Message from the office of JOHNNY KASHUB COMMISSIONER of the OPEONGO HERITAGE CUP and the KASHUBIAN GRIFFINS HOCKEY CLUB

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1 Message from the office of JOHNNY KASHUB COMMISSIONER of the OPEONGO HERITAGE CUP and the KASHUBIAN GRIFFINS HOCKEY CLUB OUR EXPERIENCE IN KASZËBË HOCKEY WEEKEND in KASZËBË I had the distinctive privilege of taking one of the greatest cultural hockey teams ever assembled to Kaszëbë, the homeland of our Kashubian ancestors. It was an experience that our Kashubian Griffins hockey team will never forget. Since the invitation from Michał Śmigielski went out last June to play hockey in Kaszëbë anticipation was high and we did not know what to expect. Upon touching down at Gdańsk, the capital city of the Kashub Nation on Wednesday, April 2th, we were entertained with Kashubian music by Marek Munch from ZKP Banino, greeted by fans and the media. What a welcome to Kaszëbë. One of the first goals of the hockey team members was to kiss the sacred meadow soil of their ancestors. For the next few days, our team was out in the communities, promoting the upcoming games and introducing themselves. They were invited to a school in Lipusz where they were greeted by young fans who clung to them as if they were rock stars. The students fell in love with the boys in gold. They played some floor hockey with the senior classes in their beautiful gym. Over two hundred students would not let them leave until our boys signed autographs and posed for pictures. Our team was welcomed by Lipusz Mayor Miroslaw Ebertowski and were presented gifts and lunch from the town to show appreciation for our team coming to Kaszëbë. In Kościerzyna, they were met by Mayor Zdzisław Czucha who welcomed them to his beautiful town hall and market square, where the team met excited fans and student s of Kashubian class and their teacher Iwona Kwidzińska from Nowy Podleś who wished them luck at the games. As a good gesture, our team handed out tickets to these fans. On Friday morning, the team had a practise and were joined by some young hockey players from Sopot and Gdańsk. None of them were Kashub, but Polish. For some reason, the Kashubs in Kaszëbë do not play hockey, but I feel that is about to change. After the practise, the team headed to the village of Sianowo, the home of the Blessed Mother of Sianowo, Queen of

2 the Kashub people and the Kashub nation. The team joined in a Way of the Cross Procession with all the folks from Sianowo. Our ancestors would be proud. In the evening they were invited to a sports bar called PLAY OFF by owner Sebastian Simaniuksztys who supplied all the beer we could drink throughout the evening. Then the weekend was upon us and what would be in store for us? We did not know who was going to watch us. How good is the competition going to be and will the fans enjoy themselves? When the fans started to come in that evening, we knew that there was going to be something very special. All we could see was a sea of gold and black. The organizers named the event as HOCKEY WEEKEND in KASZËBË. We all felt right at home. The games were also in honour of Daniel Czapiewski, a Kashubian Giant. Daniel passed away last fall, and will always be remembered for the work he had done to help build the bridge of friendship between Kaszëbë and Canada s Kaszëbë. Right before the first game started against the Sopot Mad Dogs, we all knew that we were in Kaszëbë, the home and native land of our Kashubian ancestors. Right up front, high above in the rafters hang the Kashubian National Flag. Weronika Korthals, a famous Kashub singer, sang the Kashubian National Anthem, Zemia Rodnô and was back up by her brother Tadeusz on accordian. Lidia Czapiewska, wife of the late Daniel, and good friend Senator Kazimierz Kleina dropped the game puck. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the first Kashubian to be elected as a world leader was invited, but regretfully he could not make it. At the Sunday game against the Gdańsk Dragons there were two lovely ladies who sang the Bridge of Friendship song, Wiedno Kaszëbë written By Gienek Pryczkowski and sung by his daughter Weronika and her friends Marta. This song is about the Kashubs who journeyed to Canada in 1858 to find a better life and how many generations later we are building a bridge of friendship. At centre ice we had three very important organizations who promote all things Kashubian. Beata Jankowska from Kashubian Pomeranian Association, President Mateùsz Titës Meyer from Kaszëbskô Jednota and Anna Kościukiewicz-Jabłońska from Radio Kaszëbë, who dropped the game puck. The Griffins presented these groups with a new map of Kaszëbë, where it shows the nation got larger by adding Canada s Kaszëbë to the map of the homeland. Everything so far looked 100% Kashubian, the language, flags, colours and the people. What the Griffins also observed, was that this event was free of all things political. There were no

