Polish Village Kielbasa Repeats as “Kielbasa King”
at PACT’s 2013 Kielbasa Cook-Off
The Polish-American Community of Toledo (PACT) held its Third Annual Kielbasa Cook-Off on Saturday, April 13 at The Blessed Sacrament Community Hall and the team of Polish Village Kielbasa, led by Shawn Zaborski of Toledo, received the most votes and earned bragging rights again as “Kielbasa King”.
Polish Village Kielbasa won the Second Annual Kielbasa Cook-off, making the team a repeat winner. They received a cash prize of $300 and a trophy for the win. Polish Village Kielbasa also won the celebrity judging. The celebrity judges were Toledo City Councilmen D. Michael Collins and Tom Waniewski. Ed Zawadzki, author of the book, “Poles of the New World” was the third celebrity judge.
“We had around 1,000 people show up and we raised an estimated $10,000 for our scholarship fund and other PACT charitable contributions,” said Stan Machosky, President, PACT Board of Directors. “While Polish Village Kielbasa may have won the competition, the fact is, we were all winners today. This was an incredible opportunity to display our Polish heritage. It was a great way to pass our Polish heritage along.”
Finishing second in the Kielbasa Cook-off was the team of Domanski’s Klassic Kielbasa led by Mark Domanski of Toledo. They received a cash prize of $250. The second place finish was an improvement from the second-annual kielbasa cook-off where the team finished a close third.
The team of Team Kazlo, led by Phil Majewski, finished third in the 2013 PACT Kielbasa Cook-off. They received a cash prize of $100.
Thirteen amateur teams competed in the 2013 Kielbasa Cook-off. Other participants included Elm Pigeon Club Kielbasa, Khuschwantz Kielbasa Co., Krueger’s Classic Kielbasa, Murawski’s Meats, Nowak’s Best, Polska Pryba,
Smith Family Kielbasa, Stefanski’s Polska Kuchinia, Three “P’s” Kielbasa, and Tri Kounty Kielbasa Kings.
Sponsors for this year’s competition were Reliable Drug Testing, Paluszak Insurance, Fix It Shop, ABC Seamless and Bath Planet, All Nu Construction, and Dr. Steve Pierzchala.
Toledo Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur also helped out donating $250 of her own money to the prize money for the contestants. This year’s Kielbasa Cook-off also featured a silent auction which raised over $700 for PACT.
Money raised by the Kielbasa Cook-Off goes to fund PACT’s scholarship fund and other charitable donations, as well as fund the eventual development of a Polish Cultural Center. For more information on PACT or upcoming events, visit www.polishcommunity.org
