So in a moment of keeping with my heritage I ended up celebrating Dyngys day with my Dad. It really boiled down to having a craving for a good old pork chop. So we ended trying out luck at this place called the "Polish Nook". Needless to say to get my fill of authentic Polish food we had to fight to get in. The place was packed to capacity. Initially they told us that we were not going to get in for the fact that we didn't have reservations. The fact that my Dad does some catering business with them and they were desperately out of singles and I had about 25 dollars worth since it was tip day at work for me, we squeezed our way in. So I had my Polish food fix as I recalled my old dearly departed family relatives. To see the energy and people just taking it all in was great. After dinner we just briefly stopped by and checked out the Polka band.

It was just great to see the place packed and the tradition kept alive. In actuality I thought that something like Dyngus Day would be falling off by the wayside, but here in WNY we keep any reason to party alive I suppose.

It is in the "old neighborhood" in east Niagara Falls a place where my great grandparents, grandparents and great aunts and uncles lived for about 75-80 years. It was a nice descent place when the factories on Buffalo Avenue pumped out cyclical goods. The neighborhood was filled with mostly people of Polish Heritage. Obviously this type of American dream in this area died when all of the factories closed. We all know the rise and fall of Western New York.

I lived in that neighborhood for about 2 years in my great uncle's house. When we had a buyer for the place we just took the money and ran. Ok, it was strange to try to take a trip to the past for one night for dinner. Just driving through the area and seeing homes that go for about 25,000 will not life your spirit.

Just for one day to see it alive and thrive it was a great sight to see.

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