Mr. Ski on E. Canfield...

Here we see a member of the Polish Catholic “tribe” that will not be driven from his home by the blight in the city. He lives in the St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church “old” Parish neighborhood on E. Canfield just a few blocks from St. Albertus. We’ll call him Mr. Ski and he is a hearty soul if there ever was one. He walks all through the neighborhood impervious to the blight, crime, destruction and devastation in what was a thriving Polish-American enclave that has turned into the worst kind of ghetto this city has spawned. He walks to go shopping, take care of chores and travels to the bus stop so he can go to get the services that no longer exist in his home neighborhood. He has turned his home into a fortress to ward off the worst elements of the ‘hood that will come in to try to steal, rob, scrap or use for a “crack house” that will eventually be burned down by drug addicts and “crack hoes” in a drug induced high. Mr. Ski walks around smiling which makes all of us smile to see the “weed” that is growing out of the only crack in the “cement”!



The structure looks like one of the old fashion storefronts with living quarters in the back. Many Polish immigrants established mom and pop stores to service the neighborhood in these types of dual purpose structure so they can be on the scene to take care of business. They could also, be near home by taking advantage of the economies of scale in building a structure for these dual purposes. Being so close to the neighborhood parish established their legitimacy for servicing the parishioners of St. Albertus. This was a thriving neighborhood with people coming and going all the time, day and night. For Mr. Ski it is still a thriving neighborhood where he comes and goes but only during the day because the night is owned by the lower elements in the ‘hood. You make us proud Mr. Ski with your coming and going and we hope to see you for a long time!