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The Am-Pol Eagle’s Citizens of the Year ceremony took place on Saturday, 04/21 at the historic basilica along with a Mass honoring all the recipients and celebrating Saint Adalbert’s feast day.
This is a great opportunity to worship in one of Broadway-Fillmore’s beautiful churches and support the basilica.
Saint Adalbert Basilica will also be honoring the Am-Pol Eagle Citizens of the Year during the Mass.
(By Jaroslaw K. Radomski) Even the weather was a great help on Sunday afternoon, Oct.23, the day of a unique celebration commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the election of Polish cardinal Karol Jozef Wojtyla as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Students, parishioners of various Polish parishes, members of numerous Polonian organizations, veterans and representatives of local government filled St. Stanislaus Church – “Mother Church of Polonia in Buffalo.”
The song “Gaude Mater Polonia” echoed in the beautifully decorated church when the proud procession of students from Polish Saturday School, members of the Polish Heritage Dancers, dressed in amazing Polish regional costumes, members of the St. Stanislaus Parish Council and the Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo – Edward. U. Kmiec assisted by numerous priests followed the cross.
The main celebrant of the Mass – Bishop Kmiec welcomed all gathered with Polish words “Niech bedzie pochwalony Jezus Chrystus.” He reminded the congregation of the great day of the elevation of Cardinal Wojtyla who became Pope John Paul II, “the shepherd for the world,” and the aim of the celebration: prayers for the Holy Father and all of Polonia.
(Kate Cline • 10/19/11) The copper domed peaks of Corpus Christi Church stand unassailable against Buffalo’s East Side. The commanding architecture combined with the church’s poignant history makes it a hauntingly magnificent Buffalo landmark. In an effort to preserve this beauty, Corpus Christi has recently become the scene of a major restoration project. Efforts to preserve the interior of the church began last March and phase two of the project has commenced this month, just in time for the National Preservation Conference taking place in Buffalo from Oct. 16 to Oct. 20.
Aside from architectural and structural repairs, Corpus Christi Church is restoring the rendering of Raphael Santi’s Disputa, the mural in the sanctuary apse. The mural, painted by Marion Rzeznik, in collaboration with Gonippo Raggi depicts the Church’s theologians and mystics trying to plumb the mysteries of the Eucharist.
The painting has suffered damages due to changes in the atmosphere. “It is the fact that the atmospheric conditions, the heat and cold and changes in climate in the building had really taken its toll,” said Henry Swiatek of Corpus Christi Church.
(Michael Mroziak • Wed, Oct 05, 2011) Western New York is preparing to host thousands of visitors who will come to see some of the Buffalo area’s historic and cultural gems. Corpus Christi Church, one of local Polonia’s cherished sites, will be among those on the schedule.
Beginning Wed., Oct. 19, Buffalo is hosting the National Preservation Conference, sponsored by the Washington D.C. based National Trust for Historic Preservation. The four-day event is the organization’s 65th annual conference but the first to be hosted in Buffalo.
“I feel that this conference is like Buffalo’s debutante party,” said Chuck LaChiusa, chairman of the Sacred Spaces Reborn bus tour that will be conducted as part of the conference. “Buffalo is being introduced to the country in terms of its great Victorian and early 20th century architecture.”
Visitors will have a lot of local architectural beauty on which to feast their eyes. It’s not just about the beauty preserved at these sites. More importantly, visitors will learn lessons about how many of these buildings remain relevant.
The spirit, prayers and faith of the parishioners and friends of St. Adalbert Basilica was evident on Sun., Sept. 18 during the celebration of the parish’s 125th anniversary. The faithful focused on the “beauty” of the service and the recollection of the long history of the East Side parish.
Afterwards over 300 people attended a reception at Millennium Airport, Cheektowaga. There they were greeted with an exhibit of old class photos and historic pictures from the parish’s past.
Lori Dinero, a parish trustee, said “It was beautiful. What was beautiful about it was the focus on love and faith the people of St. Adalbert have had through the years. And, it was a celebration of that.”
