St. Elizabeth’s feels St. Stan’s pain

St. Elizabeth’s feels St. Stan’s pain

As I read about the parishio- ners of St. Stan’s who are upset about losing their Polish Mass, I think about my own church, St. Elizabeth in Campbell, as I prepare to attend my last Mass there. Due to the consolidation plan, the church is closing today.

I have seen many changes in my 49 years. I was recently looking through a parish directory which was published in the late ’60s. I was shocked to see that we had four weekend masses, two of which were Slovak. We have now been reduced to one Mass a weekend. I have also seen the closing of our grade school that I attended. We also share priests with another church in Campbell.

I fully understand the disappointment and frustrations of the parishioners of St. Stan’s in losing some of their ethnic heritage with the loss of their Polish Mass. We at St. Elizabeth’s have been there, but now we face a worse fate, the closing of our church.

When I moved to Boardman in 1997 I said I would continue to be a parishioner of my life long church as long as it was in existence instead of going to a closer church. During the last few months, we have faced the “last” church dinner, breakfast with Santa, Christmas Mass, the Slovak songs sang wonderfully by our choir, socials, Christmas parties, meetings, the Masses/services at the beautifully built grotto which my father helped build. It is a very emotional time every time we attend one of these.

I feel sadness as I look at the older parishioners of the parish who have known no other church and are now faced with the decision of choosing another church. My own mother is still undecided as to where she will attend.

The memories will always be in the hearts of the parishioners of St. Elizabeth’s. No one can ever take that away even if our church no longer exists. We’ve witnessed births, marriages, the loss of loved ones and other sacraments/socials together. We watched each other grow up and develop lives of our own. As we all choose our new parishes, one thing is for certain: we will always consider ourselves members of St. Elizabeth Church.

Janice M. Schultz, Boardman

More talk, more sports, less music

A couple of weeks ago it was announced in the paper that radio stations WNIO AM and 600 AM would be changing their formats at the end of December. 600 AM will be and now is all talk shows, and WNIO will become all sports. Like we need more chit chat and sports scores.

Both stations always had great music. Songs as far back as the ’40s to the ’90s and up. A lot of nostalgia and great DJs.

It’s really hard to find this kind of easy-listening music anywhere on the airways. Most of the music today is geared to the younger generation.

Oh well, I guess us older listeners don’t have any say-so. That’s too bad. Some of the music played on these stations we may never hear broadcast again.

Too bad the music was “the songs of our lives.”

Harriet Welsh, Canfield

There are great pets at the pound

I have adopted a wonderful dog that came from the Mahoning County Dog Pound. This mix breed dog has a wonderful temperament and is just the most loving dog ever. If she was not adopted out from the pound that day, this sweet dog would have been put to death as was her fate when she was picked up as a stray. It is also the fate of most of the dogs at the pound to be euthanized.

Unfortunately, many people just cruelly drop off their faithful pets at the pound when they get tired of caring for them or when the pet gets older and is not able to get around as well. It is so heartbreaking to see the sad faces of all those frightened dogs who sit alone in cold steel cages as they await their time to be put down.

What makes matters worse is that at Christmas time there is a surge of people who go to pet stores to buy a cute puppy as a gift not understanding the commitment that comes with getting a pet. Some of those puppies will also end up at the pound as they get bigger and not so cute.

If can commit to care of a pet, consider checking out the dogs at a pound. Rescued dogs are so willing to please, and you can check out their temperament to see if they will fit in with your family.

Marianne B. Lordi, Youngstown