Artur Grabowski

Salon of Poetry invites to an evening with poet and playwright Artur Grabowski entitled Compositions for Voice and Paper. Mostly in Polish with some poems in English. Mr. Grabowski has published several books of poetry as well as dramas and essays. He is in Seattle as a Fulbright scholar and visiting lecturer at the University of Washington.

Where: at the Polish Home; admission free

More: Salon of Poetry, Artur Grabowski (in Polish)

The book for the meeting is Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Wywiad rzeka by Michal Komar and Wladyslaw Bartoszewski published by Swiat Ksiazki in 2006. Bartoszewski is a fascinating person with impeccable credentials: an Auschwitz prisoner, resistance fighter, a prisoner of the communist regime in 1950s, then a dissident working on reconciliation between Poland and Germany and finally a university professor who became a minister of foreign affairs in 1990s. The book can be bought on the Internet or borrowed from Club members.

Where: at the Redmond Library; admission free

More: about  Polish Book Club

This is the annual meeting for the members of the Polish Home Association. It is also an election meeting for the Board of Trustees and the Officers of the PHA (candidate list TBD). PHA members can vote by proxy, see the Polish Home website for forms and other election info. Mr. Wlodzimierz Lukaszuk serves as the PHA election commissioner this year.

Where: at the Polish Home

More: contact for election info, candidate list TBD

The Polish School from Seattle invites every kid around to a traditional carnival party for children from noon till 4 pm at the Polish Home. It will feature games and competitions with awards, dances with a DJ and a raffle. There will also be a dinner and desserts available at the restaurant at a very reasonable prices!

Where: at the Polish Home, admission free; dinner $10/$5 regular/half portion

More: contact Principal Krystyna Swietlicka (206) 720-0683 or vice-Principal Barbara Strutynski (425) 746-3037

Gen. W. Anders

Please join Consul Paulina Kapuscinska in honoring Polish survivors of the WWII mass deportations to Siberia. From 1939 to 1941, Soviet authorities sent to Gulag and deportation camps over 1.5 mln Poles - men, women and children. Most of them perished; about 120,000 evacuated to Iran with Gen. Anders in 1943. The program includes a historical presentation (in English) by Martha Golubiec and decoration of the survivors from the Seattle area with the Cross of Siberian Exiles.

Where: At the Polish Home; admission free

More: Polish Deportees in the Soviet Union, Forgotten Odyssey, children exiles, Martha Golubiec (206) 935-7535

This is a follow up to the recent event at the Polish Home honoring Polish survivors of the Soviet WWII deportations:

Hon. Paulina Kapuscinska, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles decorated the following people on January 19, 2008

• Mr. Ryszard Kott has been honored with the Cavalier Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, awarded for promoting Poland abroad

• The following people have been  honored with the Cross of the Siberia Deportees awarded to the survivors of WWII Soviet deportations: Mr. Jerzy Friedrich, Ms. Genowefa Kasprzyk, Ms. Irena Goleniewska (received by the widower, Mr. Stanislaw Goleniewski), Ms. Alina Byrska, Ms. Maria Urbaniak, Ms. Anna Kochel, Ms. Romana Wal, Ms. Joanna Brodniewicz, Ms. Michalina Wojnarowska, Ms. Bozena Chodakauskas, Ms. Wanda Skrobecka (absent due to health reasons), Ms. Krystyna Balut, Ms. Helena Szendzik and Ms. Janina Kolozak. Also honored was survivor Ms. Genowefa Czyzewski who died in 2007 before the Cross could be awarded. In addition, Ms. Barbara Strutynski received her Cross of the Siberia Deportees in July 2007.

Congratulations!

The Polish Home cabaret troupe To i Owo is going to Tacoma with the new program presented at the Polish Home in October - and with several new faces from the young generation, too! The program is in Polish and is called I to jest zycie - c'est la vie! Everybody is invited to a great evening - an engaged audience spurs the artist to be at their best!

Where: at the Parish Hall of SS. Peter & Paul in Tacoma; admission $TBD

More: Barbara Strutynski, (425) 746-3037

Please note: this film's run has been extended from Jan 18-24 to Jan 27-31 due to public demand. No show on Jan 30.

The Northwest Film Forum invites to a quirky black comedy Deep End by Jerzy Skolimowski. The movie was made in England in 1970 and that's where the plot is set as well. Skolimowski is an accomplished director of about 20 movies made from 1960s to 1990s, with about half of them made in UK, France and US.

Where: Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12^th Ave, Seattle; screenings at 7 pm and 9:15 pm; tickets $8.50 regular / $6 student or senior /$5 NWFF member

More: Deep End at NWFF, Jerzy Skolimowski

Ingrid Fliter

Ms. Fliter is a young Argentine pianist who won the prestigious 2006 Gilmore Artist Award that comes with a handsome $300,000 check. Her program in Portland includes Chopin's concerto #2 in F-minor, Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin, Debussy's Prelude to The Afternoon of the Faun and Sorcerer's Apprentice by Dukas.

Where: at the Portland Symphony; 12 & 13 Jan at 7:30 pm, 14 Jan at 8 pm

More: Fliter's concert, press release, Fliter's bio

This movie about Solidarity movement in Poland focuses on Anna Walentynowicz, a worker whose sacking was one of the original reasons for the historical strike in the Gdansk shipyard. The movie directed by Academy Award winner Volker Schlondorf also includes fragments of documentaries from 1970 and 1980.

Where: at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR

More: about movie

This is a traditional wafer sharing (oplatek) for members and friends of the Polish Home with Fr. Stanislaw Michalek. The Polish Choir Vivat Musica will help with carol singing and everybody is invited to come and sing Polish and American carols along.

Where: at the Polish Home

More: Ela Filipczuk

The Polish Choir Vivat Musica presents a Christmas concert at the Holy Rosary Church in Edmonds. The hour-long program is an opportunity to listen to many beautiful Polish carols and traditionals. Everybody's invited!

Where: at the Holy Rosary Church in Edmonds; admission free

More: contact to the Choir Barbara Niesulowski