Contact: Fr. Stjepan Pandžić at: 314 – 771- 0958
The St. Joseph Croatian Catholic church will hold its annual Spring Pinic on
Sunday, June 12, 2011, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., inside the two air.conditioned
halls of St. Joseph Croatian Church, 2112 South 12th Street. Dance music ( free
admission) will begin at 12:00 p.m. and will be provided by the St. Louis Croatian
Junior Tamburitzans, the St. Louis Button Box Accordian Club, Croatian Sons, and
Melodia Tamburitza. American and traditional Croatian food ( roasted lamb, goulash,
chicken, cakes and pastries) will be served.
St. Joseph croatian Church is the second oldest Croatian Church west of the
Mississippi ( Kansas City, the oldest). The church was dedicated in 1904. Croatian
first came to the St. Louis area in the 1860s from New Orleans on riverboats.
Only a few of the many prominent contribuitions Croatians have made to St.
Louis include stonemasonry, construction and other artistic work done on the old
and present St. Louis court buildings, the old and new St. Louis Cathedrals, the St.
Louis Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, the St. Louis Gateway Arch grounds, the
Adams Mark Hotel, and the statue of the fireman holding the child near City
Hall. There are approximately 60,000 Croatians and Americans of Croatian descent
living in the immediate bistate area.