4-9-12: Courtesy of WIVB. Western New York’s Polish community is letting loose after the Lenten season with their pussy willows and squirt guns in hand. The Dyngus Day parade marched in Monday night. The festivities in Buffalo started with the cutting of the kielbasa and the competition for who will have the bragging rights for the best home-cooked and commercial product. The judges had their work cut out. WBEN news director Steve Cichon said, “I don’t know how I’m going to get through 15. This is already the best. I don’t know what I’m going to do here.” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz added, “I’ve got a lot of Polish blood running through me. It’s just remembering the heritage and what the Polish people have brought to this community.” Dyngus Day dates back about a thousand years, but in Buffalo it began being celebrated about 51 years ago, and in the last six years has grown to be one of the biggest ethnic festivals in the northeast. Eddy Dobosiwicz, who helps orchestrate the Buffalo festival, explained, “Dyngus Day is kind of like Fat Tuesday except it’s the celebration the day after Lent as opposed to the day before Lent, like Fat Tuesday.” At R&L Lounge on Buffalo’s east side, Lottie Pikuzinski has been packing crowds in for years. She and her husband Ron have one of the last mom and pop taverns on the east side. Their hearts are deeply routed in Polonia, family and friends. “My children grew up here and all of my good memories are here, and you know, look at …
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PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF MARK POLONCARZ