Poles at the South Pole and Paderewski

After a one-month of hiatus (due to the President's deadlines and various graduations), the Modjeska Club is finally meeting again. I'm sure everyone missed their friends!

“POLES IN THE ANTARCTIC” – A TRAVELOGUE – 19 JUNE 2011

Our special event is dedicated to Poles in the Antartic. The meeting will take place in the elegant South Pasadena Public Library Community Room (1115 El Centro St., South Pasadena, CA, 91030) at 5:00 p.m., on Sunday, 19 June 2011.

The program includes a presentation of video recordings and photographs from the travel to the Antarctic by our members, Bogdan Plewnia and Andrzej Jagoda, with their families and friends. In January 2011, eight members and friends of the Club traveled to South America and the Antarctic, with the destination of the Polish Antartic Research Center on King George Island, in Admiralty Bay and Esperanza Station. Our travelers were: Nina and Tadeusz Budner, Lila and Andy Dowen, Halina and Andrzej Jagoda, as well as Jola and Bogdan Plewnia. On January 15, 2011 the travellers reached the Polish Center and met with a group of Polish scientists.

The Polish Center for Antartic Research is named after a meteorologist, Henryk Arctowski (1871-1958) who participated in the expedition of „Belgica” in 1897-1899; it was the first group to spend winter in the area. Due to environmental concerns travels to the Antarctic are now nearly impossible, because larger ships will not be allowed in the waters surrounding the South Pole region. Let us then see Poles living on the largest research station of the Antartctic.

We will not spend our winter there, just admire incredible glaciers, mountains, and, of course, penguins. We will also learn about the life of Henryk Arctowski, who was born in Poland, but studied in Belgium, France, England and Switzerland. In Paris, he met the explorer Adrian de Gerlache and joined his expedition to the Antarctic region in 1898. After returning north, he worked for a while in Sweden and in the U.S. at the New York Public Library. After returning to Poland in 1920 he served as the professor of meteorology at the Lwow University, but decided to move back to the U.S. just before the outbreak of World War II. He was lucky: he would have been killed with all the other Lwow professors when the Germans came to the city.

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PLANS FOR MODJESKA CLUB'S 2011-2012 SEASON:

In the fall of 2011 we plan the following events:


• September – the opening of an exhibit of painting by Ewa and Andrzej Mazur,
  
  
• October – two events, the Polish Film Festival with our Modejska Prize awarded to an actor/actress from Poland and a conversation with Adam Michnik;
  
  
• 19-20 November – concert of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki coorganized with Jacaranda - Music at the Edge in Santa Monica
  
  
• 31 December – New Year’s Eve Ball and the 40th anniversary of the Club.
  
  In 2012 we are planning to meet in:
  
  
• January for the premiere of Bogdan Kuszta’s humorous play directed by Maria Pilatowicz,
  
  
• February – to see Beata Pozniak and admire her talents, and
  
  
• May – to attend the opening of a Polish Fiber Art Exhibition with works by Monika Lehman, Włodzimierz Cygan and Margaret Handwerker.
  

Other programs are now being arranged. If any of our members have any special wishes, please do not hesitate to contact us, so we could try to figure out how to organize those events.

Moreover, our anniversary celebrations are to include the publication of a book, containing a historical overview of our activities, and essays by past Presidents. For those who have cherished pictures or mementos from the past, please share them with the Editorial Committee: Maja Trochimczyk, Krystyna Kuszta, and Joanna Maleski. The book will be published in English and Polish.

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AV EQUIPMENT FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

We are very happy with the response to our fund-raising campaign for AV equipment, which brought so far over $2,400, including a grant from The Wagner Foundation and a planned in-kind donation of a digital projector from the Sharp Corporation.

We hope to continue receiving donations and are very thankful to all the donors. If every club member contributed just $50, we would have new state-of-the-art equipment for our events.

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EVENTS BY OUR FRIENDS

The Paderewski Music Society in Los Angeles

presents a Gala concert

“The Legacy of Paderewski”

featuring Piotr Kosinski, pianist

First Prize Winner of the 2010 Paderewski Int'l Piano Competition in Los Angeles.
Mr. Kosinski, from Poland, triumphed over pianists representing 14 countries.
He will be making his West Coast debut as part of an American tour.
Also on the program: celebrated actress Jane Kaczmarek, Paul Jan Zdunek as Paderewski, and a nine-minute documentary, in which several luminaries recollect the Great Artist and Statesman, including the appearance of Ignacy Paderewski himself.
Reception will follow.

An evening not to be missed!

Saturday, June 11, 2011 at 6:00 PM

Zipper Hall - Colburn School, Conservatory of Music
200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, between 2nd and 3rd Streets,
diagonally across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall

Tickets: $30 (including reception)

Due to limited seating the advance tickets are offered as a convenience and will be available at a special Will Call pick up window with little to no waiting time.
Checks should be payable to Paderewski Music Society and received by June 8, 2011
please mail checks to: 8504 Independence Avenue, Canoga Park, CA 91304

For PayPal purchases, please use the following Email address: paderewski.music.society@ijpaderewski.org

For additional information, please call 818-456-7742 or 818-429-6688