Prairie View Church Celebrates Centennial

One Logan County parish has dedicated a century of service to God, community and church.

More than 200 gathered to celebrate the centennial of St. Meinrad Catholic Church in Prairie View on June 29, according to Ella Nicko, a parish member since 1972.

?We had a wonderful day,? explained Nicko, the church organist. ?And we had a lovely dinner.?

A 4 p.m. Mass was concelebrated by Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Little Rock Diocese, Abbot Jerome Kodell of Subiaco Abbey and the Rev. Josely Kalathil of the Indian Missionary Society and current pastor of St. Meinrad?s. Also officiating were the Rev. Barbabas Susai and the Rev. Bruno Fuhrmann, both former pastors, and the Rev. Hugh Assenmacher, who led history classes at the parish.

Parish members, former parish members and guests enjoyed dinner after Mass and perused the many historical items on display as children played games and a quilt raffle was held.

?We had all kinds of historical things out people had collected ? pictures, scrapbooks,? Nicko said. ?Some of the young people kept journals in school. Those were interesting.?

Nicko explained that the Catholics of Prairie View established the school in 1890; the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica arrived in 1892 to staff the small school, which remained open until 1953.

?In the early 1900s, ?20s and ?30s, they had the kids keep journals,? she added. ?A couple of families kept the journals.?

In thumbing through one of them, Nicko noted that one child made the entry that they were not able to attend school one day because they were stripping cane.

?The sisters did a lot there; they worked hard for the children,? explained Nicko. ?They taught the girls embroidery and crocheting. They taught the boys basketball and volleyball.

?Kids didn?t have much back then; those little things meant a lot,? she added.

The Rev. Meinrad Epp of St. Scholastica parish took great interest in both the children and the school, often visiting classes.

Nicko said community members wanted to build a church.

?Then people traveled all the way to Shoal Creek or Morrison Bluff for Mass,? explained Nicko, adding that Shoal Creek was a good distance away and Morrison Bluff was even further. ?They tried for the longest time to build a church.?

After many attempts to establish a Catholic church in Prairie View, permission was finally granted from the Diocese in 1912.

The church, named St. Meinrad Catholic Church after the priest who took such an interest in the children and the school, was blessed by Abbot Ignatius Conrad on Jan. 19, 1913. The Rev. Stephen Heinkle served as the church?s first pastor.

?He came by horse and buggy from the (Subiaco) Abbey on Saturday and went back on Sunday,? Nicko said, adding that the church bell provided in 1913 is still in use today.

When the church was built, parishioners pitched in to do the work necessary for construction.

?They hired two people, but the rest was all donated labor,? Nicko explained, adding that parishioners hauled wood by horse and wagon from a nearby sawmill. ?There was a lot of manual labor donated. The people did a lot of work themselves.?

Over the years, the original building has been refurbished and modified, bringing it up to date with air conditioning and carpeting. Nicko said a major renovation occurred in 2012, with the entire interior of the church painted, new lighting installed and pillars and accents added to the altar area, with many parish members once again pitching in.

?Today, our people are very much involved in doing things on our own instead of hiring people,? she said. ?We have wonderful members of our parish who are good at electricity and carpentry and all very willing to donate their time to doing things.

?We?re a do-it-yourself group,? Nicko added of the 42 families that make up St. Meinrad parish.

Benedictine priests from Subiaco Abbey served the parish for 96 years; a lack of priests prompted the Diocese to arrange for priests from the Indian Missionary Society to serve St. Meinrad, which they have been doing since 2007. Kalathil, who also pastors nearby St. Ignatius Church in Scranton and Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Morrison Bluff, has been pastor since 2011, she said.

Several former longtime parishioners were recognized during the centennial celebration, including Helen Wolf and Kathrine Fox. A couple from Fort Smith who was married in the church 70 years ago also attended, according to Nicko. The Rev. Richard Walz and Cassian Elkins from Subiaco Abbey, along with other former parishioners, joined the choir for Saturday?s celebration festivities.

Source: http://swtimes.com/sections/features/prairie-view-church-celebrates-centennial.html

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