President’s Report
 for the period of June 24, 2001 to June 23, 2002

Chronology of Division Events:

June 24, 2001: Annual Election Meeting. Election of Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Nominating Committee and Audit Committee. National Directors had been elected to a two-year term the previous year. However, pursuant to the amendment in the National PAC By-Laws allowing the election of an alternate National Director, an election was held for this office to fill the remaining one year of the term. Dr. Susanne Lotarski was elected as Alternate National Director.

August, 2001: In response to an appeal from the National Office and the PAC Charitable Foundation, the Division mounted a campaign to raise contributions for assistance to victims of flooding in Poland.

August 19, 2001: The anniversary of the 1920 Battle of Warsaw known as “The Miracle on the Vistula,” when Poland defeated the invading Soviet Army. The Division sponsored a Mass intention at Our Lady Queen of Poland Parish, with participation of the Color Guard of the Polish Legion of American Veterans (a member organization of the Division) and representatives of the Consular Division and Military Attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. Thanks to Francis Urban, Chair of the Polish Affairs Committee, for preparing an informational flyer for distribution.

September 20, 2002: Together with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, the Division co-hosted at Day of Remembrance at the Embassy for the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2002.

September 30, 2002: At a farewell reception for Counselor Jaroslaw Lasinski, outgoing Director of the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, the Division presented Mr. Lasinski with an engraved desk set in appreciation of the cooperation we have received from him in working for Polonia in the National Capital Area.

October 25, 2001: Meeting of Council of National Directors, Cleveland. National Director Casimir Lenard represented the Division.

November 9, 2001: Final contributions for assistance to victims of Polish floods were remitted to the PAC Charitable Foundation. The Division collected a total of $16,585 for this cause. In addition, several donors sent matching gifts from their employers.

November 18, 2001: Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Turkey Raffle, Kenwood Country Club. This year’s honorees were Bernadette and Richard Wiermanski, long-time members of the Board of Directors who over many years have held various Division offices. Richard was President of the Division in 1983. The keynote speaker was Teresa Janiszewska, newly-arrived Head of the Consular Division of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. Another guest of honor was Minister Boguslaw Winid, returning to the Embassy in the post of Deputy Chief of Mission.

A big THANK YOU to the Thanksgiving Dinner Coordinating Committee: Dr. Susanne Lotarski, Chair, Delphine & Joseph Banko, Edwina Conrad, Andrzej Drozd, Karl Klonowski, Irena Mirecki, Roza Pace, Karl & Sophie M. Peters

November 21, 2001: Thaddeus and Irena Mirecki attended a meeting at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland to plan for the upcoming visit in Washington of Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

December 13, 2001: Thaddeus and Irena Mirecki attended a breakfast meeting with Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. President Mirecki conveyed to the Minister Polonia’s concerns about Russia gaining undue influence in NATO, due to unilateral overtures on the part of British Prime Minister Anthony Blair.

That evening, many members of the Division attended a ceremony at the US Capitol at which Minister Cimoszewicz decorated Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) with the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Merit.

January, 2002: President Thaddeus Mirecki attended several meetings and otherwise communicated with representatives of Polonia in Baltimore MD, advising them in their efforts to re-activate the PAC there. He suggested to them that they pursue the creation of a new State Division rather than a Chapter of the Washington Metropolitan Area Division, and promised the support and ongoing cooperation of out Division in their foundation efforts and future activities.

March 20, 2002: The Division made a contribution of $100 towards the Polish Heritage Month organized by the Eastern Pennsylvania Division.

March 23, 2002: The Division purchased a new computer for approximately $1,000 and donated it to the PAC Washington Office.

March 28, 2002: The Division submitted a proposal Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences to organize a discussion panel at the PIASA Convention to be held in Washington on June 7-8, 2002. The topic: Jedwabne: A scientific analysis of the inquiry. The Panel will be chaired by Thaddeus Mirecki, and the proposed members are: Charles Chotkowski, Holocaust Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress; Marek Chodakiewicz, Professor of History, University of Virginia; Zofia Korbonska; official of the secret Polish Underground Government; Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski, Professor of Medicine (ret.), forensic expert and former advisor to the Israeli government; Iwo Pogonowski, historian and writer. The proposal was later accepted.

