St. Cyril Catholic Church

The nuns from St. Mary’s taught the children their lessons. Mary Agnes remembers coming home from school taught by Sister Mary David two weeks during the summer. “We’d come home with a bunch of books, medals and cards. We did so well. Sister Mary David played the organ for us a while and then we found out she had red hair and we laughed when that strand of red hair came out of her habit. That red hair matched that Sister.”

Joseph Maglich was the first to be baptized in the basement church in 1916. John Haluska and Teresa Povala had the honors of being the first couple married in the church on June 5, 1916.

By this time the Church had grown to well over 70 families, too large for the 30 by 50 foot basement. A new church was proposed by Fr. Clohessey, Pastor of St. Mary’s. The old foundation was broken up by hand and hauled away. The new church was completed in 1926 when Fr. Peter Smith was pastor. Fr. Smith and the parishioners worked to purchase items for the church.

One great provider for the church was the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, chapter 351, Zenska Jednota, which was formed as an insurance company to protect the people. The insurance policy was for $1,000 and included a sick benefit program. The society provided the Church with its bells and the Stations of the Cross.

Mr. Olinsky, Mr. Pavola and Mr. Maglich all rang the Church bell. Betty Javorik remembers when her father, John Olinsky, rang the bell. “Dad rang the bell a long time. Then, after my dad passed away, my sister, Mary, and I rang the bell. The first time I rang the bell I forgot to let go of the rope and up I hit and that was the last time I rang it that way.”

Another important item purchased for the Church were the pews. To pay for the pews, each family was asked to pay $5.00 for a section of pew.”Each pew had a little card with your name on it. When you didn’t pay-well, up comes the card and there was a blank there,” says Steve Juricak.

Usually the girls would all sit in the front pew with their brothers and other boys behind them “where they could get them by the hair,” remembers Joe Topi.

Anna O’Renick remembers going with Fr. Smith and Sister Mary David to buy a new organ for the Church. “I remember Sister Mary David was teaching the choir and then after that we went to buy this organ.”

The women of the Church played an important role. Never losing the language of their homeland, the women would go to the Church every Sunday at 2:00 for the saying of the Rosary in Slovak. “My mother and 10 kids would go to the Rosary in the afternoon and Mrs. Beal would lead the Rosary and Mrs. Wrabeck, Mrs. Haluska, Mrs. Brokel, Mrs. Straka and Mrs. Pavola would sing the litany in the Slovak language. We couldn’t go anywhere else Sunday afternoon. All the mothers—the fathers didn’t go. We used to cry, we didn’t want to go to that Rosary, but you went and you didn’t goof off.” You learned to say the Rosary in Slovak and to sing the litany in Slovak. Then after that we were like a bunch of chickens-we all flew to the movies,” says Mary Agnes Diesko.

The women also made sure that the church was kept clean for Sunday service. Every Saturday morning the mothers would clean the Church. “And if the mothers couldn’t come, they sent their daughters, and if they couldn’t get their daughters to come, they got someone else’s and they would give them $5.00 for cleaning, says Anna O’Renick.

You had to do all the pews and put wax on them, “says Mary Agnes Diesko. “That church wasn’t that dirty, but you cleaned it anyway.”

On Saturday, all the house chores were completed because on Sunday all was quiet. “Those were the days when Sunday was Sunday. Now Sunday is just another day. People wash, they cut grass. When I was little you didn’t hear a hammer or a saw or nothing. Not even sweep the kitchen floor. You had to do it all on Saturday,” says Cookie Kobe.

“On Saturday, we used to have to sweep the yard from one side to the other and everybody baked. You knew who was baking what just by looking down the street. Mrs. Maglich used to bake the best cornbread. Whenever she made it, I always went over there because she would give me a big piece,” says Betty Javorik.

Fr. Peter Smith was the first full-time priest at St.Cyril, after a series of part-time priests from St. Mary’s served the Church.

Fr. Smith was with the parish until 1936. One of the fondest memories of the priest was of his driving. “The way that guy drove, you knew the good Lord was with him all the time,” says Steve Kobe.

“He’d cross 24 Highway going to a basketball game with a bunch of kids and I’ll tell you—they holler, “Father, Father, stop-there’s a stop sign.” “In God we trust,” he’d say.

After Fr. Smith, the parish was served by Fr. Radwich until 1960. “He came here the year my mother died,” says Anna O”Renick. he and my brother George went to Rome and they were visiting Fr.Baum when he was going to school there. Mother was so very ill. I sent a cable and they came back home then. Fr. Radwich came in September and my mother was his first funeral. When he came here he didn’t know anybody and he had his first breakfast at my house. For a week, he came up there and I gave him the meals until he got himself settled down here because George knew him real well.”

