WINDTHORST—Up until now histories of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish have included some mention of a Passion Play performed there with a few photos. Now, a 100-page book documents the performances of "Calvary Hill" in great detail.

Eva Torline and Shirley Stein compiled the book that pays tribute to Father (later Msgr.) Alex Stremel, the author and director of "Calvary Hill," and this significant chapter for the Windthorst community and the Church in Kansas.

"Calvary Hill" was an annual Holy Week production staged in the Windthorst School Auditorium between 1941 and 1946. One performance on Holy Thursday, 1943, was staged for the servicemen in the chapel at the Dodge City Army Airbase.

"Father Alex enjoyed dramatics," said Torline. "We had a young people’s group called the St. Mary’s Activity Club. We had put on several comedies and had a lot of fun. In January of 1941, Father Alex asked us if we’d like to do a Passion Play and we said ‘sure, why not.’ After that he started writing the script and on Ash Wednesday we had our first rehearsal. That first year there was only one complete script. Father just handed out papers with each individual’s parts. There were almost 100 actors. The only way we got through that first year was with a lot of help from above."

Torline was one of the stage managers from the first year the play was staged. Some years she also had character parts portraying Veronica and then the Blessed Mother. "I played the Blessed Mother the same year I played a crook in a three-act comedy," she said, laughing at the irony. Her role 60-some years later as co-compiler preserves the play’s importance in history.

"This project started after I insisted that there be a few photos of the Passion Play in our family genealogy," said Torline. "I then thought I should gather up everything I had on "Calvary Hill" and give it to the Windthorst Heritage group as a scrapbook collection. When word got around that I was collecting things on the play, more and more people got interested. One person called and said so-and-so wants eight copies. So what was to be a single copy of a scrapbook became a book."

Torline is quick to give Stein equal credit for the volume for "her desire, inspiration and computer work." Stein, though, is just as quick to acknowledge the many people from the Windthorst community who searched family photo albums, supplied programs from the plays, and helped identify family members in photographs. The book includes a virtual litany of acknowledgments.

The volume, designed in a landscape format, provides space for large photographs of the different scenes of the play. Many of the photographs were taken professionally by Alberta Pfiester of the Stovall-Pfiester Studio in Dodge City and Frank Locke with the Dodge City Daily Globe. The book also includes the complete script; copies of each year’s programs (complete with advertisements), reprinted clippings from area newspapers, and items from the parish bulletins.

The discoveries in this treasure chest are many. Father Stremel and the cast prayed the rosary together, in the church, before each performance. During the prologue he asked the audience not to applaud at the end but to respond with reverential silence. Readers will also enjoy a page on the detail taken for special effects, especially the innovative methods that were used to produce thunder and lightening. Descendants from Windthorst families will want to own a copy of this book for the photographs of their ancestors who were characters in the play.

When Father Stremel was assigned to Holy Family Parish in Odin, the Windthorst parishioners thought the Passion Play should follow its author. The costumes all were sent to Odin. The play was performed there until Father Stremel was reassigned to Our Lady of Lourdes in Pittsburg. The last performance of Father Stremel’s Calvary Hill was staged in Pittsburg. Those parishes should be inspired to consider a similar project.

The book was designed by Cindy Vierthaler and printed at the Spearville News. Windthorst Heritage, Inc., sponsored the publishing of the book. Copies will be available on Nov. 29 after the 125th Anniversary Mass of the Windthorst parish during the supper at the St. John Parish Center in Spearville. The cost of the book is $25. The book is also available by writing Windthorst Heritage at P.O. Box 823, Dodge City, KS 67801 or Eva Torline at 1302 Hancock, Dodge City, KS 67801. Add $5 for postage and handling. Checks should be made payable to Windthorst Heritage, Inc.