Bridging with our culture in Upper Silesia, Poland, to enrich our Texas heritage.

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8th Annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala
 held on Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala

By Janet Dawson Ebrom

The Eighth Annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala took place on December 11, 2011, at St. Paul Catholic Church and Community Center in San Antonio.  A special Mass was celebrated at 3 PM honoring the Silesian ancestors who immigrated to Texas in the mid-1800s from Silesia, a southwestern region of Poland.  Bishop Emeritus John W. Yanta of the Amarillo Diocese was the main celebrant, and three other priests con-celebrated:  Msgr. Franciszek (Frank) Kurzaj, Rev. Robert Ploch, and Rev. Leon Rubaj.  During the Mass, Msgr. Kurzaj announced over 130 Silesian Texan surnames, and members of the congregation raised their hands when the names of their ancestors were called—a moving testament to their heritage.  A vocal group from Lublin, Poland, sang gloriously in Latin during the Mass.

The Gala followed at the St. Paul Community Center where Msgr. Kurzaj, president of the FLM Foundation, welcomed about 300 guests.  The gala committee had draped white linens with scarlet sashes, and the stage glittered with Christmas decor.  Members of the dedicated gala committee are: Dorothy and James Collins, Gladys Koenig, Emily Kolodziejcyk, Genny Kraus, Evelyn and Rudy Lyssy, Dorothy Moy, Lillian and Elmer Mzyk, Lillian and Al O’Berg, Dorothy Pawelek, Gerry and Robert Piegza, and Lorraine Pruski.  Also, Patricia Felux, Sue Mason, and Mary Martinez displayed silent auction items many of which were from Poland.

The singers from Poland presented an outstanding concert to an appreciative audience.  Many of the songs in Polish were Christmas carols called kolędy.  The vocalists are graduates and students of the Musicology Department of the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland:  Anna Waloszczyk, Katarzyna Piesta, Anna Kusy, Anna Dzwonkowska-Pucia, Jadwiga Pucia, Paweł Jabłoniec, Stanisław Hajda, Sławomir Kuczek, and Mariusz Pucia, their leader.

Prior to the banquet, Rev. Arkadiusz (Eric) Szyda, pastor of Holy Name Church, offered the blessing.  During the dinner, a DVD entitled “Polska? Tak!” was shown along with pictorial highlights from the 2011 trip to Poland and Germany. 

After dinner, Msgr. Kurzaj presented the 2011 FLM Foundation Outstanding Service Awards to Lorraine Pruski and Evelyn Lyssy for their exceptional contributions to the Silesian community.  Two more Outstanding Service Awards were announced of winners who were not present:  Elaine Kolodziej, publisher of the Wilson County News, and Stephen Pruski for his service to the Silesians of Texas.  Also, four scholarship winners were recognized for their stellar essays in the annual FLM Foundation Essay Contest.  Two of the winners were present and invited on stage:  Kathryn Moczygemba and Jordan Haley Sheppard, graduates of La Vernia High School and now college freshmen.  The other two scholarship recipients who were not present were Katherine Stepke and Sarah Pruski.  

The closing prayer was composed and offered by Sr. Angelee Kowalik, CSSF, followed by the attendees singing of Serdeczna Matko (Beloved Mother) in Polish. 
 

Photos from the Gala:

Left to right-Regina Bochenek, Sr. Inga Michnowicz, Sr. Inez Smietana, Sr. Helen Haladyna, Sr. Agnes Bochenek, and Sr. Ann Nguyen [Photographer - Ed Ebrom]
Stanisław Hajda and Anna Waloszczyk, singers from Poland, with Msgr. Franciszek Kurzaj [Photographer - James Collins] Vocalists from Lublin, Poland, singing in Latin at St. Paul Catholic Church [Photographer-Ed Ebrom]
     

2011 FLMF Outstanding Service Award Winner, Lorraine Pruski [Photographer - James Collins] Anna Dzwonkowska-Pucia and Jadwiga Pucia
 [Photographer - Ed Ebrom]
Evelyn Lyssy, recipient of FLMF Outstanding Service Award [Photographer - Ed Ebrom]
 
 

 

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 200th 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

Dr. Jan Bogdan Drath

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.

