A large group of kolednicy or Polish Christmas carolers gathered to sing old time carols at 12:30 PM on St. Stephens Day, December 26, 2015. The opening ceremony was held on the steps of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, a historic Washington County parish that was founded in 1889 by early Polish immigrants to Texas. The weather was cloudy and warm but overall it turned out to be a beautiful and comfortable day for the 8th annual Kolędy Polskie in Chappell Hill.
St. Stanislaus’ pastor, Father Jozef Musiol, a native Polish speaker with a great singing voice, helped Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, Mike Kurtin and Brian Marshall lead the group of over 100 singers of all ages, including a large delegation from Our Lady Of Czestochowa parish in Houston.
This years traveling kolędy music was provided by a talented group of musicians that included Brian Marshall, Jakub Marshall, Michal Marshall, Ron Kasowski, Jake Kasowski, Frank Motley and James Mazurkiewicz. After posing for a group photo, the carolers left the church aboard a big yellow school bus that took them to sing for five different families, first to the Williams family followed by the Januhowski, Striegler, Kaminski and Mikolajchak families. The families responded with lots of great food and liquid refreshments for the kolednicy.
At each home, the group sang traditional Polish koledy including Gdy Sie Chrystus Rodzi, Pojdzmy Wszyscy, W Zlobie Lezy and Wsrod Nocnej Ciszy, a few english language Christmas carols and even a couple verses of Siwy Kon and other traditional Polish songs.
After unloading from the bus at the church, the kolędy group drove to St. Stanislaus Cemetery for a sunset vigil at the cross of John Kmiec. Prayers were recited and more kolędy was sung in the cemetery. After a long day, everyone headed to Jozwiak’s Store to finish the evening with more fellowship, food, drink and dancing as the musicians continued to play old Polish songs throughout the evening.
This annual tradition of Kolędy Polskie In Chappell Hill was another beautiful day of celebration of our Polish history and heritage as family members young and old made lasting memories.
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.
Slideshow on page 2
Music Videos
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.