Employees of The Polish Food Store in Houston worked all night Wednesday making hundreds of delicious pączki to celebrate Tłusty czwartek or Fat Thursday which is a traditional Polish feast marking the last Thursday before Lent. It is somewhat similar to the French festival of Mardi Gras which is celebrated on Fat Tuesday.
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From the category archives:
Culture
Sigmund Jozwiak
August 25, 1925 – November 4, 2009
There is no doubt that Sigmund was an Icon in Texas Polish history! He was loved and will be missed, but it is up to us to remember the legacy that he has made for Polish Texans and celebrate the impact he has made on each of us. I personally know that he loved seeing all of us get together and celebrate our Polish culture and heritage. He knew that our music and customs, of which he help preserve, would be safe and passed down to another generation for others to enjoy. [Read More...]
The conclusion of another informal family gathering, this time the occasion of the Houston Polish Festival, March 2009. That’s Brian’s kids leading the tune, “Piwa Kuba.” Cousin Ronnie Kazowski on guitar. Chuck in ben-ben, and Bradley Williams on concertina. I feel compelled to share this sort of stuff with you because it’s becoming apparent to me in my middle age that not all of y’all experience music this way, the way many of us here in Texas sort of take for granted: nearly every day in within a living context. It also makes me a touch melancholy as well to note that my own tribe is now so fully assimilated into the greater culture that it has nearly completely lost touch with these simple, everyday life events where music is simply the soundtrack.
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While going through my grandmother Agnes Polka Smock’s old photographs, I found a newspaper clipping from the Houston Chronicle. It was a photo of one of her neighbor’s large family from New Waverly, Texas. The photo was titled "Twelve Brothers Served Uncle Sam" and the caption reads "These 12 sons in a family of 16 children, of Mrs. Stash Ripkowski of Dayton, have served with the United States armed forces. Husbands of three of the daughters were in service also, and a fourth husband worked in a defense plant. Members of the family are, left to right, front; Mrs. Ripkowski, Bernie, Felix, Alex, August, Leon, Bill, Raymond; second row: Herman, Catherine, Virginia, Franklin, John J., Pearline, Mike, Anna Lee and Stanley."
The wedding is one of the most important family celebrations in Polish culture. For centuries most marriages in Poland took place starting at the beginning of September and continued through fall and winter except for the holy weeks of advent and lent. This was at a time when the all-important harvest and field work was completed and food was at abundance to hold and host a major celebration as a wedding. The Polish word for wedding “wesele” comes from the word “wiselic’ sie” meaning to rejoice, and that is indeed an appropriate for an occasion traditionally associated with joy and celebration.