Fr. Radwich was well appreciated by the older people of the parish who had been going to Kansas City, Kansas to say their confession to a Slovak priest there. “Father Radwich made it a lot easier for the old people because when they went to confession they more or less went in Slovak. Fr. Smith was Irish and I believe that old people felt more comfortable about Fr. Radwich here,” says Joe Topi.

Mary Agnes Diesko remembers Fr. Radwich for his Legion of Mary. “You know Fr. Radwich, he was a businessman and the way he’d go down to city hall and find out who had come into the city because of the water hook-up. He’d get the names and go to the Legion of Mary and he’d say, “All right there are the new people. Be sure you call on these people and see if they would like to join the church and if there is something we can do or if there is martial trouble, that’s my department.” We did a lot of good.

“He’d say, “Now Mary, it will only be one night a week.” We were all working then and it would end up being three nights a week, one night you’d go to the meeting, the next night you’d make your calls and then you’d have to go make a report. It was very rewarding because you’d see these people and some joined the church and others came back into the church.

Celebrating the Special Times

Celebrating the Sacraments was a very special time. Baptisms were as special an occasion as weddings. Food would be shared after the baptism and there would be a party of family and friends. The plate was passed to provide a gift for the baby and the Godmother bought the baby’s baptismal gown. “If you couldn’t buy the whole outfit,” says Helen Brodzinski, “you at least bought a  little undershirt so he wouldn’t run around nude in heaven.”

Confirmation was another occasion that was looked forward to. The group all had one sponsor, Mr. and Mrs. Kapina, who gave them ice cream cones for their confirmation. Betty Javorik remembers being confirmed the same time as many of her friends. “I made my first Holy Communion the same day I was confirmed because there were—I don’t remember how many of us, and we had red carnations in our belts.”

Weddings were another joyous occasion and reason for celebrating. Rather than sending out wedding invitations as is the custom today, the best man and groomsmen would don a derby hat, white flannels and black jacket, white shirt and bow tie. The best man would carry a cane with little ribbons tied to it and would go door-to-door to make the invitations. “We’d knock on the door and say, “Mr. and Mrs. Olinsky have invited you to come to their daughter’s wedding. She’s marrying so and so, you’re welcome to come to the wedding at the Church at such and such a time and a reception will be held at the hall. Used to have Slyman Hall where Andy Manners’ taxidermy shop was. There was many a wedding thrown there,” says Steve Juricak.

The groomsmen in the wedding also bought the bridesmaid dresses. “The girls wouldn’t mind being a bridesmaid or maid of honor then,” says Cookie Kobe.

Bridal showers were also different than today. Showers were for the young people, the bride to be and groom to be would both attend as well as all their friends.“ They never invited older women to the showers in those days, just young boys and girls,” says Anna Dumsky.

“At my wedding shower, George Vida went to Kaminski’s store he wanted to buy a blanket,” says Anna Dumsky. “You know what kind of blanket he bought me? A baby blanket. I’ll never forget that. He was more embarrassed than I was because he thought it was a big blanket. I didn’t need a baby blanket then,” says Anna Dumsky.

On the day of the wedding, the musician for the wedding would come to the bride’s home and they would play a song for her. Betty Javorik remembers how sad the occasion could be. “She would thank her mother and father and they would thank her and ask their forgiveness of her. It was really sad. I remember they came down and got my sister Suzy and then they walked her down Seventh Street and up Chicago and to the church door.

We went through a ritual like that, Mike and I, before we got married,” says Anna Cholak. “We knelt right there in our living room and he said a long service and asked me questions  and asked my mother to forgive me and I forgave her.”

“You were entering one life and leaving another,” says Anna O’Renick.

After the wedding, the receptions were very big affairs. Instead of having the wedding catered, the women would cook all the food and after the eating they’d push the tables back and dance. “To start out with, they’d dance with the bride and there would be an old lady there with a bunch of dishes in her lap and if you wanted to dance with the bride, you had to go over there and break a dish, with a silver dollar and if you didn’t have a silver dollar, you’d throw a dollar down there and she’d say, “yep, he broke it-go ahead,” says Steve Juricak.

“They used to sing when they played for the bride to dance,” says Anna Cholak. “They’d sing, “Giam blada giam blada whose bride is she, whose bride is she.”

In addition to the weddings and baptisms that brought people together, celebrations of Holy Days also brought times of sharing food and rejoicing together.

Lent was a time of deep reflection and renewal for the people of St.Cyril, just as the earth was being renewed in the coming of Spring.

