The weather was hot with a mix of rain and sunshine on Sunday, October 14, 2012 as St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Anderson, Texas celebrated their 58th annual homecoming bazaar. The day began with Holy Mass celebrated by pastor Fr. JoJo Cal-Ortiz. The choir sang a beautiful rendition of bądźże pozdrowiona in Polish as the communion hymm.
Beginning at 10:30 am, Fr. JoJo gave a blessing and the parish hall filled up with parishioners and guests for a delicious barbecue brisket and sausage meal with all the fixings, home made deserts and ice tea. There were lots of booths for the adults and games for the kids in the covered pavilion. ‘Babusha’s Porch’ had plenty of homemade food, crafts and decorative items.
Tommy Szymczak and his auction crew sold some really nice items including homemade bread and sweets and beautiful cedar furniture. The highlight of the auction was a beautiful handmade Houston Texans quilt signed by coach Gary Kubiak. Earlier in the year, Kubiak had bought the quilt at the Plantersville-Stoneham Volunteer Fire Department bazaar and then donated it to St. Stanislaus. Pearland auto parts tycoons Johnny Patke and Jannette Patke Tucker purchased the quilt for $2000.00 and will be donating it to St. Mary’s in Bremond for their bazaar auction next Sunday. A raffle drawing with lots of great prizes was held after the auction ended.
Every year, Polish Texans of all ages gather under the big white tent to listen to Polish dance band fiddler Brian Marshall and his group of talented musician friends and relatives who play old time Polish and Texas Country music. This year was no exception as a great line up of musicians kept dancers busy on the traditional wooden dance floor. One of the highlights of the day was watching the young generation playing and singing with their fathers. This year the list of musicians and singers included Brian Marshall, Jakub Marshall, Michal Marshall, Sonny Janczak, Larry Vivian, Chuck Bolin, Cathy Bolin, Kevin Syzdek, Jim Mazurkiewicz, Ron Kasowski, Jacob Kasowski, Mark Rubin, Frank Motley, Donovan Pavlock, Joseph Klotz and Bill Mock.
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.