Shall We Dance…
After rain outs the last few years, warm azure blue skies were a perfect backdrop to celebrate the 80th annual Pulaski Day parade. The parade route along 5th Ave. from 36th to 53rd Sts. was lined up with red and white flags as thousands of parade revelers waved their flags. Huge crowds were assembled by the reviewing stand on 41st St. in front of the NY Public Library awaiting the start of the parade and the ceremonial welcoming with bread and salt, (“chlebem i solą” ). There was a group in traditional costume that paired off with parades VIPs to celebrate the start of the parade. Although this parade honors the famous Revolutionary War hero, Casimir Pulaski, around the time of his death on October 11 in the Siege of Savannah, the parade also honored Tadeusz Kosciuszko as a hero of two nations. Groups from the Tri-state area came in droves to celebrate and show their Polish pride. As usual the mounted police signaled the start of the parade. The parade was being broadcast back to the homeland in Poland by television and radio. A special treat was when the Polish army marching band played a nice tune for the crowd.
Let The Fun Begin
Polish Army Marching Band
Proudly Displaying Banner
The Polish people are a very religious people and had various church groups from all over the area send representatives. There was a big devotion to Pope John Paul II who was of Polish descent. Just about every group sent a Miss Polonia beauty queen to be part of the parade. Two groups that had the largest marchers were the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union, the largest ethnic credit union in the country, and the Unknown Bikers Motorcycle club. Both made lots of noise at the parade. A fun group to watch was the Traditional Folk Dancers with their waltz like dance and great costumes. The crowd loved them. Another perennial favorite is the Hawthorne Caballeros Alumni Bugle and Drum Corps. They always play it up for the crowd. One of the more lively floats came from Wallington, NJ with a band playing a tune in Polish. It was great to see all the traditional costumes and revelers taking in the sights with great pride and love of their motherland.
A Great Parade It Was
długa żywą polską
NYC Parade Life 