CHRISTMAS GET-TOGETHER & GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Saturday, December 12, 2015 Agenda

 CHRISTMAS GET-TOGETHER & GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Saturday, December 12, 2015 @ 10:00 a.m. 

Agenda can be found on reverse side.

(Executive Meeting at 9:00 a.m.)

 

Polish Center of Wisconsin

6941 S. 68^th Street, Franklin, WI 53132

December 4, 2015

Dear Polish American Congress Member,

I hope you and your loved ones had a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Our next General Membership Meeting will be held on Saturday, December 12^th.  We have much to discuss as we have had a wonderful year of activities sponsored by the PAC-WI Division, including the recent very successful November 8^th “Polish Independence Day/Veterans Day” luncheon.

Besides a lively discussion, delicious coffee & holiday goodies, and great fellowship, we’ll have some door prizes.  Several people will take home some nice items!  Please plan to attend.  Let’s have a fantastic year-end meeting!  

PAC-WI is already planning for 2015.  Ideas will be discussed at our December 12^th meeting.  These include:

1. Our recent Polish Independence Day/Veterans Day luncheon on November 8, 2015.
2. A brief report on all of the PAC-WI sponsored activities held during 2015 will take place.  Our organization has been very active this year and we need to celebrate our accomplishments!
3. An update on the National PAC Council of National Directors Meeting
4. Planning for 2016:

a)     Establish membership dues for 2016

b)     Setting the dates for our 2016 meetings

c)     Discuss our upcoming PAC-WI Division Annual Meeting/Elections Meeting

d)     2016 Polish Fest

e)     Next PAC-WI Division “Polish Independence Day/Veterans Day” luncheon: November 6, 2016

f)      Other ideas/events, etc.

Members need to be thinking of the PAC-WI Division Annual Meeting/Elections Meeting when we have important offices to fill with candidates interested in moving our state division forward.  Think how you might share your energy and talents on behalf of PAC-WI Division members.  Our organization is vibrant and we have much to celebrate!  Your involvement is crucial to our organization’s success. Ask yourself: “Where would PAC-WI be without my involvement?”  That’s why your attendance at the upcoming Saturday, December 12^th General Membership Meeting is so important.  When we are together, we are strong.  Let’s celebrate: our Polish heritage, our traditions, and our friendships!

As always, I am proud to serve you!  Bardzo Dziekuje!

Mark Pienkos, President

Polish American Congress – Wisconsin Division

markpienkos2012@gmail.com   or   262-325-8039

 

Plan to attend our next General Membership Meeting: Saturday, December 12!

We will have some delicious holiday treats and great door prizes.  Let’s Celebrate!!

Dr. Mark Pienkos received Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland

On November 8, 2015, Dr. Mark Pienkos received special honors from the President of the Republic of Poland (signed officially by former President Bronisław Komorowski).   The Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland was presented during the annual Polish Independence Day/Veterans Day luncheon sponsored by the Polish American Congress – Wisconsin Division and held at the Polish Center of Wisconsin located in Franklin.  Pienkos is superintendent for the Washington-Caldwell School District. 

The Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland is bestowed on foreigners and Polish citizens permanently living abroad who have made outstanding contributions to international cooperation and to bonds between the Republic of Poland and other nations and countries.

The award was presented to Pienkos on behalf of the President of the Republic of Poland by the Deputy Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago, Robert Rusiecki.

In presenting the award, Rusiecki stated:  

“The Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland is bestowed on foreigners and Polish citizens permanently living abroad who have made outstanding contributions to international cooperation and to bonds between the Republic of Poland and other nations and countries.  Specifically, Dr. Mark Pienkos has provided special services and extraordinary support to the Republic of Poland.  His record of service includes not only his leadership in Polish American organizations, but also his many recent efforts to find various sites to display the Jan Karski Exhibit throughout the state of Wisconsin beginning with the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison in 2013.  Karski was a humanitarian and member of the Polish Underground during World War II who brought the first eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust to the West.  The efforts of Dr. Pienkos helped many people throughout Wisconsin learn more about this Polish and international hero.  This effort, as well as for many other reasons, are why the President of Poland awarded Dr. Mark Pienkos with the Cavalier’s Cross of Merit.” 

Pienkos currently serves as President of the Polish American Congress – Wisconsin Division and also is the elected Vice President for Public Relations for the national Polish American Congress which was founded in 1944.

Attached Photos:

(6885): Deputy Consul General Robert Rusiecki and Mark Pienkos

October is Polish American Heritage Month

Stephen Pienkos, Polish American Congress – Wisconsin Division Vice President for Membership, worked with the Wisconsin state legislature to successfully pass a joint resolution recognizing the efforts of Polish Americans in Wisconsin.  This was done as part of our overall state division’s efforts during October which is designated as “Polish American Heritage Month” throughout the U.S.

