LAST SUMMER…  

Last summer was not like any other for the Polish Club of Atlanta Board of Directors. Usually we put all Club’s activities on hold and enjoy time off with our families. This year, the enthusiasm and ideas of the Board members disturbed the previously established “tradition”. It began with an additional, summer issue of our Newsletter. Organizing the trip to Savannah/Hilton Head, launching a new web site and increasing activities associated with the promotion of the Polish Saturday School also took place during the summer months. 

But there is more coming …

IDEA  Tatiana MacDougall proposes to organize a Polish Fest in October. Great idea, but we don’t have a lot time or adequate place. Also this would be the first Polish Fest in the history of the Polish Club of Atlanta. Our efforts, costs and risks could be considerable, but Tatiana’s enthusiasm is contagious: “Lets start with a small event” - she tries to convince us.

PLACE  The search for a location begins.  We quickly realize that public parks are not the best solution. You can’t sell anything there and you can forget about a glass of cold, smooth Polish beer. Private parks are expensive and we can’t get the date we want. Thanks to our e-mail list, the ideas are beginning to flow from you. We are checking over twenty venues in different parts of the city. Leasing fees starts at $1600 and terms & conditions are often not acceptable: exhibits limitations, high insurance or expensive licenses. Finally the Roswell Cultural Arts Center offers a lobby for November 8^th, but this is the day of Piotr Folkert’s concert!

SCITREK   Gus Kubica throws in an idea: “What about the SciTrek Museum?  It has a new CEO, he is a great guy”. One phone call and we have a large, beautiful room and a partially covered terrace at the SciTrek Museum, at a discounted price of $800. The date is set for October 19^th.  SciTrek holds its own event then. We all hope that our joint ads will attract more people. We sign the contract. 

CHANGING STRATEGY  Another meeting and another brainstorming. We are spending a lot of money for the room, so it cannot be a small event. We need to present Poland and Polish community at their best and to as many people as possible. Many Americans don’t know much about our culture, history, and art. It could also be a great promotion for our vendors. It has to be elegant and educational. We decide to give our vendors space free of charge to encourage them to participate.

GOAL  The goal of the Polish Fest is to promote Poland, Polish community, Polish products, art and jewelry and Polish businesses among the metro Atlanta community.

ADVERTISING We start with aggressive advertising. Thanks to Ania, Georgia Bulletin advertises the event twice. The ads appear in AJC, local Roswell and Alpharetta papers, in the SciTrek calendar, on the radio, and on the Internet. Tatiana and Hania visit schools and pre-schools.  The e-mail is very active. Information about the Fest goes twice in our Newsletter and in a separate flyer to all on our mailing list.  We leave it in the community mailboxes and inform our co-workers. Janusz advertises the Fest at the churches.

FIRST VENDORS   Barbara Bugajska calls first. She has beautiful amber/silver jewelry and valuable paintings. We can count on our Club’s artist, Dorota Goch-Miller with her unique artwork. Maria Ambroziewicz and Emilia Borawska will also present paintings of Polish artists. Dorota Lato will present Chopin Society of Atlanta. Jola Gołębiewska, Margaret Brychcy, Magda Kline, Stone Solutions and maybe Marcus Modlińsky will present their firms. Aneta and Sławek Szlek will have a beautiful tile display. Andrzej Wór will promote two firms: Center for Individual Medicine and North Point Medical Center. Magda Wór, our opera star, will also attend. Tatiana accompanies artists and vendors to SciTrek multiple times. Everybody wants to see the room and the display space.

WITH OR WITHOUT FOOD  The decision is not easy.  You cannot make money at the Fest and your own business will suffer. Renting a grill costs $600; you need to rent a truck, hire people, and cook all Saturday, all night and Sunday. The expense, time and effort may very well outweigh the profit. Although such promotions are costly but the idea of presenting Poland at its best, wins over our food vendors: Ms. Irena Baker from “Kurpianka”, Milan Repisky from European Deli Specialties in Woodstock, and Adriane Larson. Everything will be fresh, healthy, tasty and … Polish. Ms. Baker will also present Polish furniture from her newly opened store “New Style Furniture”.

MUSIC AND OTHER ATTRACTIONS   Frank Marchese and his wife will play and sing Polish songs free of charge. Adam will play music from CDs on the terrace and Janusz will play accordion inside the showroom. Gosia will prepare a Power Point presentation with pictures from previous events. Hania and Janusz will bring TV and video about Poland. Four round tables will be dedicated to children’s arts and crafts. Olek Młynarz will teach them how to make poppy seed flower in 3 seconds. Olek will cut out 200 bigger and 200 smaller circles from red tissue paper for this purpose. Bo-żena will prepare information about “Bajecznik”, Maryla, teachers, parents and children from the Polish Saturday School will prepare information and help at other tables. Excellent cooperation!

GATHERING MATERIALS   Janusz and Krysia lend posters about Poland. They need to be framed. Wow - $20 a piece. We call the Polish Embassy and various travel agencies. Maybe they have more materials about Poland. Yes! Dorota is working on information posters and badges. Tatiana rents a red & white tent for only $270. It will go on the terrace. Wojtek will bring the display about the Club. Jana Kubica lends two pictures of her daughters in regional outfits from Cracow and the outfits themselves for the display. The girls look beautiful! Gosia even manages to have two adult outfits shipped from her friend in Omaha. Ania and Grazyna will wear them during the event.

