clips from Mazowsze dance workshop and performance at Youngstown's Wigilia dinner

The group Polish Youngstown continues to rack up victory after victory of quality ethnic-themed events.

Case in point:
Downtown Youngstown was chosen as the site for the first-ever U.S. dance workshop of Mazowsze - THE ethnic dance toupe of the country of Poland.

Held at Ballet Western Reserve downtown on Sunday, the five-hour event allowed people from around the U.S. to learn from this famous group. Here's a video that was posted online today:



Immediately afterwards, hundreds of people dressed up for the annual Wigilia Dinner at the Youngstown Club - organized by the Polish Arts Club of Youngstown (since January 1935) where people feasted on the traditional meal served on Christmas Eve in central/eastern european households.

I didn't know pickled herring could be so delicious.

Mazowsze performed with its 18-piece orchestra and 20-piece choral group between dinner and dessert.

Here are some videos of Mazowsze's performance at the Youngstown Club. They are excellent!















This week, the monthly Polish Happy Hour resumes on Thursday Dec 9th at Rips Tavern from 5:30pm-9:00pm
The focus will be on Old Polish Christmas traditions.

from last month's event:




Then on Thursday, January 13th, "Kulig" will take place...

with horse-drawn sleigh rides around Lake Glacier in Mill Creek Park,
roasted keilbasa in the old log cabin
bonfires at Fellows Riverside Gardens
Singing, Dancing, Ice Carving, Live Music, and Polish Food.

is it possible for Ostatki 2010 top Ostatki 2009?

The group Polish Youngstown threw one hell of a party last year.

It's thrilling to see a local event done so well with such attention to detail - the quality of the the food at the Youngstown Club, the graphic design effort put into the printings, the chamber music, the games, the prizes.

This year, on February 6th, the carnival continues at Ostatki 2010.

Here's a tour of the sights and sounds from last year:

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First off, you walk inside downtown's Youngstown Club, and the smell of Polish food and the sounds of violins greet you.

Every person is handed a passport. In the interior, the regions of Poland are identified, and you're able to get a stamp in your passport for every sample of Polish beverages you try.



Here's a video of the beverage stations, with Polish beers and chilled vodka:



You'll notice the camera shirts to the food at the end of the clip, so let's review the spread:


You've got steak, potato pancakes, kapusta, ribs, kielbasi, homemade bread, pyrohy, swinie stopy . . . it keeps going.


chilled borscht, to serve in bowls with crumbled hard boiled eggs and small pickles:


and sweet, sweet herring!


After the chamber music, the dj with the polish tunes started up.



At some point, the paczcki came out. Inside one of these donuts is a small statue. If you picked that donut, you won a membership to the Youngstown Club.


To select a winner, the paczcki parade commenced:





This year's event will also have a vodka cocktail contest by local Youngstown bartenders.



Ostatki 2010 is on Saturday, February 6 at 7pm downtown at the Youngstown Club.

Tickets for the food, music, contests, drinks is $30 if you reserve by Jan 29 to 330-719-0415. Otherwise, it's $40 at the door. Semi-formal attire.

So can Ostatki 2010 top Ostatki 2009?

rust belt chic - exhibit B

If you were located within the city limits on Saturday, you may have heard the sounds of multiple steam-powered train whistles.

To activate the whistles, The Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association tapped into Youngstown Thermal's underground steam pipes that supply heat throughout the center of the city.

While the tones were better live, you can check out some of the recorded sounds here:



Set between the Mr. Peanut Bridge and the B&O Train Station, the annual Whistle Blow event ties into Youngstown's transportation heritage.

rust belt chic - exhibit A

I'll be building a case over the next few weeks.

Rust Belt Chic:
when daytime bocce courts with a few rows of seating (where else in America are there stands for bocce spectators?) get converted into a discothèque at night...

Polish Youngstown celebrates 1st anniversary thursday with "vodka fusion night"

People look at me like I'm nuts when I say this,

but one of the best things you can do with those extra quarts of vodka we all have lying around the house is to drop a couple sticks of fresh horseradish root inside.

keep the horseradish in the bottle for three days, strain, store in the freezer, and serve.

na zdrowie.

- - -

If you've never tried infusing your own vodka or making vodka-based mixes, Thursday's event at the Lemon Grove in downtown youngstown may be perfect for you.

It's the one-year celebration of the Polish Youngstown group, formed to join the various Polish entities around town to promote "Kultura Polska" and such.

Flying in from New York City will be the brand manager from Żubrówka bison grass vodka to share some recipes and infusion tips.

similar to all the Polish Happy Hour events, Thursday after-work event starts at 5:30pm and will feature authentic Polish Hors’douvres, Zywiec (pronounced zhee-vee-ets) beer, acoustic live music, and door prizes.

just show up and join in.


could anything be more rust belt chic?