NORTHAMPTON — Polish pride and culture was on display Monday for the 31st annual Pulaski Day Parade and Celebration as contingents waved to onlookers happy to brave the damp weather.
Led by grand marshal Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, the parade began at the former Lia lot on King Street and made its way down Main Street to Pulaski Park.
Organized by the Northampton Polish Heritage Committee, many adults and children were decked out in colorful traditional Polish attire, including those playing traditional Polish music on a float. As their upbeat tunes reached people watching from the sidewalk, spectators occasionally broke out into a polka.
“I had no idea this was going to be happening today. How great is this?” Jennifer Wells of Northampton said after dancing with her friend Jonathan Goldman of Longmeadow. “It’s nice to see people celebrating their roots.”
The parade honors Polish culture and heritage with particular respect paid to the contributions made by General Casimir Pulaski. Pulaski came from Poland to fight in the American Revolution, eventually falling in battle but not before becoming a brigadier general in the Continental Army cavalry and gaining the moniker “father of the American cavalry.”
The day began with a Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, followed by the parade and a short celebration at Pulaski Park, ending with a meal served at the church.
“We plan all year for this because it is so important to hold on to the culture,” Charlene Zagrodnik of the Polish Heritage Committee said. “We had a beautiful Mass, (and) now it’s wonderful to be out here and see all the children in costume.”
Other officials taking part in the celebration were Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, Mayor David Narkewicz and Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan.
Kocot was chosen as parade marshal in part for his involvement in helping to establish the Special Commission to Preserve Polish Heritage in the Pioneer Valley earlier this spring.
The commission works to evaluate the availability of public and private resources to preserve and research Polish language, history, culture, genealogy and the immigrant experience.
“We will be doing some really innovative things, like working on an expanded website, coordinating a variety of cultural and educational events and developing a new hiking trail called the Polonia Trail,” Kocot said.
Kocot said he believes the commission has great potential to particularly engage younger people in learning about their culture and history.
“Being marshal of this parade is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I am honored and humbled,” he said. “Never forget the great contributions that Polish-Americans have made to this country.”
Several groups took part in the event, including Historic Northampton, Veterans Council of Northampton, the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Office, the Northampton High School Marching Band, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, the Northampton Fire Department, Forbes Library, the Northampton Senior Center and the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association. From farther afield came the Silver Dolphins Drill Team of Groton, Conn., the Windsor Fife and Drum Corps of Windsor, Conn., and Marquis of Granby Fife and Drum Corps from Granby, Conn.
At Pulaski Park, the lawn was dotted with people, many holding red and white umbrellas, the colors of the Polish flag, as they watched Kocot place a wreath at the monument to General Pulaski, and listened to speakers who kept their remarks short due to the rain.
“Today we celebrate all Polish-Americans who proudly preserve their culture in towns and cities throughout our nation, enriching our society and contributing to our shared success,” Narkewicz said as he proclaimed Oct. 9, 2017, General Casimir Pulaski Day.
A brief keynote address was given by Krystyna Slowikowska-Farley, a 91-year-old author, teacher and community activist who was deported from Poland with her family at the age of 14 and sent to a labor camp in the Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union.
After coming to America, Slowikowska-Farley became a dental technician, taught Polish folk dance and was also seamstress for her troupe of dancers, who performed at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in England.
“I am 91 and I am a soldier besides all of those other things,” she said, referencing her five years in the Polish Army while in exile. “I’ll tell you what, you always have to keep pushing forward.”
Slowikowska-Farley is the author of the book “So Far From Home,” a memoir that describes in detail the experiences she and the Polish people endured during World War II and the various roles they all played.
“October is Polish Heritage Month, an appropriate time to reflect on just how hard people have worked both to secure their own freedom and bolster freedom throughout the world,” said Bob Gibowicz, chairman of the Polish Heritage Committee.