Sweet Land of Liberty

By Raymond J. Golarz and Marion J. Golarz

Come along as the little Polish Village of East Hammond continues its struggle in this new country. Witness the suffering and actual loss of lives as marching workers are shot and killed challenging for recognition of their union. Join them as they rebound and find courage to sing and dance beneath the smokestack of a giant incinerator. Welcome visiting gypsies. Be captivated by their music and campfire lure.
And, yes, there is still more Yellow Jacket football to be played with Lefty, Wolf, and the whole gang, complete with the customary grit, action, and lessons to be learned and passed on. Grab a sideline seat for two tough opponentsChicago Heights and Joliet Prison.
Become a young child and with the author share living with Busia(grandmother), basking in her quiet ways and running freely throughout her neighborhood. Go shopping in the quaint little shopping village, just walking distance from home. Find anything from penny candy to live chickens to communion suits for little boys and white dresses for little girls. Look out for the trolley. Back home, create magical places from the top of a giant backyard wood pile.
Watch young women as they prepare so carefully for their wedding days, while the reality and challenges of WWII reached into their village, changing lives forever.
Stick around when the going gets rugged for Rajmund, as Busias safe boundaries give way to storms and street fights that rage through his early school years. Watch as he struggles with his God for an answer to why his closest childhood friend ended up in prison shacklesbut not him.
Kneel in the soft light of St. Marys sanctuary with three East Hammond Polish street kids who find comfort in the patient, still womb of family love, strong traditions, and Gods mysterious grace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456746605

Raymond J. Golarz

Raymond J Golarz holds his B.A. and B.S. degrees from St. Joseph’s College in Indiana. In addition he received his M.S. and Ed.D. Degrees from Indiana University. He taught as a middle school and high school teacher and then served as the Director of Child Welfare Services supervising delinquency prevention and intervention programs and working with delinquent gangs and directing drug intervention programs. At the college level, he taught an array of psychology courses at St. Joseph’s college, Purdue Calumet, Indiana University Northwest and City College in Seattle. For ten years he taught Psychology for law enforcement officers near Chicago to hundreds of law enforcement officers. He has served as an assistant superintendent and superintendent of schools and has keynoted conferences in virtually every Canadian Province as well as almost every state in the United States. Currently, Ray does work as a newspaper columnist featured in Yahoo news, USA Today and the Bloomington Herald Times while Marion continues work as a content editor. With Marion his wife of 56 years he has co-authored The Power of Participation, Sweet Land of Liberty, and the Problem Isn’t Teachers. In addition, he has co-authored Restructuring Schools for Excellence through Teacher Empowerment and is the author of On My Way Home I Bumped into God. Finally, his earlier writings include Yellow Jacket Football in Hard Times and Good and a companion book When the Yellow Jackets Played, two books focusing on the strengths of the early immigrants who came to America. He and Marion have six children: Tanya Scherschel, Michael Golarz, Scott Golarz, Jocelyn Morris, Daniel Golarz and Thomas John Golarz and they presently have eleven grandchildren. They reside in Bloomington, Indiana with their calico cat Nola and their Boxer dog Cooper. All of his life Ray has enjoyed sketching, oil painting, and carpentry. The final enjoyment of carpentry he considers a gift from his father and grandfathers. As a consequence of his keynoting he has been given many special gifts. His most prized possession is the White Buffalo Indian Robe given to him after keynoting the National Native American School Boards Convention. He can be contacted at their email address [e-mail]

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Contents

Part 1. IMMIGRANT VILLAGE

Sweet Land of Liberty

Bodies all Achin’ and Wracked with Pain

A Proud New Community

What Do the Simple Folk Do?

‘There’s a story that gypsies know is true…"

Part 2. A GAME THEY LOVED

A Little Polish and Italian History

Walter Wolf Golarz

Jebronowski’s Horse

A Mid-October Football Game

Walkin’ my Baby Back Home

Seasons End

Gunny Sacks of Pride

Part 3. MOVIN’ ON

Wedding Bells

WORLD WAR II

Part 4. VILLAGE MEMORIES

East Hammond Busia

A Fire Truck Ride

A Back Yard Where You Could Learn Everything

Lorraine

A Dessert of a Different Kind

Good Buy And Good Luck

A Polish Shopping Center

Rajmund, go get your Dziadzia

An Old City Street

Wigilias to Remember

The Making of an East Hammond Polish Street Kid

Zippity Doo Dah?

Part 5. REFLECTIONS

They Called Themselves the Yellow Jackets. Ever Hear of ‘Em?

How ‘Bout Ya Teach Me How To Box?

Scared Straight

In Harmony

Part 6. EPILOGUE

Who Would Have Thought?

Of These We Sing

Let Freedom Ring

The Last Word

About the Cover

About The Authors

Acknowledgments

There is really no way to adequately again thank my Aunt Rose Koral. All of the many, many details that she remembered that give an added richness to this book. How else would I possibly have known that you could catch the trolley car on Conkey Street, transfer in downtown Hammond, arrive in the Chicago Loop, spend the day, and then back to East Hammond, a walk down the alley and home.

