PHS Minutes for September 10, 2026

PHS Minutes for September 10th, 2026

NEW ADDRESS! 6:00 PM at Kroll’s West at 1990 S Ridge Rd, Ashwaubenon, WI 54304 

Mission: Developing a spirit of pride and sharing of Polish culture, traditions, and history.

Call to order: Malgosia Misztal
Meeting commenced at 6:00 pm

Present: Malgosia Misztal, Tammy Brzeczkowski, Scott LaLonde, Gloria!), Terry Maternowski, Aleksandra Krzywicka, Lisa Van Rossum, Gloria Kaminecki (happy birthday, Gloria!), Mark Riemer, Michelle Simonson, Joanna Spice,

Special guests: Barbara Osuchowska, a founder of PHS, and Theresa Charapata from De Pere, WI – witamy!

Excused: Steve Karcz, Paul Zwicker, Phyllis Thompson, Mitchell Sas, Caitlyn Cheslock

Secretary Report: Joanna Spice/ Aleksandra Krzywicka from July 2026

Accepted as presented.

Financial Report: Paul Zwicker, 6 new members from Tracey – thank you!
Associated Bank non-profit checking account: $2,706.73 

PayPal account: $264.60
Membership: 203 members
Accepted as presented.

Old Business:

• Pulaski Polka Days, Saturday, July 18th. No sales on Sunday due to air pollution. 

  • Sale was very good. Approx. $1400 of income.

• Uncommon States of Prokop in Pulaski, WI. 

  • Polish TV crew filming an episode of a travel series focusing on smaller, unusual communities in the USA. 

  • The whole event went well. Marcin Prokop talked to the community elders, visited the church and the museum. Marcin asked thoughtful questions and showed genuine interest and care.

  • The show’s episode on Pulaski should be ready in early spring and published on HBO Poland,. We were promised a link that will allow us to view it together.

• Polish Pool Champion, Kasia Wesołowska. 

  • Played at Oneida, WI. We contributed $50 and gave her a card from PHS.

Upcoming Business:

• Rhythms of the World, Saturday, September 12th, Appleton, WI. 

  • Tammy & Bruce Brzezinski participation.

  • $100 for PHS participation. 

  • Not really a Polish event. Polish merchandise might not necessarily sell, but Malgosia .

  • We were there 3 and 2 years ago, but not last year.
    Decision: Approval for the $100.

• Two Rivers Ethnic Event, Saturday, September 19thfrom 9:30am to 5pm. 

  • Gloria to come to Malgosia’s on Friday to pick up merchandise and tent, tables.

  • Information about the booth location has just been sent: Booth #40, access from 16th Street.

  • Setup: Gloria, Terry, Joanna (meet at 8am), Terry and Joanna leave at 2pm. 

  • Sale: Gloria, Terry, Asia, Caitlin and Lisa

  • Polish pride of Michigan (www.polishpride.com) website to verify prices if stickers are missing. 

  • Bring a chair, give away a free newsletter, approach people. 

  • Closing: Gloria, Lisa and Caitlyn. 

New Business:

• Steve Karcz, this year’s recipient of the Clement Zablocki Civic Achievement Award – congratulations!

  • Polish Center of Wisconsin in Franklin, November 8, 2026.

  • Members of the community and PHS are invited. 

  • Feature for the newsletter after the event? – Aleksandra (November 13 submission due date)

  • Aleksandra offered to carpool – can take 3 people.

• Anthony P Brzezinski Foundation  https://anthonypbrzezinskifoundation.org  

  • A private foundation was created to support nonprofit causes including historic preservation. 

  • Opportunity for PHS to help cover the costs of printing our newsletter.

  • Decision: Aleksandra volunteered to review the foundation’s website and their requirements for their grant/gift application

  • Aleksandra pointed out we need a better website and social media to promote our organization. 

  • Decision: Tammy volunteered to redesign the website using Square Space. Annual fee (equivalent of $23/ month) for Square Space to host. Event notifications, articles, social media feeds, membership fee collection. Ability to also sell merchandise, but that will incur additional costs – we’ll revisit at a later time.

• Oct/Nov Newsletter, article deadline: Friday, September 11 . 

  • Articles from Tracey Karcz: One Bowl at a Time, Poland’s Storks, Flowers surround sacred images 

  • Articles from Ola: Meet the Board, Summary of the interview w/Marcin Prokop. 

  • Malgosia: All Saints. 

  • Paul’s membership update, Helen Sciezka, Ewa Barczyk. 

  • Pisanki class announcement for the next newsletter (per notes from April’s board meeting: “Tracey and Steve want to run 3 Pisanki classes. In Pulaski, Green Bay and Workshop. We want to advertise in Oct/November newsletter for 3 consecutive issues). 

• Our special guest, Barbara Osuchowska, shared a little about the history of our organization

  • started in the 1990s as a social club

  • After moving to NE Wisconsin, Barbara taught Polish for UWGB and in Pulaski as well as Polish cooking and art

  • Barbara’s son was the first one to create a newsletter on his computer

Next meeting: Thursday, October 8, 2026. 
Meeting adjourned at: 6:53 pm.