November 2009

National Polish-American sports Hall of Fame

On Tuesday, November 24^th, six board members from the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame (NPASHF) traveled from their headquarters in Troy, Michigan to Ski’s restaurant in Sylvania to give a presentation about their organization.

Paul Paruk, Mike Mandell, Adam Prokop, David Jansen, Tom Szczepanski, who are directors of NPASHF and Jim Conrad, who is the Chairman of the Board graciously gave their time to explain what the NPASHF is and give a history of the organization.

The NPASHF was founded in 1973 and its goal then, as is now, is to recognize outstanding American athletes of Polish descent.  Each athlete nominated for induction in the NPASHF must have at least one parent of Polish descent.   Athletes can be from either a professional or amateur sport.  There are two categories that athletes can win in; highly visibile sports such as baseball, football, basketball and hockey, and all other sports such, as wrestling, racing and swimming.  Each nominee must exhibit a high standard of living both in their respective sport and also in their community life.

Inductees need not be an athlete.  People from other areas of athletics are also considered.  These may include referees, coaches, sports writers and all others who make contributions to the athletic arena.

The 37^th Annual Induction Banquet was held on Thursday, June 11, 2009.  Inducted last year into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame were: baseball player, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, coach Andy Banachowski, World Boxing Champ Bobby Czyz, and swimmer Joe Verdeur.

To learn more about the 2009 inductees, or the NPASHF, go to www.polishsportshof.com.

The directors also explained the Stan Musial Scholarships.  Each year 3 scholarships are given out from the Stan Musial Scholarship Fund.  Stan Musial was the first inductee into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1973.  Some of the requirements to receive a scholarship from this fund are that the recipient must be of Polish descent, have a GPA of 3.2 or better, and compete in a varsity sport.

It may be of interest to residents of Toledo to learn that John Payak Jr. was an inductee of NPASHF and also a long time board member.  In the 37 year history of NPASHF John was the only inductee to also serve as a member of the Board of Directors.  John passed away in 2009.

This is the information on the Annual Induction Banquet for 2010:

Date:  June 17, 2010 

Time:  6:00pm

Location:
American-Polish Cultural Center
2975 E. Maple Rd.
Troy, MI 48083

Information:  (313) 407-3300

Price:  Tickets, priced at $85 each, can be purchased from any board member or by calling the Hall of Fame Office.

You can also download an application for the Stan Musial Scholarship on their website.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Once again, PACT is busy in our quest to uphold our Mission Statement; specifically our promise to promote our rich Polish heritage and culture.  The Wigilia (Christmas Eve) celebration plans are progressing and we are excited that this traditional Christmas celebration will be offered to the Polish community.  We hope everyone will be able to attend.  All proceeds will go to needy Polish families to help them have a happier Christmas holiday.  Don’t forget, if you have any traditions that you would like to share, or ideas for the Wigilia, please e-mail us with your suggestions at infor@polishcommunity.org.  Also, don’t forget the Peggy Grant presentation which is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17th at 6:30 p.m., and the Polish-American National Sports Hall of Fame will be at Ski’s on Tuesday, November 24th, at 7:15 p.m.  Call Ski’s restaurant at 419-882-1199 to reserve a seat for these two presentations.  Don’t forget to make dinner reservations! 

PACT is also developing next year’s schedule for our organization.  We would like any input about possible presentations or fund raisers that you would like to see PACT offer.  We are working on a Casino Dinner Night, which is scheduled for March 7, 2010.  Keep that date open as it is going to be a great night with gambling, dinner and an auction to help  raise money for local scholarships.  We will also be contacting our members asking for volunteers to help with this event.

We will also be having a PACT member meeting in January, 2010.  There will be more information on this meeting in the near future.

Once again, we are truly grateful to all of you that have joined our organization.  Hopefully, we will continue to grow and promote the great Polish heritage that our ancestors were so proud of and gave up to start a life in this new great country, so many years ago.