Whether it’s a Pulaski Assn. dinner or a St. Patrick’s Day Parade or a Martin Luther King Day Observance, look up and you’ll probably see Erie County Court Judge Michael Pietruszka whether he’s running for office or not. In 2008, Judge Pietruszka did run successfully for a second ten-year term in his current post.

And, anyone who makes the rounds of such functions will tell you with a mix of awe and amazement that there is something special about this son of a steel worker who has become one of our area’s most highly regarded jurists. Judge Pietruszka is there all the time, going to community or ethnic functions an average of three nights a week, while also presiding over the county’s Domestic Violence Court with compassion and impressive legal exactitude during the day.

Why does this 2008 Am-Pol Eagle Citizen of the Year for Law do it?

“To me it’s part of the job,” this devoted father and husband explained. “To me it’s part of my responsibility as a judge to get out there in the community as often as I can. I need to be out there amongst our citizens because knowing what people are thinking and feeling makes me a better judge.”

Raised in the Schiller Park section of Buffalo, Judge Pietruszka first decided to become a lawyer in the second grade when attorney John Frysiak came to discuss his vocation with the class. Just about a decade later, he was off to Syracuse University Law School where he worked his way toward his degree in the law library as a scholarship student.

Once he returned to Buffalo, he worked in the Corporation Counsel’s Office under the late Mayor Jimmy Griffin before becoming counsel to the Queen City’s housing authority. In 1988, Mayor Griffin appointed him to the City Court bench to which he was elected in his own right that November. After a decade in that post, he was elected to Erie County Court in ’98 and again in ’08. Through the years Judge Pietruszka has honed a simple judicial philosophy which has served him well.

“What I try to do, above all else, is to treat everyone who comes before me in my courtroom, whether they are defendants or defense attorneys or prosecutors, exactly the way I would want to be treated if I were in their position,” he said. “These days, I deal with so many who have been victims of domestic violence. Sometimes you ask yourself, why? My job is to deal with them as compassionately as I possibly can while also pursuing justice and following the law. I love my job because it gives me the opportunity to help people every single day.”

Judge Pietruszka is a member of the American, the New York State, and the Erie County Bar Associations. He also belongs to the Judges and Police Conference of Erie County, the Charles S. Desmond Chapter of the American Inns of Court, the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York and the Advocates Club of W.N.Y. He has served on the Criminal Law Curriculum Development Committee and faculty of the NYS Annual Judicial Seminar for many years, and continues to serve on the Eighth Judicial District's Public Trust and Confidence in the Courts Committee and the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission on Minorities' Eighth Judicial District Committee.

Judge Pietruszka currently serves in the American Bar Association's House of Delegates, the organization's governing body. He is a past chair of the American Bar Association's National Conference of Specialized Court Judges and has completed the Advanced Leadership Institute in Judicial Education at the University of Memphis. Judge Pietruszka remains involved in national legal and judicial organizations in order to maintain his network with other judges which allows him to bring "best practices" from across the country to WNY courts and community.

Also, Judge Pietruszka has lectured to groups of judges on the American judicial system while in Poland , assisted the Slovak Republic in preparing legislation organizing its post-Communist era judiciary and hosted many foreign visitors interested in studying the New York State judiciary.

Krystyna Pienkowska, Jozefa Solecka, and Alfreda Miecyjak.

During World War II Jozefa Solecka, Krystyna Pienkowska, and Alfreda Miecyjak found themselves fighting together in the Polish Air Squadron Bomber Division 300. Squadron 300 fought alongside the Royal Air Force and took part in most of the notable air offenses in Europe. As the 70th anniversary of Germany’s attack on Poland nears this coming September, the three shared their stories of terror and triumph.

Miecyjak, originally from Lwow, Poland, explains, “You have to remember it was war and the Polish were the first victims of the Second World War.” Miecyjak remembers being held as a prisoner in Russia and being taken to Siberia. From Siberia she took refuge with her family to Africa. In East Africa she signed up for the air force where they were recruiting women to join the British command.

Solecka was also in Africa going to school and working security part-time when the opportunity to join the air force was brought to her.  “I went through hell,” said Solecka. “If I told you the story of my life you wouldn’t believe it. Now I’m very happy and proud to live in America.” Solecka was born in Suckowczynzna Mosciska, Poland and was forced to spend several years in a Siberian labor camp after Germany’s attack on Poland. At the camp she lost her father and niece. Upon release, Solecka and her family traveled through the Ural Mountains, Uzbekistan, Persia, and eventually made their way to Africa.

Solecka said, “I signed my name to join the air force because my mother was left with no support and no husband. I went for her security. I joined and when I got paid I always gave money to my mother because I knew how it feels when you need something and you don’t have it.”

Miecyjak settled in England after the war ended and met her husband. The two sent a request to move to the United States but hearing no word back decided to immigrate to South America. Eight years after settling in Buenos Aires, Argentina and having two sons she received a letter asking if she was still interested in immigrating to the United States. She said she came with her family to Cheektowaga with $500 in her pocket. She describes the United States as a beautiful country where anybody can make it if they try hard enough and exclaims proudly that she made it.

Pienkowska was among the hundreds of thousands of Poles transported by the Soviets to Siberia. She survived the “White Hell” and through a circuitous route made her way to England where she joined the Polish Air Force which she served in a variety of capacities.

Today all three women are active in the local Polish community and proud of the battles and struggles they have overcome and proud of their country now.

Pienkowska is a long time member of the Polish Arts Club and has spent many years on the club’s board of directors. She is also an active member of the Polish American Congress, The General Pulaski Association, The Chopin Singing Society, and is responsible for revival of the Polish Arts Club’s Polonaise Ball.

