IN SAN FRANCISCO

Plans are well underway for the celebration of Pope John Paul IIs Beatification on Sunday, May, 1st , 2011 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. Both the Archdioceses of San Francisco and Oakland are pleased to invite the Northern California Community to this tribute to a Great Man, Spiritual Leader and Role Model for Christian Life. The Archdiocese is also grateful to The Polish Arts and Culture Foundation’s President, Ms. Caria Tomczykowska, for coordinating this effort with Doug Benbow and Chris Tietze of the Cathedral Staff.

We are expecting over 150 participants in the Procession of Nations before the Concelebrated High Mass at 11:00am. The chief Celebrant is Archbishop (Ret.) John Quinn, with Msgr. John Talesfore and Father Dominik Ciolek.

We have invited local representatives from most of the countries He visited to participate, to wear their regional costumes or carry flags of their nations. The Cathedral accommodates over 3000 guests and we anticipate a full church.

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There will also be members of the Consular Corps, the leaders of local Polish organizations, the Polish Scouts, Polish Schools, Veterans of AK, and LOWICZANIE in the procession. Civic leaders, and the Knights of St. Francis, will also be present.

We are looking for Sponsors to help cover some of that day’s costs and all donations are tax-deductible.

Your name or your company’s name will be listed in the Souvenir Program.

Please send make checks payable to PACF or PCCP and mail to

4077 Waterhouse Road, Oakland CA 94602.

The Polish Cultural Center of The Pacific is a California 501c3 non-profit corporation.

Reception immediately following in the Main Hall.

2:00pm Screening of the film NINE DAYS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Newt and Callista Gingrich.

www.ninedaysthatchangedtheworld.com

Gala dinner at Indigo Restaurant at 4:30pm – all inclusive price of $65.00 per person for three course meal with wine. Reservations and pre-payment required by April 27.

Please call 510-599-2244 or reply to polishartssf@yahoo.com

Please contact us at 510-599-2244 for answers to your questions or if you would like to volunteer your help for this event.

April 08, 2011

Statement from President Obama On the One Year Anniversary of the Death of Polish President Kaczynski and His Delegation

As the people of Poland mark one year since the tragic deaths of President Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria Kaczynska and their delegation, I join with the American people, including many Polish Americans, in honoring the memory of these 96 Polish patriots. The images of the wreckage in Smolensk, and the loss of so many extraordinary civilian and military leaders who guided Poland to democracy and prosperity, broke our hearts. But it was the inspiring scenes of people coming together, in streets filled with candles and flowers, both in Poland and the United States, that revealed the true strength, resilience and faith of the Polish spirit, as well as the unbreakable bonds between our two countries. Poland is one of America’s strongest and closest allies, and I look forward to deepening these enduring ties, and carrying on the work of those who perished one year ago this Sunday, when I visit Warsaw next month.

Leonard had a zest for life and was known by family and friends as always having a wonderful song or witty poem to share. He loved his family and friends and golf. He had a passion for fishing from the pond in his backyard to the high seas, and his grandchildren, sons, friends and colleagues all participated.

From early on he led an accomplished life. Taken at the age of twelve from Poland, Russian troops declared him “an enemy of the revolution” and sentenced him to ten years of hard labor in a Russian prison camp. He survived this ordeal by learning Russian and working in the camp. Due to his resourcefulness he was able to escape with a group of men and made his way to Iran where The Allies then moved him to a refugee camp in Kenya. In Kenya in 1954, he was awarded a Democracy
Scholarship from the Institute of International Education that took him to Washington State University (WSU) where he lettered in men’s track and volleyball. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering (with highest honors) in 1958 from WSU, and then went on to receive an M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1960.

He had a distinguished career as an expert in geotechnical and earthquake engineering, and as a Senior Executive and Member of the Board of the international engineering consulting firm Woodward-Clyde Consultants (WCC), where he worked
from 1960 to 1984. In 1972, he moved to Houston, TX, to start the Texas and Louisiana operations for WCC under the name Woodward Krazynski & Associates. He loved his career and continued in private practice for many years as a Forensics Engineering Specialist.

