This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: this article uses "current" information from 2014. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2024)
The Polish Highlanders Alliance of America (pl.Związek Podhalan w Ameryce Północnej) was founded in 1929 in Chicago as an organization that unites all other Góral organizations in the United States. Most of Chicago's Góral community is concentrated on Chicago's Southwest Side along Archer Avenue where the headquarters, also known as the "Highlander Home" ("Dom Podhalan" in Polish) is located.
The Highlander House is styled as a Carpathian chalet in the traditional Zakopane Style of Architecture. Located at 4808 S. Archer Avenue in Chicago, the structure underwent renovation under the eye of famed artist Jerzy Kenar in 2005. In 2012 the Highlander House was upgraded with state of the art audio and video equipment.
The Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America is a nonprofit organization run by an executive board. The members of the current (voted September 2024) board are:
Jan Krol - president
Marzena Kostelic Predki - vice president
Wieslaw Siuta- vice president of economic affairs
Karolina Strzelec Stafiera - vice president of cultural affairs
Malgorzata Stopka - vice president for the East Coast
Krzysztof Zoltek - general secretary
Mateusz Staszel - financial secretary
Beata Firek - treasurer
Jan Greczek - marshall
Jozef Fryzlewicz- Secretary of Records (minutes)
Chicago's Góral community publishes its own quarterly newspaper Podhalanin, in addition to transmitting radio programs such as "Gawędy", "Poezja i muzyka góralska", or "Na góralską nutę", broadcasting from WPNA 1490 AM. The Polish language Chicago area daily Dziennik Związkowy (Polish Daily News) publishes a section titled Kronika podhalańska (The Highlander Chronicle).
Member organizations (circles) within the Polish Highlander Alliance of North America
Zespol Goralski Szkolka Piesni i Tanca, Polish Highlander Youth Folkloric Group representing Polish Highlander Alliance in Chicago
Zespol Goralski Siumni "SIUMNI," Polish Highlander Folkloric Group representing Polish Highlander Alliance in Chicago (www.siumni.org and Facebook "Siumni")
and also the Brighton Park circle, Podhalan Women's Club, The Ski Club, Podhale Soccer Club.