Solecka is presently vice commander of SWAP Post 1, an active member of the Polish American Congress, the Polish Air Force Veterans Association, and is very active in her parish church St. John Kanty.

She says she has been “blessed with good kids and grandchildren… without my children I would be lost.”

The Chopin Singing Society was founded in 1899 by Boleslaus Michalski, a Polish immigrant who served as an organist at St. Adalbert’s Church. The Society today is well known not only in Buffalo’s Polonia but throughout Western New York as a result of its annual concerts and voluntary performances in area churches and charitable organizations.

In 2008, under the presidency of former New York State Justice Ann Mikoll and director Dr. Thomas Witakowski, the Chopin singers took a bold step and performed Stanislaw Moniuszko’s one-act Polish opera “Flis” for the first time in English. For this production, they have been named the Am-Pol Eagle Citizen of the Year in Art/Drama.

The Chopin Singing Society performed its concert version of “Flis,” (The Raftsman) at the Montante Cultural Center of Canisius College, on Sun., Oct. 19, 2008. Chopin’s rendition of “Flis” also marked the 150th anniversary of Moniuszko’s first opera and Chopin Singing Society’s 109th anniversary as a singing group.

Dr. Thomas Witakowski wrote the complete orchestration and translated the original Polish text into English. “Flis” was sung with a full orchestra, and the entire Chopin Singing Society as well as the Buffalo State College Chamber Chorus. The musical accompaniment was provided by the Chopin Orchestra, with Alan Reed as concertmaster. Emma Ziskind, the society’s principal accompanist, and Ivan Docenko alternated on the piano.

In contrast to some of Moniuszko’s better-known, somber compositions (Halka; Straszny Dwor), Flis is lighthearted and whimsical. The story centers around the love relationship of Zosia, a country girl, and Franek, the raftsman, who face the opposition of the girl’s father Antoni.

In the tradition of 19th century arranged marriage customs, Antoni promised his daughter to Jakub, a successful and somewhat self-important hairdresser/barber, a man of the city accustomed to the life of urban sophistication. Fortunately for the young lovers, the conflict is successfully and amicably resolved. By a quirk of fate, it is discovered that the two suitors are in reality brothers, orphaned and separated in childhood and destined to follow separate paths in life. They recognize each other at this decisive moment. Jakub graciously relinquishes his claim to Zosia to his brother Franek.

Baritone Paul Kosek, as Antoni, solemnly announced his irrevocable decision as to the future of his daughter Zosia. Soprano Adrienne Kusmierczyk, in the role of the villager Maria-Anna, accompanied the chorus in a prayer of divine petition. Tenor James Mrozek as Feliks announced the arrival of the raftsmen. A retired soldier and friend of Antoni – named Szostak – overhears Zosia’s plaintive lament concerning her deplorable state. He attempts to convince his comrade to relent and release his daughter from his paternal edict.

Baritone Andrew Daphnis conveyed Szostak’s concern in animatedly dramatic accents. The barber Jakub – in a cheerful, robust, self-confident, lively and energetic portrayal by baritone Andrew Kowtalo – was confident in his role as Zosia’s suitor. The young lovers – soprano Nicole Pawlik as Zosia and John Petrishin as Franek – ruefully despaired of their cruel lot. The hopelessness of their fate was accentuated by Zosia’s mournful plaints and Franek’s passionate response. But the plot reached its climactic moment and joyful resolution. The chorus and soloists reveled in the fortunate union of the two “star-crossed lovers.

The Polish Heritage Dancers of WNY have been dedicated to promoting their Polish ancestral heritage through the performance of traditional songs and folk dance since 1997. The group was formed after Wiez Dance Ensemble dissolved. Members of the former group were still interested in dancing so Michelle Kisluk took it upon herself to start the new group and became the director of the Polish Heritage Dancers. The group has been a big part of WNY Polonia, often being its most visible element, and deserving to be named as the Am-Pol Eagle Citizens of the Year for Heritage.

The Polish Heritage Dancers are known as the ambassadors of WNY Polonia and are proud to promote their Polish heritage. Many times they have greeted guests from musicians to government officials from Poland with bread and salt, the traditional Polish gesture.

There are about 40 members ranging in age from four years to adult. There is a children’s group as well as a teen and adult group that practice at the Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Lancaster.

The group is a member of the Polish Folk Dance Association of the Americas Inc. Six members of the group attended the North American Polish Folk Dance Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2000. Members have also attended dance workshops from the region of Sieradz, Krakow, Rzeszow and Podhale. The group is also a member of the Polish American Congress in Buffalo. Members are also planning to go back to Poland to take choreography course in Rzeszow.

Kisluk reflected on the group’s beginnings and said, “We have a big Polish community and I’m really close to my Polish roots. My influences were my parents. We have always practiced our Polish traditions and one thing led to another.”

She said they want the youngsters to learn dance even promoting the trips to Poland. “We are encouraging our young people to carry on,” she said.

Debbie Konieczka Lasek has been the assistant director for the past six years and helps out with a lot of the behind the scenes work with the group. She and her daughter Corinne have been with the group for the past ten years.

Konieczka Lasek relates the importance of the group to the community this way: “It’s reinforced traditional values, customs, and strengths of the Polish people. It has introduced us to many people who are trying to continue Polish traditions and culture and unity and solidarity. If we don’t keep these customs and traditions alive, they will be lost. You can’t know where you are going if you don’t know from which you came.”

The Polish Heritage Dancers of WNY have performed at various festivals, parades and parties across WNY. Some of the events that the Polish Heritage Dancers have been involved in over the years include the Pulaski Parade, Paczki Day, Dyngus Day, and Dozynki just to name a few.