CAN WE AFFORD IT?   Bills, one after another, are floating to Tatiana, and we all start to feel a little uneasy. The total cost of the event is growing, and there really is no income that we could count on. The ADMISSION IS FREE, to entice visitors.  Tatiana has an idea: “Let’s find sponsors and have a lottery”. Somebody throws in another idea: “Let’s order T-shirts and pens with the new logo and  sell them with a small profit“. Marek knows a firm that makes good quality T-shirts for only $6 a piece. The T-shirt will be really our “Thank you” for making a donation. Excellent idea! Let’s hope that the Polish community will understand the intent and will support our efforts. Every donation is welcome, even a few dollars from a T-shirt sale.

WE WILL HAVE A LOTTERY!  Our search for the lottery sponsors brings over 40 valuable prizes for the lucky winners (see list of sponsors below). We will have a drawing every hour!  

LAST MINUTES   Tatiana, Hania and Jola finalize agreements with vendors.  Marzena Dudziak buys the table covers and skirts, balloons, table flowers and other decorations, and then with the help of her daughters, Ania and Monika, and also Ania Kochanowska and Ela Rutkowska decorates the place. Tolek jumps on the ladder and with Jola’s help hangs 18 posters. Krzysiek Ciszewski, Wojtek, Janusz, Ela and Staś Gałązka, and Zosia Darocha help to complete the set up. Hania Williams will help at the Club’s information table on Sunday. We are all excited. Everything is starting to fit together like in a puzzle. 

SUNDAY   First guests arrive at noon. During the first 15 minutes, the tally counter registers 51 people! It is hard to believe. It begins well and it continues this way through the entire Fest. Ania, dressed in an outfit from Cracow, with a basket full of lottery tickets, has a slight problem navigating through the crowd.  We are happy that two Polish priests honored the Fest with their presence: Father Adam Ozimek and Father Stanisław Drzał. The food is being served on the terrace.  We keep adding more tables. The weather is gorgeous, the atmosphere is nice, nobody is rushing home. The lottery is very popular. Four times, on the hour, we announce every drawing with the Cracow bugle-call from a CD provided by Krysia. Just before the final drawing Marek grabs the basket and sells additional tickets. Many Americans are surprised with the quality of the display and presented art and products. Finally at 5 PM the event ends. Tired, but happy we clean the place. Some of us feel a little regret that it is over.

SUCCESS   The first Polish Fest can be described as a GREAT SUCCESS OF POLISH COMMUNITY. It was the biggest event in the history of the Polish Club of Atlanta. Almost 600 people participated. The popularity exceeded our boldest expectations thanks to all of you who came. Even the SciTrek CEO, Lewis Massey visited the Fest. There was no profit for those who were selling the food, but they didn’t complain, since it was not the reason for their presence there. We presented the best of the Polish Community, to another organization - SciTrek and to many Americans. The paintings caught the SciTrek Executives’ attention and the artists were invited to present them at the Big SciTrek Sponsors Gala at the beginning of November. SciTrek would like to partner with us for more joint events in the future. And how are we doing financially? There is no doubt that we are hurting. The Club’s net cost of promoting Poland in Atlanta on October 19^th, 2003 was over $2000.

GRATITUDE   I would like to thank Gus Kubica for finding the right place for the Polish Fest and all who responded to my e-mail with great ideas. I would like to express my gratitude to all who presented their products or firms, and to all lottery prizes’ sponsors. Big Thanks go to all who donated their $50 deposits: Barbara Bugajska, Aneta and Sławek Szlek, Milan Repisky, Emilia Borawska, Magda Kline and Stone Solutions. Special Thanks go to the children from the Polish Saturday School, their parents and other people for their support in preparing the Fest. Thank you very much to all who participated in the Fest, especially to those who bought a lottery ticket, a T-shirt or a pen. My biggest gratitude goes to Tatiana and the members of the Board of Directors and their families for the enormous efforts and time spent in organizing this unprecedented event. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you who regularly pay the membership dues, allowing us to sponsor events like this.

SPONSORSHIP     The end of the year is approaching quickly. If you are thinking about lowering your income taxes by donating money to a non-profit organization, please think about the Polish Club of Atlanta. All donations to our organization are tax-deductible. If you send us $50 or more, we will be happy to send you a T-shirt with our new logo as a token of our appreciation for understanding the Club’s needs.  For donations $250 and more, we will additionally send you a receipt for IRS purposes. Names of all sponsors are posted on our Web Page for a year, if anonymity is not requested.

QUESTION  I welcome your opinion on whether or not the Club should continue events like the Polish Fest. I would appreciate your comments sent to me at Barbara@polishclubofatlanta.org or to the Club’s address. The question remains:  Should we make the Polish Fest an annual tradition in Atlanta? The answer belongs to you.

Barbara Leszczyński  

Sponsors of the lottery prizes (in alphabetical order): Atlanta Bread Company-Johns Creek, Maria Ambroziewicz, Carmine’s Restaurant, Alpharetta, Center for Individual Medicine, Chopin Society of Atlanta, Coca-Cola Company, Cookies by Design, Alicja Drolet, Dorota Goch-Miller, “Kurpianka” General Store, European Deli Specialties in Woodstock, Adriane Larson, Nail Care Salon, North Point Medical Center, Andre Pater, PLL Lot, SciTrek, Starbucks, Magda Wór, members of the Board of Directors.

(03-12-15)