From Rootsweb.com Erie County (PA) Genealogy Cemetery Records: Saint Mary of Czestochowa Polish National Church of Erie was started April 2, 1917 and was located at 21st and Wallace Streets in Erie, PA. The church was part of the Polish National Catholic Church, which was a splinter group of the Catholic Church and was not associated with the Erie Catholic Diocese. The cemetery was located on Merline Avenue on the south side of Erie, just off Peach Street. In 1972 the City sent a crew to clean up the cemetery, including removing all headstones. On February 21, 2001, thanks to the work of Mr Tom Doyle, whose grandparents are buried there, the City of Erie dedicated a new memorial with the names of 34 people known to have been buried there. It is believed that up to 80 burials may have taken place there. The property now belongs to the Pulaski Club.
Mystery solved. They missed a tombstone. The name of Genevie Mandarin is on the memorial (pictured above) that was placed near the site.
We have some bright people at the Erie School District too. From a story on WJET-TV: An 18 year old student from Liberia spent last year in 4th grade. I wonder if he shaved in his car as he drove to school…
A year ago today Matt Aldridge was in Athens, Greece competing in a powerlifting competition. He finished 9th lifting 418 lbs. He recently earned a degreee in physical education from Edinboro University. He is buying a gym and will begin touring as a motivational speaker. Why a motivational speaker? Aldridge was born without shinbones and had his legs amputated when he was a year old.
The Comerica Business Forum being held today in Dallas features speaker Tom Ridge of Erie, who was the first Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Ontario municipality of Central Elgin has begun negotiations to assume ownership of Port Stanley harbor and establish a Lake Erie ferry service to Cleveland, Ohio. A fast ferry between Erie, PA and Port Dover, Ontario will begin operating in 2006, a year or two ahead of Cleveland.
Fred and Elaine Petrini of Erie are spending the year working as Volunteer Visitor Assistants at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Petrini is a retired Pennsylvania state trooper.
Colt M Stinger of Erie, PA was charged Sunday with furnishing alcohol to minors in Hebron Township, NY.
Gannon University is accepting submissions for its 29th annual High School Poetry Contest. Cash prizes will be awarded, including a $100 first prize.
Mercyhurst College will host the Athena Powerlink Awards Luncheon at 11:30 am Thursday, Sept 29, at the college’s Mercy Heritage Room. Chet Giermak, the retired president and CEO of Eriez Magnetics, will be the speaker. Athena Powerlink is a national coaching and mentoring program that started in Erie in 2001. It began in an effort to promote women-owned business and the growth of the Erie business community.
A college fair will be held at the Mercyhurst College Recreation Center on Thursday from 7 to 8:30 pm. Over 75 college representatives from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and other states will be on hand to answer questions from prospective students and their parents. Admission is free.
Dave LeFebre of Erie, a professional bass fisherman, has joined the pro staff of Gamma Technologies. Gamma prodeuces fishing line and is based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Washington’s Landing.
The Mercyhurst (1-6-1) and Gannon (5-2-1) men’s soccer teams will meet Wednesday, September 28 at 4 pm in the first of two conference matches this season. The Lakers will serve as hosts this time.
I’m glad you wrote about the grave story, because I was going to. I couldn’t believe how they treated the story, with stock footage of skeletons and spooky music. That’s someone’s headstone, not a joke.
The worst part is that this wasn’t the last throwaway story of the news, that little cute story. This was the THIRD story of the night. Somebody thought this was more important then Rita, Katrina and all sorts of other stories.
Ugh. Local news…*shakes head*
Or WICU could have asked my grandfather and he could have told them. I remember a few years back we drove by that cemetery and he gave me the low down (sort of speak). As to the sensationalism of broadcasting, that’s how it is. In fact here in Detroit the news is SO sensational that Gina and I can’t even watch without rolling our eyes every 2 minutes and scream at the anchors for being such dumb asses. You either get mediocre broadcasting (Erie) or ratings hungry monsters in markets like Detroit where the local news is virtually a tabloid style program.
As for the Erie School District –no surprise there (or ever). My lifetime of education in the public school system has taught me better (ironically). My kids are going to a private school.
I did not see the story televised but I am glad you cleared the air on this issue. In addition to being webmaster at 90.5 WERG, I am a professional genealogist and as you said could have found out the facts with just a trip to the library. Thanks so much for posting this.
Over-sensationalizing?! Are you friggin’ kidding me? It was basically a cute little feature story on a slow news night. The library was long closed by the time we finished shooting and interviewing. We barely had time to put that little piece together and get it on the air, never mind investigate. We did however launch an investigation after receiving a bunch of phone calls and realizing people were really into this thing. Those of you who followed the rest of the week know, we went to the library the very next day (and yes, used google), discovered the Merline Ave. Cemetery, and the Rootsweb site, which led us to the possibility that the city leveled the cemetery in a shady manner. Eventually we were able to locate Genevive’s other daughter near Las Vegas, and cleared up the whole mystery of the headstone. The question now is, did the city break any laws by desecrating this cemetery and leaving no trace of the headstones? As you know by now, we did find a number of other headstones around the area,but haven’t been able to definitively trace any back to St. Mary’s. Our investigation continues, but there are other stories to do in the meantime. Those of you who may have any knowledge whatsoever of the local news business know we have no I-Teams, or investigative departments. It’s just one reporter trying to find the time to snoop around while working on two or three new stories a day, and trying to raise a family.
Since you all seem to know better methods of investigation, and have some time on your hands, I would appreciate any help you can offer. You can send me any tips, story ideas, or advice to scook@wicu12.com.