General Casimir Pulaski Day Cleveland City Hall
October 20, 2012
General Kazimierz (Casimir) Pulaski was born March 4, 1747 in Warka, Poland and died October 15, 1779 in Savannah, Georgia.
In 1985, The Ohio Legislature officially declared October 11th to be General Pulaski Memorial Day in honor of his contributions to Poland and the United States. The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously on October 8, 2009 to award citizenship posthumously to Casimir Pulaski who was honored by members of the Polish-American community in Cleveland at Cleveland City Hall.
Pulaski Day ceremonies in Cleveland began with a Color Guard in Cleveland City Hall, then the Pledge of Allegiance.
Pledge of Allegiance - Pulaski Day
MC Francis Rutkowski introduced Barbara Sychla who sang the Polish and US national anthems.
Rev. Eric Orzech gave the invocation
Rev. Eric Orzech
Mike Polichuk, President of the Polonia Foundation, spoke next.
Mike Polichuk
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson spoke.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson
Congressman Dennis Kucinich was instrumental in getting honorary US citizenship granted to General Casimir Pulaski from Poland. At the 2012 Pulaski Day celebration at Cleveland City Hall, he gave two copies of the official House of Representatives record to local Polonia leaders.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Congressman Dennis Kucinich with Pulaski proclamation
Francis Rutkowski introduced Dr. Marek Dollar, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland.
Francis Rutkowski
Dr. Marek Dollar, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland
Dr. Marek Dollar, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland, and his wife were inducted as Grand Knight and Grand Lady of Pulaski in a ceremony led by Rev. Erich Orzech and Judge Diane Karpinski.
