28 NOVEMBER 16, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Ridgewood church ready to
celebrate its centennial
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Marking a milestone is always
something special, and for
the parishioners of Ridgewood’s
Our Lady of the Miraculous
Medal Church, they have a hundred
reasons to celebrate later this year.
The church -- known among local
residents by its acronym, OLMM -- located
at the corner of 60th Place and
Bleecker Street will be celebrating its
centennial on Sunday, Dec. 10, with
a special 10:30 a.m. Mass off ered by
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, leader of
the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens.
The parish’s priests and hundreds of
congregations will fi ll the church and
off er thanks for 100 years of spirituality
and service in Ridgewood.
We thought this would be an appropriate
time to present a very interesting
letter from Peggy Virgadamo
of Ridgewood, who refl ected on her
experiences at Miraculous Medal parish.
According to Ms. Virgadamo, she
and her husband received all of their
sacraments there, with the exception
of Baptism.
She writes:
My aunt, Mary Lang Worzberger,
attended the fi rst Mass in a bar in 1917,
and all of our children and I are proud
OLMM graduates, educated by the Sisters
of Notre Dame de Namur.
Msgr. Opell was our first pastor,
followed by Msgr. Ronaghan, Father
McMonagle, Fr. Davis, Msgr. Schuster
and our present pastor, Fr. Anthony
Sansone. My husband and I received
Confi rmation in the “new” church in
1943, as the auditorium of the school
(built in 1930) served as our church for
many years.
We both played CYO sports, and
my cousin was the coach of the girls’
basketball team. We attended the boys’
basketball games and dances on Sunday
nights; when in high school, we attended
Confraternity night each Wednesday,
with religious instructions followed by
a dance.
While my friends and I did not have to
attend because we went to St. Barbara’s
and Bishop McDonnell High School, we
went every Wednesday for the dances.
We were devoted members of the Blessed
Virgin Mary Sodality, and some of us
even took piano lessons in the convent.
My husband and I joined the Holy
Name and Rosary Altar Societies when
our oldest son started school, and I am
still a member of the Rosary Altar Society
almost 60 years later.
My brother in law, Nick Virgadamo,
later died on the stage in the auditorium
as he emceed a Holy Name presentation.
His four children also graduated from
OLMM, and his wife, Helen, was a girl
scout leader for many years. My fi rst
cousins, Rosemary Kusk Tiefenwerth
and Joseph Kusk, also graduated from
OLMM, and both enjoyed the same perks
we did. Joe was also a very proud altar boy.
Our children received all of their
sacraments here, and were active
participants as altar boys, CYO sports,
the Orbits’ band and Cub Scouts. My
husband taught the scouts to swim at
Grover Cleveland High School’s pool,
and when a tribute was planned for
Mr. Fiedler for his 40 years of scouting,
I did the letter-writing and my husband
was the MC. I wrote John Glenn, the astronaut,
inviting him to participate, as
he was a former Boy Scout. We received
a beautiful letter in reply which we
had laminated and presented it to Mr.
Fiedler at the celebration.
Father McDade, Msgr. Maurer and
Msgr. Fahy were my confessors and
spiritual advisers, all of whom later
became close friends. Since I had gone
to high school with Msgr. Maurer’s sister,
he asked me to join his newly-formed
Board of Directors for the fi rst Home
and School Association within the
diocese. Our motto was “to educate
the parents to help educate the child”
and under his direction, with loyal,
educated parishioners like Maureen
Walthers, former Ridgewood Times
publisher, and Ed Scharfenberger, father
of now Bishop Edward Scharfenberger
of Albany, the organization was a huge
success. Maureen and I were invited to
File photo
The Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Orbits marching band are pictured
in the OLMM School yard in Ridgewood.
