St Patrick's Catholic in Yanco celebrating its centenary with special event on June 11

Since that moment in history, the church has seen its share of memories from right across the board.

To celebrate its centenary anniversary, a special celebration is planned for this weekend.

On Sunday, June 11 a special mass will be held at the church at 10.30am followed by lunch together at the Yanco All-Servicemen's Club.

The mass will be led by Bishop of Wagga Mark Edwards.

Father Christian Obiekwe, who is the Catholic parish priest at St Patrick's and in Leeton at St Joseph's, described the event as a "big family reunion.

"It's going to be a big celebration," Fr Christian said.

"It is a big family reunion because over all of these years people have shared their life here, they have shared their faith here and memories here.

"These celebrations are for all of those people who in one way or another have been association with the Yanco church over all of these years."

In his research of the Yanco church's history, Fr Christian found in the early days of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, Fr Gray travelled from Narrandera to celebrate mass in Yanco.

During that time masses were celebrated in a large multipurpose marquee and, then, the community worked hard and raised funds to build the current church.

The first mass in the church took place on June 10, 1923.

The church remains active to this day, with weekly masses held each Sunday at 8am and Tuesday at 9am.

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Fr Christian hopes the church and its parish will continue to play a big role in the community and Yanco and welcomes anyone to come along to mass, including the celebrations this weekend.

"One of the great memories of this church is it has always been a place where families are honoured and cherished," he said.

"I'm so delighted that still today we have young people coming along.

"The church is still as vibrant as it was 100 years ago. That is what makes the centenary so exciting."

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