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Community Corner

Family Ties Keep St. Stan's Festival Going Strong

Polish traditions, expanded carnival, Fifty Amp Fuse, Annabelle Road and Nine are some of the attractions at this weekend's 40th annual parish festival in Wyandotte.

Jim Macek said the 40th annual parish festival at is as much a tradition for the community as it is for his family.

“I’ve been working it for 40 years,” said Macek, 60, of Wyandotte. “I grew up in this parish. I went to school here. My mother and my grandmother have been part of this parish. I feel a sense of pride in supporting my parish. This is about us. It takes everyone in the parish to make it work. This is a big community event.”

So the hundreds of families of St. Stan’s parish are coming together for the 40th straight year. Macek and his three co-chairmen, Gary Gudith, Bill Toth and Joe Piechocki, provide the direction on behalf of the Rev. Walter Ptak, who is chairman. The festival committee and at least 100 parishioners do the bulk of the work and the community–both the parish community and the Downriver community–supports it.

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The will begin tonight and continue Saturday and Sunday. Most of the festivities take place on the parish grounds at 266 Antoine Street, although the carnival is set up less than a half-block away at Exchange Park.

St. Stanislaus opened in 1914. Ten years later, parishioners started a Catholic elementary school. Macek said the festival started 40 years ago to support the school, which closed after the 2007 school year due to decreasing enrollment.

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Now proceeds from the festival help fund the parish operating expenses. Even though the school is closed, the parish offers teams in a variety of sports. Parish boys and girls play varsity and junior varsity basketball and St. Stan’s hosts an annual hoops tournament for Catholic Youth Organization teams. Children also bowl and play volleyball.

The festival is the main money-maker for the parish and its programs, so the organizers are hoping for perfect weather. But with much of the festival held under a tent, the show will go on–rain or shine.

While relying on traditions of festivals past, the co-chairs have made several changes to this year’s festival. For starters, the word “Polish” is no longer in the title; it’s now St. Stan’s 40th Annual Parish Festival.

Now, there will still be plenty of “Polish” in the festival. Parishioners will make and serve plenty of Polish food, including 15,000 pierogi and a ton of top-selling kapusta–a mixture that includes pork, sauerkraut and cabbage.

There will be American dinners, as well. A fish fry starts at 4 p.m. Friday, a Swiss steak dinner will be served starting at 3 p.m. Saturday and a pork chop dinner will be served starting at 1 p.m. Sunday. The dinners will be served continuously until they’re sold out.

“Everything we serve is home cooked,” Gudith said, adding that “Old Polish recipes” that have been passed down through the years are used.

A variety of food will be served as usual, including pizza, Italian sausage, hamburgers and hot dogs. There will be baked goods, ice cream, candy, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and much more.

Part of the entertainment will have a Polish flavor, as well. Two polka bands with big followings will perform. The Kielbasa Kings will entertain from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday and Duane Malinowski’s band will take the stage from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Polish dancers will perform from 1 to 2 p.m. Sunday.

But the rest of the entertainment marks a significant change in the St. Stan’s Festival lineup. Fifty Amp Fuse–perhaps Downriver’s most popular band–will attract a crowd for a free concert from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday.

will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday. And the Wyandotte-based band Nine will perform from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Organizers are hopeful the three nighttime concerts beef up the attendance at the 40-year-old festival.

“We’re trying to draw a younger crowd,” said Toth, a 45-year parishioner whose children and grandchildren attended school at St. Stan’s. “This is the start of summer. Everyone is finally getting outside.”

Besides the expanded carnival with twice as many rides, children and families will be entertained by Carey Ann’s Clown Caravan from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

There will be bingo played in air-conditioned comfort, a Vegas room and a variety of family games.

Also new this year will be a crafters and vendors show.

The festival’s grand raffle offers a prize of $7,500 and lots of chances to win during 50/50 drawings and an instant lottery program.

Organizers said one of the most important part of the Memorial Day weekend festival is a veterans service that takes place at 4 p.m. Sunday. The entire festival shuts down while all deceased and living Wyandotte military veterans are honored. There will be a short presentation by the Wyandotte veterans honor guard and Wyandotte Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1136.

Piechocki said one of the draws of the St. Stan’s Festival is a chance to meet friends at least once a year.

Toth’s daughter, Mary Beth Pottorff, said the festival started when she was a first-grader. Now she helps out with publicity and introduced the craft and vendor section. She created the festival posters that popped up all over town.

“My parents worked that one and everyone since,” she said. “I have never missed one. I even came home (for) it in 1993 when I lived in Myrtle Beach. It’s like a family reunion. I see people I haven’t seen in ages and run into old classmates from St. Stan’s and people from all over.”

“It’s a good, fun time,” Piechocki added. “It’s a good party with good food. This church is so great because everyone gets involved. And we thank them for that. It will be a great weekend.”

Festival hours are 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call 734-285-9509.

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