This post documents my experience on July 11, 2010.
As the people of Toledo (tol-eh-doh), Spain celebrated their country’s win in the World Cup, I was heading to Toledo (Tol-ee-doh), Ohio for other celebrations.
Here, on Lagrange Street…
…a Polish Festival was in effect.
Set up in Toledo’s Polish Village with an entrance fee, the festival goes a few blocks, taking in…
…Czelusta Park…
…some Polish Village decor….
…and the mighty Saint Hedwig.
And, being set up as street festival, the planners seemed to do their best to fit things in, including…
…rides…
…an eating tent equipped with a full band…
…some Polish American girls in native dress…
…and a juggling stilt walker.
Lagrange Street had its share of vendors…
…selling general accessories…
…Polish Pride…
…rather FUN Polish Pride, I may add…
…food…
…and even more food!
Julia and I settled on some vendors we liked and split an order of 2 pierogies ($5)…
…1 kraut and 1 cheese…
…and a dish of cabbage and noodles ($5).
We took our food to the tent and listened to the band play (American) patriotic songs as they honored those in the armed forces.
Our Polish friends were there too.
As the music played, we started biting into our pan-fried pierogies, finding it hard to cut them with only a plastic fork. So, instead, we speared the kraut one to take bites (delicious and pleasingly sweet) while ripping at the cheese pierogi (this was filled with pot cheese…strange and only slightly sweet).
The cabbage and noodles were seasoned with plenty of salt, pepper and celery seed. They were good but hard to eat on such a hot day.
We got up and headed to check out St. Hedwig’s before leaving. There, we noticed a walkway along the side.
Starting from the left of this row of booths, the activities were child-friendly. Perhaps a child had to pull a sucker out to see what color was marked at the tip – a color code to what type of prize he won. Then, as you continued down the booths, you could put a quarter down on a number as they spun a wheel. The winner could win some groceries…
…or maybe some cake (we lost).
Going further, the 25 cent bets became 50…
…until it unloaded you into a den of dollar bets…where the serious action took place!
The trail to a gambler’s paradise that started with a sucker game for kids – a subtle joke, perhaps?
Actually, this entire gambling area, along with this food tent below….
…turned out to be part of the joint parish festival of Sts. Adalbert (further north on Lagrange) and Hedwig, which coincided with the Lagrange Street Polish Festival.
That’s right! Two festivals in one! And only one day after I said I was going to stop parish festivals!
We didn’t gamble anymore after losing some quarters to the cake game. Instead, we made our way inside to St. Hedwig’s before leaving the festival (or festivals, rather)./
It really was a beautiful church inside…
…with stained glass, woodwork…
…and even St. Michael.
He was a great final image to draw strength from. The sun outside was unbearable and there would be two more festivals to stop at that day. We would need all the strength (and water) we could get.