Brian Sees the President – Sunday Afternoon - April 17, 2011

After Palm Sunday Mass I went with my friends, Jacek and Sue, on an outing to the Festival of Palms and Crafts, in Lipnica Murowana, to see the Tallest Palm Competition. Each Palm Sunday this town, about an hour east of Krakow, puts on a competition to see who can make the tallest Easter season palm. Now, over here the palms are not the thin reeds we are used to in the States but rather they are an assemblage of dried flowers with some small amount of palm mixed in. Upon first look one thinks that people are carrying around a magic wand of flowers but in reality people purchase or make these for blessing at Palm Sunday Mass.

But in Lipnica Murowana the people go all out in constructing these edifices. In doing so they use long willow branches, cross-banded by more willow, to create support systems that look like the cables that hold up a suspension bridge. Then they decorate them with flowers. The winner is the person with the tallest palm that can remain upright and this year’s winner stood at over 36 meters, 4 cm. (The statue, hidden by the palms, is of the Blessed Simon (Szymon) of Lipnica raised in 1913.)

Then the winners were announced on the stage set up in the square. And who was passing out these awards but none other than the President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski.

The event is well known in Poland as many people attend and it made the local T.V. news programs. There were even many tour buses and so many cars that we had to park in a field much like one does for the Memphis in May BBQ Contest. The square was full of vendors selling Easter items, local food, arts and craft items and helium-filled balloons of Bugs Bunny and Dora the Explorer. (Another great export of the U.S.!!!)

After leaving, we had a delicious lunch overlooking a castle. I ordered a form of pork goulash served over a large potato pancake. It was the size of a large dinner plate and cost the equivalent of $4.50. Things are surely cheaper in the country.

We next drove toward Krakow and stopped off at a little known sculpture with a tie to Memphis.