 

 
 
November 2010

The 7th Annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala
See photos
here & here & immediately below
 
The Seventh Annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Gala was held on November 14, 2010 at the St. Paul Community Center in San Antonio, Texas. FLMF President, Rev. Msgr. Franciszek (Frank) Kurzaj welcomed the crowd of almost 300 people who gathered to remember Father Leopold Moczygemba, the Polish priest who was responsible for encouraging the 1850s immigration to South Texas by thousands of people from a  region in Europe, now in Poland, called Silesia.  Many of the FLMF supporters are descendants of those brave settlers.
 
In commemoration of the 200th Birthday of Poland's Fryderyk Chopin, a piano concert was performed by Dr. Jan Bogdan Drath, Founder of the Annual Chopin Workshop for Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas.
 
Following the concert, the guests proceeded into the elegant dining hall where the blessing was given by Rev. Robert Ploch of St. Joseph Church in Devine, Texas. During dinner a slide show by Fr. Robert Ploch was presented, "2010 Trip to the Holy Land" chronicling the latest annual trip sponsored by the FLMF.
 
Winners of the three FLMF Outstanding Service Awards were announced:

Outstanding Service Award
Presented to the family of

Alphonse J. Moczygemba (posthumous)
and Mary Moravitz Moczygemba
For their exceptional contributions to the Silesian community of Texas

~and~

Outstanding Service Award
Presented to

Urban Concrete Contractors, LTD
For representing Silesia in Texas with sterling integrity and exceptional generosity. 
 Accepting the award were Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk, owners.

~and~

Outstanding Service Award
Presented to

Snoga Bar-B-Cue
For representing Silesia in Texas with superior
generosity and community hospitality

Additionally, the four winners of the First Annual Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation Essay Contest were honored.  Each winner had received a special certificate in May of 2010 plus a $500 scholarship for college. Three of them, who could not attend, were:

Kathryn Moczygemba, who is now a senior at La Vernia High School

Meagan Hester, a 2010 graduate of La Vernia High School- now at UT Austin

Lauren Ashley Flieller , a 2010 graduate of Poth High School and now attending the University of the Incarnate Word

The fourth scholarship winner,  Blaise Christopher Yanta, was present at the Gala.  He was applauded by Father Kurzaj and the members of the FLMF. Yanta was a 2010 Runge High School graduate and is now in his first year at Texas A&M in Kingsville.  After researching the historical aspects, Blaise wrote a first-person story from the point of view of an inanimate object.  His unique essay was told from the perspective of the trunk brought from Silesia by his ancestors. 

The closing prayer was given by Sister Jane Gawlik, CSSF. The closing song was "Serdeczna Matko."
 
The Gala Committee included:   Jim and Dorothy Collins, Robert and Geraldine Piegza, Patricia Felux, Dorothy Moy, Denise & Dennis Stout, Charlotte & Jerry Truss, Al & Liz Helmke, Al and Lillian O'Berg, Evelyn and Rudy Lyssy, Lillian and Elmer Mzyk, Ferdinand Kotzur, Genny Kraus, Lorraine Pruski, Gladys Koenig, Mary Martinez, Sue Mason, Dorothy Pawelek, Janet Ebrom, Elaine Stephens, Adam and Aleksandra Gerbatowski, Sr. Emilia Rzeznik, OLS, Barbara Jendryczka, David Schraer, Francisco Monzon, David Gutierez, Humberto Guerrero; Fr. Robert Ploch, Leelann Garza; Jesus F. Ramirez, Emily Kolodziejcyk, Shirley and Tim Baney, Kathy and Edwin Keller.
 
The event was catered by Next Door Catering of New Berlin. 

