December 2010

Chopin in Texas

By Reverend Monsignor Francizcek (Frank) Kurzaj,
President of the Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation 

On Sunday, November 14, at St. Paul Community Center in San Antonio, Texas, the citizens of South Texas had the opportunity to delight in the healing music of Fryderyk Chopin.  The wonderful preludes, etudes, waltzes, and mazurkas of this great Polish composer, whose 200^th birthday is celebrated all over the world, were performed by an accomplished pianist and educator, Dr. Jan Bogdan Drath.  This artist graduated from the State College of Music in

Katowice, Poland and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from North Texas State University.  He is the founder and director of the Annual Chopin Workshop at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  The concert was organized in conjunction with the annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala which gathers the descendants of the first Polish settlers in Texas, who found their roots in Silesia, Poland.  The Foundation seeks to deepen the unity among the Silesian Texans and to build a cultural bridge between Texas and Silesia, Poland.   

In an exquisitely decorated auditorium of the Community Center, around 400 people in complete silence listened to Chopin’s melodies.  After each piece of music the audience exploded with thunderous applause.  At the end of this spectacular concert, the audience and the artist, with Chopin’s Funeral March, memorialized  the recent death of Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, a great contemporary composer, who died November 16, 2010, and was buried in Katowice, Poland, the birthplace of Pope Paul II..  They also paid tribute to Proxie Urbanczyk Pollok, a 100 year old lover and protector of Polish song and music from Panna Maria, Texas. 

The second part of the event took place in the ballroom of the St. Paul Community Center where the participants viewed a video presentation of the 2010 trip to Poland and the Holy Land and had the opportunity reminisce about their previous trips to Poland.  During this part of the celebration they also recognized and honored the recipients of the 2010 Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Service Awards.

The first was presented to the family of Alphonse J. Moczygemba (posthumous) and Mary Moravitz Moczygemba for their exceptional contributions to the Silesian community of Texas. Another was presented to Urban Concrete Contractors Ltd. for representing Silesia in Texas with sterling integrity and exceptional generosity. Accepting the award were the founders, Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk.

The last Outstanding Service Award was presented to Snoga’s Bar-B-Cue for representing Silesia in Texas with superior generosity and hospitality. 

The participants left with boxes of Polish items from the silent auction and hearts filled with great pride and joy for experiencing this unforgettable evening.

The Sixth Annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala
by Elaine Mazurek Stephens

The Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation held its Sixth Annual Gala on Sunday, December 13, 2009, at the St. Paul Community Center in San Antonio.  The mission of the foundation is to strengthen and deepen the relationship between Texas and Silesia, a European region now in Poland, from which early immigrants came before settling in Texas. 

Monsignor Franciszek (Frank) Kurzaj, the FLM Foundation president, opened the program entitled “Remembering Our Loved Ones and Our Heritage in Songs and Photos.” Msgr. Kurzaj and Sister Inez Śmietana lead the audience in singing kolędy, traditional Christmas songs, in Polish and English while images from the Silesian Texan website were presented by Janet Dawson Ebrom and Elaine Mazurek Stephens.

Before dinner, a blessing was given by Rev. Jonathan Felux of St. Bridgid Church in San Antonio.  Then the Slavic tradition of the

Opłatek, the Christmas wafer, was exchanged.  The Opłatek is shared among the closest family members and friends at the start of the Wigilia, the Vigil Supper.  The thin, white wafer is stamped with Nativity scenes.  Its sharing unites the past with the present; heaven with earth.  Dinner was then served in the hall lavishly decorated in scarlet and white.

The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the 2009 FLM Outstanding Service Awards.  Recipients were Edmund and Sue McCarthy, Alois and Lillian O'Berg, Elaine Mazurek Stephens, and Rev. Msgr. Frank Kurzaj who were lauded for their work as volunteers for the organization.  See photos above.

Msgr. Kurzaj, pastor of St. Paul Catholic Church, was also presented with the first ever Bandera County Praying Cowboy Preservation and Unity Award, established by the Sister County/City Partnership of Bandera County, Texas and approved by the Bandera County Historical Commission. Presenting the award was Roy Dugosh, President of the Bandera County Historical Commission, and Elenora Dugosh

Goodley, Ambassador of the Sister County/City Partnership of Bandera County.  Goodley said, "The award is to recognize people who dedicate their time in working towards preserving the culture and heritage and unifying descendants with the countries of Bandera County Immigrants."  The praying cowboy is a symbol of the cowboy heritage of Bandera County, Texas USA.  The Plaque was hand made by Fred Collins at his wood shop in Bandera, Texas.  The wood is cypress from the Cypress Trees that were washed down the Medina River by floods in Bandera, the same type of wood that was used by the Bandera Polish immigrants from Silesia Poland to make shingle roofing and also to build their houses.  The laser printing was done by Mr. Allen Strong of Cow Creek in Bandera, Texas.

Concluding remarks were given by Most Reverend John W. Yanta, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Amarillo.  A closing prayer was offered by Sister Martha Janysek, CSSF.  The final song was sung by all, "Serdeczna Matko" (Beloved Mother) in Polish.