Photo Gallery: Fifty Years Ago: St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown

St Columba Dedication

Gallery

Vindicator file photos/Edward A. Shuba and Lloyd S. Jones

FIFTY YEARS AGO: The cross that sits atop the bell tower of St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown was put in place by helicopter after being blessed by Bishop Emmet M. Walsh on March 10, 1958. While hundreds watched from below, there was a moment of suspense as the ropes became tangled around the 300 pound cross. Francis Gaffney, 27, of Liberty Township scrambled halfway up the cross to cut the lines, knowing that if a sudden gust drove the helicopter upward it would lift him and the cross into the air. Seconds after this photo was snapped by The Vindicator’s Lloyd S. Jones, the lines dropped and the copter whirled away. The Knights of Columbus were at the ceremony, and two unidentified men stood in topcoats on the top of the cathedral to watch.