COUNTDOWN TO PACSKI DAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2007

Eating sugary, jelly-jammed paczki the Saturday before Fat Tuesday may be a little like slamming green beer on March 16, but boy, did they hit the spot!  During the now-infamous cold snap of February 2007, the big top set up at Holbrook and Jos. Campau provided free paczki and hot drinks to a crowd which included both locals and those like us (in the midst of filming ‘Our Polish Story’ for WXYZ, set to air in June 2007) who were delighted at the auspices of the sponsors:  National City, Art Factory, AmeriSource, Café 1923, Piast Institute, Hamtramck Chamber of Commerce, Allen Brothers, Peoples State Bank and Sterling Services.  As a collective group, the fare provided was soul-warming, and the wonderful Polish music provided by Misty Blues, who carried on despite the chill, was inspiring.

Paczki, to the three or four Michiganders who may not know, is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with jam or other sweet filling.  Traditionally, they were made in order to use up all the lard, sugar and fruit in the house since they are forbidden during Lent, the forty day period of fasting leading up to Easter.