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Date: 9/11/2019
WESTFIELD – St. Joseph’s Church hosted its annual Fall Harvest Festival Sunday, the kick-off to a year’s worth of celebrations leading up to a party for the 100 th anniversary of the church in October, 2020.
The festival started over 75 years ago as a part of Polish tradition that still draws crowds today. The event includes traditional Polish food, Polish dancing and the presentation of a wreath known as the Dozynki. Held at the parish on Main Street, there were various arts and crafts activities for children, prizes for a 50-50 raffle and two grills cooking various meats – including kielbasa – outside.
Across from the raffle prizes in the parking lot a beautiful floral arrangement created by a disabled veteran from Westfield decorated a table. Inside the event hall, there was a bake sale in one corner and food for sale in the opposite corner while tables lined the center of the hall where participants ate and
celebrated together.
To lead up to the big 100th birthday party, St. Joseph’s will host a special breakfast the third Sunday of every month. Fr. Joseph Soltysiak, pastor of the church, said the breakfast will cost $5 per person with proceeds benefitting the 100th anniversary
celebration.
The fundraising begins next month when St. Joseph’s will sell
whoopie pies and offer free activities for children during Westfield’s PumpkinFest Oct. 19.
Soltysiak said he started preaching at St. Joseph’s in 1994. He said that along with his grandfather, who preached at the church through most of the 1920s, they have a combined 34 years of service at the church, just about a third of its existence. “It wasn’t a planned thing that they sent me here because he was here, it was just one of those things where two dots came together,” he said.
The church’s history began in 1920 when a group of PoliCatholics met at St. Joseph’s Hall before breaking away from the Holy Trinity Church, Soltysiak said. St. Joseph’s officially opened its doors in 1927 under the flag of the Polish National Church.
Since then, St. Joseph’s underwent its fair share of renovations, especially during the 90’s. Soltysiak said the construction included adding new doors, steps and replacing the church’s existing Signs of the Cross with ones from another church that had recently closed. While much of the church needed renovations at the time, the murals that cover its ceiling were left completely untouched.
While the renovations were thorough, Soltysiak said they wanted to keep the traditional look of the church. During the renovations the church was closed and Soltysiak said the first Sunday they returned was glorious.
Soltysiak and parishioners are looking toward the next 100 years as they celebrate a century of St. Joseph’s over the next year.