WHITNEY PIER — Small pots, big pots, silly pots and traditional pots were all up for grabs at the unique teapot auction and social fundraiser for the final phase of St. Mary’s Polish Parish rebuild.
The historic church in Whitney Pier burned to the ground in 2014. They are in the final stage of rebuilding, estimated to cost $30,000.
“These are teapots that I have collected for 36 years,” said Donna Cooper, who came up with the idea for the fundraiser.
The longtime Whitney Pier native decided to donate 35 of her 300 pots to be auctioned off in memory of her father, Alvin Seymour, who died four years ago.
“My dad did a lot of volunteering and that’s why I wanted to do this in his memory because of this time he put into the community,” she said.
This final phase of the rebuild is mainly the kitchen. It also includes finishing the library.
“This is going to be a tremendous community asset. It is very much a community kitchen, not just a parish kitchen. We will have cooking workshops and community meals here,” said Tom Urbaniak, a member of the parish.
“The library will allow people to periodically just come in and do homework here.”
Urbaniak said they wanted to do this to thank the community for the support they have gotten since the fire destroyed the historic building, when it was 100 years old.
“We’re very conscious of the fact that we’re in the middle of the Pier and we’re very proud of this neighbourhood. We very much see ourselves as serving as an anchor here,” he said.
“The community has been very good to us and we want to continue to be very good to the community.”
It isn’t just people in Whitney Pier who have donated the time or money to St. Mary’s. Other churches in Cape Breton and Manitoba have given items.
Stained glass came from the former Sydney River First United Church. Wooden pews are from the former Church of St. Eugene in Dominion. The altar was sent from a Polish community in Manitoba.
The first pastor of St. Mary’s left in 1915 to go to Manitoba and helped set up a Polish church for a small community there. This parish donated the antique altar, which has been refinished with help from professionals working with Fortress of Louisbourg.
“There’s a lot of love and kindness in this building. We will never forget that,” said Urbaniak.