“On Friday nights, we’d alway have Stations of the Cross and everybody looked forward to it,” says Anna O’Renick. “It would be real cool when we started, then, as it got closer to Spring and all the kids had a real treat by getting to come down here on the school grounds and playing. But those Stations of the Cross were deeply rooted in all of us. It was something we dearly loved.”

Sacrificing during Lent brought an even greater respect to the children. “When Lent came around and that was good-bye shows, good-bye music, good-bye radio, good-bye dancing. When it was over you were really thankful that we could get back in to doing the “big apple” or something,” says Anna Cholak.

Mary Agnes Diesko remembers saving up her candy. “During Lent, you would save your gum and candy in a cigar box and when you chewed that gum-it was so hard. But we didn’t throw it away, even if it was hard.”

Helen Brodzinski added, “But we really loved it when we got it. It meant something. It wasn’t as if you were made to do these things, you just did it because it was a chance to do something special besides just going to church.

The arrival of Easter brought with it the ritual of Spilling Day on Monday. According to Betty Javorik and Helen Brodzinski, Spilling Day came from the days of the Lord, after he rose and they went around saying, “He has risen, He has risen,” and the Jews spilled water on them to keep them quiet and to disperse the crowds.

“Mike would come over and he’d say, “I want to spill Annie,” says Anna Cholak. “I was scared he was going to drench me and I’d say, “ No, just a little bit in my hands.” They had  to spill it three times so he’d pour a little each time, then the third time he’d put that dipper right in my face. he couldn’t resist it no matter how he promised.”

“Frank Diesko was good at that,” Mary Agnes remembers. “He and the Engleman boys would carry a bucket and come to spill. We still got that window in the front door, that whole glass, and they were chasing Aggie and he went right through that window and the boys went right through the window after her. My mother and dad just laughed. The didn’t get hurt, they went so fast.”

The Advent and Christmas seasons also brought family and friends together to share the special Slovak foods and family traditions. One common ritual was when the family was gathered around the table for dinner. Oplotki or the”host” would be passed around the table and as each member dipped the wafer in honey, the mother or father would make the sign of the cross on their forehead and say in Slavic, “Let the whole world love you like the bees love honey.”

“It was a ritual. We would all be quiet and my mother would go around and pass the host and everybody would take a small piece, dip it in honey and take it and follow it up with a glass of wine and then father would start serving everybody,” says Anna O’Renick.

After dinner some familes had the ritual of each family member cracking a walnut. “If the walnut was good, we would be healthy,” says Anna Cholak. “We would be knd of scared to crack the walnut in case we were going to be sick with a bad walnut.”

During supper there would be a holy candle on the table. Anna Cholak also remembers the tradition her family had where each person would blow out the candle and whichever way the smoke went told whether the person was good or bad. “We always looked forward to that, we’d start by all saying, “Dad, you better start first and he’d blow out the candle and went wiggle like that it meant he was a bad guy all year, but if it went straight it mean he was good.”

Mary Agnes Diesko remembers how many of the boys would make a little extra money at Christmas. “They’d knock on doors and say in Slovak, ‘We wish you a Happy New Year’ and they say a little funny so that meant extra money, an extra quarter. I tell you that rap on the door cost you, all those little boys.”

Foods from the old country are a favorite at Christmas time. One common dish is Bubiki little dumplings rolled in honey and poppy seed. “We’d put them in the colander and blanch them with hot water and add melted butter or powdered cheese or you could have fried cabbage with it or poppy seeds,” says Anna O’Renick.

Halushki, potato dumplings, was another popular dish. “Halushki and patushka are dumplings pinched on the sides. Then you fried it in cabbage and you box them together to let the cabbage flavor the halushki—that’s the kapushti halushki. But your frioli—you make them in little triangles-you use brick cheese and potatoes,” says Steve Juricak.

Calories were not something to worry about, despite the fattening food. “Everybody worked so hard, you burned it off. Nobody worried about calories,” says Joe Topi.

Social Life in Sugar Creek 

Times were good then and everybody found plenty to keep busy. Socials were always looked forward to. There was plenty of real ice cream and cake and spinning wheels for fun.

“We had loads of fun those times,” says Anna O”Renick. “We had real ice cream socials and other times we just had ice cream and cake socials. We had everything out on the lawn.”