Stephen works in the office of State Senator Robert Wirch (D-Kenosha), who co-authored the resolution along with State Senator Jerry Petrowski (R-Marathon) and State Representative Ken Skowronski (R-Franklin).  The 33 senators and 99 assemblymen all voted in favor of the resolution. The resolution reads:

 

2015 Senate JOINT RESOLUTION 61

Proclaiming October as Polish American Heritage Month

Whereas, many people in Wisconsin proudly trace their roots to Poland, a land whose rich and colorful past is rivaled only by the bright promise of its future; and

Whereas, in October, as we celebrate the many contributions that Americans of Polish heritage have made to our nation’s history and culture, we also reaffirm the strong and friendly ties between the United States and Poland; and

Whereas, before America became a nation, Poles came to these shores in search of liberty and opportunity, and their descendants have remained at the forefront of efforts to keep America free, strong, and prosperous; and

Whereas, we celebrate the great Polish heroes Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski, who helped secure the independence of our fledgling republic during the Revolutionary War; and

Whereas, since that time, millions of other men and women of Polish descent have invested their hopes in America’s bold experiment in self-government and, inspired by faith in God and a devotion to democratic ideals, have worked hard to ensure its success; and

Whereas, many of these Poles have chosen Wisconsin as their state of residence; and

Whereas, the deep cultural and familial ties between the peoples of Wisconsin and Poland have been strengthened by our shared values and aspirations; and

Whereas, for generations, Poles have demonstrated the same reverence for individual rights and dignity that infuses our own system of government; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring: That as we observe Polish American Heritage Month, we join all Wisconsinites in thanking our fellow citizens of Polish descent for their countless contributions to the strength and quality of our national life. Best wishes to all for a memorable celebration.

 

Congressman Clement Zablocki” Civic Achievement Award”

Awarded annually by the Polish American Congress – Wisconsin Division

Mrs. Teresa Jankowski is a dedicated fraternalist who has been active for many years in the Polish National Alliance. In 2011 Teresa was elected District Commissioner of the Polish National Alliance fraternal for Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the greater Milwaukee area, she is a longtime leader in her home PNA lodge and Council and is a supportive member of the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin State Division of the Polish American Congress. Teresa is a strong and always cheerful promoter of cooperative activity within our Polish American community and is a visible force in the Polonia Sports Club and in the annual Polish Fest.

 

Mr. José G. Pérez was elected Alderman for District 12 of Milwaukee in 2012. A native of Milwaukee’s near South Side, Jose Perez is a grandson of immigrants from Puerto Rico who came to our city to work here in the 1950s. As Alderman, Jose Perez has distinguished himself as a friend of Polonia, in particular by his leadership role in supporting the restoration of the Kościuszko Monument, which is in his district’s Kosciuszko Park. Alderman Perez’s interest in political service dates back to his college years at Cardinal Stritch University, his duties as an intern in the Washington, DC office of Congressman Gerald Kleczka, his  work under Mayor John Norquist, and in his many-sided involvements in Hispanic American organizations. As Alderman, Jose Perez has been dedicated to his District’s economic and community development.

 

Mrs. Gloria and Mr. Jim Shire have both been devoted volunteers with the Polish Heritage Alliance since the Polish Center was dedicated in 2000. Both have worked at every Polish Fest since then and have been fixtures in the annual Lenten Season Fish Fry fund raisers. Their volunteer spirit has been expressed in other ways as well. As Jim puts it, “When we get a call; we go.” Gloria’s volunteerism led to her appointment to the Management Committee of Polish Fest. The Shirer’s giving ways go beyond PHA service too. Jim, a veteran of the Korean War, is Commander of the Alonzo Cudworth Post of the American Legion. Gloria is active in the Girl Scouts of America. Both are involved in Holy Family parish of Whitefish Bay, where Jim has been an usher for forty years.

 

Dr. Wacław Szybalski is Professor Emeritus of Oncology and an eminent scholar in the fields of molecular genetics at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. Dr. Szybalski’s contributions to medical science over the past sixty years have been extraordinary and his scientific achievements have merited at least one Nobel Prize in the view of his colleagues, some of whom have been Nobel Prize winners themselves. Among his many honors over the years, Dr. Szybalski has received Honorary Doctoral Degrees from five Polish universities, including Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and the Universities of Gdansk and Kraków, the UW Hilldale Award and the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta from President Komorowski of the Republic of Poland in 2011 for his “extraordinary and distinguished service.”   Dr. Szybalski was born in 1921 and educated as Ch.E. in Lwów, Poland.  He lived through six years of the inhumane Soviet-Russian and Nazi-German WW II occupations of his homeland and found his way to the United States in 1950.  His research in molecular biology commenced soon after at the Genetics Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, New York.  One of his primary research collaborators was his late wife, Elizabeth Hunter Szybalska. Dr. Szybalski is a member of the Polish Heritage Club of Madison.

 

The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Libraries is honored for its commitment to preserving and digitizing the Roman Kwasniewski Photographic Collection of interwar Milwaukee Polonia. This collection, acquired in the late 1970s, includes more than 25,000 photographs and is the best and most comprehensive visual historic resource for the study of Polish American urban life in the United States. Significantly, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ involvement in preserving and disseminating Poland’s heritage goes beyond its extraordinary actions with the Kwasniewski collection. The Libraries house the American Geographic Society (AGS) collection, which includes a number of invaluable historic maps of Poland and many other materials of benefit to students of Poland’s history, its geography, its place in European art and culture, and to members of the community interested in genealogy. In addition, the UW-M Libraries has hosted a long list of memorable exhibits, films, and lectures over the years that focus on important themes and events in Polish history, working in cooperation with the UW-M Polish Studies Committee and Polonia groups. In 2010 it hosted a grand reception for participants in the national meeting of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America. In short, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries represent libraries at their best and is a living, coherent, and readily accessible repository of culture and in particular here, the Polish and Polish American experience.