St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28 Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here.
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Send press releases and announcements to info@iberkshires.com. Need to contact someone at iBerkshires? Here's how.
Mammography Dispute The government's issued controversial new guidelines stating that women shouldn't get annual mammograms until age 50, rather than age 40.
iBerkshires will be meeting with local medical experts Monday. Have a question you'd like answered on this issue? Send it info@iberkshires.com with "mammogram" in the subject line.
Parishes have some options to protest their closings.
Appeal to the bishop within 10 days of a decree of suppression or merger. He's got 30 days to get back to you - or not.
If the answer is still no, the parish then has 10 days to appeal to the Congregation of Clergy in Rome. They could take years to respond and usually back the bishop.
All is not lost. The next step is to appeal to the Apostolic Signatory, the Vatican's "supreme court." It is headed by St. Louis' former Archbishop Raymond Burke, who leans conservative.
If the first appeal for a hearing fails, the last step is a plea to the full bench of the signatory. The process can cost thousands.
St. Stan's Pins Prayers on Mediation Request
By Tammy Daniels - April 08, 2009 iBerkshires Staff
Irene Cwalinski has been participating in the St. Stan's vigil twice a week for 15 weeks.
ADAMS, Mass. — Irene Cwalinski has been coming twice a week for the past 15 weeks to sit for a few hours in the chilly air of a closed church.
She's been attending St. Stanislaus Kostka for decades. She's not ready to join another parish. She's still hoping the historic church will be saved.
"It's like the bishop tore the hearts out of the people here, the parishioners," she said, tearing up as she spoke of her church. "It's like our second home and he took it away from us." ... Continued.
St. Stan's Joins With 30 Parishes in Appeal to Rome
By Tammy Daniels - April 07, 2009 iBerkshires Staff
St. Stanislaus leader Laurie Haas talks to vigil members on Monday night.
ADAMS, Mass. — As the faithful at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church pass the 100-day mark of keeping vigil, they're hoping a Holy Week that ends with Resurrection will be repeated in the revival of their beloved church.
St. Stanislaus' Church was closed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield two days after Christmas as part of a consolidation across the Berkshires and Springfield region. But the descendants of the Polish immigrants who built the church with their sweat and money are fighting the decision on several fronts — and finding friends in other communities. ... continued.
Youngsters in Polish costume enter St. Stanislaus Church in this file photo.
Time Magazine Records Parishioners' Fight
The battle to keep St. Stan's open received national attention in this week's issue of Time Magazine. The story, "Postcard: Adams," is featured in the magazine's print and online publications for Jan. 8
Reporter Stefanie Friedhoff interviewed several people leading the vigil at the Adams, Mass., church, including Fran Hajda and Hank Tomkowicz. She also speaks to Council of Parishes leader Peter Borre, who has been advising the church's members on conducting their vigil and appeal of the closure.
Likening the church's closing to a death in the family, Monsignor John Bonzagni, the Springfield Diocese's director of pastoral planning, told Friedhoff that "If the parishioners at St. Stan's need to mourn this way, we will do nothing to interfere."
Posted 12:55, Jan. 9, 2009 Vigils End in New Orleans
Two churches in the Big Easy were back in the hands of the local archdiocese after a 10-week vigil ended with police ordering parishioners out.
The news was disconcerting to the protesters at St. Stanislaus Church who had pointed to the New Orleans vigils as examples. They and the two Southern parishes were being advised by Peter Borre of the Council of Parishes, a grassroots group formed to fight church closings in the Boston area.
The day after Christmas a group called the Friends of St. Stan's entered the church vowing to not to leave until every last avenue to save the historic Polish church had been tried.
Last week, three days after the church's official closing by the Diocese of Springfield, nearly a dozen group members were working on a schedule that keep the building occupied by at least three people at all times.
"We've got a lot of support," said Francis Hajda, the group's spokesman. "People have been bringing us coffee and doughnuts."
He and Henry "Hank" Tomkowicz were pouring over large schedule board, trying to plug in empty time slots with volunteers. There were a lot of holes to plug, but the group was undaunted.
With good reason, it appears - more people are joining the effort.
Hajda, contacted on Monday, Jan. 5, said about 130 people had gathered at the church to sing carols on Sunday evening. "It was a really good showing," said Hajda. The event was so successful, the singing will resume next Sunday but at 2 p.m., an easier hour for the former parish's elderly to attend.
