This year’s queen of Polish Town Fair receives her crown

As a young woman born and raised in Polish Town, whose own parents grew up in Poland, Anna Sadowski has always drawn inspiration from the queen of the Polish Town Fair and Festival. 

So when Ms. Sadowski, who will graduate from Riverhead High School next week, got the call that she’d received the honor this year, she reacted in the one way that felt natural.

“I started crying and then smiling, and I couldn’t stop,” the 18-year-old said. “Then I went on Facebook and told everyone I knew. Actually, my dad was the first person I told. He cried, too.”

The coronation of Ms. Sadowski  took place Sunday at a private reception at Villa Toscano in Hampton Bays. Doing the honors of placing the crown on the new queen’s head was Sheila Tradeski, who in 1976 was the very first queen of the Polish Town Fair and Festival.

This year’s Polish Town Fair and Festival will be held in August, but will be preceded by a beer tasting fundraiser July 12 sponsored by the Polish Town Civic Association, that will feature several Long Island beer makers, including Polish Town’s own Long Ireland and Moustache breweries.

Ms. Sadowski called the honor a “dream come true.”

“It means so much to me,” she said. “At the fair so many of the children run up to the queen. She inspires everybody. I love my heritage and the traditions of the Polish people.”

That’s why in the past she’s taken part in the Polish Wedding at the festival and helped to prepare kielbasa. Her father, Krzysztof, said his daughter, who he said will attend school locally at Suffolk County Community College in the fall, has always done what she can to play a part in her community.

“She has now made another one of her dreams come true,” the proud father said. “Her other dream is to sing the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium.”

Hey, you never know.

See more photos from Sunday’s coronation on the next page.