St. Nicholas Parish, Jacobs Creek, PA To Celebrate Restoration of Fire Damaged Church
October 18, 2002
JACOBS CREEK, PA - Members of all parishes and all clergy are
invited to join the parish family of St. Nicholas in Jacobs Creek, PA to
celebrate the restoration of their church after a fire in January 2001. His
Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas and pastor Rev. Father Daniel Montville have
announced the following information for Saturday, May 10, 2003: Services begin
at the church at 10 AM and include blessing of the church interior and icons and
a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Immediately following, approximately 12:30 to 1
PM, a brunch will be served at the Holiday Inn in Belle Vernon, located on PA
Route 51.
As one of the smallest of our Diocesan parishes, they
were grateful for the support of their sister parishes of the diocese in raising
funds for this restoration. As much work as possible was volunteer labor of the
parishioners, including clean-up, carpentry and various other skills. This is
reminiscent of the work of many since deceased coal miners whose volunteer labor
constructed the current brick building in the 1960's. Also the contract bid
estimate was higher than the final payment the contractor requested. With these
additional efforts, the insurance and donated funds provided all
necessities.
When the local mines were active decades ago, this parish had many hundreds
of members. Many members worked at the Darr mine, site of the worst coal mining
disaster in PA history with 239 killed on December 19, 1907. However, giving up
a day's pay, the members of the parish were attending the St. Nicholas Holy Day
Liturgy when the ground shook at the time of the accident. The saving of the
lives of these coal miners is represented in the Miracle of St. Nicholas icon
located in the Greek Catholic Union's Carpathian wooden style chapel located in
Beaver, PA.
Jacobs Creek is located near the intersection of Interstate 70 and PA Route
51. In New Stanton, the PA Turnpike splits off as a separate Interstate 70 about
15 miles from this intersection. Follow PA Route 981 through Smithton. The cost
of the brunch will be $15. To have an estimate of the number of meals to be
served, if you are likely to attend, please contact Becky Bobich at
724-872-6509.
