(By Alfred Karney • Wed, Jul 27, 2011) Father Thaddeus Bocianowski, pastor at St. Stanislaus Church, has said that he has procured the services of two interim organists to play at weekend Masses following the unexpected passing last month of long-time organist, Thomas Borowski.

Valerian Ruminski of the Nickel City Opera and Peter Gonciarz, an organ student at Villa Maria College about to begin his senior year, will be playing probably until the end of the calendar year.

Both men are already well known in the local Polish-American community. Many have attended Ruminski’s opera performances and a large number attended Gonciarz’s organ recital last Advent Sunday at St. John Gualbert.

Ruminski told the Am-Pol Eagle that he can stay at St. Stan’s only until the end of December because he will be leaving Buffalo to take the lead role in “Don Pasquale” at the Hawaii Opera Theater. But he said that until then he will be “looking around for Polish songs…songs that people haven’t heard” to sing at the noon radio Mass. He added that he has already sung a Moniuszko work, “O Matko Moja”, as a post-Communion motet.

Read full story @ AMPOLEAGLE.COM—->

I loved this letter to the editor published in the AM-POL Eagle recently.  It is from a priest in Rootstown, Ohio.

From the letter:

My diocese is doing the same nonsense that Buffalo did a few years ago. They are closing too many churches, and naturally most of the ethnic churches are being targeted. My bishop, however, is trying to be sensitive to the people, by leaving one Polish Church, one Slovak, etc., so if the people still want their traditions, they can go to these churches.

I never have believed in closing churches, but we can’t keep churches open without anybody in them. Corpus Christi was spared, at least for now. They have a devoted group that works for the parish. The best thing one can do, is to go there, and if you can’t go weekly, renew your ties with the old neighborhood and rejoin the parish anyway. The same goes with any of your old parishes on the East Side, or elsewhere.

The best thing anyone who doesn’t want to see these incredible churches in B-F fade away is by supporting them regularly or by taking the plunge by becoming a parishioner.

It is not only about Corpus Christi…Saint Stan’s, Saint John Kanty, Saint Adalbert Basilica and Saint Ann’s all deserve the support and attention of the larger WNY community.

ALIVE!

[read the full letter in the AM-POL Eagle--->]

(By Michael Mroziak) They say behind every good man there’s a great woman. In one of Buffalo’s police districts there stands a woman who, as its chief, is dedicated to protecting all who live, work, shop and play there.

Being a woman of Polish descent, there comes some additional passion for protecting those streets.

Chief Michelle Kubala leads Buffalo’s C-District, which includes the Broadway Market, Corpus Christi Church, St. Stanislaus Church and other nearby venues. While she cares about all citizens within the district, Kubala admitted to the Am-Pol Eagle in a telephone interview that protecting a neighborhood with Polish-American heritage offers some additional motivation.

“I probably shouldn’t say that it does… but it does,” said Kubala, who was standing inside the Broadway Market as it kicked off its official Easter shopping season. “I appreciate the fact that I grew up Polish, and all the traditions that were taught to me, so yes I do feel a strong sense of urgency to rebuild this community and make it safe and welcome people down here.”

Read full story on Am-Pol Eagle—>

All the info you could ever want about WNY’s Dyngus Day Celebrations can be found here.

The Am-Pol Eagle’s Dyngus Day Guide:

[click here to download]

Dyngus Day Buffalo’s Dyngus Day Guide:

[click here to download]

(Christina Abt – AM-POL Eagle and WNYmedia.net) This is the fifth in a series of Broadway Market at the Crossroads interviews. This week another market vendor speaks out, Peter Cichocki, President of Camillia’s Meats. While not as outspoken as some vendors, Cichocki and his family have proved that they are willing to hang tough and fight for their place in the market— and for the survival of the market itself.

