“I recall that the church at Christmas time was particularly beautiful,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “At midnight Mass, all main lights were turned off, and a series of smaller lights turned on.  These lights were on the ceiling of the church, and ran the length of each of the three aisles, from the entrance to the altar. 

The Historians Podcast Go Fund Me for 2023. This weekend, Sunday, March 26, 2023 we'll name the baby Henry from The Daily Gazette.

Go Fund Me Link The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore  or U.S. Mail. Bob Cudmore 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302.

Memories of St. Casimir’s

By Bob Cudmore

The pending closure of St. Casimir’s Church has brought back memories for Amsterdam native Richard Sidlauscus.  The historically Lithuanian church on East Main Street in Amsterdam is to close in May.

A second generation American of Lithuanian descent, Sidlauscus now lives in Connecticut and has not lived in Amsterdam in 42 years.  He has not been to Mass at St. Casimir’s in more than 15 years. 

“I finally came to realize that whenever St. Casimir’s is mentioned, it evokes memories of a time, place, people and events that were a major part of my youth,” Sidlauscus wrote.

Sidlauscus said that in his youth Lithuanian was spoken regularly on East Main Street from Schuyler Street to the city line.  He remembers the distinctive lilt of Lithuanian, beginning low and ending at a higher pitch.  There were businesses with names like Maldutis Bakery, Pakenas Cleaners, and Piliponis Grocery.

“If you were Lithuanian in the Amsterdam I grew up in, St. Casimir’s was the center of your religious and, to a great degree, your family social life,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “You went to Mass there; you attended religious instructions in the lower level of the church; you were married there; your children were baptized there.  Your relatives were buried in St. Casimir’s Cemetery.  You went to church picnics at the grove near the cemetery off Widow Susan Road.  You went to family dinners, club banquets, wedding receptions and showers at the American Lithuanian Club on Liberty Street.”

In the summer, the Sidlauscus family usually attended the 8 a.m. service so they could go on picnics to Wells or Great Sacandaga Lake.  The rest of the year, the family went to Mass at 9 a.m. as religious instructions followed in the school. 

The Mass was in Latin in those days but the gospel was read in English and Lithuanian.  Everyone stood for what seemed forever, Sidlauscus said, when the Passion was read as the Palm Sunday gospel.   

“I recall that the church at Christmas time was particularly beautiful,” Sidlauscus wrote.  “At midnight Mass, all main lights were turned off, and a series of smaller lights turned on.  These lights were on the ceiling of the church, and ran the length of each of the three aisles, from the entrance to the altar.  There were also lights over the altar.  With just these lights and candles lit, the church was magical.”

Sidlauscus said his father used to say you could get drunk by breathing in the back of the church among all the standing worshippers who came to midnight Mass directly from their Christmas Eve festivities.

Sidlauscus recalls when the men of the Holy Name Society would march down the aisle to take their places for the annual communion breakfast, wearing suits and

Emil Suda of Amsterdam enjoyed visiting Pingitore’s Shoe Store on East Main Street when he was a child. The proprietors kept toys on the floor to entertain children.  Suda said Pingitore’s had a toy dump truck and a silver robot with a flashing light on its head. 

Friday, March 24, 2023-Episode 467-Charles Morgan Evans is author of Helicopter Heroine--Valerie Andre, Surgeon, Rescue Pilot and Her Courage Under Fire.  Andre piloted primitive helicopters to rescue wounded soldiers in the 1950s for the French army in Indochina.  She became the first woman in the French military to be promoted to General.

Dr. Mahvash M. Majeed "Welcome to the Village" (All the Episodes) on Buzzsprout  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1648825

Mohawk Valley Weather, Thursday, March 23, 2023

Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day

Caroga committee to explore short-term rental regulations

https://www.leaderherald.com/