The 60^th anniversary celebration of St. Joseph’s Church will take place Oct. 11 with a special Mass of Thanksgiving at 5:30 p.m. to be offered by the Rev. Ronald Wiktor, pastor.

Hymns during the Mass will be rendered by the St. Cecelia Choir of the church under the direction of Martha Lachowski, organist.

After the Mass, a reception will take place in the church hall to which all parishioners and friends are invited. The children of the sixth, seventh, and eight grades of St. Joseph’s Parochial School will participate in the program by presenting a skit.

Old and recent photos depicting activities of St. Joseph’s Parish will be displayed and anyone having such photos are requested to submit them to Martha Lachowski or to Helen Ptak, parish council secretary. All photos will be returned.

The ladies of the parish took part in a special project sponsored by the Renew Group of the parish. They have designed and are putting together squares which will created an altar covering with embroidered or hand sewn designs and family names. The covering should be competed for the Mass on Oct. 11.

Committee members are: Hospitality: Jane Gordiski and Anthony Roginel, parish trustees, and William O’Doy Jr, parish council president. Liturgical: Katherine Piascik of the parish council and Irene Bohn and Martha Lachowski. Refreshments: Alma Roginel, Helen Androski, Chesterlyn Green, Stella Pawlak, Estelle Dudzis, Tess Doubrava, Jean Bohdan and Kathleen Pawlak and Helen Ptak of the parish council. Other parish council committee members are: John Androski, Henry Barclay, John Danielski, John McMillan and Mary Tosolini.

The history of St. Joseph’s dates back to the 1900s when the Polish people residing in Ansonia approached the Rev. Paul Wasyko, who was the pastor of St. Michael’s School in Derby, for permission to build a parochial school in Ansonia.

They had been sending their children to St. Michael’s School by streetcar or walking and the enrollment at St. Michael’s was at that time 700.

They were granted permission by Bishop Nilan to build a school only if a convent and church were included in the project.

In 1924, when a parish census was taken and 218 families were counted in Ansonia, a total of $1,422.50 was collected. Rev. Waszko was transferred and taking over as pastor of St. Michael’s in Derby was the Rev. Joseph Studzinski, who purchased a parcel of property on Jewett Street for $6,000. The Mansfield house was situated on the property and was offered to the city of Ansonia and moved to its present location. Construction of a new school was started in 1925.

On July 12, 1925, the first Mass for the new parish was celebrated in a hall rented from the Figi d’Italia Society on Central Street, which was bought a few months later by the Polish Falcons. The first pastor of St. Joseph’s was the Rev. Aloysius Zieleznik.

On May 2, 1926, the cornerstone was blessed and on Aug 22, 1926, the first Mass was said.

Registration for the new school was held in September and a total enrollment of 396 children attended classes on Sept. 16, 1926. Sister M. Noela was the first principal.

Warsaw Park, which is located on the Pulaski Highway in Ansonia, was purchased in 1933 by the Rev. Joseph Janowski, the pastor who took over after Rev. Zieleznik’s transfer. A total of 34.6 acres of land was purchased from the water company. A pavilion was built in 1934 with cabins, a camper’s pavilion, swings, and see-saws. there was also a stream running through the park and a fish pond and swimming pool were added in later years.

Today, much of that has been destroyed by fire or vandals. The only remaining building on the land is the ballroom consisting of a sunken dance floor which could accommodate 650 people.

Construction of the rectory was started in 1936. The passing of the Rev. Janowski on Nov 5, 1936, gave us a new pastor, Rev Casimir Kwiatkoski, who remained with St. Joseph’s from Nov.15 1936, to Dec. 23, 1965, until his death. There were many accomplishments under the leadership of Rev. Kwiatkowski.

The church parking lot was started in October of 1941. Five acres of land was purchased near the church. The land was mostly all gully and filled in with 11,000 trucklododatki of sand and earth for the Farrel-Birmingham foundry. The area was opened in February of 1949. This was one of Fr. Kwiatkowski’s accomplishments.

The bell which stands in front of St. Joseph’s School was purchased by Fr. Kwiatkowski, in 1950 from an abandoned Protestant church in Winchester, NH. The bell was cast in 1842 weighing 1,200 pounds and sold for $495. It was formerly mounted on the school roof.

The new convent for the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth was opened on July 14, 1957. Parishioners were responsible for the building after donating $100 per family.

Many changes and additions took place in the 1950s. The statue of St. Vincent de Paul was placed in front of the church. The Sacred Heart statue was erected in back of the school and in 1967, the new Shrine of Mary was blessed. This was all made possible through donations.

Warsaw Park is all a part of St. Joseph’s Parish. Polka dances and picnics are held during the course of the summer months. It was formerly the sight of many famous sports banquet and balls. But as time changes so do activities.

In 1976, St. Joseph’s celebrated its 50^th anniversary. The chapel in the rectory was completed under the direction of the Rev. John Kuczynski. The parish participated in Ansonia’s Bicentennial parade and won first prize for the float entered in the parade.

The parish invited the community to share in the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of its founding.