Casimir Pulaski Day

From our friends at Wikipedia: Casimir Pulaski Day is a holiday observed in Illinois on the first Monday of every March to commemorate Casimir Pulaski (March 4, 1745 – October 11, 1779), a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born in Poland as Kazimierz Pułaski. He is known for his contributions to the U.S. military in the American Revolution by training its soldiers and cavalry.

The day is celebrated mainly in areas that have large Polish populations. Chicago has the largest Polish population of any city in the world, save for Warsaw. This is a separate holiday from the federal holiday, General Pulaski Memorial Day, which commemorates Pulaski's death at the Siege of Savannah on October 11, 1779.

Illinois enacted a law on June 20, 1977 to celebrate the birthday of Casimir Pulaski and held the first official Pulaski Day celebrations in 1978. The bill was introduced by Senator Leroy W. Lemke, a Democrat from Chicago. Chicago celebrates Pulaski Day on the first Monday in March with an annual parade. Chicago Public Schools, Cook County government offices, and the Chicago Public Library close on this holiday.

Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day.mp3
Buy: Illinois (2005)

This song is dedicated to Junior, Devin, Nic, Southern, Brad, random Polish tourists, Alex the dancer, B.J. the waitress (waiter?), and all of the other poor, unsuspecting fuckers we tortured in Miami last weekend. Actually, this song is incredibly sad and I find it hard to listen to cause it makes me cry. Its about a woman who dies of bone cancer, on May 1, which happens to be Casimir Pulaski Day in Illinois. I never want to dedicate a song about dying to strangers, because I really wish them nothing but the best, but how the hell does Casimir Pulaski Day come up in conversation at 2:00 a.m. at a club in South Beach? Oy.