Amazon has a new program called AmazonSmile that donates 0.5% of the eligible purchase price to your favorite charity. Any 501(c)(3) charity on the official IRS list is eligible for the program once registered with Amazon. You can use your regular Amazon account for related purchases but need to start shopping through http://smile.amazon.com.

 

More: about AmazonSmile, recent article in USA Today

posted Nov 28, 2013

The Sybiracy Project launched a new campaign to spread the story about Polish WWII civilians exiled to the Soviet Gulag camps. The goal of the campaign is to place both the movie A Trip to Nowhere and its companion graphic book at schools and libraries nationwide.

 

A group of 80-year-old survivors currently living in Seattle Washington, became film makers and created an animated documentary (DVD) and companion graphic novel sharing their stories of Soviet genocide of Poles during WWII. Please help to distribute the campaign flyer.  Please read more ..

 

Please share this crowd funding campaign link and encourage people to donate $5, $10 or more to this not-for-profit cause. Any amount helps us get closer to our goal.

posted Nov 27, 2013

The Polish Library at the Polish Home has opened for the new season with hundreds of new books, especially children books.

 

Polish Home library has received two book collections recently, including over hundred of classical and modern beautifully illustrated children books as well as books from the Polish Book Club list. The children books are the popular fairy tales and stories children in Poland read and grow up with. Several of the books are for the youngest readers introducing them to the Polish language words.  Big thanks to our donors!

 

Everyone especially parents and children are invited to visit and check out a book.  As an alternative a quiet room is also available to read a book at the library.      

 

More: upstairs at the Polish Cultural Center Dom Polski in Seattle; open on Fridays from 7 to 9 pm borrowing books and movies is free

More: biblioteka-dompolski.blogspot.com, or contact Monika at MonikaJohnson@yahoo.com.

posted Apr 11, 2013

The 21st Seattle Polish Film Festival is the second and third weekend of October, Oct 11-20, 2013.  Volunteers to greet guests and pass out voting ballots and festival programs are needed.  In appreciation for volunteering we give free movie pass to each volunteer for each screening they help at.

 

Everyone interested in volunteering at this year’s Seattle Polish Film Festival please contact Monika Johnson at monikajohnson@yahoo.com.  

 

More: SGSCA

posted Sep 18, 2013

Ladies Auxiliary of the Polish Home organize several sessions to make pierogi for the Fall Bazaar at the Polish Home coming in November 2013. Come to help, or learn first how to make pierogi and then help, but also to socialize, eat great food and have fun at one of these days:

 

   September  17 & 24

   October  1, 8 & 15. No session on Oct 22

   All pierogi making sessions are at the Polish Cultural Center kitchen on Tuesdays from 7 pm to 9 pm.

 

More: Contact Agnieszka Szymula for more info

posted Sep 12, 2013

The Polish Parish in Seattle welcomes the new pastor. Fr. Andrzej Galant comes to St. Margaret's from Milwaukee, WI, where he served for 10 years as the pastor at the St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish which he helped to organize. Fr. Andrzej, 58, was born & educated in Poland and ordained in 1981. He is a member of the Society of Christ, a Polish order devoted to ministering to Polish diasporas all over the world. He came to America in 1996 and before Milwaukee worked in Toronto and Chicago.

 

The Parish bid farewell to Fr. Stanislaw Michalek last Sunday. Fr. Stanislaw, who has served as the pastor at St. Margaret's since 2004 is moving to Minneapolis, MN, where he will minister at the Holy Cross Parish. We wish both Fr. Galant and Fr. Michalek successes at their parishes.

posted August 14, 2013

A soldier from Poland died over the weekend on Mt. Hood. Warrant Officer Sebastian Kiniesiewicz, 32, came to the United States for a drone control training by Insitu, a Bingen, WA  company. He wanted to plant a Polish flag on Mt. Hood summit as other Polish soldiers on training missions have done before. Mr. Kiniesiewicz fell over 1000 feet close to the summit when coming down; his body has not been recovered yet due to the high avalanche danger. He left a wife and a daughter in Poland.

posted August 14, 2013

Anatoliy Klots

Win a plateful of pierogi! It's this time of the year again: Seattle Polish Film Festival is having another poster competition for the upcoming 21st edition of the Festival. Deadline for entries is 11:59 pm on August 11, 2013. The poster is also used on the program cover. Please visit Seattle PFF site for competition rules, poster requirements and award details.

