GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — The coming weekend will be a busy time for the Polish halls in Grand Rapids as the city's Polish community celebrates Pulaski Days. It's a time that has brought Carrianne and Jim Seppala a lot of memories over the years at Diamond Hall.
"1993 was the first time I ever met him. My girlfriend was actually dating his brother and said 'You have to come to Pulaski Days.' So we came. It wasn't until many, many years later that we became a couple," Carianne said.
"Then he proposed to me here at a chili cook off downstairs. He got down on one knee in front of everybody and proposed. And then a year later we invited everybody to what they thought was our reception, and it was actually our wedding. We actually got married here at Diamond Hall."
Jim's grandparents came to the U.S. from Poland and from childhood Jim was very involved with the Polish halls. His band Thundering Heart played at Diamond Hall for 40 years. He served as president of the hall for a decade, and Carianne still serves as a board member.
"He talked about his Polish heritage all the time," she said.
"It just meant everything to him and to his kids, and our grandkids. We just love the Polish community. It's just a it's a big family."
Jim eventually received an honor he never thought he'd get.
"Last year, he was on the Pulaski Days committee, and they told him that he was going to be Grand Marshal this year. He was very excited. He called me at home, and he the first thing he said to me was is 'I get to be in the parade,'" Carrianne remembers.
"He never could be part of the parade before because he was always [at Diamond Hall] cooking. So the only time he ever really got to see the parade is when it ended right here at Michigan and Diamond and he would peek through the windows. So he was excited about being in the parade. And the Grand Marshal is a very high honored title in the Polish community."
But then in April, just six months before Pulaski Days, Jim passed away after a 13-year battle with prostate cancer.
"He was diagnosed six months after we got married with prostate cancer. He was 55," she said.
"His best chance of survival was to have his prostate removed, so we did that, and he went eight years without it reoccurring. You kind of think you're in the clear by then, but it came back. It resurfaced in his bones, and then he did radiation for that. Then it came back in his bladder, and he did chemo for that. He was doing pretty good with that and then it finally took him."
Carianne, along with Jim's family, will represent him as Grand Marshals in the parade.
"It's a bittersweet emotion because he really wanted to be here. It means a lot to me and the family to represent him because he was such a big presence in the Polish community," she said.
"I made little candy bags to pass out to the children, and each bag has a picture of Jim in it. On the back of it, it says Pulaski Days Grand Marshal 2023, and then his name, and then late president of Diamond Hall. It was a lot of work, but it's just something from me to give to the community so that they always have him in remembrance."
The parade will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. It will start at the corner of Michigan Street and College Avenue and end at the corner of Michigan and Diamond.
Along with honoring Jim's memory, Carrianne wants to raise awareness about prostate cancer. She's encouraging men to check with their doctors to see if they should be screened.
"That is one thing Jim always talked with men about and actually saved a few people who didn't know they had prostate cancer. Just by talking to them, they went and got checked and found out that they had it," she said.
You can find more information about prostate cancer on the American Cancer Society's website.
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