If you haven't had enough Pierogi Fest yet, turn on your television for coverage. But unless you live in Bratislava, it won't do you much good. Slovakia Television came out this year to cover the fest, too!
Although the last pierogi has been eaten, there are still lots of reasons to come to Whiting. There's our ever-growing Cruise Night, the third Wednesday of each month. It's cool to see the curbs lined with cars from both our parent's time and our own as well.
Granted, I can't tell one car from another. One evening in Highland, I spent close to 20 minutes trying to open my trunk to put away my folding chair to no avail. That's when a friend walking by casually commented that the car I was trying so desperately to unlock wasn't mine. My car was four spaces over.
What did I know? They were both blue and they were vans. But for those of you with more discerning taste, you "auto" check out Cruise Night.
The next Summer with the Symphony will be Aug. 16 when the Festival Orchestra and Chorus plus some wonderful individual singers present "The Mikado." This Gilbert and Sullivan piece is their most popular. Some very clever lyrics have been added by my old friend Richard Lynch, who is playing KoKo.
For years Richard and I collaborated on children's musicals. For unique circumstances known only to the two of us, his patter song "I've Got a Little List" is as funny to audiences of today as Gilbert's biting satirical ones were back in 1885 when the show was first produced.
If visual arts is your thing, you may enjoy a visit to the Corner Stone Art Gallery in the back of Centier Bank at 1500 119th St. Artist Paul Schreiner's "A Spiritual Journey" is on exhibit there through Sept. 6. The free gallery is open for viewing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and the gift shop is open from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays.
CornerStone Art Gallery is run by the 119th Street Artists, a particularly talented group of people. One of my favorite artists who was instrumental in the group's beginnings is Pam Rasalowski. She was a color pencilist (though they look like water colors). She had the most amazing eye for interesting architecture and would do familiar buildings from an unfamiliar vantage point. They were absolutely wonderful.
As a matter of fact, the official logo of Pierogi Fest was accidentally created by Pam. Interestingly enough, what would become our logo was a mistake. She had graciously done a Pierogi Fest poster for us and at the bottom were all these very 1930's Disneyesque dancing pierogies.
She explained that she hadn't measured the text for the poster correctly and had to fill in the empty three inches of white space at the bottom with "something." That "something" has gone on to be the visual representation of the true essence of what Pierogi Fest would become.
- Gayle Faulkner Kosalko is secretary of the Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society. The opinions expressed are her own. Reach her at puccini99@aol.com or (219) 659-8129.
