Hughestown 
Mayor Says 
It's All Over 
Martin Miglionico Cites Friction With The Police 
Department As Reason For His Decision To Resign

Workers Compensation Solution Will Be Found, Says Casey

Friday, December 18, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1D QUICK WORDS: HOLIDAY TRADITIONS 





"We're not all old fashioned: I wouldn't part with my microwave." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Food flavors Polish observance &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pierogi part of a bountiful &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Christmas Eve meal served in many area households following the Polish
tradition &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ************* &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/CARA MENICHELLI Making great dough -- Helen Drost rolls the
dough to make pierogies while her sister Matilda fills the pierogi. The
dumplings ae the best known of the Polish holiday traditions. Their brother
John watches from the back. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 *************** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By LISA SCHEID &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Staff Writer elen Drost opens the door to her snow-covered
Dupont yard. The warmth from the old combination coal and gas stove hangs in
the air the way the faint garlic taste of true homemade kielbasa lingers on
the tongue. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We usually get about 18 quarts," she says of the bare-boned blueberry
bush. Proud of such a fruitful tree, she says it again. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Like the blueberry bush, the grape arbor and fruit trees that fill their
lot on Wyoming Avenue, Helen, her sister Matilda and brother John are generous
with their bounty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That, they say, is the heart of a Polish Christmas, the kind that will be
celebrated by more than 10,900 Luzerne County residents of Polish descent. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And though this trio has never visited their homeland, the roots of that
tradition run as deep as the coal mines where their late father George once
worked. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As Helen and Matilda make pierogi on a chilly December weekend, they talk
about how they will ship the dumplings to relatives in California. They count
the nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and friends who will soon
surround their old oak table on Christmas Eve for the vigil supper called a
wigilia. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It sounds like the Waltons," says Helen, the older of the two sisters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Nobody's invited," Matilda says. "They just come and go." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As is the custom, they plan to set an extra place in case a stranger comes
knocking on Christmas Eve. Legend has it that the visitor is the Christ child
in disguise. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Helen flattens knuckle-sized half-moons of dough with a rolling pin and
places a dollop of a secret mashed potato concoction that includes flecks of
fresh dill inside each one. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The rolling pin is over 85 years old," Matilda says. It is the same tool
her late mother, Gertrude, used years ago in Rzeszow, Poland. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matilda pinches the edges of the pierogi to make the family's trademark
crown. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The decoration makes the pierogi appealing to eye as well as to the mouth,
she says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Once formed, the pierogi will be baptized in boiling water held in an
enamel pot. In the Drost home, it must be enamel. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It adds something to the flavor. Maybe it's the imagination," Matilda
says, searching for a way to describe the difference in taste between enamel
and stainless steel. "It's what my mother was accustomed to." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Then, the little "labors of love" are sauteed in butter and onion.
Sometimes they are zapped in a microwave. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're not all old fashioned: I wouldn't part with my microwave," Matilda
says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The sisters can't say how many pierogi they make. Dozens, perhaps. They
don't count. Counting would be untraditional and possibly unfortunate. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Don't count the pierogi or they'll burst," goes an old proverb, John says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pierogi are but one of the several meatless dishes served at the wilja. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The dinner culminates a period of penance of four weeks called Advent.
Polish Catholics fast during this time, an act of symbolic waiting for the
Christ Child, the savior. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The meatless dishes remind the Drosts they are waiting to celebrate the
birth of Jesus on Christmas day. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Meat was considered something of a delicacy," Helen says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The traditional table is laden with a white broth made of flour, called
borscht, served with sliced boiled egg, peas and kraut soup or prune soup, and
a side dish of mashed or boiled whole potato garnished with butter and dill
weed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Helen and Matilda serve herring, carp or other fish dishes, fried sweet
cabbage, buckwheat groats (a grain cereal high in protein and fiber, low in
cholesterol) with sauteed onion and butter, stewed prunes, buttered rice,
buttered noodles with poppy seed, and mushrooms (podpinki), which usually the
menfolk search for in wooded areas. For dessert there is poppy seed bread or
kolaci (dainty pastries filled with preserves.) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The supper begins when the youngest family member spots the first star in
the sky. Then, the head of the household gathers the family around table to
bless the food. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Before eating, the family shares a post-card sized wafer, called an
oplatek, which was blessed by the parish priest. This wafer, known as the
"bread of love," is placed on special plate. "Under the wafer is spread some
hay representing the stable where Christ was born," Matilda says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Beginning with the eldest member of the family the wafer is broken and
shared. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Health, wealth and happiness and a heavenly crown in eternity," John will
say to his family. At 74, John is the oldest living member of the Drost clan.
His younger sisters decline to give their ages. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He is the story-teller and as his sisters say, "the life of the party." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matilda and Helen call out to John, who has wandered out of the kitchen to
tend to his carpentry projects, which include building a pantry and a set of
stairs with his great-nephew. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He played Santa Claus for me," recalls Matilda. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John comes to the table. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They recall the times John had to sneak away from family festivities to
reappear dressed as Santa Claus. One time he climbed through a window when he
couldn't get through a chimney to bring gifts to their nieces and nephews. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For a moment Matilda rests her head on her big brother's shoulder. It
almost seems like they are youngsters themselves, so excited about their
traditions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They talk, their sentences and stories overlapping, about Christmases past
before the Polish children of Dupont stopped throwing oats on doorsteps to
mark the stoning of St. Stephen on Dec. 26. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John reaches back to the year his father hit it big in the mines and bought
gifts from the Montgomery Ward catalog for his four children. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John got a violin and his sister Mary, who is now dead, got a "precious
Elgin watch." His brother Joe, also deceased, was given an button box
accordion. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "My doll was life-sized," Helen says holding her hand above her knee. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I didn't get anything because I wasn't born yet," Matilda chimes in. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The threesome exchange a glance and a smile that only youngsters who shared
nearly giftless holidays can appreciate. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sometimes, tradition was all they had.

"we're Not All Old Fashioned: I Wouldn't Part With My Microwave." 
Food Flavors Polish Observance 
Pierogi Part Of A Bountiful 
Christmas Eve Meal Served In 
Many Area Households Following The Polish Tradition 
************* 
Times Leader/cara Menichelli

"we're Not All Old Fashioned: I Wouldn't Part With My Microwave." Food Flavors Polish Observance Pierogi Part Of A Bountiful Christmas Eve Meal Served In Many Area Households Following The Polish Tradition ************* Times Leader/cara Menichelli