Hehe, the first time I read through this thread, I misread that is “punchki” day. No, I doubt I spelt that correctly, but it’s also Polish. Anybody outside of SE Michigan ever heard of/participated in this? (Really, it’s just a day when you’re supposed to buy punchkis - rich, rich jelly donuts - and they’re GOOD).
Ahh, “poonch-keys.” I think the official spelling is “Paczki” but the stores that sell them around here put in parentheses, “pronounced ‘poonch-key.’” Western Massachusetts is also heavy on the Polish population.
FWIW, I just moved to Michigan from Colorado, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of Sweetest Day. A very quick search confirms the “Man from Cleveland” story, or at least that’s the only explanation I found.
If that’s the case, why every retailer I’ve seen trumpeting it is selling flowers and chocolates to “give to your loved one” has corrupted what may have been a nice idea at one time. Feh.
Milwaukeean here. “Paczki day” is Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras. It’s the Polish way of feasting a little before Ash Wednesday
Chicagoan here (though displaced for the last 3 years)
Paczki day is indeed celebrated in Chicago among the Poles and the official spelling has a little hook (known as an “ogonek” - like a cedilla, only hooking the other way) on the “a” which makes the “a” nasalized. In other words, it is pronounced like “on” is in French. The best approximation is “Pownchki” or something similar (but there really isn’t an “n” in there.)
Sweetest Day has in fact been known in Chicago for at least 9 years. I first celebrated/heard of it in 1992, as a Senior in high school. It wasn’t particularly popular or known to everyone (not like Pulaski Day 
), but I can vouch for the fact that it did exist and was certainly marketed in Chicago as far back as then.
I lived in Chicago from birth (1976) until 1994 (and visit frequently, since my dad is still there), and first heard of this day yesteday on this board. I knew of Pulaski day shortly after birth. Maybe I’m just lucky.
I will faithfully NOT observe Sweetness day, unless they get Walter Payton involved.
lived in Maine, NY, Wisconsin, Florida, Oklahoma, and never heard of it 'til this thread. Sounds horrible.
Cargogal - Maybe it just was my neighborhood. I lived in Archer Heights (around 47th and Pulaski) from '75 - '93, then in Evanston from '94 - '98. My thought, too ,when I heard of it was WTF?! Consider yourself lucky for having avoided it.
I had to read this thread ecause I just heard about Sweetest Day last night when I got one of those Yahoo greeting cards via e-mail. I thought “WTF?”, and thought of askig about it in this forum —until I saw someone else did.
Sweetest Day? ARRRRGGGHHHH! I hate it I hate it I hate it!
'nuf said.
The first time I ever heard of “Sweetest Day” was when I read a “Peanuts” cartoon way back in ages past. It lasted for about a week, and the “story line,” such as it was, involved either Lucy trying to wheedle a gift out of Schroeder, or Sally trying to get one from Linus. Whoever it was, she came up empty.