Tree-trimming treasures
Parish organist's firm creates custom glass ornaments in Poland
Robert Delaney of the The Michigan Catholic
Published December 8, 2006
Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Curtis Posuniak holds his Christmas ornament of St. John Cantius Church in Detroit's Delray area. He works with artists and manufacturers in Poland to create the bulbs. | Bloomfield Twp. – When parishioners of St. John Cantius Parish in Detroit's Delray area gathered last weekend for their final traditional Polish Wigilia celebration, they all received Christmas ornaments with a picture of their beloved church, which is set to close next year.
The ornaments are among the latest creations of Klassics by Kurtis Inc., the company formed by Curtis Posuniak to design and market glass Christmas ornaments custom-made in Poland.
Posuniak, organist at St. Patrick Church in Carleton, works with artists and manufacturers in Poland to bring his design concepts to reality. "I spend the entire month of February there, working with them; then, I usually go back in the spring," he says.
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New this year is the ornament of Pope Benedict XVI.
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This year's Christmas ornament of Pope John Paul II.
 | Besides St. John Cantius Church, this year's new designs include Assumption Grotto Church and its historic grotto in northeast Detroit, a bulb with the image of Pope Benedict XVI, and a new bulb with the late Pope John Paul II on it – in a different design from the one he offered last year.
His trips to Poland also offer the chance to see more of his family's historic homeland. "This year, I was able to play the pipe organ for Mass at Jasna Gora, which was a real treat," Posuniak says of his visit to the site of the famous Our Lady of Czestochowa icon.
Posuniak got into the ornament business almost 10 years ago, starting out offering bulbs with images of famous classical composers. Several years ago he started creating bulbs of churches and other religious symbols, and he has now done them for a number of parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit and elsewhere.
Most of the parishes choose to have the exterior of their church on the bulb, but some will opt for a statue of their namesake. Among the parishes he has produced bulbs for are: National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Sweetest Heart of Mary in Detroit, Divine Child in Dearborn, Our Lady Star of the Sea in Grosse Pointe Woods, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Wyandotte.
St. Hugo of the Hills in Bloomfield Hills has had Posuniak produce a bulb with the image of its historic chapel and another one in the shape of its new bell tower.
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Christmas ornament of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Wyandotte.
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Christmas ornament of historic Sweetest Heart of Mary Church in Detroit.
 | The bulbs commissioned by parishes are usually sold to parishioners as a fundraiser or presented to donors who contribute to a fundraising campaign – and they are only available from that parish.
Bulbs featuring the popes or other religious themes — such as the Holy Family — are available from various local religious goods stores, such as A. J. Mateja in Garden City and December's Special Place in Southgate, as well as at Bronner's in Frankenmuth.
Posuniak has been playing the organ in Catholic churches around the archdiocese since he started at the Shrine Church of St. Joseph in Pontiac at 12 years old.
"I was there something like 10 years when I was asked to play a funeral at St. Florian in Hamtramck. It was the funeral of their former organist, and Fr. (Joseph) Kubik asked me to become the new organist there. Several years later, I played for Fr. Kubik's funeral," Posuniak recounts.
He went on to serve at SS. Peter & Paul (West Side) in Detroit from 1980 to 1999, before going to Carleton. "St. Patrick's is a great parish. The people sing well and participate well, and I like it a lot," he says.
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Priest's vestments are the subject of one series of ornaments.
| Posuniak has also done many ornaments with generic Christmas themes and special ones for various companies with corporate logos and so forth, but he says he derives the greatest satisfaction from the reactions he gets to the church ornaments.
"When a priest or a parishioner picks one up and says, 'Wow, this is beautiful,' it makes me happy," he says.
For information about ordering from Klassics by Kurtis Inc., call (248) 737-4606 or e-mail curtisjp54@yahoo.com.
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