What a difference 100 years can make!!  The first time I ever came to St. John Nepomuc Church was with my mother.  She had a bunch of friends that belonged there that she wanted to meet, and attend mass at the same time, although we belonged to St. Anthony's in Highland.  So Dad hitched Nelly to the one seat surrey and away we went down Snow Bottom past Pelisheks, taking a short cut that came to the Bowers place (the road is overgrown now).  From there we didn't have too much farther to go--a total of 6 miles.  When we reached our destination, we tied the mare to the hitching post.  Most of the Parishioners were standing outside waiting for the Priest.  I took a few steps and stopped in awe when I saw what the Bohemians were practicing while greeting each other--the grandmothers did it with a kiss on the lips.  They combed their hair and formed it into a bun, either on top of their head or on the back of the head.  On their head they wore a  "babushka."  It was a scarf made of heavy material about 36 inches square folded crosswise and tied under their chin.  The men wore white shirts, suits, ties, and hats.   Handshakes were it.  The Priest came from Muscoda--a man brought him out for the mass once a month, winter and summer, with a team of horses.  He put them in Grandfather Kuchar's barn (Joe and Marie's now) and fed them because church services and instructions would take hours.  Mass started around 10:00 and on Confession days lasted until 2:30 or 3:00.  No one received communion unless they went to Confession.  For quite a few years during this time there were about 3 different Priests.  I can remember Father Tauschel and Father Prucha the best.  In 1915, I came there as a bride.  My mother-in-law, Eleanor, and Anna Prochaska were the leaders and they elected me to help them get the children, girls and boys, ready to make their First Communion.  I felt proud of being modern enough to be the leader of a bunch of innocent children on such a Holy Happy Day.  The girls wore homemade white dresses trimmed with lace, a wreath and veil.  The boys wore suits.  They marched in pairs to the altar kneeling on the carpet inside the communion rail.  While standing in the middle aisle each received a decorated candle, a medal, and a brown scapular.  It was a long time for the children to fast from midnight until they got home with the horse and buggy.  I can still remember what I wore that day--a black skirt and white blouse.

Mass started with Father coming out of the sacristy, preceded by 4 altar boys, the first one pulled on the chain that rang a bell on the door announcing their entrance, and the choir sang a hymn.  The boys walked to the bottom of the 2 steps, then the last ones stepped back to let the Priest walk up to the high altar carrying the book.  He laid it on the right side of the altar, then he stepped in the middle, threw the heavy stole that lay folded there, over his head and turned to the people with some Latin words.  Remember the Priest and altar boys always had their backs toward the people.  At a certain time, 2 boys walked up to carry the book--one from the Epistle to the Gospel side, while the other carried the heavy square piece that covered the chalice later.  All of the Mass and hymns were done in Latin.  While writing this, I got stuck at one point, so I rang Celia Studnicka.  Her mother, Mary (Prochaska) Kuchar was the organist for 27 years.  After that, her sister, Emma Nowak, took over.  We talked about Peter and Emma Zitka losing a child.  No priest came, so Celia's grandfather led some prayers or rosary in church as we are not sure about the burial and if there was an undertaker.  Is there a marker?  I was too young to pay attention and Celia was little.  Getting back to Mass, the congregation prayed with the Priest while the choir sang the whole time.  At some points, the Priest would turn to the people with hands extended and say some Latin in a low voice and the choir would answer with a Latin antiphon.  There was a communion rail across the front that enclosed the altar.  People knelt on the outside holding the linen cloth fastened to it under their chin while receiving the sacred host on their tongue.  The host must not touch their teeth.  At last, the Priest knelt with the boys on the bottom step and the parish prayed the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary in English.  The altars were decorated with artificial flowers by Bill Biba's grandmother.  Aunt Laura Mary Kuchar took care of the altar linens using boiled starch with flat irons heated on the wood range for ironing them.  A small old-fashioned furnace burned wood.  It was located in a cubbyhole in the cellar.  To get to it you opened the clap doors outside and walked down several steps to the inner door.  The heat goes up, so there is a large round register in the middle aisle of the old church.  Harold was the janitor one or two years.  The salary was $75.00 per year.  Richard and I would take turns helping him in winter months.  We got up and walked up to shovel the deep snow to the church and to the hitching post where the horses were tied and blanketed.  One sunny day, as I looked around to see if everything was in good shape, I spied a cobweb near the ceiling by the side altar--was I nervous.  I prayed, hoping no one saw it.  We took care of that by taking a long fish pole with a dust cloth tied to the tip.  The yearly church dues were about $18.00 a year.  From a large family that was hard.  The Sunday collection was $.05.  I will never forget that my father put fifteen cents into the first envelop instead of five the year he lived with us.  It had a great impression on me.  I think it made me a better giver.  Picnics in the 20s and early 30s were get-togethers.  I remember on held on the school ground (now owned by Charles Sell).

The church men and boys built a Bowery Platform of home-sawed lumber on Joe and Marie's land across from the cemetery where dances were held--waltzes, two-steps, and square dances music with accordion and violin.  I was 15 and my friends on the Ridge were Ida Prochaska, Carolyn Kuchar, Emma Nowak, Nora Yanna, and Anna Washa.  I walked from home 6 miles by daylight for the dance one or two times and stayed overnight with Anna (Frank's sister) and walked back home the next day.  After that, I lost track for a few years as I did belong to Highland.

Emma Washa

(Watch next month for Part 2, plus information about St. John's Annual Chicken Soup and Ham Dinner)

At 104 years old, Emma Washa has been declared the world's oldest columnist.  Because of her advanced age and her lifelong storytelling skills, Emma has recently been featured in many newspapers and magazines, including Ladies Home Journal.  Emma was even invited to appear on the Jay Leno show, which she declined.  Emma resides at the Fennimore Community Good Samaritan Center, but keeps the house at Castle Rock that she shared with her husband, Frank, who is now deceased.  Frank and Emma had 9 children.  Emma currently boasts about having 55 grandchildren, over 100 great grandchildren, and "10 or so" great, great grandchildren.  You can read Emma's weekly column, Observations by Emma,  in the Boscobel Dial.  Emma loves to receive mail and hearing about your stories would make her day!  The address at the Good Samaritan Center is 1850 11th Street, Fennimore, WI  53809.