Also: Volunteers needed to run the Festival. SPFF runs October 11-20 this year.

 

More: SPFF poster competition, SGSCA

posted June 27, 2013

Polish Festival at the Seattle Center is looking for volunteers! Whether you are you greeting the public, serving food or assisting with Polish arts or crafts, YOU are the essential part of this festival! Join us on July 13 and be part of the action! Volunteers like YOU make the festival happen!

 

The Festival is still looking to fill the following volunteer positions with shifts from 2 to 4 hours long: Greeter, Beer Garden Helper, Armory Set-up Assistant, Information Booth Assistant, Potato Pancakes Booth Helper, Children Activities Assistant, Workshop Assistant, Stage Assistant,  Flex Volunteer.

More info about volunteer opportunities here.

updated June 19, 2013

Polish Festival at the Seattle Center is looking for sponsors, business advertising and donations from people like YOU. You can make the difference!

 

Individual support is greatly appreciated. Sponsors are recognized on the website, in the Festival program and digital communications. As a business, you can also support the Festival by placing an advertisement in the Festival printed program guide: 1 full page at $500, ½ page at $250, ¼ page at $150 and 1/8 page at $75.

 

To support the Polish Festival please write a check to Polish Home Foundation and mail it to Polish Home Foundation, 1714 18^th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122.

More info about donations and sponsorship opportuities here.

updated June 19, 2013

Each month, the UW Slavic Library receives new items in Polish. May's titles include new books on Krakow under Nazi occupation, Karaims in Poland, women in positions of political power in the PRL, myths and stereotypes among Poles and Ukrainians about each other, sexuality in 21st-century Poland, and more - over 140 titles.  For the complete list visit the new book page.
  
Members of the general public can get a borrower's card valid for one year by donating $100 to the UW Libraries. Donors can indicate that their donation should support new acquisitions in Polish studies.
 
Inquiries, comments, requests and suggestions are always welcome and may be directed to:
  Michael Biggins, Slavic, Baltic, and East European studies librarian
  Tel. (206) 543-5588, mbiggins@uw.edu

posted June 13, 2013

The Detroit based Piast Institute and Universtity of British Columbia ask your help with the 2013 Polish American Survey. This survey is a continuation of the similar polling of the American Polonia by the Piast Institute in 2008-2010. The goal of the project is to assess the opinions and attitudes of Polish Americans about politics in general, culture, important issues, the relationship between Polonia and both the US and Poland, and the Polish American community itself.

 

More:  the UBC survey info, survey site

posted May 24, 2013

On May 15, the Seattle Foundation hosts the annual GiveBIG event – a one-day, online charitable giving event to benefit local nonprofits such as the Polish Home Foundation (PHF). The reason this is important to us is that it is a matching event that can bring additional funds to our community.

 

Please support PHF through GiveBIG - every donation to PHF made via  Seattle Foundation PHF Profile Page on May 15 will bring additional money thanks to the Seattle Foundation and GiveBIG sponsors, who will stretch your donation by matching a share of every contribution! 

 

More: about GiveBIG, about Polish Home Foundation

posted May 8, 2013

UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee announced that the 2013 Student Scholarship  was awarded to Ms. Karolina Lamb. Ms. Lamb is a graduate student at REECAS.  She plans to use the scholarship for a trip to Poland to do a research for to her MA theses related to Polish-Jewish relationship in contemporary Poland. Congratulations!

