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James Smock

James SmockJames 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.

James is a past president of the Polish Genealogical Society of Texas and was the founding webmaster of the PGST website. He also served as the Surname Index Coordinator from 1994 - 2000.

In addition to serving as the webmaster and editor of this Polish Texan website, he maintains a number of other websites including;

With a lifelong passion for photography, James can often be found with a camera around his neck. In addition to photographing family events and his grandchildren, he is the church photographer for St. Mary Catholic Church in Plantersville and St. Joseph Catholic Church in Stoneham. Many of his photographs can be found on the church website or his photography gallery.

St. Joseph in Stoneham 100th Annual Bazaar

Current Events, Festivals and Bazaars / By /

St. Joseph Catholic Church 100th Annual Bazaar

St. Joseph’s Church in Stoneham, Texas held their 100th annual homecoming bazaar on Sunday, May 24, 2009. It rained off and on during the day, but that didn’t stop the large crowd from having a good time.

In addition to the regular early Sunday Mass, a special bazaar Mass was celebrated at 10:30 am in the beautiful remodeled church by St. Joseph’s pastor Fr Ed Kucera. St. Joseph’s church was built in 1909 by a predominantly Polish immigrant congregation. In the early years, St. Joseph’s was a mission parish under the guidance of St. Stanislaus parish in Anderson, but it is now a mission parish of St. Mary parish in Plantersville.

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St. Joseph in Stoneham 100th Annual Bazaar Read More »

Virginia Hill Speaks At Washington County Genealogical Society

Current Events, Meetings / By /

Washington County Genealogical Society

Virginia Felchack Hill, Polish Genealogical Society of Texas past president and long time editor of the award-winning Polish Footprints publication was a guest speaker at the Washington County Genealogical Society meeting. The meeting was held on May 4, 2009 at Blinn College Student Center in Brenham, Texas.

Her presentation on Polish Heritage In Washington County, Texas centered on the family origins of the early Polish settlers. She spoke about the early Poles that Meyer Levy brought to Waverly and presented a detailed list of the surnames of the 1867 Polish immigrants. A large map of Poland was on display with pins to identify the Poznan area towns and villages where these early Poles came from. Virginia also gave the distances between many of the small villages. An extraction of Polish marriage records of many of the early Washington County immigrants was taken from a search of the Poznan Marriage Indexing Project and presented as a handout.

Along with the regular Washington County Genealogical Society members, several PGST members attended the meeting including the current President Barbara Lee and several past presidents and board members.

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Virginia Hill Speaks At Washington County Genealogical Society Read More »

Houston’s 3rd Annual Polish Festival

Current Events, Festivals and Bazaars / By /

Houston Texas Polish Festival - Our Lady Of Czestochowa Church

The 3rd annual Polish Festival at Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Houston was held on Saturday, May 2, 2009 on the church grounds in Spring Branch. A large crowd enjoyed the beautiful weather, good food, cold piwo and a wide variety of entertainment. The festival began at 10:00 am and was still going strong when I left at about 9:30 pm. I met up with a lot of old friends and made some new ones. It was pretty obvious that everybody in the large crowd was having a good time.

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Houston’s 3rd Annual Polish Festival Read More »

Houston Polish Festival To Be Held May 2nd

News / By /

Houston Texas Polish Festival - Our Lady Of Czestochowa ChurchHouston’s 3rd Annual Polish Festival is a celebration of all things Polish – the food, the music, the language, the customs and the culture of the Polish people. The Festival is held on the grounds of Our Lady of Czestochowa Church conveniently located at 1731 Blalock Drive, in the Spring Branch area, about 1.5 miles north of the Katy Freeway. The festival will run from 10:00 am to 10:30 pm on Saturday, May 2, 2009.

Featured at the Festival is a large sampling of traditional Polish foods such as pierogi (stuffed dumplings), golabki (cabbage rolls), bigos (hunters stew) and kielbasa (sausage) and a huge assortment of traditional cakes, rolls and desserts lovingly prepared by the parishioners of Our Lady Of Czestochowa Catholic Church. There will be plenty of ice cold beverages to go along with the food.

A really talented entertainment lineup this year includes:

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Houston Polish Festival To Be Held May 2nd Read More »

Last Hurrah at the Second Fiddle

Celebrations, Current Events / By /

Last Hurrah At The Second Fiddle in Chappell Hill Texas

A traditional Cajun band with a little Polish style rocked the house at the last live performance at the Second Fiddle Bar and Grill in Chappel Hill Texas on Saturday, March 21, 2009. Cory and Lisa McCauley’s Evangeline Aces band provided the entertainment with special guest musicians Brian Marshall on the fiddle and Chuck Bolin on the drums. Brian and Chuck normally perform with the Brian Marshall and the Tex-Slavic Playboys band but they showed off their diverse musical talents by playing right along with the McCauley’s. Of course, Brian managed to sing a Polish song or two before the evening was over.

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Last Hurrah at the Second Fiddle Read More »