 

 

April 2010
 
An Invitation from the Members of the Polish American Priests Association of Texas
 
"Grateful for the many signs of solidarity and the countless expressions of sympathy following the tragic death of the President of Poland, Professor Lech Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, along with 94 others who lost their lives near Smolensk, Russia, we the members of the Polish American Priests Association of Texas extend our warm invitation to all who would like to personally join us in mourning.  Among the many memorial services to be held all over Texas are the following Memorial Masses: 
 
April 17 in Dallas, Texas at St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, 2907 Woodall Rodgers Freeway on Saturday, at 6:00 p.m.;
 
April 18 in Panna Maria, Texas at Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. Catholic Church, the oldest Polish settlement in the United States, at 9:00 a.m.;
 
April 18 in Houston, Texas at  Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church, 1712 Oak Tree Drive at 11:00 a.m.;
 
April 18 in San Antonio, Texas at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 3107 N. St. Mary's Street at 1:00 p.m.;
 
and a special Memorial Mass on April 20 in Austin, Texas at St. Mary Cathedral, 203 E. 10th Street at 7:00 p.m.   The Memorial Mass in Austin will be celebrated by the Most Rev. John W. Yanta, D. D., Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, with many P.A.P.A. priests concelebrating.
 
At each of these locations a Book of Condolences will be available for mourners to express their sympathy and solidarity with Poland.  The books will be sent to Poland by members of the P.A.P.A. of Texas.  All Texans including those of Polish descent are invited to attend these special Masses and continue to pray for the people of Poland.
 
Bus Trip is planned
For those who want to go to Austin from San Antonio for the Mass at St. Mary Cathedral, a bus trip is planned.  The bus will leave Holy Name Catholic Church, 3814 Nash Blvd. on Tuesday, April 20 promptly at 4:00 p.m.  A donation of $15 is suggested.  Reservations are required.  Please call Dorothy Pawelek at 210-333-7369 before 5pm on April 19."
 

 

Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation
6th Annual Awards Gala & Auction - 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009
St. Paul Community Center
1201 Donaldson
San Antonio, Texas 
The evening began at 4:00 p.m. with Polish Advent and Christmas Devotion in the auditorium
and continued in the ballroom where the dinner was served. 

Read the story and see photos here.

Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation
5th Annual Awards Gala & Auction - 2008

 SEE THE PHOTOS -- CLICK HERE.

sponsored by the Father Leopold Moczygemba Foundation

Sunday, December 28, 2008       
at St. Paul Catholic Church Community Center
1201 Donaldson Avenue, San Antonio, Texas

A Christmas concert by the internationally known folk group,
"Śląsk", from Poland was followed by an elegant dinner and awards program on Dec. 28, 2008. 
 

"Śląsk" performed in Texas!  December 22 - 29, 2008

NEW!  Read Monsignor Frank Kurzaj's journal of Slask's historic
visit to South Texas! 


T
he singers and musicians from the internationally known folk group, "Slask" of Silesia, Poland  performed in South Texas cities, including San Antonio, Panna Maria, Houston, Corpus Christi and more.  The group has been called, "one of the grandest and most dazzling spectacles in the world." 
   
 

Schedule:
San Antonio
Dec. 24, 2008 - St. Paul Catholic Church, 10:00 P.M.
Dec. 26, 2008 - St. Anthony Mary Claret Catholic church, 7:00 P. M.
Dec. 28, 2008 - St. Paul Community Center, FLM Gala, 4:00 P. M.

Panna Maria

Dec. 24, 2008 - Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 3:00 P. M.

St. Hedwig

Dec. 24, 2008 - Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 5:00 P. M.

Corpus Christi

Dec. 25, 2008 - Corpus Christi Cathedral, 4:00 P. M.

Houston

Dec. 27, 2008 - Polish Roman Catholic Church, 6:00 P. M.

Sląsk” in Texas 

The Song and Dance Ensemble “Sląsk” is an unusual synthesis of music, dance, and song with folk roots.  It is a phenomenon arousing admiration and inspiring respect among audiences around the world.  Perfectionism and professionalism are the ensemble’s hallmark.  The high artistic level of the ensemble has brought it recognition throughout the world along with numerous awards and certificates including the honorable certificate of merit from the President of the United States.