 

More:  UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee scholarships, UW Polish Student Association

posted Apr 24, 2011

Polish Home Association is pleased to announce that the Polish Home Library will resume its operations starting next week, Friday April 19th between 7 and 9 pm. Please stop by to say hello to our new librarian, Monika Johnson and browse through the Polish books & DVDs to find something you may want to read or watch. PHA would like to thank the former PH librarian and a new mom Monika Oczkowska McNeal and her staff for their work at the library.

 

Where: upstairs at the Polish Cultural Center Dom Polski in Seattle; borrowing books and movies is free

More: PHA website, or contact Monika at MonikaJohnson@yahoo.com.

posted Apr 11, 2013

Recently, Polish Home Association sent voting ballots to all PHA Members eligible to vote as of December 31, 2012 asking for approval of proposed changes to the PHA Bylaws.

PHA asks all PHA Members who received the ballots to take time to review the proposed changes, mark the voting ballot and send it back to PHA. While some of the proposed changes may seem to be not important to some of our Members your opinions are appreciated, so please return your ballot. The deadline is April 20, 2013 (per postmark).

 

More: PHA website

posted Apr 11, 2013

Browse nearly 300 new titles in Polish studies acquired by the UW Libraries in March by visiting the new book page. New books this month include a guidebook to the architecture of Krakow, a study of Polish photography since 2000, an album of Polish poster art since 2000, new books about Stefan Kisielewski, Gombrowicz, Milosz and Witkacy, Jerzy Pilch's diary, an oversized illustrated album about the history of Polish railroads, roughly a dozen very recent Polish films on DVD, and dozens of fascinating new titles in Polish history, culture, literature, film studies, and linguistics.  .
  
We welcome your comments, questions and suggestions, which may be directed to mbiggins@uw.edu.   You can support UW's Polish library collections by the very act of using them – a year's membership in the Friends of the UW Libraries includes among other benefits your own UW Library borrower's card, and when you join, you have the option of specifying that your donation be used to support the UW Polish collections

Michael Biggins, Slavic, Baltic, and East European studies librarian
Tel. (206) 543-5588, mbiggins@uw.edu

posted Apr 4, 2013

Mr. Alex (Witold) Herbst is the WWII ace pilot based in Seattle who served with distinction in the Polish RAF squadrons 303 & 308. He has written a very moving and interesting memoirs that were partially published in the past but were out of print for some years now. The new edition of the memoirs, under the title Podniebna Kawaleria has just been published by Zysk & S-ka Publishers in Poland. Congratulations!

 

There is also a documentary movie about Mr. Herbst in production. Please see below how to support it!

   

More: More on the book here. You can purchase the book at the spring bazaar at the Polish Home on Mar 23, 2013. Mr. Herbst will be signing his book from 1 pm to 2 pm at the PHF table upstairs.

More on the documentary movie about Mr. Herbst here.Donations to support the Blue Horizon Films documentary about Mr. Herbst can be directed to the Polish Home Foundation. Please write a check to Polish Home Foundation and mark your donation with "Herbst documentary".

posted March 17, 2013

Following the annual meeting of the Polish Home Foundation in February, Mr. Andy Okinczyc has become the Foundation President and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Congratulations!

 

 

posted Feb 24, 2013

The 2013 Polish Festival at the Seattle Center is coming in July. It will be at the better and bigger venue at Armory (the Center House). The festival committee is busy since early January.

 

The Festival has its website at www.PolishFestivalSeattle.org. It's a nicely designed site and full of info about the 2012 Festival but it needs updates for the 2013 Festival. If you can help with updates to that site, please contact Ryszard Kott or Teresa Davis.

 

Update: The webmaser has been found.

posted Feb 14, 2013

Each month, the Slavic Library of the University of Washington receives new items in Polish. January brought over 160 new Polish books, from easy reading by Nurowska, Grochola or Wolski through biographies of Hlasko and Kaluzynski to books about Norwid or Polish-Ukrainian relationships.  For the complete list visit the new book page.
  
