THUNDER BAY -- Teresa Berezowski grew up known as the Polish girl with the long, strange name in her neighbourhood.
Her father was part of the Polish army during the Second World War and couldn’t return to his home country with his family after the war. Berezowski was born in Scotland and her family decided to move to Canada.
“Canada was offering a new life for a lot of people as it has for many other ethnic groups. Growing up here I had a chance to be both Canadian and Polish, that’s the wonderful part about Canada,” she said.
Berezowski is now the national president of the Canadian Polish Congress, which is holding its 43 convention Friday to Sunday at the Royal Canadian Legion-Polish Combatants Branch 219.
This is the third time Thunder Bay has been the host city to the bi-annual conference, the first time since in 20 years.
The goals of the Canadian Polish Congress are to uphold Polish heritage, help Polish immigrants and also show loyalty to Canada.
Berezowski said they work together to maintain the visibility of the Polish community in the country and to show how they have contributed to the country over the past 150 years.
“We’ve had various waves of immigrants so our community is very diverse in our needs, our desires and wants. When we meet at one of these things, we try to plan for the future, how we’re going to maintain our language and culture and traditions,” she said.
“That’s what we want for our young people,” she added, noting Canada has always been a great place for immigrants to be able to find a new home while keeping cultural traditions.
“Canada not only welcomed everyone in a great time of need, but also has allowed each ethnic community…to maintain culture, language and heritage.
There are about 4,500 people in Thunder Bay’s Polish community
The Canadian Polish Congress has existed for 70 years and at the conference they will also elect their new executive board.
