The good Lord blessed Texas with beautiful blue skies and pleasant temperatures on Sunday, October 10, 2010 as a large crowd descended on St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Anderson for their 56th Annual Homecoming and Bazaar. The day began with a Holy Mass that was co-celebrated by Fr. JoJo Cal-Ortiz and three priests with deep roots in the St. Stanislaus community, Msgr. Chester Borski, Msgr. Adam McClosky and Fr. Louis Sikorski. At the end of the Mass, Msgr. Borski blessed the new historical museum at the back of the church.
At 10:30 am, the brand new parish hall filled up with parishioners and guests for the ribbon cutting and blessing. Russell Pasket, David Borski, Gail Sowell and Tommy Szymczak presented special plaques of appreciation and then Tommy recognized all of the volunteers. Former St. Stanislaus pastor Fr. Louis Sikorski blessed the hall and then went outside and blessed the new pavilion, the new barbecue building and even blessed the music tent. The event concluded with Darryl Pasket cutting the ribbon and Fr. JoJo blessing the meal that was soon to follow.
Delicious barbecue brisket and sausage with all the fixings, home made deserts and ice tea was served in the new hall starting at 11am. The food line extended from the ticket counter in the hall, out the door and down the road almost to the cemetery but it was worth the wait for the good food.
There were lots of booths for the adults and kids in the new pavilion as well as games and activities for the kids outside. ‘Babusha’s Porch’ had plenty of homemade food, crafts and decorative items. Tommy Szymczak and his auction crew sold lots of really nice items including a loaf of bread baked by Rose Kimich that went for $500. The bread was the first item sold at the first auction in the new hall. A raffle drawing with lots of great prizes was held after the auction ended.
Every year, hundreds of Polish Texans gather in the big tent to listen to Polish dance band fiddler Brian Marshall and his group of talented musician friends and relatives who always put on a great show. This year was no exception as Brian and friends kept dancers busy on the wooden dance floor. This year the list of musicians included Brian Marshall, Sonny Janczak, Larry Vivian, Phillip Berger, Chuck Bolin, Kevin Syzdek, Ronnie Dutka, James Mazurkiewicz, Ron Kasowski, Marion Seigle and Donovan Pavlock along with Brian Marshall’s son’s Jakub and Michal, Phillip Berger’s son Kyle and Ron Kasowski’s son Jacob.
Below are a few photos of the fun and there is a slideshow of more photos on page 2. There are a few music videos in the Polish Texans Video section or you can see more videos on our YouTube Channel.
James Smock has always held an interest in his Polish ancestors and heritage. He is a native Houstonian with Polish roots in Bremond, Marlin and New Waverly, Texas.