Members of the general public can get a borrower's card valid for one year by donating $100 to the UW Libraries. Donors can indicate that their donation should support new acquisitions in Polish studies.
 
Inquiries, comments, requests and suggestions are always welcome and may be directed to:
 Michael Biggins, Slavic, Baltic, and East European studies librarian
Tel. (206) 543-5588, mbiggins@uw.edu

posted Feb 7, 2013

Ladies Auxiliary need help in making pierogi for the Spring Bazaar at the Polish Home on March 23. Come to help, or come to learn how to make pierogi first and then help at one of these days:

 

   February  5, 12, 19 & 26, 2013

   March  5 & 12, 2013 - sessions in March cancelled

   All pierogi making sessions are at the Polish Home on Tuesdays from 7 pm to 9 pm.

 

More: Contact Agnieszka Szymula for more info

updated Mar 4, 2013

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs published on its website a note about changes to the consular posts maintained by Poland worldwide. Among other changes described in the note, the Consulate General in Los Angeles would move to San Francisco and the Consulate General in Vancouver, BC would move to Edmonton. No timetable was given for the moves.

     

More: Ministry of Foreign Affairs note about consular changes.

posted Dec 12, 2012

After a big success of the first Polish Festival at the Seattle Center, the Polish community received an invitation to organize it there in 2013 as well. At a recent meeting at the Polish Home with Stephen Sneed, Managing Artistic Director for Cultural Programs at the Seattle Center, Saturday, July 13, 2013 has been agreed as the Festival date. The Festival is not yet part of the main line up of ethnic festivals called Festal, however it has been upgraded to a bigger and better place at Armory / Center House and the adjacent area. Congratulations!

 

Where: 2013 Festival at the Armory / Central House of the Seattle Center

More: 2012 Polish Festival, or contact Danuta Moc, the 2012 Festival director, for more info.

posted Dec 6, 2012

Polish Home Assn is the most important Polish organization in Seattle, among others it owns and runs the Polish Cultural Center / the Polish Home in Seattle. The yearly elections at PHA come on January 26, 2013; all the candidates for the PHA elected positions should register with the PHA Election Commission by January 5, 2011. Please see 2012 Election Committee Announcement for details.

 

More: PHA website

posted Nov 22, 2012

Dr. Jacek Mikołajczyk is the Polish Fulbright Lecturer at the UW for the academic year 2012/2013. Dr. Mikołajczyk is with the Cultural Sciences Institute of the Silesian University in Katowice and his specialty is theatrology. He is also a director and translator. His autumn course at the UW was on the contemporary Polish theater. The winter course is Terrorism in Eastern Europe.

   

More: The Fulbright position is supported in part by the UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee

posted Nov 22, 2012

      Ms. Romana Wal, an active member of the Polish community and accomplished Polish folk artist died on Sep 22, 2012. She was 93.

 

      Born Romana Hanytkiewicz in Warsaw in 1919 and raised in Bialystok, during WWII, Ms. Wal was deported by NKVD to Siberian camps for being a member of the Polish underground. Saved by Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, she joined Gen. Anders's Army and in 1943 joined Royal Air Force Woman Auxiliary in London as an officer. There she married Mr. Roman Wal, a RAF fighter pilot and later an engineer. After WWII the family emigrated to Canada and then settled in Seattle in 1958, where she worked for the King County Library System.

 

      Ms. Wal was very active in the Polish community. Among other things she was a co-founder of the Ladies Auxiliary at the Polish Home Assn and an avid supporter of the Polish Home, including its recent expansion project. Always a Polish patriot, she was the one who inspired Lynn Olson and Stanley Cloud to write their book "A Question of Honor" at a WWII veterans' dinner in Washington, DC. Please read more about Ms. Wal at her Polish Home profile page.

