The 39th International Polonaise BallA Tribute to Canada

andPolish-Canadian Friendship

February 5, 2011 Miami Beach, Florida

Elegance and Magnificence DefinedOn February 5, 2011 the 39th International Polonaise Ball, organized by the American Institute of Polish Culture and under the auspices of the Ambassador of Poland, was held in Miami and honored the relationship between Poland and Canada.

Following tradition, honored at the Ball were the recipients of Gold Medals, the highest award presented by the Institute, and of Amicus Poloniae, an award presented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland. Lecha Wałęsa Media Award was also presented by the legendary leader of Solidarity.

Among the honored guests were royalty, ambassadors, businessmen and many other dignitaries, all gathered in a grand ballroom where sparkling baubles and beautiful décor created a regal atmosphere.

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Robert Kupiecki

Consul of Canada Peter Taylor, Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Robert Kupiecki, Countess Barbara Pagowska-Cooper

Richard Nowak, Archbishop Thomas WenskiLady Blanka Rosenstiel, President Lech Walesa, Irene Tomaszewski, Maria Knapik, Maria Nowotarska

Hon. Consul of the Republic of Poland Zygmunt Potocki, HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie of Ethiopia and Lady Saba Kebede, HRH King Kigeli V of Rwanda,

Wieslawa Potocki

Count Ponce de Leon, Hon. Consul of Romania Victoria London, Marquis Alberto Ornellas de Vasconcellos

Luccia Lowenthal, Patrick Lowenthal,Francesca Lowenthal

Amanda Rottermund, Boris Ejsymont

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Drs. Januariusz and Janina Styperek

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Dr. Jerome Zwierzycki

Countess Brigitte Cooper, Countess Janelle Cooper

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Tony Muszynski

Dr. Andrew Schally and Maria de Lourdes Rasmussen

Anita Jacob, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Eli Jacob

Dr. Ian and Peggy McNeice

Kim Fontaine Skronski and Mike Skronski

Dr. Alan Heldman and Dr. Natalie Geary

Marquis Alexander Colonna-Walewski Montague and Marquise Maria Alonso Montague

Maria Nowotarska, Agata Pilitowska

Conrad Miczko,Hon. Consul of the Republic of Poland

Deborah Majka

Leszek and Maria Ladowski,Bronislaw and Monika Bajcar

Marie and Richard Nowak with members of the Polish Folk Dance Company

Dr. Joshua Hare and Lee Susan Cohen

Count Spencer Montague, Miss Jessica McHale, Count Andrew Montague

Oswald and Christiane Schietse Vito and Patricia Spitaleri, Marjorie Sonderling, Thomas Zanger

Barbara Hamilton, Robert Stockhausen, Aneta Chepinska

Col. Jason Psaltides, Pat Riley, Dr. Andre Pasternac

Mira Starczyk and Tomasz Skrzypinski

Krystyna Tucci, Bozena Zwierzycki, Countess Barbara Pagowska-Cooper, Dr. Pawel Bartkowski, Isabelle Budys , Dr. Waldemar Misiak; (seated); Dr. Mark Tucci, Dr. Jerome Zwierzycki, Zenon Oleszewicz, Tracy Murray (standing)

Izabela and Jan Karaszewski

Miriam and Amedeo Guazzini

Peter Obst, Halina Malinski, Henrietta Nowakowski, Barbara Lemecha

Katarzyna Grandwilewski, Peter Buczkowski, Dr. Yvonne Bogorya-Buczkowski

Countess Mail Pawlowski-Brestyansky, Count Paul Laszlo Brestyansky,

Hon. Undine Brestyansky, Michel Pawlowski, Katarina Krzysztofiak

The stylish event took place at the historic Surf Club on Miami Beach. The majestic decorations included a lushly-feathered white eagle backed by red and white swags which hung above the stage. Sparkling crystals and arrangements of snow-white ostrich feathers in the shape of palm trees adorned the tables.

The evening began with a cocktail hour; ladies arrived in the most glamorous ball gowns and gentlemen were resplendent in tuxedos and rega-lia. They all enjoyed meeting special guests who included President Lech Wałęsa; His Royal High-ness King Kigeli V of Rwanda; His Imperial High-ness Prince Ermias Sahle-Sellasie Haile-Selassie of Ethiopia;

Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Robert Ku-piecki; Consul Peter Taylor of the Canadian Con-sulate General in Miami; Honorary Consul for the Republic of Poland in Calgary, Zygmut Potocki; Piotr Gulczyński, President of the Lech Walesa Foundation in Warsaw and many other notable guests.

