[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1433-S1434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN RECOGNITION OF PACZKI DAY

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I rise today to call my colleagues' 
attention to one of the most eagerly anticipated holidays each year in 
my home state of Michigan, Paczki Day.
  The day before Lent is known in other parts of the country as Fat 
Tuesday or Mardi Gras, but in Metro Detroit and in other Michigan 
communities we celebrate Paczki Day. Paczkis, which are similar to 
jelly-filled doughnuts, were introduced to Metro Detroit by new 
immigrants from Poland who settled in the city of Hamtramck, Michigan. 
Today, thanks to the people of Hamtramck, Michigan is the paczki 
capital of the United States, with several million dozen paczkis sold 
every year. The Detroit Free Press reported that in 1993, paczki sales 
totaled

[[Page S1434]]

$7 to $8 million, which, as the Free Press reported, was ``. . .not bad 
for a one-day holiday with a three-day selling period.''
  Paczki Day is a little like St. Patrick's Day. It is said that on St. 
Patrick's Day, everyone is a little bit Irish no matter what their 
family's background actually is. Well, on Paczki Day in Hamtramck and 
throughout Metro Detroit, we are all a little bit Polish. I look 
forward to celebrating my own ``Polish heritage'' with the people of 
Hamtramck on Paczki Day this year.

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