After nearly 15 years of recruiting, actress Loretta Swit appeared in Cheektowaga as the grand marshal of the Pulaski Parade.
Parade organizers tried for years to get her here but couldn't make the schedules work, despite effort on both sides, until yesterday.
The parade commemorates Polish patriot Casimir Pulaski who died fighting for American independence in the Revolutionary War.
Swit says she's proud of her Polish name and kept it on stage and on screen.
"I considered, for a while, thinking up another name, early in my career because I thought maybe Swit was too confusing. It was short," Swit explained.
"They would want to add another 'T' or they would want to add an 'F.' But, it's short and swift. So, it's so simple. But maybe I should make it a little more complicated but I never found anything that appealed to me more than my own name. So, I kept it"
Paraders marched from Thruway Mall and along Harlem to the Town Park for a summer party on a really warm and sunny day. Bands blared and local Polonia came out for the event, with thousands along the parade route.
