Men & Women of the Parish, March 1967

Here are two snapshots of some of the men and women of St. John's in March of 1967, not long after moving into the present church building. The men are shown seated at a table in the basement. From left to right they are: unidentified, Joe Cherney, Carl (later Fr. Cyril) Stavrevsky, Fr. Warnecke, John Dresko, Marty Staschak and "Sam," (also known as "Sam the Albanian.") All of these men were active in the establishment of the new parish. Carl Stavrevsky, later Father Cyril, became a priest in 1969 and later served this parish, where his son, Father Ken James Stavrevsky serves today. Father Warnecke was the priest of St. Peter and Paul in Syracuse, and a major figure in Orthodox circles in upstate NY. He, and his parish, served in something of the role of godparents to our parish. "Sam the Albanian" was actually named Sam Theodore, something like that, but many found his full Albanian name difficult to remember, hence "Sam the Albanian!" He was a member of the small Albanian church that our parish worshiped in for almost two years prior to purchasing the current building.

Next we have a group of women of the parish, also from March 1967, in the kitchen. (It was a more traditional era...) From left to right we see Helen Dresko, Dorothy Stavrevsky (Father Ken's grandmother,) Ann Paiko, Dorothy Staschak, Katherine Youney, Jane Wargo and Sultana Popoff. Again, a key group of our founding members. Without the dedication, hard work, and faithfulness of all of these servants of God our much loved parish simply would not exist!