Festivities will begin at 3 p.m. with the opening of a time capsule that was buried a quarter century ago, at the centennial celebration. Participants then will be able to put their own items, photos and memorabilia into the capsule, to be opened again in 25 years.

Then the congregation will have a dinner at 5 p.m. and a mass at 6:30 p.m., with Diocese of Gaylord Bishop Steven J. Raica.

Diana Friedt has been with St. Gabriel since she was a wee one, born into the congregation many decades ago.

“My parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, all went to this church, so there’s a lot of history in our family concerning this parish,” Friedt said.

News Photo This marker signifies the location of a time capsule the church will open during its 125th anniversary celebration Saturday.

Friedt’s parents, Virgil and Ethel Rasche, owned the grocery store in Black River for 50 years, and Ethel’s parents, Ben and Minnie LaVigne, ran the store before Virgil and Ethel took over.

“My mom lived in the same house for 91 years,” Friedt said.

Her father’s parents, Joseph and Velma Rasche, also attended St. Gabriel, as well as her great-grandparents, Joseph A. and Mary Rasche.

Friedt’s sister Marilyn Burton recalls one of the many traditions they participated in as children, called May Crowning.

“It’s a procession of carrying spring flowers to the church, at which time everybody would put them in a vase and put them next to the statue of Mary,” Friedt explained.

“The current priest would say the Rosary as the children and parishoners followed, singing and praying,” Burton added.

Friedt said many of the longstanding traditions have faded away as parishoners have aged and the congregation has become much smaller.

“It’s sad to have something like that not exist anymore,” Friedt said.

Burton recalled when all the women were required to wear something on their head to attend mass. She said they wore round lace head coverings resembling doilies, or longer ones resembling scarves.

“We always went to church every Sunday morning,” Burton said.

“And we would walk because we lived right there in town,” Friedt added, speaking of Black River, at the height of prosperity in the 1950s. At one time the population exceeded 2,000. Now the population of what used to be the town is only about 100, Friedt and Burton said.

She said the church during the summer will be full since tourists attend masses. In the winter they sometimes only have 30 people in attendance. They are expecting about 80 people at Saturday’s celebration.

The Rev. Robert Bissot is the current priest. In addition to St. Gabriel, Bissot also leads parishes in Ossineke, Mikado and Harrisville.

Friedt and Burton are looking forward to opening the time capsule, and adding items to it for their relatives to discover in 25 years.

“We hope everything is still intact and not ruined,” Friedt said, adding that her father put a family Bible into the time capsule. Burton had written letters to her children, and the sisters added that the prior priest had put in a case of wine, and they are curious how that has held up over the years.

While the congregation has shrunk with the population of Black River, the church building itself is the same, built in 1894, at a cost of $1,375. Friedt said it may be shifting a bit, with cracks here and there, but it is still standing tall, and the bell still rings proudly in its tower.

“The Rasche family purchased the chimes,” Burton said, after their grandfather died in 1973.

“The bell tower is the same,” Friedt said. “Right now we have chimes that ring out three times a day, and … whether you’re on the beach, or whether you’re kayaking in the river, you hear these chimes, and we just hope that maybe it might just remind people that St. Gabriel’s is there, and God exists in our little town of Black River.”