Video from 2010′s Dożynki

Sunday, 09/25 – 10am to 9pm
Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral Parish Grounds
6298 Broadway, Lancaster, NY 14086
(Between Schwartz & Ransom Roads)

Homemade Polish Food (American food also available) … Polka Music …. Polish Folk Dancers … Polish Beer….Children’s Activities … Polish Deserts … Cultural & Craft Demonstrations … Exhibits & Vendors … Theme Tray Auction … Farmers Market … And So Much More!!

Click here for more info—>

In the midst of all the craziness surrounding the the abrupt departure of Corpus Christi’s pastor, Dożynki got off to a great start last night at the church.

This was the first time the festival opened on a Friday in a long time…Corpus Christi re-expanded the festival to a three day event this year.

To kickoff Dożynki, Mona Liza, a singer from Poland, offered a mix of contemporary Polish music mixed with some great American standards. Dożynki is B-F’s largest outdoor summer festival and has really grown over the last few years. Opening on Friday is an effort to make the festival an even a larger event.

With the news that my parish’s pastor got caught up some legal troubles on the same day the event opened, it made the evening a surreal experience.

As Parish Council President Beverly Sikora says in the video below, people are sad.

Father Matthew was part of our family at Corpus Christi. I am saddened by the whole situation. Priests after all, are just people. They have problems like all of us. They make mistakes. And of course, the whole story makes for great news. A priest’s fall from grace is something people eat up. All I thought about after the news broke was that Father Matthew needs our prayers and support to help fight whatever demons are plaguing him.

Corpus Christi will be starting the festival one day earlier on Friday.

Everything starts at 6:30pm under the festival tent. The bar and grill will be open.

At 7:15pm and direct from Poland, Mona Liza takes the stage. She brings her own brand of contemporary Polish music to Buffalo.

I will be selling beer tix!!!

http://dozynki.corpuschristibuffalo.org

Festival to Feature Special Mass, Pierogi Contest, Polish Food, Music, Flea Market

Buffalo, New York – The 32^st annual Dożynki Polish Harvest Festival at Corpus Christi Church in Buffalo will begin on Friday August 19^th and run through August 21^st. This joyful celebration, which dates to the middle ages, is the Polish equivalent of America’s Thanksgiving holiday. In Poland, this event marks the end of the wheat harvest. At Corpus Christi, Dożynki is an opportunity to give thanks for all manner of blessings.

The heart of the Polish Harvest Festival is to bring people together in a spirit of gratitude and appreciation to God for all we have been given. This year’s Dożynki Festival activities will offer a chance to enjoy homemade Polish food including pierogi, gołąbki, naleśniki, along with grilled sausage, baloney, hot dogs and hamburgers. Delicious Wendel’s Chicken Barbeque will be available on Sunday afternoon. Our expanded Polish Café will offer mouth-watering desserts, a chance to throw a few balls down the newly repaired bowling lanes and visit the Flea Market. Polish-American beer, The Grand Raffle, Theme Baskets, Farmers’ Market, and historic church tours will make this a summer event you don’t want to miss.

The festival opens on Friday, August 19^th at 6:30p.m. with food from The Grill. A special performance by Mona Lisa, a contemporary Polish singer, will begin at 7:15p.m.

Saturday, the Festival begins with the 11:30a.m. Mass in the Chapel. The sounds of Al Kania’s Polka Smile Eastern Style will fill the air on Saturday afternoon, followed by the 4^th annual Buffalo’s Best Pierogi Contest. Mass at 5:30p.m., followed by dancing to the Concertina All-Stars, round out the evening.

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FOURTH ANNUAL BUFFALO’S BEST PIEROGI CONTEST

Contest Celebrates Buffalo’s Ethnic Heritage

Buffalo, New York – Corpus Christi Church is looking for Buffalo’s best pierogi by hosting its fourth annual Buffalo’s Best Pierogi contest on Saturday August 20 at 4:30p.m.  The contest is open to all amateur cooks and businesses.

The contest has grown from fourteen contestants to last year’s high of thirty-five. Christopher Byrd the contest organizer says the event “captures Buffalo’s love for food while celebrating our city’s rich ethnic heritage with recipes and traditions passed on from one generation to the next.”

Applicants will be judged in one of three categories:

Homemade Traditional – boiled or fried pierogi filled with cheese, cheese/potato or kapusta (pickled or fresh cabbage) with or without mushrooms, carrots, etc.

Homemade Non-Traditional – open to entrant’s creativity, keeping in mind that a pierog is a stuffed pocket of dough.

Commercial – open to any business using a traditional recipe.

Deadline for entries is Saturday, August 13.

A group of celebrity judges will determine the winners for the contest.  Winners in each category will walk away with the title of Buffalo’s Best Pierogi Maker.

The contest will take place during Corpus Christi’s 32nd annual Dozynki (pronounced Do-ZHIN-kee) Polish Harvest Festival on August 19, 20 and 22. This joyful commemoration, which dates to the middle ages, is the Polish equivalent of America’s Thanksgiving holiday.

Corpus Christi Church is located at 199 Clark St. in Buffalo, one block east of the Broadway Market in the heart of Buffalo’s Historic Polonia. Applications for the pierogi contest and a complete listing of Harvest Festival events can be found on the church website at http://dozynki.corpuschristibuffalo.org.

Buffalo’s got Pierogi!

This is historic Polonia’s largest outdoor summer festival!!!

Pastor Matthew Wydmanski, Father Simon Shaner & Father Karl Kolodziejski co-celebrants…

[click here to see CCC's live mass archives]

Al Kania is great guy!!!

I’ve mentioned this before, but for those who haven’t read it before…Al will show up at B-F events with accordion in hand and just sit back and play. In his own way, like so many other people do for the places in B-F, helps!

Al Kania is singing the old folk song “Tam Pod Krakowem”, loosely translated as “There Near Kraków.” HT Andy Golebiowski for song title.

(click here for full view)

Just went through my first batch of Dozynki media…I will have some videos to post later along with more pics.

I am truly amazed with my fellow parishioners at Corpus Christi and our ability to do what we have done at the church since it was on the brink of closing 6 years ago.

Include Dozynki along with the mix of what we do at Corpus Christi…the festival, especially attendance, has grown beyond what we could have ever hoped for.

The church with the Pauline Fathers, its parishioners and numerous friends have worked very hard to keep Corpus Christi ALIVE well into its 112th year of existence.