Staff Reports
NEW BRITAIN – Monsignor Daniel Plocharczyk, the longtime pastor of Sacred Heart Church on Broad Street, received a special recognition award August 19th at the 40th holding of the Dozynki Festival, the city’s celebration of Polish culture and traditions that began in 1980.
The Festival Committee also recognized the Polonia Paderewski Choir and the General Haller Post 111, organizations that have participated at Dozynki since its inception.
Hundreds of festival goers participated in the day-long activities at Falcon Field that began with the Roman Catholic mass celebrated by the Rev. John F. Gancarz, the new pastor of Sacred Heart, followed by the traditional blessing of the harvest bread. Dozynki , a tradition in Slavic nations dating to pre-Christian times, is usually held at the end of summer and is the largest agricultural holiday in Poland.
Polish American Council Charities of Greater New Britain organized the event with a volunteer committee led by Festival Chair Richard Pokorski, Polish American Council President Roman Nowak and Registrar of Voters Lucian Pawlak who served as master of ceremonies for the Festival program. Pawlak has been a key organizer of the event through the years. Two dozen individuals and companies sponsored the 2023 festival.
The program featured dance and music performed by students from the Polish Language School of New Britain, the Paderewski Choir, the Volta Nova Dance Studio of Plainville and the Vademecum band. The Polish Council announced four scholarship awards to local students bound for college: Sebastian Pliszka majoring in economics (Boston College), Oliver Klima, studying accounting and business (Emmanuel College), Biomedicine major Kaylee Pettengill (Quinnipiac University and Natalia Smlarowski, architecture (UMASS-Amherst.
Attendees enjoyed a full menu of Polish cuisine and beverages throughout the festival that began at 10 a.m. and continued after 8 p.m.
