Church of St. Michael the Archangel constructed 1910-1911, 12 miles west and 10 miles north of Wadena; R.M. 367.

PONASS LAKE — The church of St. Michael is the first church of the parish.

The parishioners constructed the church with logs and finished it with boards between 1910 and 1911 on a two acre site twelve miles west and ten miles north of Wadena. It was visited by Bishop Nicetas Budka in 1919 and 1923, Archbishop Basil Ladyka in 1934 and by Bishop Andrew Roborecki in 1960 and 1965.

The church is a small wooden structure which measures 30 x 22 feet. It has a shingled gabled roof with a central blind cupola, and small lateral projections which give the church cruciformity. The church is east-west oriented with west and south entrances through an adjoining porch-vestibule. A small choir loft extends above the west end of the nave and is entered by a stairway at the north wall of the nave. The sanctuary is elevated and has a north adjoining sacristy with an exit to the church grounds; directly behind the main altar in the sanctuary hangs a large oil on canvas painting dating to 1919 (signature illegible); an iconostas (installation date cannot be verified) separates the sanctuary from the nave. The interior ceiling is angulated; the floor is covered with linoleum and carpeted before the main altar. The church contains several wooden pews, has candle lighting and is heated by a wood burning heater. The founding members of the parish constructed the church while the church and cemetery site was donated by Petro Lemko.

Near the church stands a single bell wooden belfry; the bell was donated by Mykhaylo Pawliuk in 1929; this date and the donor’s name are engraved on the bell. North of the church, in continuation of the church property, is the parish cemetery where most of the founding members of the parish now rest in peace.

Ukrainian settlement in this area began in 1907 predominantly from the Horodenka and Buchach counties as well as Lemkivshchyna. The founding members of the parish were: Petro Lemko, Yakiv Sorba, Mykhaylo Pawliuk, Ivan Plaksiy, Ks. Soltys, F. Nakon-echny, Vas. Sobchyshyn, An. Rachynsky, Iv. Wilgosh, Yu. Kuziak, Mykh. Boychuk, Mykh. Sikorski, Iv. Zazula, V. Kralchuk, Iv. Freik, V. Chorney, Semen Chaykowsky, Iv. Balatsky, Iv. Chaykowsky, Voitko Wilchynsky, Avh. Yamniuk, And. Monastyrsky, Yos. Hankewich and Hnat Zazula. The first holy services were served by Rev. Achille Delaere, CSSR, at the homes of Fed. Nakonechny, Petro Lemko and Yosyf Wilchynsky.

In 1941 the parish registered 20 members with 30 children (Prop. Knyha), in 1961 there were 180 souls (Directory) and in 1975, 6 families were counted from a radius ofapprox. 10 miles. In 1976 the parish was under the directorship of: Rev Andrew Choronzy, acting pastor, Paul Hankewich, Fred Lemko, Steve Zazula, Rosalia Wilchynski, Liudmyla Lemko and Eugenia Hankewich.

The Ukrainian Catholic parish of St. Michael, Ponass Lake, is under the pastoral charge of Wadena.