The church will also be in the national spotlight. A reporter from Time magazine spent the entire afternoon on Friday interviewing parishioners; a photographer showed up Sunday.
A strategy meeting last week was attended by close to 100 people, said Hajda. At least that many are expected for this week's meeting; meetings are held at 7 p.m. on Mondays.
The diocese, meanwhile, has said it won't interfere with the vigil unless safety issues arise. The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, said, "We'll leave it to the will of God."
The appeals process in Rome could last more than a year; the diocese has said it is unlikely to overturn the local decision.
St. Stan's was one of six churches closed this fall as the diocese restructured parishes in light of declining attendance and a lack of priests. St. Thomas in Adams closed the week before St. Stan's; both parishes along with Notre Dame, were consolidated into the Parish of Pope John Paul the Great. Notre Dame was designated as the new parish church.
In North Adams, St. Francis of Assisi and Our Lady of Mercy were closed and consolidated at St. Anthony's Church, now known as St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
Those closings, while heartbreaking for many parishioners, were not met with the same level of bitterness as at St. Stan's. Parishioners there fear losing their church also means losing their heritage.
And so the Friends of St. Stan's are determined to go on. Hajda spent four night in the airy, but chilly, church last week.
"Church pews can be surprising comfortable," he said.
Photos of St. Stans to be exhibited at the Storefront Artist Project in April.
April 3 – 26.
Opening Reception: Friday, April 3, 6-8pm.
Photos of the last mass held at St. Stans.
Photos by Monika Sosnowski.
Storefront Artist Project
124 Fenn Street, Pittsfield
Open:12-5, Sat & Sun
413-442-7201
www.storefrontartist.org
from:
on: 03-17-2009
Even though I'm not Catholic; I stand fully behind this action of trying to keep a beautiful church and community together. Stay Strong!
from: Concerned Friend
on: 02-19-2009
I was wondering iberkshires would mind doing another story on the vigilers to get an update on the vigil, media attention, and the appeals process?
from: Concerned From Afar
on: 02-11-2009
talk to the historic society this church should be on the national historic registar then they diocese can not touch anything in the church!
from: bill
on: 01-29-2009
Please take a look at this site about the unique stained glass window found at St. Stanislaus Church. The frescoes as well as all the other beautiful artifacts makes this worth keeping. Who would ever be able to appreciate the beauty of so many artists if churches were closed in other parts of the world? We would not be able to see the beauty of the Sistine Chapel if it had been closed. We need to cherish and respect not only our heritage but the sacrifices people made so that the generations to follow would have something to be proud of.
Stand up and support the keeping of St. Stanislaus Church open and intact.
I found these two letters (in particular) truly summarize the arguments for keeping St. Stan's open.
http://www.adamscatholics.org/images/sept2008.pdf
http://www.adamscatholics.org/images/nov20th.pdf
from: Keeping Tabs
on: 01-14-2009
I could not be more proud to be a Polish Catholic than at this moment. My family has many special memories in the Church and I am only sorry that I can not be there to support the efforts of the brave and faithful people of the Parish. The Parish and the town of Adams are in the prayers of my family. This is not simply about the closing of a Church. It is a about the wrongful and misdirected closing of a Church. Anyone who reads the research can see that.
from: Ashlee Armata Nestor
on: 01-13-2009
from: Francis hajdas
on: 01-10-2009
Yes, there is an article on Time.Com .... and there's a full-page article in the hardcopy of Time Magazine which just arrived (the January 19, 2009 issue).
from: Keeping Tabs
on: 01-10-2009
What's going on with this page? I just tried to read it and there is multiple layers of text making it illegible.
Editor: It appears to be an Internet Explorer problem that we thought was fixed. Aargh! Try using Mozilla's Firefox browser. We've haven't had issues with Firefox. Update: I think I fixed it. Hopefully, it will stick.
from: Vigil
on: 01-09-2009
Does anyone know whether the Time reporter and photographer were for the hardcopy of Time magazine or the online version?
Editor: It appears to be in both according to the Web site, but I have not seen the paper copy. See the links above.
from: Keeping tabs
on: 01-09-2009
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10 days of a decree of suppression or merger. He's got 30 days to get back to you - or not. 
If the answer is still no, the parish then has 10 days to appeal to the Congregation of Clergy in Rome. They could take years to respond and usually back the bishop.
appeal to the Apostolic Signatory, the Vatican's "supreme court." It is headed by St. Louis' former Archbishop Raymond Burke, who leans conservative.
