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Biggest festivities still to come at Holy Trinity
Wednesday, May 23, 2001 By Jim Hosek, Tri-State Sports & News Service
The Rev. Edward Bunchek calls it a blessing that Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church where he has served as pastor for seven years is celebrating its centennial this year.
"So many other churches didn't survive," he said, adding that he hopes the West Mifflin-Duquesne parish continues for years to come.
The story of Holy Trinity Parish is the story of Slovak immigrants, according to its Web page history:
"They brought their skills, their language, their culture, but, most of all, they brought their faith. Some Slovaks had already settled in Duquesne before 1900. Since there was no Slovak Catholic congregation established in Duquesne, the people went to various Slovak churches along the valley in Braddock, Homestead and McKeesport. ...
"To recall those days past is to inspire a rededication of the people today. We deeply honor our past, which in turn gives us greater hope for the future."
The parish grew from a frame church built in 1901 at First Street in Duquesne into the present building, dedicated in 1970, on Grant Avenue Extension in West Mifflin near the Duquesne border.
"It wasn't that the parish outgrew the old church," Father Bunchek said. "A lot of elderly people had trouble climbing the four or five flights of steps."
"It's such a good parish with good people," he said of its roughly 1,200 members, adding that although Slovaks still abound, the parish is now multiethnic.
The centennial celebration committee, chaired by Fred Dachinetz, has a lot planned for this centennial year.
A tapestry depicting the Holy Trinity statues at the first church building is displayed at the church along with a centennial quilt made by parishioners.
Parish families are taking turns each week passing on a parish centennial cross made for the church's celebration. There are special prayers the families are asked to say together when they have their turn watching over the cross.
From Saturday until July 4, an Avenue of Flags will be on display at the parish's cemetery next to the church. Each flag will bear the name of a parishioner who served in the U.S. armed forces. The avenue will be dedicated at noon Saturday.
In future years, the flags will be displayed from Memorial Day to July 4.
A reunion for alumni of the now-closed Holy Trinity Grade School will be held July 7 at St. John's Hall.
An old-fashioned 100th anniversary church picnic, scheduled for Aug. 12 on church grounds, will be preceded by an 11 a.m. Mass.
That daylong event will end with fireworks by Zambelli Internationale.
The biggest event, still being planned, will be a Centennial Mass, concelebrated by Bishop Donald Wuerl at 2 p.m. Sept. 16, followed by a banquet.
A video with 100 years of Holy Trinity memories will be shown and available for purchase, and a time capsule will be presented.
More information is available on the parish's Web site at www.15122.com/holytrinity.
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