 The originator and founder of “Sląsk” and its artistic director was Professor Stanislaw Hadyna, son of a music teacher from Silesia, Poland, who, since childhood, was greatly influenced by the songs and dances of the land of Silesia.  The Ensemble was established in 1953 at the decision of the Culture and Art Minister of Poland.  The first 120 singers, dancers, and musicians were selected from among 12,000 candidates. 

Currently, the ensemble numbers 120 artists accompanied by an 80 person support crew.  Among the many countries the ensemble has performed in are:  Japan, Australia, Israel, Canada, and Mexico.  This wonderful group, represented by 60 singers and musicians, will perform in Texas during the Christmas Season of 2008.  From December 22-30, they will visit Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio as well as St. Hedwig and Panna Maria.  See their schedule, above.

For more info, visit www.zespolslask.pl



Students from Silesia - Visited and attended classes
in Bandera August 23 - Sept. 6, 2008
Eleven students from two middle schools in Strzelce Opolskie (a village in Silesia, Poland) visited Bandera to attend classes for a few days.  They stayed with other students in Bandera, and enjoyed many special events to help them learn more about the Texan culture.  The students, ages 14, 15 and 16 were accompanied by two of their teachers.


Silesian Visitors to Texas 2008
A contingent of business people, professionals and government officials from Strzelce Opolskie, in Poland, visited their Sister City, Bandera, Texas, along with other South Texas communities from June 5 to June 17, 2008.   One of their activities was a leisurely cruise down the San Antonio River, under the guidance of Father Frank Kurzaj.  In  Bandera, they were hosted by Elenora Dugosh Goodley.  

For more info, visit the Bandera County Courier.
 


 


Folklife Festival in San Antonio - June 13 - 15, 2008 - New!  See PHOTOS here
The Polish Booth served pierogi, kielbassa (Polish sausage), pierogi, soft drinks and water.  We enjoyed sharing our  heritage through food, fun and fellowship.  The festival is located at the Institute of Texan Cultures in downtown San Antonio. 


 


Interview
Izabela Migocz, a performer with the internationally known folk group, "Slask" of Silesia, Poland performed in many locations in Texas, in December of 2007.
 Read "Meeting Izabela Migocz", an interview with the performer, as she talks about her experiences during her visit to Texas in December, 2007. 

Click here to read the interview and see the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Church Bells Ring -  from Bandera to Rozmierz, Poland

 

Father Andrzej Kowolik, pastor of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Rozmierz, Poland, unpacks the new church bells. One was a gift from Silesian Texans.  Photo courtesy of Agnieszka Pospiszyl of Strzelce Opolskie, and Elenora Dugosh Goodley of Bandera

April 3, 2008 - A new bell replaced the old, cracked one  in St. Michael's Catholic Church in Rozmierz, Poland, thanks to the generosity of a few descendants of the Silesian immigrants who settled in and around Bandera, Texas.  The five thousand dollar bell  was a gift to Bandera's sister city-county, Rozmierz and Strzelce Opolskie in Upper Silesia. 

Receiving the bell on behalf of his parish in Poland, Father Andrzej Kowolik read the inscription on the new bell from the Cowboy Capital, "Bells Ringing, Hearts Singing.  This Bell Shouts love from Hearts.  Not time or space will stop Bringing.  Generations have joined together in love and gratitude with a commitment of honor, respect, goodwill and love of God.  Presented by Polish Descendants and friends in Bandera County, Texas USA." 

The gift was paid for by donations from Silesian Texans, many of whom have visited the villages of Rozmierz and Strzelce Opolskie. 
 

The new bells were consecrated on September 7, 2008 in St. Michael parish church. Photos courtesy of Agnieszka Pospiszyl "Texas Agnes" of Strzelce Opolskie, Poland. During Holy Mass,The Bishop of Opole region, Alfons Nossol, second from right, consecrated the new carillon bells at St. Michael parish church.  He said, "Those bells are the new heart of Rozmierz.  The heart beats in Rozmierz, but people can feel it not only in Rozmierz, but also in Texas."  On the left is Father Andrzej Kowolik, the parish priest. 


 


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