March, 2010                                Am-Pol Eagle Newspaper, Cheektowaga
March, 2010 tri-fold, outside and inside.
September, 2008 page 1 and page 2.
Articles: The Accordion and the Polka in Polish American Music, and the accordion jam.
December, 2005
October, 2005
July, 2005
March, 2005
December, 2004
October, 2004
April, 2004

January, 2010: President's Letter

The year 2009, our 90th, proved to be both rewarding and exciting for the Polish Heritage Society. In addition to the continuation of several popular events -- the Accordion Jam, Szopka Workshop, and Wigilia Dinner -- to "record" attendance, other programs also proved to be well and enthusiastically attended.

The highlight of the year was our 90th anniversary banquet held in October at the Midvale Country Club. In addition to our membership, honored guests included County Executive Maggie Brooks, St. John Fisher College President Donald Bain, Polish Minister Counselor Marek Konarzewski, and Deborah Majka, President of the American Council for Polish Culture. Over two hundred people attended and four thousand dollars in scholarships were awarded to mark the event.

The Polish Heritage Society will continue to promote Polish culture within the Rochester community. In 2010 nine local students will visit Poland through scholarships from the Society. In addition to the Accordion Jam, Szopka Workshop, and Wigilia dinner other events planned include the Poetry and Pig Roast, and the Youth Talent Show. Visit our web site at www.polishheritagerochester.org for a complete listing of events and their dates.

You are invited to support our activities by volunteering, attending, and/or making a tax deductible donation. Your first chance for 2010 will be to visit the lobby of the Rochester City Hall were several crèches from the Szopka workshop will be on display from early January through the middle of February.

In closing, we wish you the happiest of holidays and the brightest of new years.

Sincerely, Maria Weldy (President) for the Board of Directors

May, 2007: Skalny Center Director Travels to Ukraine on Fulbright Grant

Ewa K. Hauser, director of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester, received a Fulbright grant to teach in Mykolayiv, Ukraine for the spring 2007 semester.

Within the Department of Philology of the humanities division of Petro Mohyla Mykolayiv State Humanities University, Hauser is teaching courses on American political films and ethnic relations, and offer a workshop on curricular development and the formation of a film studies program there.

Hauser plans to use the "life stories" of the new and changing Europe in teaching and writing when she returns to Rochester.

Hauser has been a member of the University of Rochester faculty since 1992. She is the first director of the Skalny Center, which supports research and teaching about Poland and Central Europe, and hosts many public events for the Rochester community.

A graduate of Warsaw University and Yale University, Hauser earned her doctorate in anthropology from Johns Hopkins University. She is associate professor of political science at Rochester and teaches courses on Poland and its culture, nationalism, political films, and other aspects of Eastern European culture and politics. Last year, she was awarded Poland's Cavalier Cross of Merit for her achievements in promoting Polish culture in America.

She was selected as a senior Fulbright Fellow at the American Studies Center of Warsaw University for 2001-2002. In 2004, she received a two-year Fulbright Scholar Alumni Initiative Award to build a broader institutional arrangement between the University of Rochester and Warsaw University. Hauser also is senior editor of an academic series of books on studies in Central Europe.

Hauser’s honor is now being featured on a special announcement. To see it, visit this website.