PULASKI, WI (WTAQ) – In most of the country today is Fat Tuesday, but in Wisconsin it’s Paczki Day.
Folks come from all over on this day and wait in line for up to 90 minutes just for this little Polish delicacy at Smurawa’s Country Bakery in Pulaski. It’s a sort of “bucket list” stop on this day before Lent.
“It’s going to be a crazily busy day today,” says owner Greg Smurawa. “All I know is we’re going to keep making them as long as people keep coming.”
That’s the motto for the Smurawa family members, friends and former employees trying to fill all the paczki orders. Make sure each person who wants a paczki, gets a paczki.
“Last year we did almost 30,000 paczki, and we’ll keep making them,” Smurawa said. “We shipped orders to Phoenix, Seattle, Florida and other parts of the country.”
It’s great business for the bakery, especially at a time of year when it’s not just the weather that turns cold.
“It’s a substantial boost because it happens at a typically slower time of the year,” said Smurawa. “But not only big for us, but it’s big for the Village of Pulaski. It brings thousands of people into town, other businesses have told me they’ve benefitted as well.”
20 different flavors are available, with the new 2016 selection being cranberry. The biggest sellers, however, have remained consistent over the years. They are raspberry, prune and French crème.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
Tuesday was the Smurawa family’s 18th Paczki Day in charge of the bakery. While times and tastes may have changed, the recipe and pride in paczki has not.
“It hasn’t come without a lot of hard work, a lot of organization, a lot of sacrifice by people that help us out and work, but the reward is in the end result,” Smurawa says. “I think we can hang our hat on the fact of how we started, where we started and how much you’ve seen paczki become more relevant at other businesses.”
That’s something, Smurawa says, you wouldn’t have seen when they took over the bakery 18 years ago.
No matter what, the bottom line is family.
“Family recipe, family business, family-oriented village,” said Smurawa. “And it all is shown in what we do and the product that we make.”
OPEN POLKA MIC
Another long standing tradition at Smurawa’s Country Bakery on Paczki Day is live polka music. Those who are brave enough to step up to the challenge of belting out a tune on an accordion, can actually earn a free paczki and a cup of coffee.
“If you’re good and you jam with our polka judge out there, maybe you get a free six-pack,” Smurawa jokes. “We have a couple gentlemen from the area that come in and play music. People enjoy listening to it while they’re standing in line and waiting. It adds to the whole atmosphere of the event.”
Robert Betley is that particular judge, but he’s no Simon Cowell. He’s just along to enjoy the tradition.
“Since Smurawa’s have taken over the bakery here, they’re brought the paczki tradition back,” says Betley. “I’ve been playing the accordion over here and entertaining the lines as they come in, especially at 5 o’clock, when you can hardly walk in the door at 5 a.m.”
Betley has been at it for the last 10 years, and also has deep ties with the family.
“I kinda grew up with Greg’s mother and dad, we try to keep it together,” Betley said.
As for open mic morning, so to speak, Betley says there aren’t many that want to give it a shot.
“I wish we had more, but we don’t get ’em,” said Betley, adding that he won’t get upset if you miss a note or two. “I don’t hit ’em all myself. If I make a mistake I stop, if I play several tunes there’s a different count all the time, so you can play the same tune 4 or 5 times if you want.”
Much like the music, the experience is light-hearted and can be a tradition that people pass down generation to generation. When you finally reach the counter, one lesson is that you should order more than one paczki. You might get told to “live a little,” since Lent doesn’t start until tomorrow.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to join in the conversation.
