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Posted by N on February 6, 2002, 8:30:17 NewsDay.com By Peter Simunovich Bogdan Simonovski is a spry, 64- year-old Flushing man deeply involved in his Macedonian Orthodox faith. But for many immigrants from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the weekly journey to church has often meant hours of driving on Sundays. One of the nearest Orthodox parishes is in Totowa, N.J. "We're sick and tired of going to New Jersey," said Simonovski. "For some, it takes over three hours to get there and back. It is not easy doing that every Sunday." So, for the past 10 years, the Macedonian community in the city and Long Island has been raising funds in order to build a church in Queens. The 1,500-member community has raised about $300,000 - from children selling homemade lemonade to an individual donation of $10,000 by Simonovski's 82-year-old father, Traiche, a retired green grocer and maintenance worker - in order to buy land and build the structure. "We are making history," said Simonovski. "We are desperate to have our own church. For too long we have wanted our own place of worship in our area." Simonovski is president of the non-profit Macedonian Orthodox Church of St Clement of Ohrid Religious Organization. In 1996, the organization bought a house for $125,000 on a 6,000 square-foot parcel of land in College Point and about a year ago it began building the church. By September, the St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Church on 124th Street is expected to open its doors. Macedonia, which shares borders with Bulgaria, Greece, Albania and Serbia, was one of six republics that along with Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia made up the former Yugoslavia. For Macedonian immigrants in Queens, the creation of the church will be an historic moment for their culture. Simonovski said the Macedonian community in New York showed just how much it wanted its own church when about 200 people attended the blessing of the church's foundation by five priests in November and then attended a picnic at a nearby park. Vladimir Naumovski, 28, a financial researcher from Astoria who has lived in America for 10 years, said it was important for the New York Macedonian community to have its own church to assure cultural continuity. "It is with a sense of pride that we will have a church because it will help preserve our culture. My wife, Slavica, and I would like our 9-month-old daughter, Anastasia, to be bilingual and this will help her learn both languages," said Naumovski, who helps in fund-raising activities. Savo Sibinoski, a consul with the Macedonian Consulate in New York, said the first Macedonians arrived in America early in 1900 and then many came from 1965 to the early 1970s because of economic reasons. The more recent migration has attracted highly skilled professionals like engineers, physicians and financial and computer experts, he said. "The last generation of immigrants has been highly educated and much better than 20 years ago," according to Sibinoski. He said about 100,000 live in the U.S., with Detroit having the largest population at about 35,000. Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse have an estimated 1,500 Macedonia immigrants, with about 8,000 in New Jersey and another 1,500 in New York City and Long Island. "The church will be very important to the Macedonian community," said Sibinoski. "The church also will give encouragement to carry on in our new home with the traditions of Macedonia," Naumovski said. "It is nice that we are represented in New York, which is known as a melting pot, and it was with pride that I could write in Macedonia's name in the last census."
Macedonian Community To Open Church In Queens.
Peter Simunovich is a freelance writer.
January 23, 2002
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