Camillia Meats is a long time Buffalo business, established by the Cichochi Family in 1935. Yet, the well known WNY meat purveyor is one of the newer vendors in the Broadway Market, opening their stand just a short 4 years ago. Interestingly, two years after their market start up, Camillia’s President, Peter Cichocki, came close to shutting it down. However, a never-say-die attitude on the part of Peter’s 20 year old son, Adam, encouraged his father to give the market one more chance. The result is that today, Camillia’s Meats exists as an anchor among market vendors.

Read full story @ WNYmedia.net—>

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Previous parts of the series:

• The Broadway Market at a Crossroads Part IV
• The Broadway Market at a Crossroads Part III
• The Broadway Market at a Crossroads Part II
• Part I: Kerr calls for reason at the Broadway Market

(By Christina Abt, AM-Pol Eagle and WNYmedia.net) This is the third in a series of Broadway Market at the Crossroads interviews. This week the series focuses on two men who are on a mission to not only re-envigorate the market, but to re-invent the historic neighborhood surrounding it.

Marty Biniasz and Eddy Dobosiewicz are lifelong friends. The two spent the 1970’s and 80’s growing up in an East Side Buffalo neighborhood ethnically branded as, Polonia. Their childhoods were defined by Polish foods and traditions served up around architectural landmarks such as Corpus Christi and St. Stanislaus Churches, The Central Terminal and The Broadway Market. It is a shared life experience that has bonded the men with a passionate dedication to “re-inventing” their once vibrant childhood neighborhood. It is also a passion that, at times, makes them lightening rods of distrust and resentment among those equally devoted to the same cause.

[read full story at WNYmedia.net]

If the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo thought a ruling from the Vatican would put to rest the controversy over merging St. Adalbert Basilica on Buffalo’s East Side, it was wrong.

According to Ronald Suchocki, a parishioner and member of the Save St. Adalbert’s committee that appealed the decision of the Journey in Faith and Grace, the faithful want the Vatican to explain what it means by “rest assured that the church (St. Adalbert’s) will remain a place of worship.”

Suchocki believes the parish should remain open for regular worship. The Diocese believes the church should become an oratory and only be used for special occasions.
The Diocese of Buffalo in a statement said: “The Vatican Congregation for the Clergy has upheld the decision to merge St. Adalbert Parish into St. John Kanty Parish. Both parishes are in Buffalo.”

And, “ Bishop Kmiec said the merger of St. Adalbert and St. John Kanty parishes will be effective March 7, 2011. At that time, St. Adalbert Church will become an oratory of St. John Kanty Parish. An oratory is a sacred place that exists for the convenience of some community or group of the faithful.”

[Read full story on AM-POL Eagle's website--->]

(by Christina Abt – 01/26/2011)

Christopher Byrd is a Buffalo bred and born native who wears the varied titles of husband, father, manager of the Amherst Central Alumni Foundation, freelance web designer and online blogger/journalist. Currently, Byrd calls a Queen City suburban neighborhood his family’s home. Yet ask this 43-year-old about his strongest connection to his hometown and Byrd will passionately share stories about Buffalo’s Broadway Fillmore area and the Broadway Market. There, amid the East Side neighborhood’s crumbling infrastructure, this young urban professional has found a connection to his past, a purpose for his present and a strong motivation for his future.

[read the rest of the story on AM-POL Eagle's website--->]

(Jaroslaw K. Radomski • Wed, Jan 19, 2011) Many Polish-American families, veterans and members of various Polonian organizations were drawn to St. Stanislaus Church, the Mother Church of Polonia in Buffalo, on Jan. 16. According to Polish Christian tradition the churches are still decorated with Nativity sets “szopki,” Christmas trees “choinki,” wreathes, and flowers to glorify the birth of Jesus.

Rev. Joseph Klos, Rev. Czeslaw Krysa and Rev. Thaddeus Bocianowski concelebrated the Mass in Polish, which was also broadcast on radio. Polish Christmas carols were a very emotional part of the celebration, but the information about the beatification of Pope John Paul II, planned by the Vatican to take place in May, brought even more joy to all gathered in the old Polish church.

[Read full story at the AM-POL Eagle]