Eighty-Two Years of Polanie Club History 1927-2009
In October of 1927, twelve young women living in the Twin Cities founded a social club to share their Polish background with each other. They called themselves the Polanie Club, and sought to enrich their knowledge of Polish language, music, literature, food, history, art and folklore. The Club became a resource on Polish subjects, furnishing costumes, exhibits, recipes and a library on Polish subjects for the community.
In the 1930s the Club established classes in the Polish language at the University of Minnesota and in two public high schools. In 1942. The Club published Piesni Ludowe - a booklet of 110 Polish songs, the words without music, lovingly collected for many years. The fifteenth anniversary of the club was celebrated with a major publishing effort. Victoria Janda’s collection of poems called Star Hunger (1943) followed two years later by another book of her poems Walls of Space. The cookbook, Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans, was published in 1948 for the club's twentieth anniversary. For five years the members had gathered their mothers best recipes, studied Polish cookbooks, tested the recipes, and translated them. Irene Jasinski and Marie Sokolowski as editors pushed the project though its final stages. The sixth publication was a book of short stories with a Polish American background, If the Branch Blossoms (1950) by Monica Krawczyk. Her stories had appeared previously in periodicals telling of Polish people rising above the limitations of poverty and ugliness in immigrant life and adding their own particular flavor to the composite culture of America. The seventh book was the Club’s most tremendous and expensive undertaking of all. Treasured Polish Songs with English Translations contained illustrations adapted from Marya Werten’s work. The book was completed in 1952 under the editorship of Josepha Contoski, just in time for the twenty-fifth anniversary. The work had gone through many stages in committee after committee and numerous obstacles and difficulties had to be overcome. The translations and musical arrangements required significant musical talent and knowledge and vast amounts of time.
The 1960s opened with the Polanie Club sponsoring the Annual Convention of the American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs (now known as the American Council for Polish Culture) at the University of Minnesota in honor of the Polish Millennium with a program of distinguished lecturers on the theme, “Poland through a Thousand Years”. Mrs. Marie Sokolowski was the National President at the time and Irene Jasinski was National Secretary. Various members served on ACPC committees and programs. Polanie also supported the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota in hosting the 1996 ACPC convention, held in Minneapolis. Polanie chaired the music award concert and the banquet.
For the Club's fortieth anniversary, the book on Polish folkways, Treasured Polish Christmas Customs and Traditions, was created by the Publications Committee, and four of its members received research grants for study in Poland: Josepha Contoski, Cecily Helgesen, Rose Polski Anderson and Marie Sokolowski. Exhibitions became a major activity at this time as the collections of costumes and other folk arts grew together with the skill of the Exhibit Committee in the art of setting up prize-winning displays with materials brought back by our four grant recipients.During 1977, Polanie’s 50th anniversary year, Treasured Polish Folk Rhymes, Songs and Games was translated into English from Polish with both languages offered in the publication. In 1983 Polanie publish Bocheck in Poland, a short story by Joseph Contoski. In 1989 a cassette of Polish Christmas carols was introduced, and a few years later, a compact disc of Christmas carols was created by Bonnie Frels.
One of Polanie’s proudest achievements is the post-secondary scholarship program that the club created in 2000. Tens of thousands of dollars have been shared with Minnesota students of Polish-American ancestry who seek financial assistance in their post-secondary education at the colleges, universities and technical institutions of their choosing. The Scholarship Committee was organized by the following members: Rose Polski Anderson, Deborah McPherson, Roma Kehne , Frances Ostlund, and Marta Swica (committee chair). The Committee gives five $2000 scholarships each academic year and since its inception, 45 students have received scholarships. Also in 2000, the Club's Wigilia celebration was held with all the trimmings at Jax Cafe on University Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. Traditional Polish food, decorations, and live performances created a warm and magical evening for about 200 participants. The Polanie Club's Wigilia celebration continues to be hosted in Minneapolis during each Advent season. National ACPC conventions in 1996 and 2003 gave the Polanie Club the opportunity to conduct nation-wide auditions and showcase the winner of the Marcella Kochanska Sembrich Vocal Competitions in the Twin Cities. The theatres at both Hamline and Macalester Universities served as backdrops for arias and art songs superbly performed in a variety of languages. Elegant receptions capped both evenings, as the Polanie Club was able to achieve one of its favorite objectives: to enjoy the arts with fellow citizens in the communities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
As the future beckons, our members continue to search out new ways to shape our publishing company, help others when and where we see need, celebrate life to the fullest, and share our precious Polish heritage.
