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Life Deconstructed: Passing words of wisdom down through the generations

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; If you happen to be studying or working in &#8212; or maybe just passing through &#8212; the Wilkes University library on the right day in October, you&#8217;ll likely be able to follow the savory scent of butter and onions and sausage to the university&#8217;s Polish Room, where members of the Polish Room Committee will serve their annual &#8220;food-tasting&#8221; lunch of ethnic cuisine.</p><p>&#8220;I just made pineapple squares (for last year&#8217;s lunch). Not a Polish food,&#8221; member Joyce Latoski, of Wilkes-Barre, admitted with a chuckle. &#8220;But there are women that make pierogies and halushki and pigs-in-the-blanket and kielbasi.&#8221;</p><p>That annual lunch is one way members of the group show the Wilkes University community they appreciate having space in the library for the Polish Room &#8212; a room filled with reference works, memorabilia and furniture carved in the style of the Tatra Mountains.</p><p>Another way the Polish Room Committee helps the university community is by raising funds for the Kosciuszko Foundation Scholarship, presented annually to a Wilkes upperclassman who is also a permanent Luzerne County resident of Polish descent. Students must have a high cumulative grade point average, demonstrate financial need and write an essay describing their family&#8217;s heritage and what it means to them.</p><p>&#8220;We advertise the scholarship to our Wilkes students in the fall and award it in the spring semester,&#8221; said Margaret Steele, Director of Major Gifts and College Development.</p><p>&#8220;We started out (in the early 1970s) with smaller amounts, giving out $100,&#8221; Polish Room Committee president Bernadine Tarasek said. &#8220;Now we&#8217;re up to $3,000.&#8221;</p><p>Some of the ways the group raises money are quite enjoyable, members said, mentioning a recent afternoon dinner-dance at A Touch of Class in the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre, where the George Tarasek Orchestra provided polkas and other music. That event replaces the Kosciuszko Ball, an evening affair that used to be held each January.</p><p>Members and guests also recently raised funds during a spring tea at the Irem Temple Country Club, &#8220;with little sandwiches and little desserts, everything little,&#8221; Bernadine Tarasek said.</p><p>&#8220;And everyone wore big hats,&#8221; Latoski said.</p><p>The group doesn&#8217;t meet in the summer, but will begin planning their ethnic lunch and their traditional Christmas Eve supper, the Wigilia, when they resume meeting in September.</p><p>You don&#8217;t have to have a Polish background to join, Latoski said.</p><p>&#8220;Anybody with an interest can join,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We&#8217;d be thrilled to have them.&#8221;</p><p>Heritage is worth remembering, she added. &#8220;If you don&#8217;t have something to fall back on, you lose your way. The way I look at things, I think about memories of my family and that sets the path for the future.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bob and Angel Marx, of Moosic, dance during the annual celebration that benefits the Kosciuszko Scholarship Foundation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bob and Angel Marx, of Moosic, dance during the annual celebration that benefits the Kosciuszko Scholarship Foundation. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance2_faa-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Wilkes University Polish Room Committee recently hosted a dinner-dance to benefit the Kosciuszko Scholarship Foundation, which annually awards a scholarship to a Wilkes student of Polish descent. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance2_faa-1-.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Wilkes University Polish Room Committee recently hosted a dinner-dance to benefit the Kosciuszko Scholarship Foundation, which annually awards a scholarship to a Wilkes student of Polish descent. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance3_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jean Chacko, of Avoca, and Frank Bohenek, of Tunkhannock, twirl around the floor during the Wilkes University Polish Room Committee&#8217;s recent annual dinner-dance. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance3_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Jean Chacko, of Avoca, and Frank Bohenek, of Tunkhannock, twirl around the floor during the Wilkes University Polish Room Committee&#8217;s recent annual dinner-dance. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Polish RoomCommitteeenjoys fundraisers</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes University Polish Room Committee enjoys fundraising activities