History of St Bronislava Parish
Excerpts from Because We Are Grateful, St. Bronislava Parish A Centennial History; 1996
Rare picture of the original St. Bronislava Church, built in the
summer of 1897 and the rectory built in 1900.
In the 1880's, the town of Plover became the focus of Polish American migration in Portage County. The early settlers, of all heritages desired a church to call their own.
On October 12 1896, Bishop Sebastian Messmer of Green Bay granted permission to 60 families to start a Catholic parish at Plover. Father Xavier Kasperski was the temporary pastor, he agreed to honor the ethnic heritage of the majority of parishioners by naming the new parish in honor of Blessed Bronislava, acclaimed as a saint in Poland. Mass was in Latin, but the sermon, confession and catechism classes were in Polish
The parish purchased a bell weighing 500 pounds, which was rung on Easter Sunday, 1897. The new frame church was blessed by Bishop Messmer on December 10, 1897, and on June 19, 1897, 31 children made up the first First Communion class.
The brick school building, completed in 1908, included a classroom
plus living quarters for boarding students and teachers.
Father Klosowski started talking about building a school in 1905, but
it took till July 1907 before a vote was actually taken. The first school
cost $1200, and the vote to build it was very close. The building was
completed in June 1908 and blessed by Bishop Paul Rhode.
The first class had at least 60 students, in one room, under the direction of
one lay teacher.
The school was in the hands of lay teachers - usually men- until 1918, when the Sisters of Saint Joseph agreed to take over. Lessons were conducted half in English and half in Polish.
2nd installment
The first organization of St. Bronislava Parish was the Rosary Society. It brought women together for both religious and social reasons. The parish was growing and things looked good. Then on August 8, 1910 lightning struck the church - it was soon wrapped in flames, and in a few minutes it was wholly destroyed. Nothing inside the church was saved except the Blessed Sacrament, due to the quick rescue work of Father Klosowski's mother.
The congregation decided they would rebuild their church, this time it would be brick and resistant to fire. Work began in May and was completed on November 20, 1911. Bishop Fox dedicated the church on November 21.
St Brons 1911 Although St Brons was the highest point
on the horizon for many miles, the church was only struck
one more time by lighting, in 1913
St. Brons continued to grow and in August 1911 received a permanent pastor, Father Klosowski. That was another reason to celebrate The stability did not last, as the Polish-American church grew in the US, it depended on Polish priests and in 1914 WWI began and immigration came to a halt. One important event during the WWI years was the arrival of the Sisters of Saint Joseph at St. Brons in 1918 to teach in the school.
St Brons acquired a new organ in 1932, this had been a long time goal of Father Lapinski. The church was also redecorated. To celebrate, Father Lapinski and Professor Walkiewicz, a Polish-born, European trained musician, planned a grand concert of music and song. The 40-voice choir of St Peter's, an operatic soloist, violinist Edmund Bukolt, a double quartet and Wallkiewicz himself perform classical and original works. It was a grand opening for the new organ and the redecorated church.
The 1930's brought hard times to Plover and St. Brons. The economic downturn of the Great Depression and the most severe drought in the history of Plover brought economic disaster. The hard times were reflected in the enrollment of St Brons school, which fell from a peak of 80 students in 1929, to 54 in 1932.
St Brons suffered a serious disaster on Sunday, February 9, 1936, faulty heating in the school set the building on fire. As the parishioners filed out of church they saw smoke and flames engulfing their school. Always optimistic, parishioners considered themselves lucky. The fire broke out on a weekend, so none of the children were present, also it broke out during Sunday Mass, so the sisters who lived in the convent were in church. Also, the wind was blowing away from the rectory.
Although the church and rectory were spared, the parish did not have the resources to rebuild and refurnish a school. It would be more than a half-century before St Brons would build another Catholic School.
1910 - The students of Saint Bronislava's school, with teacher A.J. Rabarczyk
3rd installment
In 1939 war broke out once again in Europe. Local men had already been drafted when the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor in 1941 brought the United States into the war. Although Saint Bronislava was a small parish, less than 100 families, at least 50 men from the parish served in the military during the war.
The parish took part in food and clothing drives for the victims of the war, these continued into the postwar years of the 1940s and 50s.
1953 brought Father Francis Przybylski, who would stay with St Bronislava for 25 years. The 1950s brought the postwar baby boom children. This prompted Father Przybylski to arrange for the Sisters of Notre Dame to conduct classes at St Bronislava. Classes were held in the church basement. Although only a few attended classes at St Bronislava, it was the parishioners of this baby boom generation who remembered the lessons they learned in the 1950s and prompted the vigorous growth of the parish in the 1980s.
Although the students of the early 1950 learned Latin hymns to be sung at Mass, they did not learn Polish. That tradition had faded and the last Polish sermon was preached at Saint Bronislava in 1957. Although Father Przybylski continued to hear confessions in Polish and Polish hymns were still occasionally sung at funerals.
New technology and practices were transforming agriculture in the Plover are, and changes in lifestyle summed up by the term "suburbanization" also began to have their affect. Plover village and town grew from a community of less than 1500 people in 1950 to over 4000 in 1970 St Brons grew from a parish of 120 families in 1950 to 1200 families in 1983.
In 1978 Father Francis Przybylski completed 25 years of service at St Brons. He implemented the liturgical changes put forth at Vatican II, and took steps to improve the religious education of parish youngsters by building the education center. The religious education center was completed in 1974. Father Przybylski's impact was great, and he left lasting memories of his stewardship at Saint Bronislava.