In 1972, Leonard married Diane Bonaparte, and his family grew to include his two children and Diane’s four. In 1998, the Polish Prime Minister Buzek appointed Leonard as the Polish Honorary Consul General for Texas. In this role, he got great
satisfaction out of the work he did on behalf of the local Polish community and the opportunities he had to help bring Polish culture and art to Texas. In recognition of his contributions, in 2003, he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of Merit, Poland’s highest civilian award.

Leonard was preceded in death by his son, Scott, in 1993.

He is survived by his wife, Diane; sister, Irena Barych of London, England and her family; daughter, Kim; stepdaughters, Nancy Pritchard and Susan Thomas (husband Bob); stepsons, Rudy Bonaparte (wife Anna) and Joseph Bonaparte (wife Christine); and fifteen grandchildren.
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Mirek participated in the POLISH UNIVERSITY CLUB while at Berkeley in the 60s and was very active in the Polish community while living in the Bay Area. Remaining a dear family friend over all these years, we will all miss him but are grateful we knew him. CT

Reservations must be made
and pre-paid by December 6th.
Limited seating at both venues so don’t delay since this is always a sell-out.

Call 510-599-2244
Credit cards accepted

Wanda B. Tomczykowska

On Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Pani Wanda finally succumbed, in Krakow, Poland, to the ravages of old age and diabetes. While vacationing in Poland in May 2002 she suffered a series of strokes, which prevented her return to San Francisco. She is survived by her grieving daughter Caria, loving grandchildren Remy, Dariana and Sebastian Szykier and great-granddaughters Hennessy and Lillian. She was predeceased by Caria’s daughter Andria and son Damien.

There will be a Holy Mass and Celebration of Life at 2:15pm on March 20th at St. Ignatius Church (Fulton and Stanyan) in San Francisco. Memorial Masses will be celebrated in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland in mid-April.

In lieu of flowers, tax-deductible donations may be sent to

The Polish Arts and Culture Foundation, 4077 Waterhouse Road, Oakland, CA 94602

The name proposed by the Gesselschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) lies within the long tradition of naming elements to honor famous scientists. Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473, in Torún, Poland and died on 24 May 1543, in Frombork/Frauenburg also in Poland. His work has been of exceptional influence on the philosophical and political thinking of mankind and on the rise of modern science based on experimental results. During his time as a canon of the Cathedral in Frauenburg, Copernicus spent many years developing a conclusive model for complex astronomical observations of the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars. His work published as “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, liber sixtus” in 1543 had very far reaching consequences. Indeed the Copernican model demanded major changes in the view of the world related to astronomy and physical forces and well as having theological and political consequences. The planetary system introduced by Copernicus has been applied to other analogous systems in which objects move under the influence of a force directed towards a common centre. Notably, on a microscopic scale this is the Bohr model of the atom with its nucleus and orbiting electrons. 

The Recommendations will be published in the March issue of the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry and is available online at Pure Appl. Chem., 2010, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. pp 753-755 (doi: 10.1351/PAC-REC-09-08-20). Priority of claims to the discovery of the element of atomic number 112 was determined by a joint working party of independent experts drawn from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The group’s report was published in July 2009, Pure Appl. Chem., 2009, Vol. 81, No. 7, pp. 1331-1343 (doi: 10.1351/PAC-REP-08-03-05). The Joint Working Party will issue a second report, dealing with claims for the discovery of elements with atomic numbers in the range 113 to 118, in the near future.

IUPAC was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry and academia. For more than 90 years, the Union has succeeded in fostering worldwide communications in the chemical sciences and in uniting academic, industrial and public sector chemistry in a common language. IUPAC is recognized as the world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, standardized methods for measurement, atomic weights and many other critically evaluated data. More information about IUPAC and its activities is available at www.iupac.org.