The American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC) held its Spring 2010 Board Meeting in Philadelphia. Pres. Debbie Majka and Teresa N. Wojcik, Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia President, cooperated to make the weekend meeting a memorable and interesting event.
L/R – 2nd VP Mary Ellen Tyszka; 1st VP Bernadette Wiermanski; Pres. Debbie Majka.
Their plans included a very outstanding celebration, a dedication and unveiling of a historical State marker to be placed at the site of aeronautical helicopter pioneer Frank N. Piasecki’s first engineering office.
ACPC Director Mr. Peter Obst Chairman of the Piasecki marker event has prepared a fine detailed account of the ceremonies, which is also appearing in this Polish News media.
Pres. Majka presided over the business sessions wherein various committee chairs presented their reports. Chairlady Camille Kopielski reported on the ACPC’s 2010 grant of $2,000 for university students’ summer studies in Poland. Last year’s winner chose to study at the Jagiellonian Univ. in Krakow where the students unanimously proclaimed that the teachers were highly proficient and attentive to the students’ questions and needs. Krakow offered an array of sightseeing and interesting night life attractions. There were fascinating tours every weekend, which included Zakopane where students even participated in mountain hiking trips. Mrs. Kopielski and her committee will be reporting on the 2010 winners at the ACPC Annual Convention in July 2010.
Board members were delighted to greet Dr. Maria Winnicka, Pres. of the Polish Arts Club of Elmira, NY who was accompanied by the Club’s past Pres. Christine Markiewicz, and Jackie Droleski, ACPC Awards Committee Sec’y. Dr. Winnicka graciously invited the ACPC Board members to Elmira for its Fall Board Meeting, Oct. 29-30, 2010. She revealed that arrangements have already been made with the Holiday Inn and the White Eagle Club for meetings, lunch and dinner. On Saturday evening a concert by professional pianists is scheduled.
Polish Arts Club of Elmira: L/R – Christine Markiewicz, Past Pres.; Dr. Maria B. Winnicka, Pres.
A second phase of the program will feature a Chopin concert by young aspiring pianists. The invitation was eagerly accepted as the board members recalled prior meetings hosted by the very hospitable officers and members of the Elmira Club. The Board unanimously decided to present a very special award during the meeting in Elmira to their Club’s greatly admired and highly deserving member Raymond J. Winieski for his outstanding creative cultural efforts over many years throughout the Polish American community.
Co-Chair Barbara Lemecha reported on the outstanding role ACPC played in the 89th Annual National Conference for the Social Studies at Atlanta, GA in Nov. 2009. The Council’s “Polish Perspectives” booths offered a rich variety of books, posters, bookmarks and audio/visual materials contributed by Polonia groups and individuals that highlighted Poland’s roles during WWII. All 4,000 registered conference participants received a brochure “For Your Freedom and Ours”, which ACPC reproduced with permission from the Polish Combatants of Canada. For the very first time ACPC presented a program at a Natl. Conference for the Social Studies before a live audience “WWII Perspectives on Fear” – a presentation selected by the Conference Committee from among 900 other applicants. The presentation, which was developed over months of research by Ms. Meg Huebeck of the Univ. of VA Center for Politics and ACPC Co-Chair Henrietta Nowakowski, will be published in the Natl. Conference for the Social Studies’ official journal. This invaluable program, richly supported by the Polonia, continues to grow and make a positive impact in classrooms across the country, thereby promoting better understanding of Poland and her people. Barbara Lemecha enthusiastically reported that because of the splendid array of books and materials offered at our booths, on Poland’s role during WWII and the lecture by Meg Huebeck, many of the teachers at the conference came to our booths full of questions and keen interest in our exhibits on WWII. As a result, Ms. Lemecha exclaimed that this was probably our very best and most successful presentation at an Annual National Conference for the Social Studies. Thanks were extended to Pres. Debbie Majka and Donna Chmara, Past Pres. of the Polish Arts Club of Trenton for their volunteer work in helping to man the booths. The Council extended its heartfelt gratitude to Co-Chairs Barbara Lemecha and Henrietta Nowakowski for their devotion to the yearlong preparations for the project.
Membership Chair Anna-Mae Maglaty reported that the Council now welcomes a new Supporting Organization, the Polish Falcons of America. Since our Fall 2009 board meeting we also gained 39 new individual members that included 19 Pulaski Scholarship applicants.
Teresa N. Wojcik, Pres. Polish Heritage Society of Phila.
ACPC Business Manager Judi Tompkins who handles the distribution of the Council’s quarterly Polish Heritage, informed the Board that the U.S. Post Office current delivery process results in significant delays for receipt of such materials – from over a week up to 26 days for our most recent mailing. She suggested that we place the most urgent, time constrained material on the Internet (ACPC Yahoo address), and advise members to check the ACPC website regularly for the latest information on events and happenings.
The ACPC 2010 Convention is scheduled for July 14-17 in Rapid City, South Dakota. Co-Chairs Debbie Majka and Richard Wiermanski selected the Convention theme “Carving a Dream” to recognize the accomplishments of the Korczak Ziolkowski family in creating the Crazy Horse Monument. A lot of exciting tours are scheduled – Crazy Horse Monument, Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood City, and Bear Country USA.
Reservations must be made by May 28, 2010. Members and guests are welcome. For further information please visit www.polishcultureacpc.org or call Debbie Majka (215) 627-1391 or Mr. Wiermanski (410) 798-7512. Hope to see you there – help us honor a very distinguished Polish American sculptor who conceived and initiated the Crazy Horse Monument, and his family, who is determined to complete this magnificent work of art.