Today is Dyngus Day. Polish Easter Monday’s traditions reach back over a millenium to pre-Christian times. A rite of Spring in the old country, it was a festival which included pranks, singing, dancing, feasting, revelers throwing water on each other, and boys chasing girls with fresh spring willow switches to flirt with them by swatting them on their legs. Ah, those Poles are so romantic!
Today Dyngus continues in Poland and is a major celebration in Chicago, South Bend and Elkhart, Ind. and Buffalo. N.Y. Buffalo’s tradition is a parade with the hanging of the switches on the door. South Bend’s tradition has redefined the event in the MidWest, making it a day for politicians to mingle with the drunken who are also stuffed beyond comprehension with Polish sausage.
40 years ago Bobby Kennedy came to South Bend for the Dyngus and today Bill and Chelsea renewed South Bend’s central place in presidential politics at the old West Side Democratic Club, returning the city to its rightful place of national prominence.
Happy Dyngus Day!!
David Bennett
Jennifer
asimplesinner
Fr. J.
Chad Toney
Jorge Flores
Jonathan B
carmelbennett
nicenehobbit
Jason S
jaybird68
papaz
March 24, 2008 at 10:57 pm
We are very romantic… But swatting legs goes on only in small villages. In the big cities there are bunches of guys with buckets of water waiting for the victims. It’s not as much fun as it used to be some years ago….
Anyway, thanks for the post about our traditions.
March 24, 2008 at 11:14 pm
My pleasure. Though I am not Polish, as a new priest I served in a Polish parish in South Bend. Before then I had never known a parish with a bar. St. Cas has 3 bars! The Polish never miss an excuse to have a party!
March 24, 2008 at 11:15 pm
My girlfriend hasn’t “Śmingus Dyngus(ed)” me yet…She might’ve forgotten!
Now that I think about it, maybe I’ll “Śmingus Dyngus” her! :)
March 24, 2008 at 11:21 pm
In Mexico we do the same thing but on a different day. We do it on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 4).
March 25, 2008 at 2:02 am
I meant JUNE 24 not JUNE 4!
March 25, 2008 at 4:43 pm
:)
Good read! Holidays at it’s best. Cheers!
March 26, 2008 at 10:56 am
Ukrainians do someting similar to this so I am told, but I’ve never seen it done here in America
March 26, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I grew up on the south side in a Republican home, so the whole Dyngus Day thing was always a puzzlement to me!
March 26, 2008 at 12:39 pm
After a quick check ours is on both Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday and is called “splash days”. Monday is when the men splash the girls with water, Tuesday is when the females take revenge and splash the boys.
March 26, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Hmmm… Modern celebrants should be rather careful on this one. Nowadays a lawsuit waiting to happen!
March 26, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Wow, when was the last time the southside had a republican home?
March 27, 2008 at 5:56 pm
South side of South Bend. I see I wasn’t very clear! The “5th and Southern” Republican headquarters can be found on S. Main St. You’ll find my dad there a lot, doing this or that. Being a Republican in South Bend is not unlike being a fan of a Chicago sports team.
March 27, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Jim, I’m hearing you on that one. Yes, now I get the Republicans on the Southside of South Bend. Sounds like Sunnymeade.
My first assignment at St. Casimir’s and the now demolished St. Stephen’s was just a stone’s throw from the Westside Democratic Club. So, it was just a completely different world. I should look for you dad sometime. When is the republican dyngus day?
March 28, 2008 at 1:29 am
Same day the Democrats do it! There’s always an event at headquarters. But the TV cameras always go to the Westside club.