Pączki Day: Honoring Polish Heritage One Sweet Bite at a Time

The Taste of Tradition: Inside Omaha’s Pączki Day Celebration

At Pączki Day inside The Polish Home Omaha, I wasn’t just documenting pastries and plates — I was capturing heritage, pride and the universal language of food that brings people together.



As a storyteller, I’m always chasing more than the image.


I’m chasing the moment just before the laughter. The glance between generations. The quiet pride in someone’s eyes as they wear the colors of their heritage. I’m looking for what lives beyond the shot.


On Sunday, Feb. 15, I found it at The Polish Home Omaha during Pączki Day.


The air was thick with something sweet, the unmistakable scent of golden, deep-fried pączki dusted in sugar and filled with raspberry, apricot and Bavarian cream. This beloved Polish tradition, celebrated in the United States as Fat Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, began as a practical way to use up lard, butter and sugar before Lent. But what it has become is something far more meaningful.


It has become memory.


As I moved through the room with my camera, I wasn’t just photographing pastries. I was capturing grandparents explaining traditions to grandchildren. Friends clinking cups of coffee over steaming bowls of potato soup. Plates filled with pierogi, savory sausage and tender cabbage rolls (gołąbki) passed from hand to hand. Smiles softened by powdered sugar.


These are the shots that matter.


And then there were the shirts.


T-shirts and sweatshirts proudly bearing the white eagle of Poland, bold red-and-white designs, and intricate folk patterns weren’t just apparel. They were declarations. Symbols of ancestry carried across oceans. Heritage worn visibly and intentionally. Culture not fading, but flourishing.


In moments like these, my camera becomes more than a tool. It becomes a witness.


Food truly is a universal language. You don’t have to speak Polish to understand the warmth of hospitality. You don’t need to know the history of Lent to recognize the joy of gathering before a season of reflection. Culture reveals itself in the way people lean in toward one another, in the way recipes are protected and passed down, in the pride stitched into fabric and served on plates.


What I love most about covering cultural events like Pączki Day is this: they remind us that community is built in ordinary, beautiful rituals. In kitchens. In parish halls. In conversations between generations.


My goal isn’t just to document events. It’s to preserve feeling.


Because long after the sugar is wiped away and the tables are cleared, the images remain, quiet proof that tradition was alive in that room. That people gathered. That heritage was honored.


That something meaningful happened here.


And that is always beyond the shot.


Na zdrowie. 🇵🇱✨


See more photos here: https://tinyurl.com/248e2z3a

51 Years of Food, Fellowship and Faith

By Jacob Buckingham • February 22, 2026
For 51 years, the St. Bernadette Men’s Club Pasta Dinner has been more than just a meal — it has been a tradition rooted in community, generosity and fellowship. From behind the camera, I had the privilege of watching it all unfold. Plates piled high with pasta, rich red sauce, hearty meatballs and savory Italian sausage. Families finding their seats. Friends reconnecting over shared tables. Volunteers moving with purpose behind the serving line. The Altar Society’s dessert table filled with homemade treats. Raffle tickets changing hands. The excitement building around the ever-popular meat wheel. But what struck me most wasn’t just the food — it was the quiet choreography happening behind the scenes. From the pasta crew in the kitchen to the food line servers, salad-makers, to-go assemblers, tray assistants, dessert ladies, ticket takers, cashiers, bussers and the table reset crew — there was a rhythm to it all. A steady flow of service. A shared commitment. A visible reminder that parish life doesn’t just happen… it’s built by many hands working together. Behind the shot, I saw more than a dinner. I saw generations serving side by side. I saw pride in tradition. I saw laughter in the kitchen and gratitude at the tables. I saw a community that understands something simple but powerful: food brings people in, but fellowship keeps them connected. Fifty-one years later, this tradition continues because of the people who show up — to cook, to serve, to volunteer and to gather. And from behind the lens, it was an honor to capture it. Watch a video highlight from the 51st Annual St. Bernadette Men's Club Pasta Dinner below!