Submitted photo Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer serves as director of Polish Youngstown.

LIBERTY — Aundrea Cika Heschmeyer grew up in a Polish and Hungarian household, where she enjoyed climbing trees, choreographing dance skits to 45 rpm records and Polish dancing at Krakusy Hall on Youngstown’s South Side.

Those pastimes influenced her love and dedication for teaching and experiencing various cultures. She has a working knowledge of the Polish language and has visited the country numerous times.

Heschmeyer attended the Liberty Local School District and graduated in 1981. After graduating, she attended Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, Pa., which was sponsored by the largest Polish fraternal organization in the nation. While there, she majored in English and minored in communications. She graduated college in 1985.

“I went there so I could do Polish folk dance as well as study communications and marketing,” she said.

After college, she was part of the startup team for the Youngstown Business Journal, and she has worked in journalism, public relations, marketing, event planning and strategic communications. She moved to South Dakota in 1986, then to Connecticut, where she met her future husband, Mark Heschmeyer.

She moved to New York, then joined Mark in Washington, D.C., in 1988. They wed while living in Washington and moved back to Ohio in 2012. They have been married for more than 30 years.

She is now director and founder of Polish Youngstown and vice president and co-founder of the Simply Slavic Heritage Festival in downtown Youngstown, which began Friday and ends today. Both organizations host events to help others celebrate their culture.

“There was that call to share with your children what your mother or your parents had shared with you,” she said. “There’s a real tie to your roots through all of this.”

She said she loves learning about other cultures as much as she loves teaching about them. She loves ethnic events and outside of Simply Slavic and Polish Youngstown, she’s hosted and participated in Irish and Italian events.

“I appreciate everybody’s culture,” she said. “It’s about appreciating where we all came from. That makes a difference.”

Heschmeyer has five children and a foreign exchange daughter. Her children are Auggie Heschmeyer, 31; Drew Heschmeyer, 28; D’Ella Heschmeyer, 22; Millie Heschmeyer, 20; and Sophie Heschmeyer, 17.

Her exchange daughter, Kamonlak “BT” Pliwma, 17, is from Thailand. She has been Pliwma’s exchange parent for two years and keeps in touch with Pliwma’s real parents. She has had three other exchange daughters from Belgium, Poland and Indonesia.

“It’s a great addition to the family,” she said. “You learn a lot about their culture. You really learn different perspectives.”

She is no stranger to hosting events as president of Marquee Creatives, a strategic marketing and inspired events company that specializes in corporate events and helps companies with things such as website design, social media management and content creation. Her company strives to help these companies achieve and build a positive brand image.

“You have a chance to be creative while helping people see things from a different and new angle,” she said.

She stays involved in the community as board president of the Autism Society of the Mahoning Valley, Future of Rotary Youth Engagement Chair of the Youngstown Rotary Club, secretary of the Youngstown Press Club, treasurer of the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau, the Polonia Foundation of Ohio and the American Council of Polish Culture.

She also is a member of Holy Apostles Parish near downtown Youngstown but grew up at St. Casimir Parish in the Brier Hill area.

In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, polka dancing and reading Robert B. Parker’s “Spenser” novels and Garrison Keillor’s “Lake Wobegon” stories.

She has received service awards for her community involvement, including being nominated for the ATHENA Award; the Charles Owsley Award for Exceptional Service Club of Youngstown; the Polish American Heritage Award; the Foundation of Ohio Golf Cross of Merit; the Republic of Poland Grand Lady of Pulaski; and the Ignace Paderewski Distinguished Service Medal.

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