For the first time since at least 1929, aside from Covid, South Bend’s West Side Democratic and Civic Club won’t host Dyngus Day festivities on Monday.
Bobby Kennedy came in 1968 as he ran for president. In 2008 Bill Clinton came to campaign for Hillary when she ran.
On Dyngus Day, the Polish-American holiday celebrated the day after Easter, the modest structure at 617 S. Warren Street has been the place to be. People pack in tightly, eat kielbasa, drink beer maybe a bit earlier in the day than usual, and hear politicians stump for votes.
But a recently burst pipe has forced an unexpected kitchen renovation at the club, so this year the Dyngus Day meal and candidate speeches will instead happen at M.R. Falcons on Keller Street.
Ricky Herbst is the West Side Club’s board president.
“On one hand I’m fine not having to sling hundreds of pounds of sausage but really it is a bummer, for not only the club but our neighborhood," Herbst says. "We are an overlooked part of the city and this is a chance for people to come in and see the good things that we have going on.”
Herbst said the club looks forward to hosting again next year.
