The Knob Hill Inn's garden in Ketchum had an international feel when it hosted the opening of the new Polish honorary consulate in Idaho on Sunday.
Attendees of the inaugural event included Polish Ambassador Robert Kupiecki, who appointed Ketchum's Susan Passovoy as honorary consul. Passovoy, a retired attorney, has been active in the Wood River Valley community since she moved here from San Francisco in 2000.
"I am very honored to do this job," Passovoy said. "I will spend five months in Poland where I will learn the language."
Kupiecki said there are 190 Polish consulates all over the world and the Ketchum honorary consul is the 14th in the U.S. The consulate will be located at 115 Stirrup Lane and will be open by appointment. It will provide assistance to Polish nationals living and traveling in Idaho as well as increase the awareness of Poland and facilitate avenues of cultural and commercial exchange.
Kupiecki said part of the job of modern diplomacy is to seek investments and trade between cultures.
"We cannot do business only in Washington, D.C.," he said. "People want to travel and there are a lot of opportunities in Poland even in the current economy."
Poland has been represented in Washington, D.C., for 90 years, and, at 41, Kupiecki is the youngest Polish ambassador. He began working for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and was Polish representative to NATO and the Western European Union in Brussels from 1999 to 2004. He has authored several books and articles on modern history and international relations.
Kupiecki was joined by several other honorary consulates in Idaho, including Sun Valley's Honorary Consul General William Cassell, who represents Nepal, and Ricardo Pineda, who represents Mexico. In addition, several local civic leaders were also in attendance, including District 25 state Rep. Wendy Jaquet and Sun Valley Mayor Wayne Willich.
"This is a vibrant and active community," Kupiecki said. "We will return the love for Poland in double."
Part of the festivities to inaugurate the Polish consulate included a screening of the film "Katyn," which is about the secret mass murder of 22,000 Polish military officers and others by Soviet authorities in 1940 and the subsequent decades of cover-up. The 2007 film has received 16 awards in countries around the world.
Sun Valley ice dancer Andrezj Dostatni attended the Knob Hill Inn luncheon. The six-time national champion of Poland and winner of a bronze medal at Skate Canada and the former artistic director for the Sun Valley Ice Shows.
Dostatni brought photos of his family to the Community Library before the screening of "Katyn." He said the film is what happened to his own family.
For more information call 727-9727 or e-mail sjpassovoy@earthlink.net.
Sabina Dana Plasse: splasse@mtexpress.com
Honorary consul to Poland Susan Passovoy and Polish Ambassador Robert Kupiecki hold the official plaque for the opening of the new honorary Polish consulate in Sun Valley. Photo by Willy Cook
