Travelers winding their way along Highway 267 from the emerald splendor of the northern shore of Lake Tahoe to the historic pioneer town of Truckee find their eyes catch and hold on a solitary white steeple church topped by a cross.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church has been a beacon to immigrants and travelers since 1870. It began with the arrival of hundreds of Irish Catholic workers running the Central Pacific Railroad line over the crest of the Sierras and became a kind of sacred trust that has guided its mission as a Catholic community ever since.

Today it is not uncommon for most of the parish’s six weekend Masses to be best described as “standing room only” as tourists and summer residents combine with more than 600 parish families.

Leading this diverse group of Catholics is a pastor who himself is an immigrant to this country. Born in Krakow, Poland, Father Stanley Poltorak moved with his mother to the United States in 1968 at the age of 14. His first home was in Davis, at the rectory of St. James Parish, where his aunt worked as a housekeeper for Msgr. Andrew Coffey, then pastor of the parish. Father Poltorak was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sacramento in 1985.

The quiet, soft-spoken priest arrived in Truckee as pastor 10 years later.

Father Poltorak will never forget his first weekend celebrating Masses in the midst of a blizzard. He recalls a woman handing him a check for $250, the first contribution launching a building fund that has since grown to $380,000.

“Building a new church is the biggest thing that’s happened in the parish in 50 years,” he said. Father Poltorak is negotiating his way through city politics and in the process of acquiring approximately 10 acres of land a mile north of the current church site. While he expects substantial support from visitors and seasonal residents, the good will of parishioners is key.

“We are a close-knit faith community,” Father Poltorak said of his parishioners, of whom about half are Hispanic. There’s also a fair share of returning Catholics with many new families coming aboard. “We grow but we stay the same,” he added.

Deacon Ray Craig, who moved to Truckee nearly 40 years ago, was immediately drawn to the tiny white Catholic church on E Street.

“This is a small parish with the opportunity to stand there on Sundays and get to know the locals that walk in,” said Craig, who is the only deacon serving in the entire Tahoe basin.

“We’re told that church is community and we are all one. You really feel it here.”

A member of that parish family is Bonnie McMahon, who moved to Truckee from the San Francisco Bay Area to retire in 1991. She’s found herself working harder than ever. She is a eucharistic minister, lector, oversees the church liturgical environment and trains parishioners for parish ministry.

“I can’t be any closer to God than I am right here,” said McMahon, who was involved in similar ministries in her former parish. “It was like the Holy Spirit had me by the hand and was taking me where I was needed.”

An illustration of the parish’s ability to come together in adversity occurred the first day of January 1997 when much of Truckee was ravaged by a flood that left over four feet of water in the church basement. It knocked out the church’s heating system, temporarily suspended religious education classes and caused Father Poltorak to evacuate his home next to the church for a few days.

McMahon credits “Father Stanley” with leading the way in a major renovation effort.

“What needed to be done was done,” said McMahon of the parish’s fund-raising efforts to support repairs to the church, construction of a ramp access to the church, a new roof and parking lot and restored office space.

The parish’s music minister, Barbara Hunt, moved to Truckee from Southern California in 1985. A musician at heart, she joined the Reno Symphony and Women’s Ensemble and started singing with the Reno Exchange jazz group. But it was while teaching religious education to Assumption fourth graders that she found a ministry that would become her passion.

“Music had always been done by adults,” she said. “I wanted our children to be involved in a more active way, to have something that belonged to them.”

So she brought together 13 children and started a children’s choir to sing at the children’s liturgy. As the children grew up, she added a youth choir and when a group of women asked about singing at Mass, she started the adult choir. With a helping hand from Father Poltorak, who approved a new sound system and music books for the children, Hunt is realizing her goal of “bringing people closer to God” through music.

“I love words and try to choose music that speaks to them through the liturgy of the day,” she noted. “We want people involved in the Mass and I can hear they are.”

One of Father Poltorak’s goals has been to expand the religious education program in the Truckee parish community and its mission church, Our Lady of the Lake in Kings Beach. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers, 75 young people were confirmed last year.

“One of the great strengths of this parish is people participating in the life of the church ministries,” Father Poltorak said. “People have been very generous.”

One volunteer whose ministry is making a difference is Blanca Lopez. Born in Truckee, Lopez is equally rooted in Mexico where both her parents were born and where she lived for 16 years. But she has received the key sacraments of her faith—baptism, confirmation and First Communion—at Assumption Parish.

It wasn’t until recently that Lopez became actively involved in the life of the parish, encouraged by Hispanic priests who have served the parish and more recently at the invitation from Father Poltorak. As the representative of the Hispanic community at Assumption, she serves as a lector and coordinator of ministries at the Spanish-language Mass. Lopez was heartened by the success of a recent fund-raiser, which raised more than $2,400 for the upcoming Our Lady of Guadalupe fiesta.

“It turned out really good,” said Lopez, adding that the Hispanic community worked together making Mexican food and organizing games for the event.

“(Father Poltorak) was very pleased and said ‘You’ll have to do this every year.’ It’s something to build on.”

Tucked away among the pine trees in the North Tahoe town of Kings Beach is Assumption Parish’s mission church, Our Lady of the Lake. Kevin McDermott, president of the mission parish’s council, who moved his family from Southern California to Kings Beach in 1992, says there is no other place in the world they would rather live.

“We like the cultural diversity of the town,” he said. “We’ve pretty much bonded with a core of locals here.”

McDermott, his wife, Wanda, who teaches religious education, and his five children who have taken turns as greeters, are accustomed to being a part of a church community where the population shrinks and expands with seasonal visitors.

He views as one of the mission church’s greatest strengths its ability to combine as one the English and Spanish-speaking communities. This past year the mission held a Friday night Lenten soup dinner and Stations of the Cross event that received strong support.

“We had an opportunity to join together to get to know each other and everyone took a turn with the meals,” he said. “The fellowship afterward was really encouraging.”

Marilyn Shaff’s family has been a part of the Our Lady of the Lake community since before the church was built over 50 years ago. Her maternal grandmother washed the mission church’s altar linen, her mother played the organ and she is carrying on the family tradition teaching religious education classes. Whether it’s recovering the kneelers, cleaning the sanctuary or filling it with flowers, the little mission church is cared for by its community.

“I think we see a need and try to fill it,” she said. “I’m sure the Spirit is moving around us.”

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

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