Month: April 2017

Preparations underway for Polski Day

Volunteers made dozens of golambki – cabbage rolls – in preparation for the 33rd annual Polski Day celebration May 6 at All Saints Catholic Church, 809 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Some of the volunteers included, left to right, Ethel Golubski, Donna Strick, Betty Kolenda and Agnes Franiuk. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

Polski Day starts with a parade at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 6, at 14th and Central Avenue, and the parade ends with a festival at All Saints.

by Mary Rupert

About 20 women gathered to prepare golambki – cabbage rolls – for the 33rd annual Polski Day, to be held May 6 at All Saints Catholic Church, 809 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.

Making enough food for an expected 2,400 meals requires a lot of advance preparation, according to Cathy Kolenda Smith, who has led this effort for the past 12 years.

To make the cabbage rolls, volunteers went through about 250 pounds of cabbage and 50 pounds of onions, she said. About 380 pounds of ground beef are required. The ingredients of golambki also include spices, rice and eggs. The cabbage rolls are cooked and then frozen in preparation for the festival.

There’s more food than golambki under preparation for Polski Day. According to Smith, nearly an entire freezer will be filled with 3,000 pierogi. Smith said there will be 275 pounds of smoked Polish sausages, 75 pounds of fresh Polish sausages, about 144 dozen cookies, 150 loaves of powitica and 100 strudels. The cookies will include bourbon balls, Polish tea cakes and pohanse.

A group of volunteers has been working on the Polski Day preparations for about 33 years. When asked if they do anything differently while preparing cabbage rolls for the festival than they usually do while making them at home, one volunteer, Ethel Golubski, said, “We just talk. We’re really good friends.”

Betty Kolenda, another volunteer, said they all had been volunteering for 33 years, except for her granddaughter, Sara Saracyewski Smith, who is younger than that and was helping today.

Cathy Kolenda Smith said the funds raised from Polski Day will go toward renovating the buildings at All Saints. There are plans to turn the old school building on the grounds into a parish meeting center, with a meeting room, reception hall and a chapel for prayer services, she said.

Polski Day commemorates the signing of the Polish constitution in May of 1791. The event will be held on Saturday, May 6, at All Saints Catholic Church, 809 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Smith anticipates about 4,000 to 5,000 people will attend Polski Day this year.

Polski Day kicks off with a parade at 11 a.m. May 6 at 14th and Central, ending at All Saints parish, where the event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Music, food and games are planned. A 4 p.m. polka Mass then follows at All Saints parish.

A group of volunteers has worked together for years to prepare food for the annual Polski Day celebration. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

Lady Blue Devils romp 11-1 after down-to-wire first game loss

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Stung by a 2-out rally in the seventh inning of a 3-1 opening loss, Kansas City Kansas Community College rebounded with a 5-inning 11-1 rout of Hesston in Jayhawk Conference softball play Friday.

The split left the Lady Blue Devils’ 13-15 heading into Saturday’s home doubleheader with Hutchinson. At Neosho County Tuesday, KCKCC is back home again Wednesday against Haskell.

The Blue Devils lashed out a dozen hits and scored in every inning of the 5-inning second game. Allison Kasick is believed to be the first Blue Devil to drive in runs in each of her four times at bat, the last three of which came on bases-loaded walks.

Hannah Bishop had three singles and two RBI, Sam Sudac doubled and singled and LaTisha Thomas singled twice to lead KCKCC.

Shannon Greene went the distance for the pitching win, allowing just four hits, striking out two and walking two. The only run allowed came on a 2-out wild pitch in the third.

The Blue Devils jumped in front 1-0 in the first on the first of Bishop’s three hits and a Kasick double and made it 2-0 in the second on an error, walk, Bishop’s second hit and the first of Kasick’s three bases-loaded walks.

KCKCC broke the game open with six runs on six hits in the third. With one out, the Blue Devils strung four hits in a row – a double by Katherine Stringer and singles by Candice Jenning, Sudac and Thomas – followed by two bases-loaded walks and run-scoring singles by Mikaela Hoffart and Amy-Grace Wilson. A double by Sudac and singles by Thomas and Bishop highlighted a final 3-run outburst in the fourth.

Hesston pitcher Miranda Dolsman did the damage in the 3-1 opening game loss, allowing just six hits and one run on the mound and delivering the game-winning runs with a 2-out single in the seventh inning. After giving up a pair of singles to start the seventh, Megan Mason struck out the next two Larks only to have Dolsman break the 1-1 deadlock with a 2-run single.

