Club’s activities and plans and to express your own opinions and desires for our Polish Home.

Friday, Feb. 15, 2008, we projected the newly released movie “KATYN” at our Club, which was hosted by Andrew Sochacki’s “Vagabond Center”.  The movie was in the Polish language, and about 150 persons unexpectedly showed up.  It dramatized the events before and after the heinous and deceitful execution by the Russians of over 20,000 military officers and the brain power of Poland during WW-II, including university professors, and then attempting to lay the blame on the Nazis after the mass graves were discovered.

The movie was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar by the past Oscar recipient Polish Director Andrzej Wajda.

March 1st and 2nd, we are proud to host two time Grammy nominated Polka Band from Buffalo, NY – JERRY DARLAK and THE TOUCH.  On Friday, February 29th, our own DJ, Dave Bonczkiewicz, will entertain at the Meet-n-Greet dance for the group from Buffalo starting at 5pm.

Our Annual Easter Dinner and Dance will take place March 15th, 2008 on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. We will have our traditional buffet style dinner and will then be entertained by John Filipczak and Arizona Classics for dancing and listening pleasure.  Please note the dinner starting time is at 5pm, and the dance will take place from 6-10pm.  Dinner reservations are requested, so please make yours by calling 623-487-9821.

As St. Patrick’s Day falls on the Monday after Palm Sunday, we will not be having a dance on that occasion.

Our Second Annual Dyngus Day party will take place on Monday, March 24th, 2008 from 4-8pm with the VARITONES entertaining.  We had a very good turnout for the first Dyngus Day event last year and expect an even larger crowd this year.  Dyngus Day is all about getting a little water in your face.  OK – maybe that’s a little exaggerated but, nonetheless – folks will get wet, so don’t wear your Sunday best!

Let’s have a GOOD TIME at our events in March!

HAPPY EASTER AND

ST. PATRICK’S DAY. 

*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:                    Wieslaw Ochocki         480-612-3070

Recording Secretary:                Danuta Ochocki           480-612-3070

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:  Carol Ann & Norm Fritchie, 

          623-974-4435,  E-Mail:  cfritchie@usfamily.net

*WEB SITE*

Original Web-Design:                      Sylvia Kosinski

Webmaster:                                     Casimir Kosinski  623-487-9821

www.PulaskiClubAZ.org

E-Mail Pulaski Club:            pulaskiclubaz@yahoo.com

Pulaski Club Phone: 602-275-9329

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Irish Blessings

May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow.

May the soft winds freshen your spirit.

May the sunshine brighten your heart.

May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you.

May you be enfolded in the mantle of God’s love.

May brooks and trees and singing hills join in the chorus too,

and every gentle wind that blows send happiness to you.

May God grant you always…a sunbeam to warm you,

 a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY

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1st VICE PRESIDENT - Chez Falkowski  ------     No report this month.

2nd VICE PRESIDENT - Halina Kosinski:  

   Easter Dinner this year, for the first time, will be held on Saturday vs. Sunday as was the case in previous years.

We will be serving the usual buffet style meal, with two or three entrées, from 5-6pm for one hour only.  Therefore, please arrive in plenty of time so that we can start the dance promptly at 6pm.  The cost for members is $14, $16 for non-members, children under age 7 eat free, from 7-12 years are half price, and over 12 years are full price. 

Reservations are recommended if you have a group which will require reserving a table or two.  For two or four people only, we should be able to accommodate everyone.

Since we are not having a St. Patrick’s Day Dance this year due to Easter Week, we will have a special culinary surprise for our Irish constituency at the Easter Dinner.

We will be serving food for the Polka Weekend with Jerry Darla & The Touch on all three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So please come hungry!

TREASURER - Mary Kiselus: 

Pulaski club events along with rentals brought in good income for the month of January.  Our expenses were on the light side this month, so we realized a very nice profit.  Below are the figures for January:

                  Total Income      $ 8,366.60

                  Total Expenses $ 3,975.45

                  Profit January     $ 4,391.15

Although we had a good January, we do need to continue building up the treasury, as we will have heavy expenses coming up soon (property taxes).  Please join us at our March events and have a great time. 

As always THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT and to all the Irish: Happy St. Patrick’s Day.  And a Happy Easter to everyone.

