For years, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) held a series of festivals celebrating the town’s rich eastern European heritage, but the 2008 Great Recession’s financial challenges forced them to put it on hold.

Now, 15 years later, PVMA is joining forces with the town’s 350th Anniversary Committee and the Friends of Deerfield to revive the annual tradition for a two-day event planned for Oct. 14 and 15, with all activities free and open to the public.

PVMA Business Manager Jeanne Sojka said the 350th Anniversary Committee approached the museum about reviving the festival to celebrate the long history of eastern European immigrants from nations like Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania, while also encouraging more historical research on those populations.

“The 350th has sort of reinvigorated that whole process. … The town felt very strongly they wanted it to be free and open to the public,” said Sojka, whose family roots trace back to Poland. “It’s going to be a great weekend.”

The Eastern European Heritage Festival kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 14, at PVMA, 10 Memorial St. in Old Deerfield, with activities slated from noon to 5 p.m.

Throughout the day, the Eddie Forman Orchestra will be playing polka music for attendees’ listening and dancing pleasure, while Berkshire Brewing Co. will have a beer and wine cash bar. Free beverages and Polish and Ukrainian desserts will also be served.

From noon to 2 p.m. there will be a catered Polish lunch from Bernat’s Polish Deli of Chicopee. Lunch includes golumpki, potato and cheese pierogi, kielbasa, kapusta and rye bread. Vegetarian options will also be available. A pre-payment of $16 is required by Oct. 8 to register for the lunch, which can be done on PVMA’s website at deerfield-ma.org.

The main highlight of Saturday’s events, Sojka said, will be an appearance by renowned Polish craftsperson Wieslawa Bogdanska, who will host a class on creating Kurpie Kwiaty, or paper flowers. The class requires registration, which can be done at deerfield-ma.org/wieslawa-bogdanska.

The Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts, the Polish American Foundation and the Polish Center of Discovery & Learning will also have booths, alongside other displays of eastern European immigrant photos and artifacts.

Memorial Hall museum will be open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., offering self-guided tours of immigrant artifacts.

There will also be raffle and door prizes, with proceeds from tickets helping offset the cost of hosting the festival.

On Sunday, the event shifts to Frontier Regional School, 113 North Main St. in South Deerfield, for another day of heritage celebrations from 1 to 5 p.m.

Kicking off the fun at Frontier will be Piast Polish dancers from Webster and Zolotyj Promin Ukrainian dancers from Hartford, Connecticut. Free refreshments and eastern European food will be served.

The highlight of the day will be Purdue University professor and Polish-American historian James Pula, who will deliver a presentation on the Kosciuszko Squadron, a Polish fighter squadron manned by American citizens who helped win the Battle of Britain in World War II.

Deerfield’s immigration history

Deerfield has long served as a destination for immigrants throughout its history, but the story of eastern European migration really picks up around 1890, according to “Seeking New Homes: Immigrant Communities Who Came to Deerfield,” an essay published in Historic Deerfield’s 350th issue by resident and historian Peter Thomas.

Starting at this point and leading up through 1910, Polish, Ukrainian and other eastern European immigrants began moving to Deerfield in droves, which contributed to a staggering 53% of children born in the town from 1850 and 1910 having parents who were born in Europe.

While most of these immigrants worked as farm laborers, Thomas noted there were some early signs of economic mobility, with some records showing men taking on roles as carpenters and butchers.

By 1915, 21% of the adult male population consisted of eastern European immigrants, with many of them finally owning homes or farmland. Some of those families are still farming in the Pioneer Valley today.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.