Year after year, for several years now, I have had the pleasure of recording my impressions of the municipal harvest festival. It is difficult for me to approach the subject objectively, since I was personally involved in the event, but I will try to summarize it briefly. Who? What? Where? How? After this rather lengthy introduction, I would like to announce that this year’s Harvest Festival of Gmina Bolesławiec was held in the village of Nowa. This small village with the fresh-sounding name of Nowa is located between Kraszowice and Ocice. Its residents hosted the event and created the magnificent central harvest wreath. The harvest festival took place on a sports field despite the unfavorable weather conditions. It began with the national anthem, after which the Head of Gmina, Mr Kazimierz Gawron, spoke. Among other things, he said that despite the harvest festival taking place, much grain was still left in the fields, which would lead to a deterioration in its quality. The Head of Gmina introduced and welcomed the invited guests, including the Jelenia Góra Voivode Janusz Pezda; Piotr Roman, Chairman of the Presidium of the Self-Government Assembly; Ms Jaszczur, Director of WODR in Jelenia Góra; and Mr Nowicki, a representative of the Geodesy Department; the authorities of the city of Bolesławiec, with Mayor Józef Król and Chairman of the City Council Władysław Landzberg; Stanisław Chwojnicki, Commander of Military Unit No. 4355; Adam Różycki, District Police Commander; Andrzej Mścichowskicgo, Commander of the Railway-and-Territorial Police Station; as well as the priests, led by Rev. Emil Młynarski, parish priest in Włodzice, and many other distinguished guests (including sponsors: the Capital Group from Wrocław, Mr M. Kmieć and KAM, councilors and other guests).
Next came the procession of harvest wreaths. It was colorful and lively, featuring magnificent wreaths and witty delegations from the residents of the 23 villages of Gmina Bolesławiec. There really was plenty to admire. Consequently, the competition committee judging the wreaths had quite a problem selecting the most beautiful one. First prize went to the wreath from Nowa, while the remaining entries received equal awards. The delegation from Ocice was deemed the best-presenting one. The delicious-looking baked goods prepared by the village housewives were also judged and awarded.
It began to rain toward the end of the procession. Umbrellas appeared everywhere, but I did not notice anyone (and there were many people gathered) running home... “and even if it rains, let it rain. It is still so hard to part,” a fragment of this song kept running through my head, so I got soaked along with my colleague who was hosting the event from a lovely little mower.
The audience’s favorite part of the program was the competitions, which (with brief clearings) took place in the rain (during which the wet sound equipment refused to cooperate). Village heads made butter in old-fashioned butter churns: Ewa Surma from Nowa, Danuta Krzyżanowska from Żeliszów, Zofia Gałuszka from Mierzwin, and Maria Tobiasz from Trzebień. The cream came from the Bolesławiec Dairy, and all the women came close to making butter, but the final cosmetic touch was missing, so they received identical prizes presented by the president of OSM, Mr Cychowski.
The village heads drank beer against the clock—it was difficult for them, because although two went down smoothly, they had to force down the third (they were supposed to drink three each in the shortest possible time). The winner received a small keg of beer.
Volunteers from the audience caught roosters. Sooner or later, everyone caught their own. The prize was, of course, the rooster they had caught.
Councilors showed off their wood-chopping skills. Tadeusz Hil won. The most important citizens of the gmina and the city sawed wood—the Mayor of the City with the Chairman of the City Council, and the Head of Gmina with the Chairman of the Council. The townspeople won, and although some did not believe the verdict they had witnessed, sabotage was ruled out.
This year’s Harvest Festival has come to an end. What will the next one bring? Let us only hope that there will be no shortage of sunshine to warm the weathered faces of those who have worked hard.