The Edward Cotter: The World's Largest Dyngus Day Squit Gun
There is a good reason why it's painted red & white! The world’s oldest working fireboat and National Historic Landmark is the mascot of one of America’s most unique ethnic holidays. The Edward M. Cotter has been named “World’s Largest Dyngus Day Squirt Gun.”
On March 19, 2008 - Dyngus Day Buffalo and the crew of the fireboat Edward M. Cotter set out to test the "World's Largest Dyngus Day Squirt Guns" on the Buffalo River. Included on the boat were members of the Polish Heritage Dancers of Western New York and the band, "Those Idiots." Thank you to the City of Buffalo and the Cotter Crew for assisting in our annual tradition!
Image:
Photo by Steve Kroczynski
Photo by Steve Kroczynski
Photo by Steve Kroczynski
Photo by Steve Kroczynski
“This could explains why the Cotter is painted red & white,” said Marty Biniasz, Founder of Dyngus Day Buffalo alluding to the colors of the Polish flag and the Cotter’s current livery. “It’s only right that The Dyngus Day Capital of the World should have the World’s Largest Squirt Gun. We are proud to now make Buffalo’s most loved ship part of our Dyngus Day Buffalo tradition.”
The world’s oldest working fireboat and a National Historic Landmark is about to receive another honor, just in time for one of America’s most unique ethnic holidays. The Edward M. Cotter will be named the “World’s Largest Dyngus Day Squirt Gun” at a recent ceremony.
“This could explains why the Cotter is painted red & white,” said Marty Biniasz, Founder of Dyngus Day Buffalo alluding to the colors of the Polish flag and the Cotter’s current livery. “It’s only right that The Dyngus Day Capital of the World should have the World’s Largest Squirt Gun.We are proud to now make Buffalo’s most loved ship part of our Dyngus Day Buffalo tradition.” During the announcement, Fireboat Captain Michael J. Higgins will be joined on deck by Polish folk dancers as well as a few representatives from Buffalo’s polka community. The event will also featured the drowning of “Old Lady Winter” called “Marzanna.” This ancient Eastern European tradition was meant to symbolized the end of harsh weather and was usually done by women and children in rural areas of Poland. As the world's oldest working fireboat, the Cotter was built in 1900. She has borne three names, survived a devastating explosion and, as she proudly begins her second century of service, stands ready to protect our vessels and shorelines formany more years to come. The Cotter has a pumping capacity equal to that of 11 pumper trucks making just a bit larger than the customary Dyngus Day super soaker. Four of its pumps have a capacity to through 3750 gallons per minute at 1600 pounds of pressure each. The water is sprayed from 5 turrets that include two on the main deck forward, one aft (elevated platform), one topside of pilothouse and one on the aft main deck.
Buffalo's Historic Fireboat Cotter has been named the World's Largest Dyngus Day Squirt Gun
If it's almost Easter, it's almost Dyngus Day. The Edward Cotter is named the World's Largest Dyngus Day Squirt gun
Friend of the Cotter, a nonprofit civilian group formed in 2005, is currently participating in a $250,000 fund drive that would lead to a much-needed overhaul of the vessel. The drive includes a $100,000 matching grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation.
Historically a Polish-American tradition, Dyngus Day celebrates the end of the restrictive observance of lent and the joy of Easter. Over the decades, Buffalo, New York has become the Dyngus Day Capital of the World attracting thousands of people featuring polka bands from across the nation.Although celebrated in Buffalo’s Polonia neighborhood since the arrival of the first Poles in the 1870s, the city’s first modern Dyngus Day celebration was held in 1961 by the Chopin’s Singing Society. Dyngus Day 2007 will take place on Monday, April 9th.
The Cotter has a pumping capacity equal to that of 11 pumper trucks making just a bit larger than the customary Dyngus Day super soaker. Four of its pumps have a capacity to through 3750 gallons per minute at 1600 pounds of pressure each. The water is sprayed from 5 turrets that include two on the main deck forward, one aft (elevated platform), one topside of pilothouse and one on the aft main deck.
Friend of the Cotter, a nonprofit civilian group formed in 2005, is currently participating in a $250,000 fund drive that would lead to a much-needed overhaul of the vessel. The drive includes a $100,000 matching grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation.
Michelle Kisluk, Polish Heritage Dancers, prepares to man one of the Cotter's water cannons!
Fireboat Captain Michael Higgins receives a bouquet of pussy willows as the EM Cotter is proclaimed as the World’s Largest Squirt Gun.
Poles Ring A Dyngus Bell: Fireboat Cotter has right colors as symbol of Happy Fest By Tom Buckham, BUFFALO NEWS 04/04/07 In the interest of promoting Buffalo as the “Dyngus Day Capital of the World,” if not the entire universe, Marty Biniasz has seized on the Edward M. Cotter as further proof of his claim. It cannot be mere coincidence the world’s oldest working fireboat is red and white, same as the Polish flag, Biniasz said Tuesday before a ceremony christening the Cotter as the “world’s largest squirt gun.” For the uninitiated, squirt guns are an essential ingredient of Dyngus Day, a post-Lenten Polish-American tradition Biniasz and fellow enthusiasts have stretched into a weeklong celebration in Western New York. As part of the fun, young girls chase boys with pussy willow switches, and the boys squirt them back. What could better symbolize these devil-may-care shenanigans, Biniasz thought, than the Cotter — a floating landmark with the “squirting” capacity of 11 fire engines? This year’s edition of Dyngus Day will begin after the last bite of Easter dinner is consumed Sunday, with the first “blessing of the instruments” for polka musicians in Pvt. Leonard J. Post Post 6251, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Cheektowaga. The ceremony will kick off the 15th annual “pre- Dyngus” party in the veterans hall. The celebrating will resume with Monday’s first Dyngus Day Parade through the city’s Polish East Side, starting at 5 p.m. at the Broadway Market, and the Chopin Singing Society’s traditional festival at Hearthstone Manor in Depew. It will continue through the following Saturday with dancing and music at various venues across the region. By Biniasz’s reckoning, more than 50 musicians from Buffalo and as far away as Chicago, Detroit and Toledo will help roll out the barrel at many of the nearly three dozen parties planned during the week. Dancers from the Harmony Folk Ensemble and the Polish Heritage Dancers will be on hand for Sunday’s blessing and pre-Dyngus party, starting at 7 p.m. in the VFW post at 2450 Walden Ave. Featured performers will include Grammy-nominated Lenny Gomulka & Chicago Push along with Eddie Biegaj and Crusade. According to a 19th century Polish encyclopedia, the word dyngus comes from the medieval “dingnus,” meanings worthy, proper or suitable.
Buffalo’s Dyngus Day was established in 1961 by the late Theodore V. Mikoll, a Buffalo lawyer who led the Chopin Singing Society for 28 years. He recalled that during his childhood, girls would celebrate the end of Lenten fasting by swatting boys with pussy willows — dyngus is the Polish word for these switches — and the boys would spray water on the girls.
Mikoll figured people still would welcome an excuse to escape the Lenten confines with music and beer, and before long the Chopin Singing Society on Kosciuszko Street was the place to be the day after Easter.
In partnership with public and private bodies, Dyngus Day Buffalo, a not-for-profit organization founded by Biniasz, has taken the event to a new level. The aim: to promote Polish customs “with accuracy, integrity and liveliness” through public education and awareness.
For the full list of events, visit DyngusDayBuffalo.com.
DYNGUSDAY.com & DYNGUSDAYBUFFALO.com: Pussy Willows, Piwo, Polkas, Parades, Parties and a Plethora of Polish Pride...
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