Ticker tickler.

One of my favorite things to do is flip around the Yahoo ticker. Often there will be a “best of” places or cities to live, to raise a family, to retire, etc. Many are obvious and some are surprises. For a number of the picks, the story and logic makes sense, but again, sometimes it’s a stretch.

So if there was a Yahoo ticker “what is the best city to live or visit if you are Polish,” how would you answer? Omaha, Buffalo, Los Angeles, and San Antonio have a Polish scene, including for one of these, a “Dingus Day” celebration. I had a conversation with one of our local folk artists about doing the Polish wedding dance Mach! at the reception of his friend’s daughter. As it turned out he didn’t do it because it wouldn’t have been the right fit with the scheduling and perhaps also not with the guests. He did mention however, that they “do this all the time in Toronto.” Is Toronto an American city?

Most of us that live in St.Louis, no matter the race or ethnicity, relish the fact that we still have an Italian neighborhood and have a feeling of pride about the place, the food, and the people. Not sure how many Italians really live on “The Hill,” but there are a ton of restaurants and identifiers crammed into that part of town. The fire plugs are painted in Italian colors for instance. With or without the neighborhood, an Italian living or visiting St.Louis would have to feel welcome, on The Hill or anywhere for that matter. By the way, try the toasted ravioli, thin crust pizza, or the chicken spedini, all St.Louis Italian specialties.

Italians aren’t the largest ethnic group in the metro area and by contrast, Chicago is the biggest Polish city in the world. The best American cities for Polish people probably look and act very similar to the worst but it is not how much Polonia there is what wins. The Polish population in many towns is small and close knit yet every single weekend there is something going on emanating from the community. As the number of dedicated Poles regularly leading and participating in the events gets smaller, it is still amazing how much there is to do. Quantity and other aspects do not necessarily determine the “best” though.

I think there are two defining factors that make for a good city for Polish people, whether you are a native or visiting. The first is how excited, creative, and open is the established Polonia for living and promoting their existence. Are they just hanging on or are they alive, moving forward, planning ahead, having babies, and welcoming new faces? I think another word for that is spirit! The second, greatly dependent on the first, is how open, accepting, and fond the general population is for the Poles in the community at large. To break it down further, if you were Mr. Poniewaz visiting a city and you told a native you were Polish, would the response be “hmm, you peeked my interest accompanied with a noticeable head or eye lift” along with a “we have a great Polish…this and that,” or would it be “you know, we have the largest Oktoberfest celebration in Southern Pennsylvania!” That gets a Hmm also.

I hope it is the former but look, as intelligent and good-looking as I am, I simply cannot make everyone love me or accept me. I struggle with that and the same holds true for the group. There are some great places and cities where the Polish community is more visible and at the same time accepted and even liked. Whatever the status, isn’t that a goal worth pursuing? That question leads perfectly to this question for July: what is the best city in the United States to be Polish? In your travels throughout the United States during the summer months, keep this question in mind and let me know what you think or discovered. If you find one of the best, I want to go there.

Flowers in bloom.

One of my favorite places for flowers and plants is Garden Heights Nursery because the selection and quality and variety is grand, exotic, and ethnic. While meandering through I spotted a Serbian Bellflower, a Russian Sage, Japanese Blood Grass, a Stella D’oro Day Lilly and an Indian Feather flower. No Polish named anything though so I did an online search for “flowers in Poland” On the The Flower Expert website, http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/flowerbusiness/flowergrowersandsellers/national-native-popular-flowers-of-poland. The compliments on this site are sweet smelling and there is a nice summary of the Polish flora:

Poland boasts the greatest plant diversity and wealth of forest in Central Europe. This is mainly due to its lowland location and moderate, transitory climate. You can find some very rare plants there, like the Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica), Globe Flower (Trollius europaeus), Ostrich fern (Matteucia struthiopteris) and Broad Buckler-fern (Dryopteris dilatata). Apart from these, some other flowers blooming on this beautiful land are, Geraniums, Poppies, Pink Amaryllis, Crocuses flowers, Freesia and Alanya.

Even on The Flower Expert, no “Polish” flowers. Do you know of one?

Summer movie recommendations.

Call Northside 777 stars James Stewart as a newspaper reporter investigating a past arrest and pushing for a new trial of a Polish-American accused in a robbery-murder. This film is famous as the first Hollywood production set in Chicago. It is also notable for Stewart’s repeated and accented (you know, sounds like a clucking chicken) pronunciations of “WAN-da, SIS-ko-BICH,” as only he could do it.

The Way Back is about a group of prisoners who escape from one of Stalin’s Siberian concentration camps during World War II.  Many of these were Polish “political” prisoners which simply meant they were Polish nationals who fought the Russians at the start of the war. One of the main characters is Janusz who leads the half-dozen men and one woman across Eastern Russia, through Mongolia, and eventually to India and freedom. Quite a story and none of the half-dozen primary actors has any Eastern European ancestry that I know of but you cannot tell. Great cast and story.

My prayers were answered (well, sort of) with the retirement of the bigoted president of Ohio State University, E. Gordon Gee. I wish him the worst in his retirement but hey Gordon, just joking. Good to hear from Jack from Michigan and thank you for the interesting leads.

If you have a thought about this month’s topic, an answer to the questions, a question of your own, or have interesting facts to share, contact me at: Edward Poniewaz, 6432 Marmaduke Avenue, St. Louis , MO 63139 ; eMail alinabrig@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to visit The Pondering Pole blog, ponderingpole.blogspot.com.

N.B. If you send eMail, reference the Polish American Journal or the Pondering Pole in the subject line. I will not open an eMail if I do not recognize the subject or the sender.