Did someone say pierogi dumplings?
Posted on 03/07/2007 10:45:20 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
CHICAGO -- Anna Hebal says pierogi dumplings don't sell like they used to at her Czerwone Jabluszko Polish eatery in Chicago. She blames a lack of Poles immigrating to the city, the largest Polish community outside Warsaw.
"There's no point in coming to the United States now that there's a united Europe," said Hebal, 54, who received refugee status in the United States in 1981 after Poland, then led by a Communist regime, declared martial law while she was visiting Chicago. "Poles have more freedom than ever, so less people are coming. It's kind of hard."
As Chicago celebrated Pulaski Day yesterday to honor General Casimir Pulaski's heroism in the American Revolution, local Poles say their culture, influence, and businesses are declining in the third-largest US city. Poland's entry into the European Union in 2004 is leading Poles who once considered moving to Chicago to choose cities such as Dublin and London, where they can earn good wages just a two-hour flight from home.
Metropolitan Chicago, with a population of 9.16 million in the 2000 Census, has 820,000 residents of Polish descent. That ranks the city second in the world behind Warsaw's 1.67 million residents.
The number of Chicago-area Poles granted permanent resident status in 2005 fell 5.3 percent to 5,575 from 2004, when Poland joined the EU, according to the most recent data from the US Department of Homeland Security.
"It's been a very distinctive decline," said Wanda Kudrycka, a Pole who works at her country's embassy in Washington. "They are going to England, and then Ireland and Germany."
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Ping....
Too bad the Mexican government isn't doing more to make that country more hospitable to business and industry.
ping
In the early 90's, I lived in a neighborhood of Chicago called Bucktown. There was a Polish restaurant on the corner of Damen and North Avenue called "The Busy Bee", where you could have a full Polish breakfast for under $2, under a big portrait of Pope John Paul II.
One morning, in March, 1992, I was walking to the L stop at North and Damen, when I encountered a crowd at the entrance of the stop. I pushed my way through the crowd to get to work, and discovered the reason for the crowd: Bill and Hillary Clinton, campaigning for the Illinois primary, were shaking hands with commuters on their way to work. I had to run the gauntlet past both of them in order to get to work, which annoyed me to no end. Later that morning, the Clintons had breakfast next door at The Busy Bee. A reporter asked Hillary about an article in the New York Times about their investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation. Hillary responded, "Well I could have stayed home, and baked cookies and had teas, but I decided to do something with my life"
The Busy Bee is no longer there, just another example of the dwindling Polish neighborhood in the face of gentrification.
The best vodka in the world is made in Warsaw...
When I go to the big city, I stop at a Polish sausage shop and buy fresh kielbasa. Without a doubt, the best sausage in the world. The butcher keeps the recipe in a safe.
(and to think in the late '80s we almost lost this 2005 Championship Team)
bttt
Did someone say pierogi dumplings?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.