Photo by Jim Tate Amber Sheehan, the vice president of the Ivanhoe Community Club, is shown near the ball field where many of the softball games will be played during Polska Kielbasa Days.

IVANHOE — Amber Sheehan moved to Ivanhoe with her husband Robert Douglas and their children back in 2018. Their former residence was Bloomington, and the couple decided that a smaller community would be a better environment in which to raise their family than a city. “We wanted the kids to be able to be kids,” she said.

Sheehan had a good friend living in Arco, and it was through her that they found their way to county seat of Lincoln County.

She’s come to love the community, population 552, and has been a key person in organizing the annual Polska Kielbasa Days summer celebration, named to honor the Polish heritage prevalent in the community.

The 54th annual event will be held August 8-10, 2025, and while many of the popular events like the softball and golf tournaments will be held, many other events will be held over the three days, and some will mark the town’s 125th quasquicentennial anniversary.

“Not all of the events are finalized yet but we will have 125th events that will be melded into the Polska Kielbasa Days celebration,” said Sheehan.

“The celebration is August eighth to tenth, butt there will be National Night Out on the fifth, a Farmer’s Market on the sixth and we’d like to have something special on the seventh to mark the one-hundred-twenty-fifth,” she said.

An all-age street dance featuring the band HickTown Mafia will kick things off on Aug. 8, she said.

Friday is also the day that the popular softball tournament gets underway. It usually concludes on Sunday, she said. There’s a 40-team limit and games are played on two fields on the edge of town.

The concession stand will sell Polska Kielbasa sausages, of course, as well as soft drinks, and beer. Last year festival participants went through 120 kegs of beer, she said.

“Polska Kielbasa Days are for the entire family, and there’s going to be events that reflect that,” said Sheehan. “There will be between fiftheen and twenty events for kids.”

Other events will include volleyball, pickleball, a Diaper Derby, 2k-5K run, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a vendor fair and the Sunday parade. Ice cream and pie will be available at the VFW after the parade, and event goers can walk the Main Street and look at entrants in the car show. Sheehan said there may be an ethnic food tasting event, too.

“People are as nice as they seem in Ivanhoe,” said Sheehan, talking about her love of the Polish community. “Not everyone is of Polish descent — I’m Polish, Irish and German — but everyone is Polish on Polska Kielbasa Days.”

The town celebration is coordinated by the Ivanhoe Community Club, a volunteer civic organization. The group has undergone some changes in recent years, said Sheehan, the group’s vice-president and last year’s president. It consists of a six-member board: Sheehan, Nancy Jerzak, president; Stephanie Griffin; Alyssa Klimek, treasurer; Dorthy Popowski; and Jennifer Popowski, secretary.

It takes about 200 volunteers to put on the celebration, said Sheehan, and it serves as the Community Club’s major fund-raiser.

The Community Club works closely with city officials to help support civic improvement projects during the year. This year,, the group will help purchase light pole signage marking the town’s 125th anniversary. They are also looking at improving and refreshing landscaping near the entrance to the pool and improving the bike trail on the north edge of town. Past projects have included updating advertiser signs in the outfield at Gilson Field, new bathroom latches and signage at the park bathrooms, and a new slide at the pool. It’s hoped to replace the softball diamonds’ chain-link fencing, too, she said. “It’s nice that we can work so closely with the city non. Help with civic improvement projects,” she said.

The Community Club also hosts an Easter egg hunt, a Holiday Open House to kick off the holiday season, and a residential holiday lighting contest. There’s also a spring and fall vendor fair.

Polska Kielbasa Days began as a free Polish food feed, and evolved over time into a three-day celebration. “Ivanhoe is a wonderful, proud Polish community, with helpful people who work hard to make this event a success,” she said.