3 Canadian or Polish flags hanging besides the Kashubian National Flag and the only anthem that was sang was the Kashubian Anthem. This weekend was not about the countries of Canada or Poland, but Kaszëbë. This whole weekend was all about culture, the Kashub people and the Kashub Nation. Over three thousand Kashub fans came to watch us play. When asked, not one of them knew anything about the game. It was the first time they ever saw a game and they feel in love with it and especially with our Kashubian Griffins. When I tried to talk to them while the game was on, they said, later man, I am watching my team play. In the stands, the Kashub fans were loud. It was very obvious who they were cheering for. They loved the great pace and all the action in this new game they were watching. What about the other teams? Who were they, who was cheering for them amongst the sea of gold? They were the Sopot Mad Dogs and the Gdańsk Dragons. It happen that most of their players were of Polish culture. It looked like they give up their weekend to help their Slavic cousins the Kashubs. All hats are off to these teams and especially to our Polish friend Michał Smigielski who helped put on a great show. Michał and these teams gave up their own time to promote all things Kashubian and we all appreciate their great efforts... not being of Kashub roots, but Polish roots, and proud of it, they were proud to promote their slavic cousins. They gave their time for us. After the games we found out who they were and welcomed us with open arms. They treated us like brothers and we will never forget that. They treated us like royalty. The Griffins beat the Mad Dogs 11-5 and the Dragons 6-4. The score of these games was secondary. What this was all about was a weekend of sportsmanship, friendship and cultural pride. We later found out that there was one Kashub on the Dragons team, a Lipinski and on the Sopot Mad Dogs there were Wróbel brothers. When the games began, they felt like he should be playing for us. It was the goal of the Griffins to introduce the game of hockey to the Kashubs in Kaszëbë. To play for the Kashub people and their nation. To play the great game of hockey on their ancestral land. We wanted to have the Kashubs in Kaszëbë embrace our team as their very own. After seeing the fans with their true cultural colours in the stands, I can see that hockey now lives in Kaszëbë. The Griffins and I have seen with our own eyes that they have taken ownership of our team. After winning our games, on the streets, in the small Kashubian villages, schools, churches, all we heard from our Kashub fans was WE WON WE WON OUR KASHUB

4 TEAM WON true Kashubian pride. Our team is now known as TEAM KASZËBË, the Kashubian National Hockey Team. Our team is Kaszëbë s Team. Everywhere the boys went, they were treated like kings. The youth following them, wanting to meet them, signing autographs, have pictures taken with them, wanting to know more about this great game of hockey. Their visit to Jan Trepczyk School in Miszewo topped their visit when they meet their true fans. It looked like they are getting hooked on the game. After the weekend, the boys in gold had a meeting and came up with an idea to help the young Kashubs play hockey and to help them create their own National Team. How about raising money for equipment and sending it to parents who cannot afford it? Our goal and mission has come to fruition and will now grow with true friendship. Kaszëbë will not be the same. The boys in gold have made a difference. One of their greatest fans, Adam Hebel, said it the best, The boys in gold have shown Kashubian patriotism like never seen before. I have gone to many, many Kashub conferences, I have read many Kashub history books, I have enjoyed a lot of Kashubian poetry that moved me, but I have never seen so much Kashubian patriotism in a hockey rink. Using sports to promote ones culture and cultural identity goes beyond any other way to create cultural awareness. To top the trip, most of the players met Kashubs with the same family names as theirs. A Skebo meets Skiba s Mask meets Maszk s, Shulist meets Szulist s, Coulas meets Kulas s, Cobus meets Kobus s, Serran meets Cyrzan s connecting with their cultural roots through the game of hockey. Life does not get better than that. SPECIAL THANKS: To make any event successful, you need a team of great organizers and support from the people and local businesses. This event got it all. Starting with the great leadership of Michał Śmigielski who invited us to play in the homeland and also his Sopot Mad Dogs hockey club who embraced the Griffins with open arms and played with heart and soul. Thanks to the Gdańsk Dragons who displayed skill on the ice and sportsmanship. The fans were entertained at both games. Michał, with the help of Gienek Pryczkowski & Marian Gorlikowski created the hockey program, poster and tickets for the matches. Marian did a lot of ground work in getting sponsorship so the event was offered free to all the fans. Gienek, helped with the itinerary for the whole week and arranged all the accommodations for the boys in gold. Gienek was also the