William and Alfreda Wasik, former parishioners married 70 years, attended the event. Their two children attended school at St. Adalbert’s.
Alfreda said of the anniversary Mass, “It was very beautiful, very sweet. The Chopin choir sang very beautifully. It’s a shame it’s going to close.” Alfreda was a member of the Mother’s Club and remembers the nuns as being “very nice.”
William said the anniversary celebration was “well planned.” He was a member of the Holy Name Society and was active in Boy Scouts at the parish. He remembered all the societies being very active. He also recalled Fr. Joseph Bialek as being “very helpful, active, and pleasant.” And, he added, “He was very outspoken.”
Irene Kupinski, an active parishioner, said, “The service was just beautiful and I think God heard us. He gave us a last hurrah.”
Her connection with the parish goes back to her grandmother who settled on Rother St. when there was just a wooden church at the site. She noted that a century ago her grandmother was there at the beginning of the parish and a century later she was there fighting to keep it open.
(click on image for full view)
Michael Mroziak • Wed, Aug 24, 2011: Andy Golebiowski is not one to just sit back. If there’s a need or want in the local Polish community, and no one seems to be acting or leading, he might just take the reins. Not letting the many tales Polonia has to tell fade away is what motivates Golebiowski. He does not actively seek rewards for his work, but this year has earned the honor of Polish American of the Year by the Buffalo Bisons baseball team, which presented him with his award in a pregame ceremony at the Bisons’ annual Polish Festival Night earlier this month.
He likens getting involved with Polish related projects to jumping into a fast moving river and going along with the flow. Born in Buffalo’s East Side to two Polish immigrants who arrived in the United States after World War II, Golebiowski’s lifestyle as an active community participant is just as much a part of his blood as his Polish background.
“My mother has been an organizer of Polish things in Buffalo for a long time,” said Golebiowski. “She was a very active person, was involved with running the Polish Saturday School, and always running some kind of campaign or event or something like that, so I think I picked that up.”
Michael Mroziak • Thu, Aug 18, 2011: Buffalo’s Common Council President says there’s one person who is to blame for the Broadway Market’s continued operation without a dedicated full-time director. That person, says David Franczyk, is Mayor Byron Brown.
“We’ve given him every opportunity to move forward on the Broadway Market and he’s doing absolutely nothing, dragging his feet,” said Franczyk in a telephone interview with the Am-Pol Eagle.
Last week, the Am-Pol Eagle published a story featuring comments from vendors concerned about the continued lack of an executive director. Franczyk was contacted for an interview but after several traded phone messages, both sides were finally able to correspond but not until after last week’s press deadline.
“I think that’s the biggest problem right now because the Common Council has no authority to pick an executive director. For some reason, he doesn’t think it’s a priority. Everything else to him is a priority,” said Franczyk. “Even when we got the million dollars two years ago for the Market, I got it out of him kicking and screaming. He wanted to trade it for another project in the Masten District which I was going to support anyway.”
A near empty Broadway Market at mid-day on Tuesday of this week. Photo by Steven Kroczynski
“It’s a big-time worry. There’s no leadership, no direction, there’s no one to basically manage it all,” said Peter Cichocki, president of Camellia Foods. “You need someone that’s a manager of retail operations like that to handle the situations down there.”
The situations include building maintenance problems, some of which have been left unfixed for an extended period of time, according to merchants.
“The front doors are still broken and they haven’t been repaired,” said Irena Woszczak of Broadway Opticians. “There are times when some basic toiletries are not supplied because we don’t have a budget. Basic cleaning supplies aren’t being provided regularly. Equipment that we do have isn’t being maintained and if it’s broken it’s not being fixed.”
Kerr had taken the role as executive director at the Broadway Market in January 2010, leaving the position that November. His contract with the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation (BERC), which managed the Market, had expired that autumn. Kerr agreed to stay on for an extension but the City of Buffalo then dissolved BERC and with it Kerr’s position.
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