To obtain items for the socials, Mildred Diesko would go to all the businesses in Sugar Creek to ask for donations. Helen Brodzinski remembers going with her. “I was just a little girl and Fr. Smith wrote a letter. I went with Mildred Diesko then and we went from store to store begging. We got so many things. I’ll never forget from the dime store I got a color book. It was good for the socials. Mildred didn’t have anyone to go with her so they had me go. That was the first time I was ever in a tavern because we’d go through the taverns in Sugar Creek, too. So Mildred took me by the hand and she said, ‘come on, you’ve got to learn now to do this.’ Mildred Diesko did a lot.”

The Merrymakers Club was responsible for putting on plays in town. One such play was “Carrie Comes to College” starring Anna O’Renick, Big Mike, and Louise Rangle and Milly Hicks. “They had the whole program up like they do at Starlight telling what everybody did,” says Mary Agnes Diesko. “It was practice, practice, practice.”

Anna O’Renick remembers at one point when things didn’t go quite to the script. “Louise had to have a little bit of cheer to strengthen her up, you know, and she got one to many. She was looking for the football under the table and that wasn’t in the script and she says, ‘Where did the darn thing go?” and she was rolling around on the floor looking for it. It was just as funny as could be.”

Other popular ways of entertainment were the silent movies held in the school and church. Steve Kobe and Ernie Danforth ran the projector and admission was only a nickel.

A yearly treat for the young women of St. Cyril’s was their annual trip to Excelsior Springs. Anna O’Renick remembers, “We had the largest group of young ladies sodality and once a year we would go to Excelsior Springs. My brother, Mike, would drive the truck and Joe Maglich would go with him. It was just a huge bed on the truck. We would wash it up real nice and clean and put paper and blankets down.

“He would park up here in front of the church at 6 in the morning and when the Angelis was ringing we would take off. We got to Excelsior Springs and to Lake Mar at 8 o’clock Mass. Soon that group would come back and then the other half of us went down to the 10 o’clock Mass. Then we would have the whole park to ourselves and we’d have all our food with us and we’d have a wonderful time.

“We’d sing all the way down there in the bed of the truck,” says Mary Agnes Diesko.

“And we’d freeze coming back home in the bed of the truck,” added Betty Javorik.

While everyone enjoyed sharing in the fun together, they also were always ready to share in the work also.

“If someone said they were going to build a house back then, they’d get a bunch of guys they worked with and they’d get together and build the house. All he’d have to do is put in a few cases of beer and lunch and they’d work like heck to get that house built,” says Steve Juricak.

Steve also remembers when it was time to butcher the hogs. Everybody got together to help each family with the butchering. “I’ll never forget when I was a kid there would be a guy come through town with a wagon with about 8 or 10 hogs on it. He’d pull up to the alley and my dad would say, “I’ll take that one there.’ He’d pull it off the wagon and ask if there was anyone else who wanted some hogs. We’d say, ‘yep, so and so up the road will take some.’ And he’d go on and get rid of all the hogs. And then here comes John Halushka and he’d say, ‘When do you want to butcher your, and they’d all come over to the house with their rye and they’d butcher the hogs and scald them and hang them up back there in the yard.”

“They’d get them all clean and take them down to the basement and the women would start cutting them up in small pieces to make sausage and the men would go to someone else’s house to butcher the pig. One guy would head out first to get the fire started and get the water boiling. We’d get over there and stick the pig, we didn’t shoot him. First of all they’d take a rag and a bucket of water there and he’d call out ‘ready’ and the women would stick that tub right down there and catch all the blood to make blood sausage. They would butcher maybe six hogs that day and the next day do the other six. After they butchered them and cut them in half they took them to the basement and let the women do the rest.”

Steve also remembers those years from 1920 to 1933 that are  known as Prohibition. Steve remembers the day when the federal agents discovered his bootlegging operation down by the Missouri River.

“One time, down on the River, John Diesko and I went down there and I said, ‘John, it don’t look right.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘I just got a hunch, it don’t look right.’ So we drove on by, we had a little plant on the island, John and I. We got up on the cement where you could see the hills, and looked right down on my plant. I could see a light flicker here and a light flicker there and that place was just surrounded by agents. I said to John, ‘I had a hunch, see there they are lighting their cigarettes.’ They didn’t know we were watching them from the top, it was dark. They were expecting us to come from the lower road, down by the river. They waited for three days for us to show up down there and I never did show up. Finally I got up on top of the hill and looked down there and there were barrels scattered all over, tore up and a big hole chopped in the still. They got tired of waiting for me and they tore it all up.”

The times were special then and memories grow fonder as each day passes. As Anna O’Renick says, “We call them good old days and they were, we had peace and fun and no worries, we didn’t have to lock our houses and we didn’t have to lock our cars-we were free. We were contented with what we had, we didn’t have much but what we had, we enjoyed.”