(SOUTH BEND, Ind.) – A South Bend political tradition is back, for the first time in three years.
For Polish-American communities, the day after Easter is Dyngus Day, the post-Lent equivalent of celebrating Mardi Gras the day before Lent. In South Bend, the celebration doubles as the kickoff for the May primary, with candidates downing Polish sausage at union halls, civic clubs, and political party headquarters.
In some years, Dyngus Day has been a national event. Robert Kennedy drew six-thousand people for a Dyngus Day appearance in 1968, and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both visited during their presidential campaigns 40 years later. But this year’s celebration is the first in three years, after a pandemic cancellation in 2020 and a non-election year last year.
South Bend State Representative Maureen Bauer’s father and grandfather served in the Indiana House for a combined 56 years. But Bauer didn’t experience her first Dyngus Day until this year, following the pandemic wipeout when she first won her seat. Bauer started a 12-hour schedule at 8 a.m. at a United Auto Workers hall, crossing paths with candidates from township hopefuls to Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Tom McDermott.
Bauer says the unseasonable April snow appeared to hold turnout down, but says walls were still plastered with campaign signs inside and out. She says it’s both energizing and politically important to be able to return to in-person campaigning.
The celebration’s not exclusive to Democrats or South Bend. Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski says her Polish heritage has made a Dyngus Day a family tradition even before she entered politics in 2004. She marked this year’s event with a lunchtime stop in Mishawaka. LaPorte and Winamac hosted events as well.