To my wife Marion who has advised me that if I even suggest a next book soon, she will go screaming into the night. Only an editor could understand the full meaning of that. Over the months she has edited and typed everything, modified the smallest of details, wrestled with the computer, created magnificently focused titles, arranged and rearranged the document, helped with the creative design of the cover, written the foreward, introduction and text for the back cover and, with me, has fallen in love with a new book, the title of which came from her endless creative depths. Given her continued and on-going work on the book, I was, after months, finally successful in securing her permission to put her name next to mine as co-author—precisely where it belongs. Thank you. Thank you, Marion—get in here and take a knee in the huddle.

To my brother Joseph whose memory I needed to probe regarding the nature and frequency of street fights, the river dam, the trips to get Dziadzia at Koch’s, the street knife sharpener and so, so much more.

To my cousins Anita Galosich, daughter of Walt Golarz; Tony Koral, son of John Koral; Misha and John Grelak, children of John Grelak, and Andrea Ziemba, daughter of Andrew Golarz for pictures of and information regarding their fathers.

To Buddy Borbely, son of Kalman Borbely; Bob Golec, son of Jumpin’ Joe Golec; Terry Stoming, son of George Breezy Stoming; Mark Wusik, son of Mike Wusik; and Chet Jasinski, son of Chet Jasinski for pictures of and information regarding their fathers.

Finally, to my sister, Barbara Helmuth, who enjoys so much the discussions of old East Hammond and through those discussions prompted my deeper memories.

Foreword

This expedition into history—what we now like to call The Yellow Jacket trilogy—was originally meant to be made up simply of the original stories in When the Yellow Jackets Played which the author promised his father, Lefty Golarz, he would write. The reaction to that short work was extremely positive and resulted in an overwhelming number of requests for more about these players and their community. Thus, the next book, Yellow Jacket Football in Hard Times and Good, followed and the trilogy is completed with the book you now hold in your hand, Sweet Land of Liberty.

As is often the case when a project like this gets underway, it takes on a life of its own and grows in directions really not anticipated. In this instance, the early telling of some wonderful football stories opened the gates to comments, questions, and information from relatives, friends, and readers. As word got out and books were passed around, phone conversations and emails filled in gaps, added to previously known data, occasionally corrected things like names and locations, and suggested new things to investigate. Most rewarding were the wonderful calls from people who were thrilled that somebody remembered what they remembered or resurrected things, places, and people that had long been forgotten, or perhaps never even known. Many people expressed appreciation for these stories. A woman in her eighties remembered going to those games and what fun she had as a child even though she never did understand football. A man emailed he was so grateful to have these books to share because he had never been able to explain to his children what was so special about the East Hammond neighborhood of his youth. The son of another player purchased a copy of the books for everyone in his office. We were delighted to hear from a man who grew up in a Polish neighborhood in North Chicago and wrote that he felt like he went back home. A friend of ours told us that the neighborhood sounded so like the one she grew up in, also in the Chicago area, where Busias were called Bapchaps. Another reader was delighted to read about Lefty’s going on the bum, as his father had also done that, but he had never read about it anywhere before. There have been too many responses to list here, but all of them seem to reveal that the stories seem to have a wide appeal and that many, many people were touched because they had been given back the beauty and the feel of an earlier time.

This unaticipated reaction was so overwhelming, it motivated the author to keep digging for more precise information. It kept him asking questions and looking for answers; kept him checking one more place, prompting one more memory. So, now there is a fairly complete picture of East Hammond as it looked and how folks lived there in the early and mid part of the Twentieth Century.

But, you have to keep in mind, reader, that this collection of stories is truly a hybrid made up of written history, oral history, and personal memories, woven together by a talented story teller who, by the way, has his own stories to tell. So, be reminded that there is some fiction mixed in here and there with some creative names, places, events and perhaps a little enriching of what some might classify as lore. But, everything included in these pages has been, whenever possible, meticulously verified so that the picture of daily life, traditions, events, locations, and personalities resonate with the truth and reality of the times. That the author was able to do this so effectively is a tribute to his own careful research and skill and to the invaluable and varied contributions of so many others.

What is not fiction, quite frankly, is as amazing as it is little known. For example, the research which was to be presented as a straight forward report on how East Hammond families were affected by World War II, led to a fascinating discovery of heroic service rendered by the soldiers who served in the Armed Forces all over the war theaters. What an astounding surprise it was to find out about acts of courage, medals earned, sacrifices made that somehow were not well known, or even known at all by their contemporaries, families, or descendants. It was not uncommon to hear comments like, My father was where? My uncle was at Omaha Beach? Chester won a Purple Heart? My mother found a drawer full of medals and had to ask my father what they were.

