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WILKES-BARRE — If you happen to be studying or working in — or maybe just passing through — the Wilkes University library on the right day in October, you’ll likely be able to follow the savory scent of butter and onions and sausage to the university’s Polish Room, where members of the Polish Room Committee will serve their annual “food-tasting” lunch of ethnic cuisine.

“I just made pineapple squares (for last year’s lunch). Not a Polish food,” member Joyce Latoski, of Wilkes-Barre, admitted with a chuckle. “But there are women that make pierogies and halushki and pigs-in-the-blanket and kielbasi.”

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 — a room filled with reference works, memorabilia and furniture carved in the style of the Tatra Mountains.

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’s heritage and what it means to them.

“We advertise the scholarship to our Wilkes students in the fall and award it in the spring semester,” said Margaret Steele, Director of Major Gifts and College Development.

“We started out (in the early 1970s) with smaller amounts, giving out $100,” Polish Room Committee president Bernadine Tarasek said. “Now we’re up to $3,000.”

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.

Members and guests also recently raised funds during a spring tea at the Irem Temple Country Club, “with little sandwiches and little desserts, everything little,” Bernadine Tarasek said.

“And everyone wore big hats,” Latoski said.

The group doesn’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.

You don’t have to have a Polish background to join, Latoski said.

“Anybody with an interest can join,” she said. “We’d be thrilled to have them.”

Heritage is worth remembering, she added. “If you don’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.”

Bob and Angel Marx, of Moosic, dance during the annual celebration that benefits the Kosciuszko Scholarship Foundation.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance1_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgBob and Angel Marx, of Moosic, dance during the annual celebration that benefits the Kosciuszko Scholarship Foundation. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

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.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance2_faa-1-.jpg.optimal.jpgThe 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. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Jean Chacko, of Avoca, and Frank Bohenek, of Tunkhannock, twirl around the floor during the Wilkes University Polish Room Committee’s recent annual dinner-dance.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_dance3_faa.jpg.optimal.jpgJean Chacko, of Avoca, and Frank Bohenek, of Tunkhannock, twirl around the floor during the Wilkes University Polish Room Committee’s recent annual dinner-dance. Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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By Mary Therese Biebel

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Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.