Ball invitees arrived from as far away as Canada, Poland, Monaco, Sweden and Portugal, and from locations across the United States including Cali-fornia, New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago. It is a tradition that Countess Barbara Pągowska, Vice-President of the American Institute of Polish Culture, invites a group of her friends from Chi-cago area and Florida.

Emma Bryan, Veronica Mesterhazy, Agi Mesterhazy, Mariana Cordoba (seated)

Patrick Lowenthal, Veronica Parra, Andrew Mijares, Luccia Lowenthal, William Smit, Alexandra Sircre (standing)

Chancellor Boniface Benzinge of Rwanda, HRH King Kigeli V of Rwanda,

Viscount Matthew Meehan, Count Rodney Hildebrant

Christina and John Kruszewski Sr., Susan Kruszewski, Emily and John Kruszewski Jr.

Regina and Walter Beaman

Maciej Zien, Hon. Vice Consul of the Republic of Poland Beata Paszyc

Miriann Guazzini, Roy Meyeringh, Viscount Luis Prieto y Munoz, Ana Maria Alexandra Pitigoi, Danielle GolinoNina Mlodzinska de Rovira, Michael Murray,

Anne McDougall, Jon Theobald, Dorothy St. Jean

Adriana and Kostek Kostencki, Liliana and Duane Treeman Mikolaj Bauer, Carol Sadowski,

Dr. Claire Crawford, Douglas Evans

Marcin Chumiecki, Patricia Zawadzki, Rev. Timothy Whalen

Raquel and Zbigniew Jarosz, Dr. Wojciech Cymer

Stanley Bulski, Kazimiera Rekosz, Janina Baron, Leon Solnik

Piotr Gulczynski, Caria TomczykowskaBeata Szemray, Natasha Isaacs, Ewa and Czarek Jakubowski

Anna Zwierzycki, Kathleen Joyce, Teresa Zwierzycki, Adam Kruszelnicki, Wojtek Szwarc

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel officially welcomed the guests and described how the people and govern-ment of Canada have always been friendly toward Poland, welcoming with open arms Polish immi-grants who contributed greatly to the development and success of Canada. She thanked everyone for their attendance and wished them an enjoyable evening. Next, Ambassador Kupiecki of Poland, Consul Taylor of Canada and Archbishop Thomas Wenski welcomed all those gathered at the gala.

Special recognitions were presented to Tony Muszynski of Calgary, founder and director of the educational program Poland in the Rockies; Drs. Janina and Januariusz Styperek of Palm Beach, for their achievements in medicine and support of the American Institute of Polish Culture; and to Dr. Je-rome Zwierzycki of Chicago, for his charitable work with seniors of Polish descent.

While a delicious dinner was being served, guests enjoyed an artistic program by the Polish American Folk Dance Company of New York. They present-ed their rendition of Barge (“Barka”) - a favorite of Pope John Paul II, the first pope to visit Canada - followed by the traditional dances of Mazur and Menuet.

Next, Gold Medal recipient and famed Polish-Ca-nadian soprano Maria Knapik sang Il Bacio and the aria from Bizet’s Carmen.

Elizabeth Piotrovsky, Veronica Dicker, Jadwiga Garbacik, Jadwiga Gewert

Thomas Tremblay, Dr. Monica Tremblay, Dr. Renu Desai. Dr. Vikram Desai

Petra and Piotr Pataki, Anna Lukaszek-Guerrero, Amanda Rottermund, Wanda Muszynski (seated); Hon. Vice-Consul of the Republic of Poland Beata Paszyc, Jaroslaw Rottermund,

Eszter and Gregory Glowacki, Adam Ettinger (standing)

Countess Izabela Pagowska-Budys, Dr. Blazej Lojewski

Teresa and Jerzy Karaszewski

Veronika Cieslak, Dominic Cieslak

Veronika Cieslak, Michael and Lydia Gastom, Lucy Dolinski (seated); Count Jerzy Siemiginowski, Erik Szczepkowski (standing)

