Maspeth Federal Savings, Newtown Historical Society, Juniper Park Civic Association and the Knockdown Center teamed up on April 9th to sponsor a free Polish Music Festival as part of a year-long series of events honoring the 375th Anniversary of the founding of Maspeth. The event was organized by Christina Wilkinson, Kim Caruana, Tony Nunziato and Daniel Kurzyna.
Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra, winner of 18 Grammy Awards, headlined the event. The band’s special guest vocalist for the afternoon was Eddie Biegaj. Several couples chose to dance while the rest of the 150 people in the crowd simply sat back and enjoyed the 3-set concert. The afternoon festivities at the Knockdown Center were emceed by the very popular long-time polka DJ, Bill Shibilski. The children of the Wianek Polish Folk Dance Company delighted the crowd by performing two songs and two traditional dances in colorful traditional Polish costumes. Gary Colter served as DJ before the show and during intermissions. In addition to the entertainment, free refreshments were available, donated by Kubus European Delicatessen, Frank’s Deli and Continental Pastry. A traditional Polish Easter basket, donated by the Newtown Historical Society and Enchanted Florist, served as the door prize. The big winner was Agnes Zgorzelski. Short speeches were given by invited dignitaries including Assembly Member Brian Barnwell, radio personality and Guardian Angels founder, Curtis Sliwa and Fr. Miroslaw Podymniak, pastor of St. Adalbert’s Church, the first Polish congregation in the area, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. The Frank Kowalinski Post No. 4 of the Polish Legion of American Veterans was represented by WWII vet John Kempisty. Sturr publicly recognized the German musical group, die Schlauberger, who had stopped by after performing at Manor Oktoberfest to take in the band’s last set, as well as Carole Golis, founder of Maspeth’s Polonaise Folk Dancers, who was in attendance.
On a very rainy Tuesday, March 28th, the town of Maspeth came together at Maspeth Federal Savings to celebrate the 375th anniversary of its founding by English settlers under a Dutch patent. There was music, a little bit of dancing, short speeches and lots of refreshments. The event kicked off the year-long series of events planned to celebrate this very special anniversary.
Please remember to be extra cautious when approaching this area.
The Knockdown Center has requested that several of the restrictions imposed on them by the State Liquor Authority be lifted. CB5 has recommended that an 1800 person maximum capacity remain in effect and that the special events permit be restricted to 4am on Friday and Saturdays only. CBM has been attending the KDC's community advisory committee since they received their license from the SLA. To date, there have been no additional complaints made to us about the operation of the KDC. Please contact us with your concerns or thoughts about this latest proposal.
We have been asked to explain the meaning behind some internet blog postings that date from 7-10 years ago which mention individual officers of CBM as well as the Juniper Park Civic Association in a derogatory manner. The wild accusations contained in them were made in retaliation for us exposing political corruption in Middle Village back when.
All we will say is that if you believe decade-old "fake news" published by a disgruntled, disgraced sex offender, then you have some serious issues to work out. The people who take pleasure in trying to discredit us are kind of like airplane passengers hating on their pilot and hoping he crashes. Congratulations to Scott Johnston and Phyllis Lee for knowing how to use Google and for being obsessed with people they've never met. A set of questions was submitted to us recently by Barbara McShane and Maryann Lattanzio regarding the money raised and spent for the shelter fight, which we are happy to answer. We are posting the answers publicly so others with the same questions may also be better informed.
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