On Sunday afternoon a large basement hall in St. Florian’s Church was packed with people enjoying the second day of a very popular annual event, the Strawberry Festival. The festival has been organized since 1968, always at the beginning of May, as May 4th is the feast of Saint Florian, the Church’s patron.
The strawberry theme was represented by beautiful decorations and foods such as “gofry” (waffles) or “naleśniki” (crêpes) with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, served by volunteers from the singing group “Adoramus”. There were attractions such as raffles for kids and adults, old-fashioned cotton candy and inflatable bounce houses outside the church.
A few food stations with traditional Polish American foods and drinks were located inside and outside the church.
The Sunday afternoon turned into a very exciting “battle of the bands”, with the great “Kiełbasa Kings” playing polkas and waltzes in the warm church basement, while outside, in the much cooler weather and less-populated tent, the popular local Polish band “Na Zdrowie” played. We read that St. Florian’s Pastor, Reverend Tomasz Pietrzak was supposed to dance an oberek, so we watched the dancefloors very closely, but we did not see Father dancing, at least not on Sunday.
In the tent “Na Zdrowie” started with some rock music, which, however appreciated, did not get anybody to the dance floor. But once the band switched to “mega” popular Polish songs such as “Prawy do lewego”, “Miłość w Zakopanem”, followed by “Żono moja” which many Polish people know and love, the dance floor filled up with energetic and happy dancers, among them soon-to-be-wedded Felicia Adamczyk and Hubert Raszewski, both “Polanie” dancers.
Speaking of “Polanie”, we saw some other “Polanie” members, among them the choreographer, Paulina Kowalczyk, enjoying the festival and supporting fellow “Rodacy” dancers. “Rodacy” gave a beautiful performance on Sunday afternoon, and among their dances was a krakowiak choreographed by the late Mateusz Wasiołek, who was very warmly remembered during the performance.
At the church dancefloor we also spotted a former Mayor of Hamtramck, Karen Majewski, Don Czeski (a very impressive polka dancer!) as well as Lucy Bemiss and Julia LaRocca, both “Zakopane” dancers. Julia and Lucy, who also can polka (see the video in the FB post) recently formed a singing duo “Siostry Folklorystyczne” which we hope to hear at one of the Polish festivals this summer.
Not on the dancefloor, but making sure that everybody was safe, was Chris Redziniak, while his mother, father and wife were volunteers at the festival.
Quite a few festival guests took the opportunity to tour the interior of the magnificent, neogothic St. Florian church, with historian Greg Kowalski, the director of the Hamtramck Historical Museum. As we found out from Greg, the Museum is doing very well, and recently held a “prohibition party”, which was quite a success. For the occasion, women dressed as twenties-era flappers, a jazz band played, while the moonshine flowed.
But even such an expert in Hamtramck history as Greg Kowalski, who told us that the festival first started in 1968, did not know why the St. Florian’s festival is called the “Strawberry Festival”. Therefore, we are calling out to you, our dear readers: if you happen to know, please let us know why it is a “strawberry” (and not for instance, “cherry” or “apple blossom”) festival!? We will be waiting!
Good food, good cheer as well as plenty of great music and dancing made this Sunday afternoon at the St. Florian’s Strawberry Festival very enjoyable and memorable!
