REPUBLIC OF POLAND (POLSKA)

Capital: Warsaw

Population: 38.1 million

Size: 120,756 sq. miles

Currency: Zloty

Language: Polish

Religion: Roman Catholic

Geopolitical: EU member since 2004

The Polish community of the Houston Metropolitan Area num-bers over 55,000 Polish immigrants and Americans of Polish ancestry. The Polish community features a variety of cultural, religious, political, social and scholarly organizations.

Our Lady of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Parish has been established in 1982 and a beautifully traditional church was dedicated at 1731 Blalock Road, Houston, on August 26, 2001. The parish serves the Polish speaking community with two Masses in Polish at 6 pm on Saturday and 11 am on Sunday. There is also a Mass in English at 9 am on Sunday. After the 11 am Sunday Mass, a homemade Polish-style lunch is offered in the parish hall. The parish is also home of the Houston Polish School.

The Polish School named after Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik).

The mission of the school is to maintain awareness of Polish heritage and culture among children and young people of Polish origin living in Texas, USA. The school offers Polish language, history, geography, music, dance and participates in all parish national celebrations. In 2011, the school moved to a new parish hall building with a large section designed for classrooms and school activities. For more information, please contact the Principal of the school and the Pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa at 713-973-1081, or visit the website at: http://szkolapolskahouston.com

The Polish Folk Dance Group “Wawel”.

The Wawel (pronounced vavel) Polish Folk Dancers are a non-profit performing group dedicated to promoting Polish culture through song and dance. The group consists of high school, college, graduate students and adults. Costumes are provided by the group. No dance experience is necessary. The willingness to have fun and make new friends is what we strive to accomplish! Come help us celebrate the beautiful traditions of Poland! Find more information via the website: wawelhouston.com or our parish website www.parafiahouston.com.

Other organizations

The Polish American Congress Inc., is an organization dedicated to the support of the interests of Polish Americans and Poles in the US. It maintains offices in Washington, DC, and Chicago, IL, and has a charitable foundation which provides aid to Poland. The Texas Division, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, has been supporting local Polish-American events and working to improve the perception of Poland and Poles in Texas through a series of displays and exhibits. For more information visit www.polamcon.org.

Polish National Alliance (PNA), founded in 1880, is the largest Polish-American fraternal organization in the United States. PNA is more than just an insurance agency; from its very origins PNA was committed to helping people advance in the community by meeting various needs and helping them to meet their individual and community goals. Each year

the PNA helps members who are in college with merit scholarships. It also publishes two newspapers which reach more than 500,000 readers every month. For information call Jolanta Mazewski-Dryden at 281-474-7266.

The Polish Genealogical Society of Texas (PGST) continues to preserve our proud heritage by researching both locally and abroad. The society proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary next year. We invite you to join PGST and benefit from their knowledgeable members, workshops, and the award winning periodical Polish Footprints. For more information contact Dolores Newman at 281-723-1859 or visit http://www.pgst.org.

The Kosciuszko Foundation, Houston Chapter, focuses on arts, culture and the education of Polish Americans and gives many educational scholarships each year. For information call Waldemar Priebe at 713-665-4850.

The Sarmatian Review is a scholarly publication of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences and deals with central and eastern European affairs and their impact on the US. The editor is Dr. Ewa Thompson, PO Box 79119, Houston, TX 77279-9119.