Less than a decade ago, the dark wood-paneled bar at the Ukrainian American Citizens Club of Allentown rocked most Friday and Saturday nights with the whining accordion and oom-pah brass of polka bands like the Mel-O-Dee-Aces.Its kitchen cranked out steak sandwiches and savory ethnic specialties like halupkis and its bartenders still hoisted frosty pitchers of beer onto the orange linoleum bar. Pins clattered to the wood on the six pristinely maintained bowling lanes."You'd come in here on Fridays and this place was packed," said Nik Fartuch, president of the council of St. Mary's Ukrainian Orthodox Church. At its peak, the club's social membership topped 1,500 people.But even then, the city was changing and the crowds were dwindling. Read the story here
