One Family's Hulling Night Memories At Mattituck Strawberry Festival Symbolize Sweet Tradition

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NORTH FORK, NY — For generations of North Fork residents, the most special part of the Mattituck Strawberry Festival has long been Hulling Night.

For years, community members young and old, from babies to seniors, have gathered before the festival to help hull the many, many berries needed to make the mouthwatering strawberry shortcake, chocolate-dipped strawberries, strawberry daiquiris, pie and more.

The memories of the laughter and stories, camaraderie and community spirit are woven deeply into the meaning of the night.

For many, Hulling Night simply means home.

Marie Winiarz, who lived in Mattituck until moving to North Carolina in December, recently posted on social media that the festival is part of her family's shared legacy.

"My mom was the one who started it all for the Strawberry Festival Hulling Night," she said. She then displayed a clip of a newspaper article from years back, describing how her mother, Dorothy Winiarz, perfected the art of hulling a simple, ruby red berry.

The secret, she said, was in a McDonald's straw. Her mom cut the straw and guided it through the bottom of the strawberry, all the way to the top to remove the stem.

"When the strawberry festival time was near all of the members' families would come to hull the strawberries for the festival," she said. "My mom had this great idea to try the straw to hull the berries and we laughed — it really worked!"

The festival has long been an important part of her family's tapestry, Winiarz said.

She recalled when Hulling Night, which dates back 1957, was held in what now serves as headquarters for Kolb Mechanical Corp on Old Sound Avenue, rather that Strawberry Fields where it currently unfolds.

Her father Mike Winiarz was president of the Mattituck Lions Club, which organizes the Mattituck Strawberry Festival, from 1970 to 1971, she said.

It was life filled with accomplishment for her father, who came from Poland at nine years old, her sister Susan Winiarz said.

"He was always involved with the Lions Club," Marie Winiarz said. "We used to have the sight clinic dance at Polish Hall in Riverhead for years to raise money for Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind."

Her childhood was marked by strawberry memories, Winiarz said.

"I was just a kid, but I remember it well," she laughed. "We would take some strawberries in the back and have strawberry fights — until we got yelled at."

The early Mattituck Strawberry Festivals, Winiarz said, were held on the grounds of Mattituck High School "on a Sunday for about five hours — no rides, just vendors and strawberry shortcake."

Her father, she said, was also the person responsible for the shortcakes first being baked at the school, she said.

WLNG was a longtime presence, she said, as was a North Fork foot race. "There was music, the crowning of the Strawberry Queen, square dancing — and they always had a raffle to raise money, as they still do," she said.

When Winiarz was 16, she was "fortunate enough to be sponsored by the Lions Club to be chosen as an exchange student. I went abroad to Finland for six weeks with five other girls from Long Island. We all gathered at the Strawberry Festival grounds with our parents and met each other — it was an amazing experience," she said.

"When I was in Finland the family I stayed with took me to Helsinki, the capital, to meet the president of their Lions Club and we exchanged gifts from one club to another. It was just an awesome experience to learn another culture," she said.

Laughing, Winiarz continued: "The only word I remember from there is 'kurkuu,' or cucumber. The parents didn’t speak much English —only the kids did — but the mother would hold up the cucumber and tell me, 'kurkuu, kurkuu.'"

The experience of learning about a new country and culture was a highlight for Winiarz and her siblings "lucky enough to be exchange students."

Her memories are forever entwined with her parents, including her father, who become Lions Club district governor of Suffolk County a few years later, she said.

"The Lions Club always had vests and when they went on conventions to other states they always did pin trading — they were pinned on the vests they wore. My dad designed many of these pins," she said.

Strawberry Festival memories glow in hearts and minds like so many radiant sunsets.

"And, of course, the strawberry shortcake!" Winiarz said. "Once the festival kept expanding every year it just got better and better. And I just have to thank all the Lions Club members that put their time in to put this event together. The time and effort all of the Mattituck Lions Club members and their families put into this event is just amazing."

From start to finish, the event unites the community; a highlight includes gazing up at the fireworks, also a hallmark of the festival. "Who doesn't love fireworks!" she said.

The memories reflect years of family dedication and loyalty, as well as countless joyful times, Winiarz said. There were Lions' conventions held at the Brickman Hotel in Fallsburg, NY, she said.

One of her aunts, Gloria Kowalesy, was a vendor at the festival. "They lived in Commack at that time. She used to paint on driftwood. It was so beautiful," Winiarz said

And Jim’s Diner, "the home" of the Mattituck Lions Club was owned by her grandparents Cecilia and Stanley Winiarz, she said.

WIniarz said the Lions Club was a family affair: Her sister Susan and her husband Tom were in the Leo Club, the youth branch of the Lions Club. Her sister Diane was also an exchange student, she said.

And even as life took her on journeys far from the North Fork, Winiarz said the Lions Club ' values and mission were tucked safely into her heart.

"When I lived in Jamaica on a college internship, Dad sent over glasses, because I realized that some students had poor eyesight. The country was so poor that many didn’t have eye doctors," she said.

The legacy is carried on today,Winiarz said: "Our son Ryan Buchholz was also involved in the Leo Club during high school, carrying on the tradition."

For a full schedule of events at the Mattituck Strawberry Festival, click here.