We may still be sliding around on the ice, but our clocks are set ahead and bulbs are peeking up in gardens. Spring is in our hearts. What better way could there be to welcome the season than by joining in the Dyngus Day festivities? This year, there will be at least 40 venues participating around Western New York, in what is the 47th annual commemoration of the ending of Lent and its privations with symbolic foods meant to usher in a time of re-birth.

Dyngus Day got its start in Buffalo at 18 Kosciuszko Street, where the vibrant Chopin Singing Society had its headquarters. Retired Judge Ann Mikoll and her late husband, Ted, were part of the original group that brought the European tradition to Buffalo. Housed in a building that looked like a chalet, with a lounge, a restaurant and an inner courtyard, the society’s mission was to promote Polish traditions and culture through music. The club revived the Polish custom of celebrating the day after Easter with traditional foods and rituals. Easter food, usually bought at the Broadway Market, was blessed by a priest. At the Singing Society, members brought food—hard-boiled eggs to symbolize new birth, butter lambs bearing little red or purple flags to evoke the risen Christ. Their chaplain blessed the offerings. Over the years, the group invited others to join them, and Dyngus Day took hold and grew. No longer housed on Kosciuszko Street, the Chopin Singing Society continues the tradition at the Hearthstone Manor (333 Dick Road, Cheektowaga, 684-8850) from 11:30am on Monday to 2am the next day. Admission is $8, and wonderful music and dancing will fill the day. A particular treat, I am told by Judge Mikoll, are the White Eagle dancers from Toronto, who will perform at 2 and 6 pm. A special buffet is offered for $15 (includes admission). Working closely with Carol Zimmer, the effervescent banquet manager at the Hearthstone, Judge Mikoll has created a menu reflecting the day’s unique traditions, including smoked and fresh Polish sausage, ham, rye bread from Kaufman’s and her family recipe for sweet and sour cabbage.

She generously shared that recipe with me, so here it is: chop up a white cabbage, and finely dice an onion. Put all in a pot, adding a chopped apple or applesauce for sweetness. Drop in some butter (by the way, the best butter is sold in slabs at Malczewski Poultry in the Broadway Market), cover with water, and simmer until soft. Meanwhile, make a mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Taste to make sure it tastes good. Add to the pot, and simmer a little more. Serve.

Polish sausage with cabbage, pierogies and golubki

There will be lots of good food on Dyngus Day. You can get an early start at the Lily of the Valley, 2379 Union Road (between Losson and French), where Mike Kurdziel is offering breakfast from 9am to 2pm. For $5, you can hear the music of two polka bands and enjoy the fruits of Jan Coseel’s kitchen. She will be preparing ham, waffles, oven-fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, smoked Polish sausage and a variety of fruit and pastries. All this and $1 Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers.

Now head to the East Side of Buffalo, where the history and rebirth of Buffalo are intertwined in a community struggling for survival. At 11.30am a Mass will be offered at Corpus Christi Church (corner, Clark and Kent Streets, one block east of the Broadway Market), rescued from closure by a strong and determined community effort. Come and see the beautiful church, and then join in a luncheon offered by Council President David Franzcyk at the Athletic Club next door at 165 Sears Street. This event is catered by Jacob’s Café from the Broadway Market. Featuring ham, kielbasa with sauerkraut, a variety of pierogies and homemade desserts, the food will be accompanied with music by Bruce Woody, the organist at Shea’s, Corpus Christi and the Riviera. Seating is limited; reservations required; the cost is $15. Call 479-2342 to reserve your place at this benefit for both the Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, and Corpus Christi Church.

On to the colossal party planned for the Central Terminal. On Paderewski Drive, the massive train station is reminiscent both of Grand Central in New York and the European cities bombed in World War II. Elevated above the neighboring streets, the terminal’s elegance and decay call to the romantic instincts; imagine the people who have kissed, hugged, cried in its splendor. Secured through the efforts of the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation and the Herculean efforts of its president, Russ Pawlak, the train station is a wreck waiting for salvation. Marble floors, black with gold inlay, require a Zamboni to clean the ice formed from water pipes that constrict and contract in the ravages of winter. Signs of busy trains—departures and arrivals—almost sigh with sadness at the memory of times gone by.

At least on March 24th, the terminal will once again roar with life. The Dyngus Day Parade starts on Broadway at 5pm and ends at the Central Terminal. The revelers will be welcomed into the site of the train station’s former restaurant. Tents and propane will attempt to keep people warm—my advice is to plan for the cold and be ready to peel layers off if necessary. The beautiful marble and high ceilings of the building seem to manufacture temperatures colder than outside. But what wonderful food awaits! Where to start?

Mike Pijanowski, of Bistro Europa (484 Elmwood Avenue, 884-1100) has been preparing food for weeks. As in his restaurant, the food will be home-cooked, and delicious. Bigos, a Polish hunter’s stew comprised of sauerkraut, Polish sausage, mushrooms and cabbage, will be sold for $5 a portion. Golubki, cabbage stuffed with pork, beef, rice, and secret seasonings, will also be $5. In addition, he will serve lazy pierogi, a casserole where customary pierogi ingredients (mushroom, sauerkraut, butter and cream)are tossed with rotini pasta rather than encased in pastry.

Jim Daley of Ulrich’s, on the corner of Ellicott and Virginia Streets, is well known for his contribution to the revelries of St. Patrick’s Day. He, too, will be at the Central Terminal, selling Wardynski’s Polish sausage, smoked, and fresh, with sauerkraut for $5 a sandwich.

And of course, there will be pierogies, prepared by the K Sisters, using their grandmother’s recipe, which includes sour cream, butter, eggs and milk in the luscious pastry. Light and delicate, the pierogis will have a vast array of fillings: cheddar cheese and potato, sauerkraut, sauerkraut with mushrooms, sauerkraut with bacon and farmer’s cheese with chives and sautéed onions, for about $2 apiece. They will also offer mini-golubki—hamburger, rice and special seasoning stuffed in cabbage and doused with tomato sauce. If you can’t make it to the terminal, the K Sisters store is located at 2116 Clinton Street, Cheektowaga (827-4077).

Special beverages can be had to wash down all this food. Flying Bison, Buffalo’s own brewery, found on Ontario Street, has two special brews: Polonia Pils and Gdansk Dark. Chateau Buffalo will feature wine and cider. Sobieski Vodka is building an ice bar in the terminal and will sell their vodka; distilled four times, it is a Polish rye made at the Belvedere factory in Poland, and said to be high-quality vodka sold at a reasonable price. Sobieski is also sponsoring a shuttle bus between various Dyngus Day venues.

And finally, thanks go to cousins Marty Biniasz and Eddy Dobosiewicz for the tireless organizing and marketing they have done to make Dyngus Day a great event. Visit dyngusdaybuffalo.com for more information on the day’s activities. Count on lots of food, music and dancing all over town.

—patricia watson