September 2004

Dear Visitor,

I became aware of the restoration project that St. Michael the Archangel church in Pielgrzymka is currently undergoing when a descendent of a Pielgrzymka family returned from a trip to Eastern Europe and Pielgrzymka.

St. Michael's is a very special little church where many of our ancestors went for comfort during the happy and sad times in their lives. The church was the center of their lives. The historical significance of St. Michael's has been acknowledged by the Polish government in their declaring it a historical site. They will reimburse the parish for 1/3 of the total renovation cost. I am hoping to collect enough money to pay for the remaining 2/3 of the costs from Americans whose ancestors attended this church and people who just care about preserving our religion and culture in our Rusyn homeland. This church has a rich history. It houses an icon of the Virgin Mary which dates back to approximately 1605, and a stone bowl for blessed water which is inscribed Iwion Glodko, AD 1603. The people of this parish are not wealthy and would benefit greatly from the generosity of their families in the US.

Please read the attached flyer for more details. If you are a member of a church where other Pielgrzymka families settled and still attend perhaps you could post this flyer on your bulletin board or in your church newsletter. You could also forward this e-mail to any other "Peregrymyans" that you know of!

Any support that you can give toward this project would be greatly appreciated. Checks can be made out to either Ks. Roman Dubec (the Pielgrzymka parish priest) or myself, Maryann Dubowchik Bacsik. The only reason I have put a choice of my name or the priest is because of the additional fees associated with cashing American checks in Poland. Whatever checks I cash I will use to write one large check to send to Fr. Dubec. However, I can understand if people would rather issue a check directly to the parish - that would be fine. You can mail checks to me at 40 Morningside Circle, Little Falls, New Jersey 07424 and I will forward them on to Poland.

Thank you so much!

Maryann