On October 31, 1976, with less than a week to go in the Presidential election, President Gerald R. Ford attended mass at St. Stanislaus Church. