Many of us ask ourself the question, what is the meaning of the Polish Club, Cracovia to all Poles living in Western Australia? Many of us have spent only the last few years here, but Perth means “home” to most polish people for many, many years. Every Polish person, despite the number of years spent outside the mother land, seeks some polish contacts in a new place and very quickly finds the route to the Cracovia Club after their arrival to Perth. The reason for those contacts can be very different – a chat in polish, some nice dumplings or ox tripe soup, or a cold drink of refreshing “Zywiec” beer on a very hot summer day. Despite the reason, the name of the club makes our hearts jump of excitement and at the same time brings all the nostalgic feelings of the left behind home land. This feeling is not only specific for those who were born on Polish soil. The Club Cracovia is a symbol of polish traditions and culture for generations which were born on the Australian soil or in other parts of the world. We have to pay tribute to those who with their hard work and very often personal sacrifice, created this club.

The Club Cracovia has been operating on the Australian soil for the last 60 years. It is not hard to notice all changes and an evolution that the club went through over that period of time. We can notice Cracovia’s great achievements in promotion of Polish traditions and the Polish culture within the multicultural Australian society. Poles form a significant ethnic group in Western Australia. According to the last census carried out in 2001, there were 6400 Australian citizens registered as born in Poland and living in Western Australia, which makes 11% of all Poles living in Australia born in Poland. In addition 16200 people living in Western Australia, declared polish origin.

The proud history of the Club Cracovia covers only a fraction of activities. It is worthwhile to concentrate on the last years of Cracovia operation and to have a look at what happened within the last few years, what is on the clubs agenda today and what the near future is likely to bring.

Going through various brochures and bulletins published by Cracovia over the last few years, it is surprising how many various events that were organised by Cracovia, took place on Cracovia premises. An average club member would definitely have problems to list at least half of all events and initiatives that were undertaken by Cracovia in order to meet the requirements of the polish community in Perth and Western Australia. Cracovia’s main goal has always been to promote polish culture and traditions and to unite the polish community, irrelevant to whether somebody belongs to the youngest generation born in Australia, migrated to Australia recently or many years ago. It has been continually drawing on previous achievements and broadening and enriching its scope of activities for the polish community.

Over the years soccer has lost its importance but it still plays a vital role in club activities. Its popularity is not as strong as it was at the beginning of Cracovia existence but it continues to attract the public to watch friendly games between the months of April and September. It is important that the young generation of the Polish community born in Australia, has an opportunity to utilise sport facilities which are located on the Cracovia Club premises and are owned by the polish community. They can relate to polish sport traditions and be proud of wearing and promoting the White Eagles Club, red and white colours.

The current look of the Cracovia Club premises is a result of the massive work that was put into it. The main entrance to the premises built in 1999 gives special character to the club. In addition, the interior of the main building was completely re-modelled by 2002 thanks to club sponsors, club management and the entire polish community in Perth. The main hall which initially formed the base of the club building was divided and a new Banquet Hall was established. The new venue has opened endless opportunities, allowing the housing of smaller functions like birthday parties, family gatherings, weddings and engagement parties, helping to raise revenue for the club at the same time. Funds obtained from the Lottery West were invested in the building’s new ceiling. Tables and chairs in the banquet room were replaced last year, thanks to ongoing club management efforts to upgrade club standards and decor.

It is impossible to miss the club restaurant which is usually the very reason of a good party. It’s open to all traditional polish food lovers on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The Cracovia Restaurant has been serving customers for years and it has developed a good name among club members and visitors, becoming to a certain degree a symbol of the club. High quality food, very good service and nice surroundings of the restaurant compete with many renowned restaurants in Perth. Even those who visit the club after a meal are often tempted by something nice on the restaurant menu. Traditional polish dishes at affordable prices are hard to resist and temptation is too great to refuse a plate of polish dumplings -– Pierogi,”, or a bowl of „flaczki” (tripe soup). Tasty dishes can be accompanied by traditional polish spirits and of course polish beer. A nice cold bottle of „Zywiec” beer is always available in the „Cracovia” bar. There are 12 different types of polish beer on offer from breweries in Zywiec, Okocim, Namyslow, Lublin and other.

The Polish Club Cracovia has always promoted traditional family values throughout a number of activities like functions for Mothers Day, International Children Day, St Andrew’s celebrations. Saint Nicolas Day and handing over of presents to the youngest representatives of the polish community have been organized every year and it has become a part of the clubs tradition. Blessing of food during the Easter season is another example of the clubs family oriented activities. Blessing of food becomes an opportunity for many polish families and friends to get together and the club premises provide the right venue and atmosphere for it.

The popular fete organised to celebrate the last day of summer or to welcome spring, combined together with a Sunday mass celebrated by fathers of the Franciscan Order, has become very popular within the Perth polish community over the last few years. They give opportunity for the polish community to get together and also they become a forum to promote Club Cracovia and polish culture in the local neighbourhood. For those who prefer more cameral gatherings with friends and a bit of a challenge, Cracovia offers regular chess and bridge competitions.

All activities organised or sponsored by Club Cracovia give, especially those who belong to the youngest part of the polish community, an opportunity to learn about polish traditions, culture and meet new friends whose roots go back to the same place – Poland. All this is done with hope, which for many for whom polish is a second language; their polish national identity will be related to all that good time spent together with friends and family at the Cracovia Club. Maybe that time at Cracovia will become in their minds, a symbol of Poland they will never see for the rest of their lives.

