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Video from Channel 2   Help us to continue to promote the Polish culture, Polish organizations, scholarships, and charities such as the Lions Clubs & Change for the Children! Click here for "Change for the Children" Results.  Buffalo News front page on May 31st, 2008!  Polish Festival at Hamburg Fairgrounds catches a fish fry record Hungry Western New Yorkers grab the Guinness mark for biggest fish fry! By Maki Becker, BUFFALO NEWS STAFF REPORTER 2,552 fillets of haddock went into Stan Krolick’s quest Friday evening to serve the world’s biggest fish fry. At one point he came face-to-face with potential disaster. The vegetable oil in the 14 vats he had up and running on the lawn outside the dining area at the Hamburg Fairgrounds wasn’t staying hot enough. The oil needed to be bubbling. It had to be just hot enough to turn the battered slabs of frozen fish into golden brown perfection, with the flesh of the fish juicy and flaky and the outer coating crunchy and scrumptious. Krolick wanted every diner to walk out saying: That was the best fish fry I’ve ever had. Inside the dining room, dozens of hungry folks — fair-goers who were attending the 6th Annual Polish Heritage Festival — were waiting in line for their Friday fish fry and to try to put their festival in the history books. Also on hand was a representative from the Guinness World Book of Records, poised to make the call should Krolick and his band of fish fryers break the record of 2,550 fish dinners served in one evening. It was gut-check time for Krolick. He grabbed a blowtorch, got down on hands and knees and unleashed a powerful blue and yellow flame under a vat for several minutes. He jumped up and pulled out the thermometer. “Fifteen!” he bellowed, his voice hoarse from a long day of yelling orders, and one of his workers raced over with a platter of 15 pieces of frozen fish and dunked them into the now-bubbling oil. “I’ve been confident about this,” said Krolick, owner and operator of Arcade-based Krolick’s Bar-B-Q. So confident, he had five bottles of champagne on ice ready for the moment he broke the record. At 9 p. m., Krolick thought he had hit the mark. But as Danny Girton Jr., Guiness Book of World Record’s adjudication executive for North America counted the tickets to the dinners, he discovered that Krolick was 250 dinners short. Girton told Krolick that it wasn’t too late. All he needed to do was cook up the meals and serve them to someone. Anyone. That’s when the idea hit James P. Jozwiak, executive director of the Polish Heritage Festival. They could donate it to someone in need. The festival was all about doing good and serving people. Funds raised from raffles and other events at the festival every year are donated to an assortment of charities. Last year, it went to a Polish orphanage that was in danger of being closed down. “We just figured there are people who can’t make it here,” Jozwiak said. People who’d love a nice fish dinner who didn’t have a way to get to Hamburg, or just don’t have the financial means to buy one. Jozwiak knew exactly who to call. He phoned Sister Johnice Rzadkiewicz, who runs the Response to Love Center, a soup kitchen on the East Side of Buffalo, and asked her if she could use 250 fish dinners for the hungry people she helps. “I was getting ready to go to bed when the phone rang,” Sister Johnice said. “I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll be able to use it.’ ” She raced down in a van to pick up the Styrofoam boxes of fried fish, coleslaw, potato salad and rolls, which she planned to serve today at the center. “It’s a gift. I’m so excited.” Krolick was thrilled to make the record books — and help out the hungry at the same time. “This whole festival is about Polish people doing things for different charities. So what better way to [beat the record] than to do the same thing myself.” As the last of the fish was crisping up in the oil, Krolick and his crew popped the champagne. “I’ve never been so tired and exhausted and relieved,” Krolick said. The idea for beating the world record for serving the most fish dinners came last year, Jozwiak said. It would be a terrific way to put a little pizazz into the festival, he thought. And what could be a better way to celebrate a time-honored Western New York tradition? Jozwiak approached Krolick, a proud son of Poland, and they decided to give it a test run during last year’s festival. Krolick and his army of fryers and volunteers served up 817 fish fry dinners in two hours but had to abort the mission when a rainstorm hit. This year — and defying forecasts of thunderstorms Friday evening — Krolick’s team was in fighting form. Just an hour and 38 minutes into the fry-a-thon, they had hit 840 dinners. “I prayed for you,” Krolick’s 85-year-old mother, Stella Krolick, assured her son, “so it wouldn’t rain.” Her prayers appeared to have worked. The fish fry had plenty of supporters Friday as Polish- Americans, and other fish-fry lovers, flocked to the fairgrounds. Roberta Jones of Attica loaded her three kids — Michael, 16, Lisa, 14, and Angela, 9 — into her car and drove all the way to Hamburg to do their part. “It’s the world’s largest fish fry,” she said. How could she not bring her children? Patricia Harris of Hamburg had spent the day taking in Polish music with friends Shirley Mazur of Lancaster and Danie and Marge Drejas of Cheektowaga. When it was dinner time, Harris insisted they get fish fry. “I was forced to eat fish fry,” Mazur said. “I wanted Polish food.” But Harris would have none of it. “We want the record,” she told her friends. “We’re acting to support this.” Brothers Gabriel and Gerard Krafft of East Amherst heard about the record challenge on the radio. “I came out to help them reach the quota,” Gabriel said. “Hopefully, they’ll do it. It’ll give us a little respect. Something besides snow problems.” The Polish Heritage Festival's  5 Races on Saturday & Sunday! Sponsored By Potts Deli & Grille Video from Channel 2
5820 South Park Avenue Hamburg, New York Click Here for travel information. Friday: FREE Admission Help us break the Guinness World Record! $9.00 Fish Fry Dinner Click Here to order yours now! Saturday & Sunday: $15 at the door. Click Here to order yours now! $13 - Seniors 65 & up. Click Here to order yours now! $25 - Couple (Pre-Sale only by 5/20/08) Click Here to order yours now! $25 - 2 Day Admission (Pre-Sale only by 5/20/08) Click Here to order yours now! Youth through age 18 years receive FREE regular Festival admission when accompanied by an adult. On Saturday & Sunday the Polish Heritage Festival is offering a ONE PRICE-ALL DAY ADMISSION which includes: entertaining shows, exhibits, Polish & country music, dancing, and plenty of FREE handicapped-accessible parking! |
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