BARRY’S BAY – The Wilno Heritage Society held the 19th annual Kashub Day festival at the Paul J. Yakabuski Community Centre on May 6.
The week didn’t start out the way that event organizers would have wished, but the day still went well.
“It’s going great. It’s the first time in 19 years that we have to go indoors but there is a nice flow of people here so I think everything is going to go just fine. I know sometimes the weather can dampen a party, but it does not stop it,” said David Shulist from the Wilno Heritage Society.
He added that the decision to move the event indoors was made by the directors and it was made to help preserve the quality of the field at the Wilno Heritage Park.
“When you have conditions like the grounds are right now and if you get 1,000 people on those grounds, it would be a total mess. All that grass that took such a long time to grow would just be ruined forever,” Shulist explained.
The day was filled with performances from local bands as well as some special presentations. Father Mervin Coulas presented the Wilno Heritage Society with a blue coat that belonged to his father and was used during the war. There was also a visit from a member of the Polish Consulate, Lukasz Weremiuk.
The big honour of the day belonged to Corinne Higgins, who was named the Honourary Kashub. This title is awarded to the person in the community who isn’t of Polish decent but supports the culture. Christine Recoskie was named the honourary queen and Micheal Coulas was named the honourary king.
Get your May 10, 2017 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full article.