Easter lunch in Greenpoint
On the initiative of the seniors of the Krakus Club operating in the Polish Slavic Center, on Easter Sunday, March 31, the third meeting took place at the monument of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in Greenpoint. Members of the Northside Senior Center from Williamsburg, friends and passers-by also attended. We were honored with the presence of: the president of the Polish Slavic Center, Marian Żak with his wife Małgorzata, the new president of the Polish-American Photography Club, Dariusz Kanarek, who came with his father, Krzysztof Kanarek, a former singer from Masovia and soloist of the Warsaw Operetta. Invited priest Grzegorz Markulak, parish priest of St. Stanisław Kostka in Greenpoint said: “After the end of the 40 days of Lent, we gather for the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. There is great joy in our hearts because Christ lives and is among us. Together with him, we are here in this community at the Easter table to share love, wish each other, and share the blessed egg, a sign of new life. Let us ask Christ, always present among those who love Him, to bless the food on our Easter table. After reciting the Litany of thanksgiving and prayers, he blessed the Easter food and those gathered.
We said the Our Father and the Hail Mary and then we shared an egg, which the parish priest offered to everyone, and we started the meal.
The president of the Polish-Slavic Center, Marian Żak, thanked everyone for coming, wished them a peaceful Easter, good health and that we would be able to celebrate the Blessing of the dishes at the Monument of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko in the following years.
The culinary attraction was German sausage and hot dogs with stewed onion, sauerkraut and organic ketchup served by Zbigniew Dudek and his wife. Stefan Orzech, an accordionist famous among the Polish community, played and sang beautifully. He started with the song “Winner of Death, Hell and Satan” intoned by Father Markulak, and then he played and we sang: “Barka”, “Black Madonna”, “Does Not Know Death”, “Polish Flowers”, “Falcons”, “Szła dzieweczka” ” and other. Krzysztof Kanarek – tenor, sang fragments of the songs “Let’s go back like za za former years”, “A ja ja ja”, “Furmana” from Mazovia and “What’s going on, I’m going crazy” from the Warsaw operetta, accompanied by choir singers from “Krakus” present at the lunch.
Judging by the opinions of those present, the idea of an Easter lunch at the monument of Father J. Popiełuszko in Greenpoint was very positively assessed and a proposal was made to continue it. The artistic setting of the picnic was the fancy, colorful headgear of many ladies and men. The weather was good for us and so was the turnout.
Text: Zosia Zeleska-Bobrowski
Photos: Zosia Zeleska-Bobrowski, Dariusz Kanarek, Marcin Żurawicz, Eugene Bobrowski
