History of St. Veronica's Parish (Part Two)
St. Basil's special mass was sung by the choir,
which was directed by Miss Helene O'Brien, Miss Ida May Dupuis being one of
the soloists, and an Ave Maria was sung by the whole choir during offertory.
Miss Anna Wierzbicki presided at the organ.
Following the morning's program at the church
Bishop Dignan and the visiting clergy were guest of Father Smith at a banquet
in the Windsor Hotel, at which they were joined by the remainder of the Sault
clergy.
Attractively finished within and outside the
church presents a charming appearance and is a credit to the district. Plans
for the building which were designed by Father Smith and he supervised all
construction. All labor work has donated by residents of Bay View and Harris
and Buckley.
Somewhat novel in the line of church, it can be
converted in little time into a hall. The altar, which was beautifully
arranged with a profusion of cut flowers yesterday morning, is built in an
alcove which projects into the vestry and can be completely closed off from
the church proper by sliding doors. Seats are all removable and the seating
capacity has been estimated at 528. An extension at the rear includes the
vestry and two rooms, the latter being used by Father Smith as his living
quarters.
One of the features of the building is a 22- foot
cross bearing 22 electric lights. It is of silver coated steel with a round
silver ball at the bottom and will only be illuminated on special occasions.
I t was illuminated last night and made a striking effect viewed from the
High Line and could be seen for miles.
Property on which the church as been erected takes
in an entire city block and comprises land from Wallace Terrace to Douglas
and west from Carufel to an unopened street. Twelve lots facing Douglas
Street were donated by the late George Carufel to the late Bishop Scollard,
while the reminder of land completing the block was purchased from Korah
Township.
Father Smith is going ahead with his plans to have
a children's playground made of the balance of land, a ball diamond in the
summer and a skating rink in the winter. Two carloads of cinders were donated
and placed at Father Smith's disposal by the Steel Plant toward this
objective and levelling ground about the church.
St. Veronica's parish priest is a great sports
enthusiast and plans on organizing youths of the community in sports such as
hockey and ball. He is soo-born and came back to his home town July 1 from
Espanola where he had been doing relief duty for a short time. Prior to his
stay in Espanola he had been stationed in North Bay.
From Sault Star, August 31, 1936 : We
would like to express our appreciation to Father Greg Humbert of the Diocesan
archives for providing historical data and photos of our
parish.