So, to make public such honorable service was, perhaps, the most gratifying aspect of this undertaking. But there are still some puzzling questions: Why, for example, in seventy years or so, did this patriotic service not get wider, more celebrated attention. How many others from East Hammond and other places like it have not received, nor ever will receive proper recognition.? Why were these men so reluctant to talk about their experiences. Over and over, the relatives of these soldiers commented, He never wanted to talk about it, or The medals were simply put away in drawers—never displayed. The author thought it was time to take them out of old drawers and display them and hope doing so inspires others to do the same.

What was true about unacknowledged military service was also true of other accomplishments, so it was equally amazing to discover the impressive contributions and accomplishments of so many of the original immigrants and their descendants. These achievements are included in what is surely an incomplete list. This list is arranged in random order to emphasize the variety, breath, and levels of achievements. Truly they are representative of opportunities given, taken, appreciated, and paid forward, a history which is certainly replicated in countless places across our land, making up immigrant stories just like those that belong to the people of the little Polish village of East Hammond.

It is with no small regret that Sweet Land of Liberty closes what is surely an incomplete story which began long ago with very young people who thankfully sailed here and became the first in a long line of Busias and Dziadzias, pronounced by the way as follows:

For Busia the u sounds like the oo in boot and the sia like sha—so Boosha.

For Dziadzia the Dz sounds like the J in Jane and the ia is like a in ah—so Jahjah.

Occasionally you will notice that the name Raymond is given the Polish spelling, Rajmund. The change in pronunciation is somewhat difficult to represent, but the initial R is rolled, the aj sounds closer to eh and mund which sometimes sounds like mend in the English pronunciation, sounds more like mond and, finally the last consonant d is sometimes accented in such a way as to sound like a t,—so, Rehmont.

Generally speaking, you cannot sound out a lot of the more complicated names and words without a more sophisticated phonetic translation. Some words, however, you can sound out slowly. For the rest, you can try what I try: employ some creative slurring of syllables, especially those that are mostly made up of consonants, add a few rolling r’s, substitute v’s for w’s, spit out your version with gusto, and you’re pretty much as close as you are going to get.

NOSDROVIA!

MJG

Introduction

In the haunting lyrics of There’s a Place For Us, one of the most moving pieces of music from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, the tragic lovers express what must be at the core of the immigrant soul—the faith that things will get better somehow…someday…somewhere.

Ray Golarz has been celebrating that immigrant soul in its Polish incarnation with the Yellow Jacket stories. This series started with When the Yellow Jackets Played, a simple set of stories told to him mostly by his father, Lefty, about a pre-World War II bunch of Polish semi-pro football players, their families, and their extended community. It continued with Yellow Jackets in Hard Times and Good. Now this series closes with Sweet Land of Liberty, an even deeper look at this community and its coming of age. Departing from his usual point of view as an observer and narrator of oral history, Golarz includes in this book a surprising turn inward as we are drawn into the his search for a resolution to haunting questions about how his life has turned on chance, guidance, and the mysterious ways of God.

As has been the case for the first two books, the setting is the East Hammond Community. But the 30s are winding down now. The Depression still has its paralyzing grip on the country, particularly on communities such as this. And a new challenge from afar, World War II, is getting ever more threatening. All of these conditions call for and receive strong responses and you will be amazed at how these immigrants and their young men and women cope with these challenges, and how these committed American citizens become more closely aligned with the efforts of their American brothers to survive and thrive, all the while maintaining their delightful customs, and courageous ways of living. So, from the vantage point first as a story teller, secondly as a participant, Ray Golarz moves us creatively and affectionately through the early to mid-Twentieth Century. Drawing on research, personal knowledge, oral history and using what he calls his Polish DNA he conveys in greater detail the hardships, joys, accomplishments and disappointments of the men, women, and children who live, love, sacrifice, and suffer in this place—this village really—which though it existed within the heart of the larger City of Hammond, was in many ways as distant from it as if separated by mountains and rivers.

Remaining at the heart of this story is the quest to understand how these people did survive and eventually come to close that distance and change not only their own little village, but the life of the country which had made room for them. Indeed, how did they meet the daunting challenges they faced? What did they say to themselves and to each other when the promise of America seemed so far beyond their grasp? When work days were 10 to 12 hours long with very low pay? When food was scarce or non-existent? When a doctor’s visit was too expensive? When their American born children had to drop out of school? When they couldn’t heat their homes, or worse, keep their homes?

Although Golarz can’t always explicity give his readers the answers to these questions, he helps us to better understand bit by bit, story by story the way these hows played out. In an intense and sensitive way, he gets up close and personal. Through him we feel as though we are there with the early immigrants. We do get to be there when he comes on the scene as a very young child to be immersed in the protective, free, gentle world his grandparents and their neighbors provide. And we are there when he enters, still as a young child, into an environment that is not so protective, not at all free, and definitely not gentle.

Because of his ability to weave knowledge and imagination, we