St. Stanislaus Church rose out of the Black Dirt to sustain its parishioners

Pine Island - What St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Pine Island has become to parishioners today started in 1878 when 600 acres of muckland was given to the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin in New York City. That “Mission Land” eventually was sold in small parcels for $11 an acre and brought scores of Polish immigrants to the area to reclaim the land for agriculture, primarily the raising of onions. It was at the home of John Brozdowski in the same Mission Land area in October 1911 that a meeting was held for the purpose of establishing a Catholic church in Pine Island. Until then the residents from the Pine Island area would trek to St. Joseph’s in Florida or St. John’s in Goshen. On May 31, 1912, the church was incorporated as a mission church of St. Joseph’s, helped by an interest-free loan of $4,750 from the parent church (which was paid back in three years.) The cornerstone was blessed on Oct. 12, 1912 and the church was completed the following May. For 11 years the church was serviced by priests from St. Joseph’s until 1923 when the Rev. Thaddeus E. Kaminski was appointed as its first permanent pastor. It was under the stewardship of the Rev. John S. Felczak, however, that the parish grew in leaps and bounds. Father John was born in nearby Durlandville and returned to his roots when he assumed the pastorship of St. Stanislaus in 1933. The Golden Jubilee Book , 1912-1962, contains a pictorial and verbal description of the achievements of the parish and of Father John: Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, C.Y.O., Polish Legion of American Veterans, Pulaski Fire Company and Auxiliary, Pulaski Day Parade and the early Orange County Onion Harvest Festivals among others. The current pastor is the Rev. Joaquim Olendzki. One bright spot for the parishioners, if you can call it that, is that the proud, white church that dominates downtown Pine Island will remain. And the strong faith that kept those hardy pioneers going through floods, droughts and hard times will also sustain them in this latest crisis.