Thanksgiving Utica NY
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Polish Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving Day in Utica NY is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and features a big holiday meal, a day of thanks we share with family.

Turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes with gravy, and pumpkin pie usually come to mind.

Polish Americans also serve some foods of their heritage like, pierogi, kiełbasa, gołąbki, and bigos. For desert sernik, babka, and szarlotka along with pumpkin pie. It’s all good!

Did You Know?

The first Polish settlers arrived in America 12 years before the Pilgrims. On October 1, 1608 they arrived at the Jamestown Virginia settlement about one year after the original English settlers on the banks of the James River.

It was because of the Polish craftsmen’s skills that they were invited to join the voyage on the ships Mary & Margaret to Jamestown. They were to establish a glass industry, but their first contribution was to construct a fresh water well which was badly needed to provide for the survival of the colony.

Living was hard, but despite the climate and living conditions they were able to export the first commercial products of glass, tar and pitch from America to England.

Because they were denied equal rights in the first Virginia Assembly they staged the first labor strike in America on July 30, 1619. The strike was not for money or because of working conditions; it was for equal voting rights and the same democratic rights of the English.

Polish Americans have much to celebrate at Thanksgiving and can be very proud of the contributions the first Polish settlers accomplished in America.

Put a little Polish in your Thanksgiving celebration in Utica NY, with traditional Polish foods from the Pulaski Meat Market. Enjoy some Kiełbasa, Pierogi, Gołąbki, and Polish Ham.