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.  Enjoy your Easter Holiday and Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

SUNSHINE COMMITTEE - Shirley Sztuk:

            Sympathy cards were sent to Jean Kalamasz whose daughter passed away and to Chez Falkowski on the loss of his brother in Poland. 

      Our sympathies are with these families.

OUR OWN PRESIDENTS DAY

In February each year we honor our presidents of the United States.  It is also appropriate then for us to acknowledge all twenty four presidents of the Pulaski Club.  These devoted people spent much of their time and energies helping to shape the wonderful club we are enjoying today.  Our members want them to know how much they are still appreciated and not forgotten.
    Our sincere thanks to:

Casimir Kosinski                                Henrietta Nemecek
Joseph Mardeusz                              Stanley Serafin
Stanley Mardeusz                              Frances Spychalska
Ted Martin                                          Albert Tomasik

- and in fond memory of:

George Adams                Walter Gorczynski     John Kielbowski               Joseph Ratajczak
Edward Alexander         Joseph Ipnar               Walter Kuida                      Joseph Sadowski
Joseph Bolek                  Felix Jablonski           Sigmund Kwiatkowski     Edward Walker
Peter Frankowski           Casimir Katz               Joseph Podsiadly            Gene Wesolowski

Henrietta Nemecek
Club Historian

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Nickelcity Dave's News and Notes

1.      POLKA MUSIC MONTH - What a busy month for the Club; Jerry Darlak & The Touch from Buffalo NY, Stan Blout from California, our own John Filipczak for the Easter Dance, and yours truly The Varitones Band for the Dyngus Day Party & Dance.  You couldn’t ask for a more array of entertainment this month.  I hope to see our members support the events this month, and don’t forget to bring a friend to the Club.

2.      Speaking of friends - We will be having a membership drive for the club on June 8th & September 7th.  This is the time to check your membership card to make sure you are up-to-date on your dues and bring new potential members to join our Polish Club.  Bring a friend to our Polish-American Club ‘cause “we Polish people like our dances packed“!

3.      Prizes and Surprises - March 9th, the first 20 members show your card at the door and get a free drink at the bar.  At our April 20th dance, members get a dollar off admission when you show your membership card, and on April 27th bring a guest and get 2 bucks off the admission for the dance.

4.      WHAT IS DYNGUS DAY? - Historically a Polish-American tradition, Dyngus Day celebrates the end of the often restrictive observance of Lent and the joy of Easter.  Over the decades, Dyngus Day has become a wonderful holiday to celebrate Polish-American culture, heritage, and traditions.  HOW TO CELEBRATE DYNGUS DAY?  Well, No, you do not need to be Polish to enjoy Dyngus Day.  Many parties begin at Noon on the Monday after Easter with a large buffet of traditional Easter foods (Kielbasa, ham, fresh breads, and eggs).  It is common to hear polka music on Dyngus Day with the mandatory dancing of at least one polka.  Today, this tradition has become somewhat subdued and is practiced with more gentility.  Boys in the city use less water and sometimes perfume to sprinkle on the girls’ heads on Easter Monday.  A long time ago, the tradition of Smigus-Dyngus ended with Pentecost, but today it lasts only one day and is still filled with the unforgettable ancient stirring of emotions.  So join us March 24th from 4–8pm at our 2nd Annual Dyngus Day Party & Dance with the soundz of The Varitones Band.  Drink specials all night long, and Polish dinner from our kitchen.  Doors open at 3pm, so get there early and enjoy the dance.

5.      FRIDAY NIGHT SOUNDZ… February 29th is Touch Polkas’ (music starts at 6pm for this one), March 7th is Top Country Hits, March 21st is Oldies, April 18th is Top Country Hits, and April 25th is Polka Soundz…. Tell your friends about our Friday night music, come on out and support our Club events.

6.      BARTENDER:  Dick Cheney and George W. Bush are having breakfast at the White House.  The attractive waitress asks Cheney what he would like, and he replies, "I'd like a bowl of oatmeal and some fruit."  She asks, "And what can I get for you, Mr. President?"  George W. looks up from his menu and replies with his trademark wink and slight grin, "How about a quickie this morning?"  "Why, Mr. President” the waitress exclaims, "How rude!  You're starting to act like former President Clinton", and the waitress storms away.  Cheney leans over to Bush and whispers....  "It's pronounced 'quiche'."

