Being behind the bar allowed me to run into many different
people, some only wanted their drinks but many wanted to share memories. I had
one older gentleman tell me stories about the Polish Home Hall and the things
he had once done there. He told me of dances with pretty girls when he was
younger and of weddings later on. He remembered sitting at the bar talking with
friends. None of his stories were very specific but the smile on his face as he
was recanting memories was more than enough detail for me to get the big
picture.
I received
many questions about my interest in the project. A gentleman stood by the bar
for a while in the very beginning asking me every question under the moon. He wanted
to know how I got involved with this project, where I was from, what I was
studying, and even what I wanted to do once I graduated. His genuine interest
helped spark conversation and he worked off of my answers and gave me little
blips of information I might not otherwise know. One of the things that stuck
was his explanation of the Polish Home Hall changes over time. From being City
Hall, to a Fire House, to a school, to the community hall it is today.
I had
many conversations with numerous people but these two gentlemen’s genuine
interest in the hall and the community made them more memorable than anyone
else.
Other memorable moments are when the EMT’s came through, the
gentleman standing next to me turned and said, “You make pulled pork and
EVERYBODY shows up.” He later pulled me aside and thanked me for having a good
sense of humor because he initially thought he offended me. Also, my mom went
outside for a moment and one of the neighbors yelled some not so nice things to
her and told her we were taking up all the parking. Thankfully my mom has a
sense of humor in which she just waved it off and thanked the lady.