It is not possible to ignore the fact that Club premises are comfortable and inviting for everyone to have a nice time. Since 2002 the management of the club, has continuously taken care of the club facilities and its décor. New equipment like computers, DVD and audio equipment, over/head projectors, a laser printer, a digital photocopying machine, intelligent disco lighting and more, bring up the standard of facilities available for the club members and also they attract attention of other organizations and group willing to participate in the club activities or just utilize it’s facilities. A young generation of the polish community and their friends have been attracted to the Cracovia, because of its nice inviting atmosphere, open door policy and an openness of the management to all innovations and good suggestions with the Polish mark

The management of the Cracovia has been actively promoting and sponsoring young talents. One the many examples of that work is providing access to the main hall for rehearsals for Polish Folk ensemble “Kukuleczka”, which have been promoting polish folklore through traditional Polish dance and music, not only in Western Australia but also in the Eastern States and even overseas. Dance and music are universal and understood by everyone without a need for translation. They are unique in their character, expression, movement and they bring closer the polish spirit and Poland to everyone who is willing to watch and listen.

 

Productions of the Youth Theatrical Group “Scena 98” under the watchful eye of father Tomasz Bujakowski and in cooperation with the club, have been attracting wide audiences for a number of years and bringing closer classic plays to the polish community. The last production of Stanislaw Wyspianski’s play “The Wedding” was a great success and young actors surprised everyone with their excellent performance, presenting a very difficult piece that would be a challenge to every professional actor.

„The most vitamins have polish girls.” This is a very loose translation of lyrics of the song performed by Tadeusz Rosiewicz years ago, who glorified beauty of polish girls in his song. We also have a chance to admire legendary beauty of polish girls during a yearly beauty contest, “Miss Polonia of Western Australia”, which is proudly organized in the Club every few yearsIt is not enough for Cracovia to open doors to its premises for young polish talents but it also actively sponsors them. It is hard not to mention financial support for “Kukuleczka” and “Scena98” to present their work and represent the polish community in Western Australia during Festival of Polish Visual and Performing Arts “Polart -2003” in Sydney. Another example of active sponsorship was active support for young polish pianist Marysia Welna, for her oversees tour to promote mainly polish piano music and donations for further education of a young promising tennis player, Miss Emilia Golik.

Few known polish companies operating in Australia like Puma Press and Orbis Express, invited Polish artists to Perth and chose the Club premises as a suitable venue to organize public meetings with them. Cracovia has become a place where you can meet famous Polish actors, singers, film producers, writers and other people known from the screen or stage. Every year, if someone wants to see a famous face and talk to them, Cracovia is the place where it is possible.

Popular New Years Eve and Carnival Balls organized yearly by the club have already become a well known tradition within the polish community and one of the main points on the Clubs schedule of activities.

The number of club members has been growing steadily (currently there are approximately 200 members), resulting in changing requirements and expectations in relation to the club. The fabric of polish community in Perth has been changing over the years reflecting an on going evolution of the society. We can observe more young people tying a wedding knot with partners from other ethnic groups as well as main stream. This presents for the Polish Club Cracovia an enormous challenge and requires continuos work in order to reach to them so they do not forget their polish roots, polish traditions and culture foremost, they will be able to pass this knowledge and sense of belonging to the polish culture to the next generation. In the same time it has been recognised that Cracovia, in order to survive and prosper, cannot be isolated and only dedicated to a polish speaking community. It has to have an open door policy for everyone who is willing to come, have a good time and hopefully in the same time, learn a few things about Poland and polish people. This and only this approach can guarantee that the Club Cracovia will prosper for many years to come and it will develop a higher profile.

A lot of people keep asking the question, how does it happen that the club is doing so well and it attracts wider circles of people of polish origin and others? It does not seam like there is one straight answer to this question, but the current club management has to take a large portion of the credit for Cracovia’s success. Thanks to its dedication, tremendous efforts to meet all current and future demands put forward to the club by the Polish community at large; the Polish Club Cracovia has prospered very well. As it was stated before, the Polish Community in Perth is changing; it is evolving together with the main stream of Australian society. Conditions of living are changing gradually and with them requirements, expectations, ambitions and aspirations of members of the polish community

The Polish Club Cracovia serves as a home for those who left Poland a long time ago and they are looking for a place where they can feel like they’re back at home without leaving the Australian soil. It also provides a special place for those who have never seen Poland and everything they know about their country of origin came from their parent and grandparents. As a matter of fact, a majority of people declaring polish origin in Western Australia were not born in Poland. This is the part of polish society that requires more attention in the sense of trying to bring them closer to Cracovia in order to maintain polish traditions and most of all to ensure that their polish identity will be passed to next generations of Polonia in Perth. There is a significant and continuously growing group of young people for whom Poland is associated with holidays, far relatives and nostalgic memories of their parents. The future of the club depends on these people and they are the ones that the club needs and it is trying very hard to attract and to involve in its activities.

What is the future for “Cracovia”? – At this point of time it seems to be optimistic. The current direction of the clubs operation and ambitious development plans, gives hope that Cracovia will be associated with the polish culture, polish traditions and good fun for years to come. It will be a very attractive place to go to for all generations of the polish community and also for everyone who just wants to have a good time.