Riverhead’s Polish-American roots showcased in a special museum exhibit at Polish Town Fair this year

For the first time this century, the Polish Immigrant Museum will be open during the Polish Town Street Fair and Festival in Riverhead.

Opening the newly restored museum in the Polish Town Civic Association’s chalet on Lincoln Street is part of a special celebration of the 40th anniversary of the popular festival held each August in “Polish Town USA.”

The museum features a replica circa-1900 Polish cottage kitchen, numerous artifacts and photographs, a display saluting famous Polish Americans — including President George Washington, a direct descendent of the king of Poland — and a spectacular mural-size photo of a 1959 gala event in Polish Hall. The hall’s huge room was filled with hundreds of people seated at long cloth-covered dinner tables, all looking intently up at the photographer’s camera.

“Every time you look at this you see someone else, someone you didn’t notice before,” said Irene Pendzick, of Aquebogue, one of the founders of the festival and the civic association’s first president.

Also on display are five framed collections of about 100 photographs discovered in the Riverhead Savings Bank building after the bank had closed and the space was being renovated for its next tenant. The photos depict Polish immigrants who were account holders at the bank from the 1880s to the early 1900s. Many newly arrived immigrants who wanted to put their hard-earned money in the bank did not know how to write. Taking their photos and keeping them on file at the bank was the clever means devised to identify a customer when he wanted to withdraw funds.

Smiling broadly, Pendzick points to one of the sepia-tone prints. A dark-haired man with thick handlebar moustache and pale eyes looks sternly at the camera. The young farmer is is dressed in his Sunday best: a stiff-collared white shirt and tie and a double-breasted suit jacket. On the cardboard to which the photograph is attached, his name is printed neatly in ink dispensed from the tip of a fountain pen: Nastazy Pendzick, the man who would someday father her husband Isadore. Above his name is inscribed his account number, 22106. He looks to be in his early 20s.

“It’s the only photo in existence of him as a young man,” Pendzick said. “Back then, people didn’t have access to cameras and getting your picture taken was very expensive, so people didn’t really have pictures of themselves.”

The idea of a museum saluting Polish immigrants originated with Pendzick. The museum, originally opened in 1990, was open every Sunday and remained open until 1999, she said.

“My mother was alive back then and she and Estelle Lawrence used to come here on Sunday to play cards,” Pendzick reminisced with a laugh. “So they kept the museum open…”

Festival organizers thought it would be a good idea to bring back the museum for this year’s special anniversary, Pendzick said.

Pendzick and members of the ad hoc committee that restored the museum this summer put the finishing touches on the displays this week, as other civic association members bustled about with fair preparations.

The fair has grown exponentially since the inaugural event on Aug. 16, 1975, when it had about 50 vendors.

“It rained but we got a good crowd,” Pendzick recalled. “We ran out of food by 1 o’clock. We had no clue so many people would come. We sent out people all over town to try to replenish supplies. I don’t think there was a loaf of bread or a roll left in Riverhead.”

The annual event is now itself part of Riverhead’s Polish-American history. The museum also has on display every one of the signature commemorative glass mugs manufactured each year.

The museum opens its doors tomorrow at 9 a.m., Pendzick said. It will be closed to the public from 12 to 2 p.m. for special ceremonies and a luncheon for dignitaries.

The museum will be open occasionally in the future, in conjunction with special events, Pendzick said.

The fair kicks off as always with a Polish Mass at St. Isidore’s at 10 a.m., followed by a re-enactment of a traditional Polish wedding on the steps of the church at noon.

Miss Polish Town USA 2014, Anna Sadowski, will reign over the festivities.

There will be music by Mike Niemic’s Variety Band at the showmobile on Pulaski Street both days. The Polka Dance Festival at Polonaise Park takes place from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, with music by Dennis Polisky & the Maestro’s Men, Polka Country Musicians and John Gora. Admission to the polka festival is $18 for adults and $8 for children under 16. There will be free family entertainment under the pavilion on Sunday, beginning at noon.

A carnival and more than 250 vendors will be set up on Pulaski Street, Osborn Avenue and Lincoln Street, offering food, beverages, crafts, novelties, arts, jewelry and more.