5 master of ceremonies and announcer at the games. Special thanks goes to Marek Kostecki, the Arena Manager of GKS STOCZIOWIEC GDAŃSK for helping with a special rate for the event and organizing his staff to help with this successful hockey weekend. The Griffins want to say thank you very, very much to all the folks who provided accommodation, food and drinks while in Kaszëbë. Thank you to Lidia Czapiewska for the wonderful stay at HOTEL SZYMBARK, Magdalena & Daniel Niewiadomski for their warm cosy stay at DOM ZACHARIASZA ZAPPIO, Janusz Hirsz for providing a comfortable stay at DWOREK NOVELLO and to Barbara & Piotr Pośpieszny for providing us a home away from home at DWOREK OLENKA. Thanks to Kashubian Pomeranian Association President Lukasz Grzedzicki and Pomorania Student Club President Magdalena Bigus and member Paulina Szmidka for the great lunch at Mestwin Restaurant. Thanks to Adam Joskowski for the wonderful meal at his restaurant Krzëwi Róg Thanks to Dariusz Labuda for the great meal at MÙLK Restaurant. Thanks to Krystyna & Jacek Wroński and their company WRONSKI BUILDING SUPPLIES for providing all the transportation for the Griffins. Thanks to all the media for providing great coverage and promotion for the event. Thanks to RADIO KASZËBË (Anna Kościukiewicz-Jabłońska), TVT, RADIO GDAŃSK (Katarzyna Wietecha), DZIENNIK BAŁTYCKI (Mariusz Szmidka), POMERANIA MAGAZINE (Dariusz Majkowski), TV WYBRZEŻE (Adam Stachecki), FORUM POMORSKIE (Antoni Filipkowski) & GAZETA KARTUSKA. Special thanks goes to the businesses who paid for the rental and security of the Arena. With their support, we could offer this whole event for free to all our fans. Thank you MAG (Zygmunt Śmigielski), MURKAM (Leon Czerwiński), RADBUR (Maciej Czapiewski), BAT (Tadeusz & Andrzej Bogusowie), VECTRA (Albert Kuźmicz), MARGO (Mariusz Czapiewski), GÓRSKI (Bogdan Górski), ANDREKO (Andrzej Kożuchowski), REBEL SPORTS (Adam Rozenberg), GRYF (Marian Kotecki) CEPR & DANMAR (Lidia Czapiewska) P.P.U.H. Laska (Anna Laska) BELL- DOM (Piotr Belgrau), Kaszëbskô Jednota (Wojciech Etmański i Artur Jabłoński), ZKP BANINO (Witold Szmidtke). Special thanks go to Kazimierz Maszk, Piotr Brzeski, Krzysztof Uchman, ks. Jan Ostrowski and ks. Władysław Szulist of Lipusz parish, Bernadeta and Czesław Bielicki for their tour of their Skansen. As you can see, it takes a great team of great people to make an event become successful. Thank you for all your financial support, your warm welcome and great fan support. The

6 Kashubian Griffins will never forget your hospitality and generous hearts. We are very proud to be Kashubs and to be connected to the greatest nation in the world. O Kaszëbë, Nasz dodóm i Nasza rodnô zemia Wiedno Kaszëbë i na wiedno Kaszëbi.