7.      BAR-STANDERS:  Flying While Intoxicated - Some birds haven't learned when to say when.  Thousands of Waxwing birds in Sweden became intoxicated by gorging on fermenting berries.  About 50 lost their lives by flying into nearby windows.

8.      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 David at 602-741-8214, and  I’ll e-mail ya a schedule (nickelcity_dave@yahoo.com).

9.      GOLF LESSONS:  Any one interested in golf lessons?  Contact Bob Schreiber, a PGA professional golf instructor and one of our newest members.  Bob’s phone is 602-315-3266, and there‘s a discount to Club members,

10.     RENT THE HALL:  The Pulaski Club is available for all your social events.  Basic price is $1,200.00.  This includes a six (6) hour rental, cleaning deposit, and 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 602-275-9329 to reserve the Club for your special event.

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ACADEMY  AWARD  NOMINEE  "KATYN" DEPICTS  WAR  CRIME

From: Polonia Today Online

Warsaw (PMN)—The film "Katyn," nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Film, opens in 1939, after Germany has invaded Poland from the West and the Red Army has moved in from the East.  Director Andrzej Wajda depicts Poland’s agony on a bridge, where Poles fleeing the Nazis collide with their countrymen fleeing the Soviets.  It is symbolic, but based on actual events.  So is another metaphorically charged scene that shows a Soviet soldier remove a Polish flag from a building, rip it apart, and use the white portion to wrap around his foot as a sock.  The half that was red (the communist color) is put back on the building. The message is clear:  Poland is obliterated and the communists are in charge. 

      Wajda states, "Those who know my films know that I make such symbolic scenes, that this is my specialty."  Wajda received an honorary Academy Award in 2000 in recognition of his works that maneuvered between a repressive communist government and an audience yearning for freedom. 

      The movie depicts not only the crimes carried out in the Katyn forest and elsewhere and the devastation of the families, but also what Wajda called the "Katyn lie."  His film traces the fate of the wives and a sister of fictional officers who struggle to learn the truth about their loved ones from the Soviets who controlled Poland during and after the war.  The crimes are blamed on the Nazis. 

      Another thread of the film details a young woman who erects a gravestone for her brother killed at Katyn; it is quickly destroyed by the Communist government.  Wajda, who was 13 when the war began and whose father allegedly died in the Katyn Massacre, did not feature him among the characters.  His mother lived out her life holding out a vain hope that her husband, Lieutenant Jakub Wajda, may have survived, as his name never appeared on any official list of Polish soldiers killed in World War II. 

      Katyn is one of the most tragic war crimes in history and a topic Wajda could not have tackled before communism collapsed in 1989, because Moscow refused to acknowledge it. 

      The movie was released in Poland this fall and sold 3 million tickets in a country of 38 million people.  It is scheduled to make its international premiere at the annual Berlin film festival in February, and Wajda is hopeful it may be picked up for distribution in the United States and elsewhere. 

      "Katyn" is the eighth Academy Award nomination for Poland.  Previous nominations were: "Man of Iron" (1981), "The Maids of Wilko" (1979), “Nights and Days” (1976), “Land of Promise” (1975), “The Deluge” (1974), “Pharaoh” (1966), and "Knife In The Water” (1963).

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Vladimir Putin recognizes Katyn

Massacre as Stalinist crime 

      Ten days after returning from Moscow, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski suddenly revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted to him that the Katyn massacre was a crime of the Stalinist regime. 

      Poland's PM Tusk confirmed that he heard Putin saying those words.  Shortly before Tusk's visit to Russia at the beginning of February, the Russian Niezawisimaja Gazieta published an article which claimed that the Soviet NKVD secret police could not possibly have been responsible for the mass murder of over 20,000 Polish officers in 1940.

      A pretext for the publication was the Oscar nomination for Andrzej Wajda's film Katyn.  In 1940, the NKVD murdered around 22,000 Polish officers in Katyn, Russia. After the Germans revealed the mass-murder to the world, the Soviet government put the blame on them.  In 1990, the Soviet government officially acknowledged NKVD's responsibility for the murder, but refused to see the events as a 'war crime'.  The topic remains a bone of contention between Poland and Russia.

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THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS!!

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