KCKCC’s lone run came in the fourth inning on a single by Amy-Grace Wilson and back-to-back doubles by Katherine Stringer and Candice Jennings. However, Dolsman allowed only one base runner the rest of the way and retired the final eight Blue Devil hitters. She struck out eight and walked two.

Colorado Rapids visits Sporting KC Sunday in KCK

A pair of MLS originals square off Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park when unbeaten Sporting Kansas City (1-0-3, 6 points) plays host to the Colorado Rapids (1-1-1, 4 points).

The match will be nationally televised on FS1 and FOX Deportes. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. and tickets are available at SeatGeek.com, including a limited-time Family 4 Pack consisting of four game tickets, four hot dogs, four Coca-Cola products and four bags of chips for $125.

Listeners may follow Sunday’s action live on Sports Radio 810 WHB, ESPN 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM, while mobile users can watch on FOX Sports GO and receive live updates through Sporting KC Uphoria.

Supporters are encouraged to stop by the Sporting Plaza on the west side of the stadium before kickoff to sign the last steel beam to be installed at the nearby National Training and Coaching Development Center later this month.

One of three MLS clubs yet to lose in 2017, Sporting Kansas City enters the weekend with just one goal conceded through four games.

A high-pressure approach coupled with continuity has resulted in the league’s stingiest defense, as goalkeeper Tim Melia, holding midfielder Ilie and defenders Matt Besler, Ike Opara, Graham Zusi and Seth Sinovic have started all four matches together.

Melia, who leads MLS with three shutouts and ranks second in save percentage at 86.7, has allowed a single goal in his last six league appearances dating back to 2016.

A week removed from a hard-earned 0-0 draw at Toronto FC, Sporting Kansas City hopes to rewrite the record books on Sunday by extending their home unbeaten streak to 12 regular season matches.

Manager Peter Vermes’ men are 8-0-3 at home since last June, and a win or draw against Colorado would see his side equal the all-time club record set in 2015. World-class Children’s Mercy Park is poised to welcome its 90th consecutive sellout crowd in MLS competition, a run that began five years ago today.

Colorado sits seventh in the Western Conference table, two spots below Sporting Kansas City but with a game in hand on most of its conference rivals.

Because of an international break followed by a rearranged fixture with FC Dallas, the Rapids haven’t played since March 18 – a 2-2 home draw against expansion outfit Minnesota United FC. Dominique Badji opened the scoring on 17 minutes with his team-leading second goal of the campaign, but Minnesota struck twice shortly after the interval to prompt a 59th-minute equalizer from Marlon Hairston.

Guided by 2016 MLS Coach of the Year finalist Pablo Mastroeni, the Rapids are coming off a fantastic season highlighted by a second-place finish in the West.

Colorado used an opportunistic attack and a resolute backline – no team allowed fewer goals in 2016 than the Rapids’ 32 – to come within three points of winning the Supporters’ Shield.

Two veterans who regularly started for Colorado in 2016 were traded to Minnesota last Friday, as midfielder-captain Sam Cronin and left back Marc Burch joined the Loons in exchange for midfielder Mohammed Saeid, winger Josh Gatt and an international roster spot.

Sunday will be Rapids’ first test without Cronin and Burch, who were valuable contributors to the team’s defensive success.

Sporting Kansas City has dropped five straight regular season meetings to the Rapids since 2015, tied for the second-longest losing streak to a single opponent in club history.

Colorado swept the 2016 series with three one-goal victories, scoring the game-winner after the 75th minute on each occasion. The current five-game draught comes after Sporting KC went 11 MLS matches unbeaten against Colorado (6-0-5) from 2009-2015, including two playoff wins in 2011.

Dom Dwyer was the lone Sporting KC player to score against the Rapids in 2016, doing so in a 2-1 defeat at Children’s Mercy Park last April. The next two meetings at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – on May 11 and July 16 – were decided by 78th-minute goals from Dillon Serna and Hairston, giving Colorado successive 1-0 triumphs.

Standout midfielder Benny Feilhaber is questionable for Sunday’s match as he continues to recover from a thigh strain, while long-term absentee Diego Rubio remains sidelined with an ACL tear.

Colorado, meanwhile, will be without 2016 MLS Best XI selection Axel Sjoberg. The 6-foot-7 center back injured his hamstring in a 1-0 loss at the New York Red Bulls on March 11 and is set to miss another few weeks.

– Story from Sporting KC