Almost twenty candidates showed up on the evening of October 25, 2007, for the first Bigos Dinner and Candidates Night of the Chicago Society. It was an extraordinary attendance by office seekers, considering that the election is not until February.

The large crowd of guests was welcomed by T. Ron Jasinski-Herbert, President of the Chicago Society. Candidates were introduced by Vice President Charles Komosa, Director Mark Hrycko and member Matt Podgorski, who is running for Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

Among the candidates were the incumbent Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court, Dorothy Brown, and Marta Kolejda Almodovar, a Polish American, seeking Brown’s office. There were other Polonians running for judgeships in the election, including Joan Smuda, who has held that position in the past, and Diann Marsalek, whose father, Edward Marsalek, has had a distinguished career on the bench.

Illinois State Representative Joe Lyons and Chicago Alderman Patrick Levar, who is seeking election as 45th Ward Democratic Committeeman, addressed the audience. Lyons, who is Irish, commented that bigos was even better than corned beef, the traditional fair for political gatherings.

Judicial candidates at the event included Chief Judge Greiman, Judge Michael Hyman, Marilyn F. Johnson, Maureen Ward Kirby and Thaddeus L. Wilson and Joan Powell. Wilson, who is Black, received enthusiastic applause when he said that the good Polish name of "Thaddeus," which he bears, is always a winner.

The bigos dinner, which also featured roast pork, was catered by Kasia’s Deli and held at the Copernicus Civic and Cultural Center in northwest Chicago.