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The Eddie Forman Orchestra plays polka music at the Eastern European Heritage Festival in Deerfield. -
Susan Urban, of West Springfield, teaches the art of wycinanka at the Eastern European Heritage Festival in Deerfield. -
Attendees eat Polish food at the Eastern European Heritage Festival in Deerfield.
DEERFIELD — Residents connected with their roots through dancing, food, vendors and cultural heritage societies as part of the Eastern European Heritage Festival over the weekend.
The event was held at the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) and Frontier Regional School in conjunction with the town’s 350th anniversary celebration, an ideal pairing given that many Deerfield families have Polish, Ukrainian and other Eastern European heritage.
“People are proud to be Polish even though they are born here in America,” said Dorena Wasik, representing the Polish American Foundation.
The festival allowed people to learn about their own culture, said Helena Alves, who works to bring history — including the history of African Americans, Native Americans and immigration — to students. The event provided an accessible opportunity for the public to learn together.
One thing visitors could learn throughout the weekend was the Polish folk art of wycinanka. This craft looks similar to the American craft of “snowflakes” cut from paper, but the Polish version often gets more intricate and depicts cultural symbols.
Susan Urban, of West Springfield, set up shop teaching people the basic technique that can be applied to make much more difficult designs. She explained she folds her designs into eight layers to make the intricate patterns.
Traditionally, wycinanka is made using sheep shears, and originally it was cut from sheep skins and hung on windows. Today, the art is found on paper instead, and is seen in greeting cards and wall hangings. Urban uses embroidery scissors for her work.
“Doing this preserves our tradition of Polish paper cutting and it preserves my culture,” Urban said. She explained she likes to teach people this skill because it not only shows them a new type of art they can make, but it also can be culturally educational.
She cuts either hearts, which originated in Germany as a symbol of love and spread throughout Eastern Europe; or the tree of life, which depicts a linden tree and is used to produce medicinal herbs.
Similarly in the theme of art was the main highlight of Saturday’s events, an appearance by renowned Polish craftsperson Wieslawa Bogdanska, who led a class on creating Kurpie Kwiaty, or paper flowers. This craft is primarily used for Palm Sunday. Since it is difficult to get real palms in Poland, locals created the tradition of attaching paper flowers to sticks to use for the holiday.
Also participating in the festival was the Polish American Foundation, which runs programs to help Polish Americans connect with their roots. Examples include language classes taught over Zoom and group trips to Poland.
Wasik explained many Polish Americans are interested in learning the Polish language so they can go back to the country, find lost relatives and connect with them. In recent years, she added, people have been interested in genealogy, so the organization hired Polish genealogist Aleksandra Kacprzak to help people find their living relatives.
“The area is loaded with connections to Eastern Europe,” Alves said of Deerfield, reflecting on the festival’s significance. “We wanted to honor that.”
Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.