 

      Ms. Wal is survived by her daughter Danuta Lockett with son-in-law Brian Locket and grandchildren Alexandra & Peter Lockett.

 

      Memorial Mass will be held at 11 am on Saturday Oct 13 at Sacred Heart Church in Bellevue.

A buffet luncheon at the church will follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Polish Studies program at the University of Washington in Seattle.

 Posted August 14, 2012

Seattle Polish Film Festival is happy to announce that the winner of the 2012 SPFF poster competition for the 20th Festival is Joanna Wroblewska. Congratulations!

 

Also: Volunteers needed to run the Festival. SPFF runs October 12-21 this year.

 

More: SPFF, SPFF poster competition, SGSCA

posted Sep 27, 2012

      Mr. Janusz Zoltowski, an active member of the Polish community in Seattle died of cancer. He was 68.

 

      Born in the fateful 1944 and raised in his native Warsaw, Mr. Zoltowski left Poland in 1969 for Italy and in 1971 he arrived in the United States. His fiancé Barbara joined him in 1973, and they married and settled in Los Angeles. In 1978 the couple moved to their home in Kirkland where they raised two daughters and established a successful antique restoration business Old World Antique Restoration.  

 

      Mr. Zoltowski was an active Polonia member. In LA he served as the vice-president of the H. Modjeska Arts & Culture Club. In Seattle, he built many scenography sets for theater performances at the Polish Home, the Overlake School and elsewhere. He was also the founder and the president the Viva Polonia! Association that produced several Viva Polonia! black tie balls as fundraisers for the Polish community. He was an avid dancer, master craftsman and a collector of pipes, some of which he also made.

 

      Mr. Zoltowski is survived by his wife of 39 years, Barbara, their daughters Agnieszka and Natalia with her husband Michael and two grandsons.

 

      Memorial service will be held at 1:30 pm on August 20, 2012 at the Clise Mansion located in Marymoor Park in Redmond.

 Posted August 14, 2012

Each month, the Slavic Library of the University of Washington receivevs new items in Polish. July brought over 200 new Polish books, with several books documenting different aspects of the post 1989 transition, by modern autors such as Hugo-Gader, Dehnel, Withowski i Tulli, etc. and a reprtint of the David Psalter and hymnbook from 1588.  For the complete list visit the new book page.
  
Members of the general public not already affiliated with UW (faculty, staff, students, or alumni association members) can get a borrower's card valid for one year by donating $100 to the UW Libraries. Donors can indicate that their donation should be used to support new acquisitions in Polish studies.
 
Inquiries, comments, requests and suggestions are always welcome and may be directed to:
 Michael Biggins, Slavic, Baltic, and East European studies librarian
Tel. (206) 543-5588, mbiggins@uw.edu

posted Aug 15, 2012

Seattle Polish Film Festival is pleased to announce a poster competition for the upcoming 20th Annual Seattle Polish Film Festival. Deadline for entries is September 2, 2011.  Please visit Seattle PFF site for competition rules, poster requirements and awards.

Also: Volunteers needed to run the Festival. SPFF runs October 12-21 this year.

 

More: SPFF, SPFF poster competition, SGSCA

posted July 26 2012

Mr. John (Bogdan) Orlinski is running for Congress as an independent Republican in the 9th Congressional District. This is his second attempt at a Congress seat. He is a centrist and volunteered for Ron Paul in the primaries. He supports smaller Federal government, balancd budget and taking casre of the illegal immigration problem. Please read more about his platform here..

 

More: John Orlinski's facebook page

posted July 26 2012

Prof. Katarzyna Dziwirek has become the first Polish professor ever to chair the University of Washington Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Her term started on July 1, 2012 and lasts for five years. Dr. Dziwirek joined the UW in 1993 and teaches Polish and linguistics; her special interest is in cross-linguistic variation in emotion expression. She is also very well known in the Polish community for her involvement in the UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee. Congratulations!

 

More: about Prof. Dziwirek

posted July 12, 2012