Russ and I would pick up my mom, June Jackson Egan at about 7:30 am and then Dolores Saltz and head across town from Washington Park to Holy Rosary Church in the Globeville neighborhood. No need to hurry - the pastor, Father Joseph Meznar, lived right across the street from the church but couldn't seem to get to the 8:00 o'clock Mass until 8:30. If fact, when he strolled in, he didn't have his vestments on, so it was another 10 minutes before the Mass began. It didn't matter.
On the third Sunday of each month, the church held a pancake breakfast, with hearty portions of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee. But people didn't really come to the breakfast for the reasonably priced meal. After Mass, the congregation filed in to the school cafeteria, armed with memorabilia and stories. The Polish folks from St. Joe's Polish church a half block away also arrived, as well as people who used to attend Holy Rosary, or who'd been married there, or gone to school at Holy Rosary.
There was sort of an order to the gathering with folks sitting next to family members or others they knew well. And the conversation started with current events - Margie Mauser's granddaughter had been accepted into law school, Bert Gizewski was in the hospital, Bernice Chacon's grandson Isaac was graduating from North High AND was the Valedictorian!
Once the substantial breakfast was finished, the visual aids were shared.
There were photos, yearbooks, scrapbooks, notebooks, newspapers, and recipes. (A few had X-rays from their most recent procedure - a sure-fire way to get a second opinion). There were stories of working in the smelter, the railroad, Gardner Denver, foundries, packing houses, and the phone company. There were recollections of school plays, the Holy Rosary choir, Sister Magdalene and Sister Rita. People remembered the Slovenian Gardens and Johnny "Pop" Popovich, the Mayflower Lounge and the Logan Grill (former home of St. Jacob's No. 12, the Croatian Fraternal Society).
Joseph Yelenick was the best! He had newspaper clippings from the 1940s, photos from Western Slavonic dances, picnics and bowling teams, and pictures of Yelenicks, Horvats and Canjars. Old Slavic names like Vucksinic, Videtich and Krasovich peppered the conversation. My mom, June Jackson Egan, could have worked for the CIA. She could recite all thirteen Grabrians, who they married and where they worked.
The congregation from the second Mass arrived, as well as visitors from other parishes.Veterans from World War II recalled battles fought and won (some apparently single-handedly) and the formation of the Globeville Veterans' Club. Dick Sadar and Chris Rouse provided well-known Slovenian tunes as well as requests. By12:30 pm, the event was coming to a close.
The parish no longer has pancake breakfasts because the space is used for religious education. Most of the people are gone now, but their stories and memories live on.
Dolores Saltz and June Egan share a story
Russ Markowski, Don Snyder and George Putnik
identify the person in that photo
June Egan listens to Joseph Yelenick
The Trostles are a big family