Katarzyna Spenceley, Mikolaj Spenceley-Prada, Maria Spenceley

Count Jerzy and Countess Irena SiemieginowskiMsgr. Anthony Czarnecki,

Rev. Richard VigoaDariusz and Agnieszka Wojdyga, Agnieszka Konsorska,

Kinga Konosorska

Paul and Teresa Lowenthal, Mariela Cacciotti, Jose and Idamis Gonzalez

Krzysztof and Violetta Kruszelnicki, Adam Kruszelnicki, Dr. Renata Cymer Ludwik Wnekowicz, Dr. Janina Styperek, Krystyna Wnekowicz,

Dr. Januariusz Styperek

Keith and Agnieszka Gray

Steve Karski, Mirek Denisiewicz

After Ms. Knapik’s performance came the presenta-tion of the Amicus Poloniae by the Polish Ambas-sador. This year His Excellency Thomas Wenski, Archbishop of Miami and Mr. Richard Nowak were honored by this special recognition for their promo-tion of Polish-American cooperation.

Lovely flowers and sincere words of gratitude were presented to the Vice-President of the Ball, Count-ess Barbara Pągowska-Cooper, and other gener-ous donors including Drs. Janina and Januariusz Styperek, Ruby Bacardi, Agnieszka and Keith Gray, Count Rod Hildebrant and Viscount Matthew Mee-han, Paul and Teresa Lowenthal, Marquis Alexander Colonna-Walewski Montague and Marquise Maria Alonso Montague, Amedeo and Miram Guazzini and Pat Riley.

Gold Medals, the highest distinction awarded by the Institute, were then presented by Lady Blanka Rosenstiel to Maria Knapik and Maria Nowotarska,

who flew down from snowy Canada with No-wotarska’s daughter Agata to accept the Medals with great joy and emotion.

Distinguished recipients of this award from previ-ous years include President Lech Wałęsa, Sena-tor Barbara Mikulski, actress Stephanie Powers, Professor Norman Davies and composer Krzysztof Penderecki. This year, the first medal was present-ed to Mrs. Maria Knapik, acclaimed soprano and proponent of Polish music. In 2007, Mrs. Knapik starred in the title role of Moniuszko’s Halka in her company debut with the Sarasota Opera. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as in operas in Canada and Poland, and in 2005 she was recognized as “The Rising Star of Op-era” by the American Institute of Polish Culture.

The second Gold Medal was presented to Maria Nowotarska - actress, director, screenwriter, art director and co-founder of the Polish Theater in Toronto, Canada.

Among other awards, Mrs. Nowotarska has received the Cavalier Cross and Gloria Artis. As a result of her endeavors over 100 theatrical arts have premiered, including works about famous Poles such as Maria Curie–Skłodowska and Pola Negri.

As the night progressed, President Lech Wałęsa presented the Lech Wałęsa Media Award to Mrs. Irene Tomaszewski, writer, journalist, and co-author of the books Code Name: Zegota: Rescuing Jews in Occupied Poland, 1942-1945: The Most Dangerous Conspiracy in Wartime Europe and Inside a Gestapo Prison: The Letters of Krystyna Wituska 1942-1944. President Wałęsa stated, “The award is intended for journalists who create a positive image of Poland abroad through disseminating information about her history, rich heritage, culture and tradition. We have to recognize those who promote Poland be-cause we have something to be proud of.”

Rose and Ed KruszewskiCelebrating their 60th Wedding

Anniversary

President Lech Walesa,Irene Tomaszewski

Susan Kruszewski, Danielle Drtina, Emily and John Kruszewski Jr., Amanda Cox, Susan Kruszewski-Cox, Andrew Cox

Agata von Knorr, Dr. Robert von Knorr, Maria Piasecka, Halina Pyrkowski, Janusz Pyrkowski, Kim Fontaine Skronski, Mike Skronski

Lourdes and Roberto Viciedo

Professor Zdislaw Wesolowski,Father Andrzej Pietraszko

Frances Marian Reid and Janusz Burzynski

Krzysztof and Violette Kruszelnicki

Arthur Sadlowski, Ligia Lalewicz Mariusz Bernartowicz, Count Richard Wilke-Janicki

Michelle and Al Levy, Adriana and Jorge Pino, Dania Saavedra

Al and Michelle Levy Katarina Krzysztofiak, Joran Bengston

Steve Karski, Mirek Denisiewicz

Master of Ceremonies Jaroslaw Rottermund thanked Lady Blanka Rosenstiel for her activity, optimism, cheerfulness and enthusiasm in promoting Poland and taking up new causes. Warm words of grati-tude and beautiful flowers were also given to Beata Paszyc, Executive Director of the American Institute of Polish Culture.

