By Michael D. Wynne
It is so much fun discovering new and interesting facets about our central Louisiana (Cenla) history and culture. There is just so much fascinating history yet to be discovered out there that I don’t have a long enough life to research and write about all of it!
One story that I recent stumbled on was that an “ocean liner” (really a make believe mock-up of one) was built here for the enjoyable use of children. It was located on the man-made lake behind the Maryhill Seminary and Retreat Center near Pineville. Here is the story of this famed “ocean liner.”
Catholic Bishop Charles Pasquale Greco (1894-1987) was a now-legendary leader of the Catholic Church in Louisiana, last stationed in Cenla. Beloved and respected by all who knew him, regardless of religion or ethnic background, he was also the long-time national Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic brotherhood. Several KOC councils around the nation share his name for their council names, including the KOC Council #1134 headquartered at St. Rita Catholic Church, here on Bayou Rapides.
The Maryhill Renewal Center began in the 1940s as a vision of Bishop Greco. The property was purchased in Pineville with plans to build a retreat house and summer camp for children as well as for the creation of a “minor” religious seminary for priests in training. With the help from the Knights, Greco built the summer camp for children, opening in the summer of 1951. A man-made lake was built within the pine tree-covered property behind the retreat/seminary. The motto of the camp was, “Come to Camp Maryhill and get one step closer to God, and have fun doing it!”
Over the course of many years, the children from around the state who attended summer camp there back then still have many fond childhood memories of the camp, especially of the “ocean liner,” really a multi-purpose boat house and children’s gathering place.
As a young priest, Bishop Greco traveled several times on ocean liners to and from Europe. As was told to me, Greco loved Italian ocean liners and decided to create a mock-up of one when Maryhill’s lake was built. He named it “The Star of the Sea.” In reading Greco’s hand-written autobiography, in possession of the Diocese of Alexandria and published by the national Knights of Columbus, Greco, as a young priest stationed in the New Orleans area, was challenged by then Archbishop Shaw to build a floating chapel in St. Maurice Parish as travel there for its parishioners was very difficult.
Greco built the state’s first “boat chapel” and christened it, “The Star of the Sea.” The name comes from the mother of Jesus, Mary, who is often called the “Star of the Sea” (Stella Maris) because she is seen as a guiding star for Christians, like the North Star was for ancient sailors.
“The Star of the Sea,” built by Greco circa 1949, was to provide up to 10 boat houses at the waterline with dormitory facilities for 50 beds. The main deck, bow, and stern decks were pavilions, the lifeboats were benches and the pilot house was a lounge that could seat 20 persons. The two large smoke stacks were added for a realistic appearance. Dimensions of the structure were 95 by 60 foot. The KOC summer camp remained in operation till 1983, closing at about the same time of the use of “The Star of the Sea,” due to safety reasons.
One old camper has said,”Being a junior counselor and finally getting to sleep on “The Star of the Sea” was my lifelong dream. “Another former camper said, “I can’t even count the number of times that I have been on and played on the boat in the late 60s.” Late television actor and the star of “Bonanza,” Michael Landon (1936-1991), paid a visit circa 1965 to CenLa, and visited the camp and campers and even walked aboard The Star.
Sometime shortly after 1986, The Star was sadly dismantled, but it still lives in the hearts of many of the “old” children here today.
