Dwight's Assumption Church earns national recognition
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 10:13 am
By S.L. Hansen
Southern Nebraska Register
On December 4, 2008, Assumption Church in Dwight, its grottos and chapel were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The application process started in 2007 under the direction of Father Peter Mitchell who was pastor at the time.
First, the parish had to be recognized by the Nebraska State Association of Historic Places, which granted the church, grottos, chapel and former school historic status in September 2008. Then the society forwarded an application to the national registry.
Various parishioners helped with the process, including Rosalyn Chmelka. A retired schoolteacher, Miss Chmelka is something of a historian in Dwight and Bee, her hometown.
"If I'm a historian at all, I'm a collector of articles," Miss Chmelka demurred.
For decades, she has maintained an extensive archive of every newspaper article that involved the town. Her resources were just what the parish needed for the initial application process. Articles about the grottos, the chapel, and the church's centennial in 1999 were all instrumental in proving their historic significance.
The Gothic-style church was built in 1899 by Czech immigrants. Resplendent with lovely stained glass windows, a beautifully carved high altar with matching side altars, ornate pews and inspiring statues, the church has been carefully maintained and little altered over the years.
In the 1960s, many churches interpreted Vatican II as an opportunity to strip down church interiors. Ornate high altars were removed in favor of a more austere style that reflected the modernistic tastes of the era.
Assumption parish, however, was spared this trend. Parishioners insisted that the church be left as it was.
In the long run, only the communion rail and a pair of angel statues were removed. But even those items were carefully stored by parishioners, awaiting the day they could be returned to their rightful places inside the church.
That day came in 1997. Everything was removed from the church to allow for repairs and a complete paint job. When the altars and pews and everything else were re-installed, the communion rail and angels were also brought back in.
Today, the church looks very similar to what it must have looked like at the beginning of the 20th century.
"It's inspiring," said Father Sean Timmerman, current pastor at Assumption. "I think it really helps the people in prayer. It just lifts the heart and mind to
God."
Next to the church is a beautiful grotto, built in the 1930s by parishioners at the behest of the pastor of the time, Father Benedict Bauer, O.S.B.
As a seminarian, Father Bauer had promised the Blessed Mother that if she would help him become a priest, he would build a memorial in her honor. Shortly after his installation as pastor at Assumption in 1931, he let the parishioners know of his vision to build a grotto for the Holy Mother.
They embraced the project enthusiastically.
"There were a lot of people who brought stones from all over," said Miss Chmelka. "We have what they call the Bohemian Alps [nearby] and a lot of big stones came from there. Some stones were brought in from South Dakota and other places."
Miss Chmelka marvels at the willingness of the parishioners to make the sacrifice to build this grotto.
"We have to give credit to those people," she said. "The grottos were built in
1934, and that was not a good year for anybody who was farming in Nebraska."
To this day, parishioners tend to the grottos. Betty and Frank Hamsa, who live directly across the street, touch up paint, plant flowers, trim the vegetation and keep the grotto in beautiful condition with the help of other volunteers, including Doreen Novacek.
"There is always somebody who steps up and says, 'We'll take care of it,'" said
Miss Chmelka.
The grottos have become a tourist attraction for the village of Dwight, but more so than that, it is a favorite place to pray among locals.
The grotto also includes a small chapel that features a beautiful icon of the
Blessed Mother holding the Christ Child. It holds four people, and while it isn't heated, it is frequently used for holy hours when the weather is warmer.
Beyond the grotto is the building that used to hold the parish school, which was also named to the National Register of Historic Places.
The school itself closed in stages, ending high school in 1962, and elementary education in 1974. It sat vacant for some time until an alumnus purchased the building and donated it to the town of Dwight. After securing a grant, the town converted the schoolhouse into apartments, one of which will be getting a new occupant shortly: Miss Chmelka.
Now she'll have the grottos and the historic church right beside her home.
"We're very proud of it," she said on behalf of the parish.
"Everyone is welcome to come out to visit," Father Timmerman encouraged. "It's
a beautiful place for God."
Photos provided courtesy of Assumption Catholic Church