Once the official ceremonies of the Ball were con-cluded Lady Blanka invited all guests to the dance floor, where the fun continued late into the night. Charming men, poised and polished, led ladies in flowing gowns gracefully across the ballroom.

Polish Folk Dance Company

Wieslawa Potocki Hon. and Consul of the Republic of Poland Zygmunt Potocki, Maureen Mroczek Morris

Taresa Johnston Takesian, Barbara Toegemann

Marya Pickering, Kim Clayton, Dr. Dermot Quinn, Tony Muszynski, Rev. Ian Boyd

Basil and Magdalena Mangra, Monica Mangra

Lester A. Brown, Wieslaw Nowak, Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, President Lech Walesa,

Waldemar Dowiak

Andrzej Benesz, Jadwiga Palade, Eva and Christopher Skibicki

Chris and Robert Garcia-CasalsHalina and Janusz Pyrkowski

Archbishop Thomas Wenski , Alicja Iwaszkiewicz

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Countess Barbara Pagowska-Cooper

Lucy Dolinski and Erik Szczepkowski Tracy Morrow and Chris Kurczaba

Marquis Alexander Colonna-Walewski Montague,

Veronica Mesterhazy

A Very Special Brunch

As in years past, an exquisitely delicious and festive brunch took place the fol-lowing morning to wrap up the weekend’s festivities. During the official portion of the gathering, the Polish Ambassador presented the Siberian Deportees Cross (Krzyż Zesłanców Sybiru) to Mr. Mieczysław Misiąg as “the way to recognize and remember the Polish citizens who were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan in 1939-1956. The medal is to honor their martyrdom and devotion to freedom and independence.” Mr. Misiąg attended the brunch with his wife Candace and friend Jadzia Grabowski from nearby Melbourne, Florida.

Afterward, guests shared stories. The discussion and dancing carried over from the night before.Guests had the opportunity to meet, speak with and be pho-tographed with President Wałęsa. After entertainment by the Polish American Folk Dance Company, guests snapped a few memento photographs and headed home happy, full of memories and looking forward to next year!

February 6, 2011 Miami Beach, Florida

Article & Graphic Layout: Beata Paszyc & Melissa J. SzwankePhotos: Yamila Lomba

The American Institute of Polish Culture, Inc.79th Street Causeway #117, Miami, FL 33141, tel: (305) 864-2349, info@ampolinstitute.com, www.ampolinstitute.org

Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Izabela and Jan Karaszewski and their children Julian and Jasiu, Teresa and Jerzy Karaszewski

Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Robert Kupiecki, Beata Paszyc, Nel Scarlett Velez-Paszyc,

Hon. Consul of the Republic of Poland Zygmunt Potocki

Dr. John Lenczowski, Lady Blanka Rosenstiel

Alicia Guerrero, Anna Lukaszek-Guerrero, Danuta and Ryszard Lukaszek

Malgorzata Chibowska, Natalia Chibowska

Katarzyna and Michael Maguire Ambassador of the Republic of Poland Robert Kupiecki presenting the

Siberian Deportees Cross to Mieczyslaw Misiag

Jadzia Grabowski, Mieczyslaw and Candace Misiag

Former Ambassador of India to Poland and Lithuania Jagannath Doddamani,

Vinod Doddamani, Eugene Starky

Katarina Krzysztofiak, Michel Pawlowski, Charles Dundee, Hon. Undine Pawlowski

Tony Muszynski, Maria Knapik, Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Maria Nowotarska, Irene Tomaszewski, Mieczyslaw Misiag

Countess Barbara Pagowska-Cooper with guests Maria and Stefan Czulinski

Dr. Ewa Piacentile, President Lech Walesa, Georgette Pepper, Academic and Cultural Relations

Officer, Consulate of Canada