From the Utica Observer Dispatch: N.Y. Mills’ Holiday on Main Street draws revelers to park

The faces of children and adults were aglow Sunday during the ninth annual Holiday on Main Street activities, which included a tree lighting, bonfire and other activities.

Resident Linda Armstrong attended the event for the first time this year with her grandson Dakota Saxe, 4, of Clinton. The two sat together near the fire Sunday after sledding, seeing the Christmas tree light up in the village gazebo and hearing village trustee Kenneth McCoy read —The Night Before Christmas.—

—This is kind of nice,— she said, smiling.

McCoy said the event took several months to organize and the assistance of several community groups to be successful. The New York Mills Fire Department monitored the bonfire. The fire department’s ladies auxiliary served refreshments, and the local Lion’s Club offered tractor-pulled hayrides around the surrounding streets. The nearby Sacred Heart of Jesus-Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church also participated, selling refreshments and providing space for musical performances.

The groups performing there and throughout the parks included the New York Mills Jazz Band, the New York Mills Elementary and Junior-Senior High School choral groups, the Sounds of Silver Choral Group and the New York Mills Children’s Bell Ensemble.

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—Everyone comes together, friends and family,— he said. —And our focus point is really on celebrating the Christmas season.—

Sacred Heart of Jesus-Holy Cross is pastored by the Very Rev. Walter Madej. Father Senior Madej and his parish go to great lengths to support the NY Mills community. Fr. Serior, along with his parish committee worked to support the establishment of a monument to mill workers in Pulaski Park, which adjoins the church. The Rome Arts Hall of Fame notes:

In collaboration with Rev. Walter Madej, Jim [McDermid] created two sculptures which now reside on the corner of Oneida and James Street in Utica. Also with Rev. Madej, Jim created a stainless steel and copper Bell Monument which sits on Main Street in New York Mills as a historical reference to the village’s past and in honor of the mill workers who formed the majority of the village’s earliest population. Jim uses a figurative image in both realistic and abstract ways to express human content.

The dedication of the bell monument, and Fr Senior’s work (read The Bell from the history of NY Mills), resulted in the establishment of the annual NY Mills Bell Festival, now entering its 9th year.

In addition to the festival, Fr. Senior worked with Dr. Richard Chmielewski to establish the White Eagle Medical Bridge to Poland. The program provides Polish hospitals and clinics with much needed training, supplies, and equipment. The group holds an annual charity golf outing to support its work which has included: the shipment of a complete cardiac catheterization laboratory, the establishment of a supply network for rural clinics, and organization of the first emergency medicine congress ever hosted in Poland.

These programs and events are a testimony to Christian charity and the work of Father Senior Madej and all Polish National Catholics in NY Mills. May God bless their work.