The 23rd annual Polski Dzien or Polish Days was held in downtown Bremond, Texas on Saturday June 26, 2010. As always, the day started with the Polish Pickle Run, a 5K run for adults and a 1K run for the kids. It seems like there are more and more runners each year. I’m not sure why so many people would want to run the streets of Bremond in the sweltering heat of late June, but then again, how many other races have cold piwo, kielbasa and watermelon waiting at the finish line?
After all of the runners made it to the finish line, a raffle drawing for a heifer calf was held and awards were handed out in front of the Bremond Press building. The awards consisted of cash, medals and of course a jar of official Polish Pickle Run pickles. Each runner also received one of the unique and colorful Pickle Run t-shirts. At 10:30 AM the parade started at St. Mary’s Church and slowly made its way to downtown led by parade marshalls Zack & Jim from Waco 100 radio. There were lots of horses, motorcycles, vintage cars, fire trucks, tractors, people and decorated floats flying Polish flags in the parade. Main street was lined with plenty of craft vendors and food booths.
A popular place this year was the air-conditioned Bremond Historical Museum building where the ladies from the Coal Mine Restaurant were serving pierogi, bigos, golabki, kielbasa, kluski and other delicious Polish foods. Doris Rekieta and Frances Robertson were on hand autographing copies of the newly released Pierogi Palooza DVD which features them demonstrating how to make pieorgi. The DVD also includes footage of the St. Mary’s Altar Society making over a thousand pierogi for the 2006 Polski Dzien. Proceeds from the sale of the DVD will go towards finishing the Bremond museum.
New to Polski Dzien this year was a large tent with tables and chairs so people could sit and eat. Live entertainment was provided in the tent througout the day. The highlight of the day was a performance by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, a talented musician and singer who not only entertained the crowd with his concertina playing but also threw in some educational bits about the life of the early Polish settlers in Texas. Playing along with Jim were Mark Hopcus on guitar, James Mazurkiewicz on bem bem and Austin Elmore on the washboard. Other entertainers playing in the tent included Southern XTC Band who played southern rock and Christian Rock Band, 10th Leper.
A 42 domino tournament was held along with horseshoe, washers, three-on-three basketball and volleyball games and lots of other activities throughout the day. The kids had a special area this year with a petting zoo, pony rides and inflatable bouncers and water slides. A Polka Mass was held in the evening and a street dance with music by Kristen Kelly and the Modern Day Drifters finished off the long day. In spite of the heat, it looked like everyone was having a good time throughout the day.
Below are a few photos of the fun and there is a slideshow of many more photos on page 2.
Slideshow of many more photos on page 2.
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.