Parish celebrates its 50th

As St. Jude the Apostle Church in Wynantskill notes its golden anniversary, membership is "blooming," according to the pastor, Rev. James Clark. St. Jude's marked its birthday on April 27 at a Mass celebrated by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, Father Clark and Rev. Joseph Barker. In the half century since it was chartered, St. Jude's has evolved from a rural mission of Sacred Heart in Troy into a sprawling suburban community.

"When the parish was first chartered, they held Masses under a tent," Father Clark said.

William (Bill) Dedrick, a life-long parishioner, recalls playing as a child in a field near the tents. His parents volunteered his services to the first pastor, Rev. Thomas P. Tooher, to help prepare the field the day before the first Mass was celebrated. "It was raining, and I remember Father being very concerned that it would rain for our first Mass." But showers didn't fall that day.

In its early years, annual horse shows were held in the same field. Ninety-three-year-old Harold Rowe, one of the founding parishioners, helped to establish the shows in an effort to raise money for a church.

"Father Tooher owned a riding horse, and I owned five or six show horses at the time," he said. "We decided that holding a horse show might be a good idea. They were very successful. People would come from all around the country to show their horses."

Mr. Rowe said the shows united parishioners, who all "pitched in" to ready the field for competition and then worked the shows, which also helped the larger community by generating business for motels and restaurants.

In 1954, Father Tooher opened the doors of the grade school. Half-a-century later, Father Clark describes St. Jude's as "full of hope for the future, a place where all the people of Christ are welcomed to the table."

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