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Everyday life of residents, traditions, school, work and changes in the village over the years.
Janowice is not only the history of former owners and monuments. Above all, it is the life of its residents: the school, parish, community centre, fire brigade, shops, farming, fruit growing, emigration, work and everyday changes taking place over the decades.
Source materials record that in 1921 Janowice had 1,380 residents, and in 2004 about 1,260. The village belongs to the Pleśna municipality in Tarnów County and neighbours, among others, Wróblowice, Dąbrówka Szczepanowska, Lubinka, Lichwin and Siemiechów.
This number of residents shows that Janowice was, and remains, a large village with its own institutions, traditions, school, parish and an extensive structure of hamlets.
The materials mention the hamlets and parts of the village: Ustronie, Podbrzeście, Grzywna, Zadziele, Działy-Lipie, Kopaliny, Domy nad szkołą, Centrum, Górna Wieś, Gierowa, Dolna Wieś and Bigosówka.
These names are important because they show that Janowice is not a single uniform point on the map, but a dispersed village with its own local geography, the memory of its different parts and the everyday routes of its residents.
The Community Centre in Janowice has served residents since 1965. In the materials it is described as a branch of the Municipal Cultural Centre in Pleśna. It was a place for meetings, events, library work and local initiatives.
At the beginning of the 1960s, the building also housed important public functions: a library, the local national council, a common room, a fire station and a summer kindergarten.
The Volunteer Fire Brigade in Janowice was established in 1885. Its presence in the village shows how early residents organized themselves around shared safety, help and responsibility for the village.
In 2005, celebrations of the 120th anniversary of the Volunteer Fire Brigade in Janowice took place, confirming the continuity of this institution and its importance for the local community.
Among the institutions and places important to residents, the materials mention the Public Library, Cooperative Bank, Pharmacy Point, Polish Post Office and private shops. Such places built the everyday independence of the village and reduced the need to travel to town.
The materials also mention specific shops and trading points, including the self-service shop “El-Stach”, “To i owo”, a wholesaler in the former dairy building, the “Dobropasz” hardware and agricultural shop, Roman Krakowski’s shop and a kiosk by the bus stop.
The Health Centre in Janowice was built through the efforts of Father Władysław Kowalczyk, with support from the Polish community in America and the residents of the village. It was opened in 1963 and served the residents of Janowice, Lubinka and Dąbrówka Szczepanowska.
A general practitioner and a dentist worked at the centre. The materials emphasize that the “Janowice” club in Chicago helped with the construction of the health centre, the new church and supported the school, including by funding teaching aids and equipment.
The Primary School in Janowice was one of the most important local institutions. The materials mention a football pitch, a volleyball court, a basketball court and a long jump area. The asphalt surface on the volleyball court was laid in July 2003.
On 3 May 2001, the founding meeting of the UKS “Herkules” Janowice sports association took place, contributing to the development of sport. The school was therefore not only a place of learning, but also a centre of youth activity, ceremonies and village events.
Until 1989, most residents of Janowice were engaged in farming, animal breeding, gardening and fruit growing. Farms were small, usually three or four hectares, and partly mechanized. Only from the late 1970s did pig and cattle breeding become more widespread.
There was a dairy in Janowice. Cart drivers collected milk from farmers in the morning. Good conditions in farming and fruit growing meant that farm buildings developed, cattle herds grew, and mechanization gradually replaced manual labour.
Orchards were an important part of economic life. Specialized orchards were planted, mainly with apple and cherry trees. Because land was limited, the space between rows of trees was used to grow cereals or root crops.
During the season, fruit and vegetable purchasing points operated, collecting hundreds of tonnes of industrial apples, dozens of tonnes of Hungarian plums, cucumbers and many tonnes of black and red currants. This part of the economy strongly influenced the rhythm of work for residents.
From the 1980s, pensions and retirement benefits, including agricultural pensions, became increasingly important in family budgets. Young residents more often left the village, moving to towns or abroad. Popular destinations included the United States and Western European countries such as Austria, Germany, Greece and Spain.
After the political and economic transformation, many residents were laid off from workplaces in Tarnów. Economic conditions forced people to start their own businesses. Agritourism developed, some people worked in forestry, while others created small enterprises, for example producing candle wicks or parquet flooring strips.
The 1970s were a time of expansion in Janowice. More and more brick houses were built, equipped with running water and central heating. The last thatched houses disappeared from the village landscape. Several shops, a Ruch kiosk, two hairdressing salons and the Słoneczny Bar operated in the village.
The introduction of martial law and the economic crisis of the 1980s slowed development. Food and goods rationing made everyday life difficult. Young people increasingly began to leave abroad in search of better-paid work.
After 1989, Janowice entered another period of change. In 1993 gas was brought to the village, and from 1995 a telephone exchange operated, thanks to which most residents were connected to the telephone network. In 1997 the village was affected by another flood.
The school gradually modernized its equipment. The first computer appeared in 1994, in 1997 a photocopier was available for both the school and residents, and from 1999 the school had a computer lab with 10 networked workstations and Internet access.
In 2002 the Municipal Harvest Festival was held on the school grounds, in 2003 the school gained an asphalt volleyball and basketball court, and in recent years the Lubinka drag lift, located within the administrative boundaries of Janowice, became increasingly popular.