April 3, 2002: Several members of the Division attended a meeting with Counselor Teresa Janiszewska, Director of the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. She called the meeting at the request of Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, who wanted to gather input from Polonia around the world towards the debate in the Polish Parliament and Senate concerning relations between the Polish government and the world-wide Polish diaspora. The primary concerns expressed by Division members related to the treatment of US citizens as Polish nationals, and the resulting requirements to travel to Poland on a Polish passport.

April 18, 2002: The Division’s National Directors joined the PAC-ND Internet discussion group established for the National Directors and National Office by the Northern California PAC Division.

April 28, 2002: Mass intention for the victims of the Katyn Forest Massacre, at Our Lady Queen of Poland Parish. There was a roll call of the victims who have relatives living in the National Capital Area. Representatives of Veteran Organizations and of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland attended.

May 3, 2002: The Division entered into an agreement with Historian Roger Conant to distribute his 2+ hour video documentary, POLAND – 1000 Years of History and Culture. The Division will share in the profits from the sale of the video.

May 4, 2002: Wreath laying ceremony at the statue of Gen. Casimir Pulaski in Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Ave., Washington. Color guards were provided by the US Armed Forces and by the Polish Legion of American Veterans. Minister Miroslaw Sawicki, Counselor for Academic and Scientific Affairs at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, gave an address about Gen. Pulaski. The keynote speaker was Paul T. Sosnowski, former Division President, who spoke about the parallels between the Polish and US Constitutions.

Sincere thanks to Delphine Banko for organizing all of the details to make this event possible, especially with the US Park Service and the Government of the District of Columbia.

May 6, 2002: Mass intention in honor of the Polish Constitution of May 3^rd, 1791. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland was represented by Minister Boguslaw Winid, Deputy Chief of Mission.

After Mass, a showing of portions of the documentary POLAND – 1000 Years of History and Culture that deal with the Constitution and its aftermath. Roger Conant, the author was present to introduce and discuss his work. Copies of the video were offered for sale.

May 8, 2002: Thaddeus Mirecki and Irena Mirecki attended a meeting at Polish Embassy for the purpose of preparing for Polish President Kwasniewski's STATE VISIT to the United States in July. Attending were representatives of 11 PAC State Divisions, the Washington Office, and Steve Biegun, the highest-placed Polish American in the Bush Administration, who will be coordinating the visit from the National Security Council.

Mid-May, 2002: The Division established a presence on the Internet. An announcement-only distribution list was established for distributing information about events and media items of interest to Polonia. The Division opened its web site at the address < http://www.pacwashmetrodiv.org. The cost of the domain registration and web site are being donated to the Division.

May 23-25, 2002: Council of National Directors in Tampa, FL. National Directors Casimir Lenard, Thaddeus Mirecki and Richard Wiermanski represented the Division. Anna Rychlinska of Chicago was elected to the post of Vice-President of Polish Affairs, to complete the term of office until the next National Elections in the fall of this year. The Executive Council (consisting of Presidents of State Divisions and the Executive Committee) voted to increase the individual and organizational membership dues by 50%.

The formation of the Maryland State Division was announced. Paul Sosnowski, Esq., former President of this Division and currently National Director at Large, publicly acknowledged the role of the Washington Metropolitan Area Division in the re-activation of the PAC in Maryland.

June 8, 2002: President Thaddeus Mirecki chaired a discussion session at the Annual Meeting of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, on the topic: Jedwabne, a Scientific Analysis of the Inquiry. The panelists were the five persons proposed by the Division in March. The session was very well attended. Abstracts and full texts of the presentations can be found on the Division's web site, http://www.pacwashmetrodiv.org.

June 9, 2002: The Division organized a meeting with former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. The meeting was very well attended, and free-will donations were collected in an amount several times the cost of renting the room at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

June 23, 2001: Annual Election Meeting has been scheduled.

Regular meetings of the Board of Directors were held on: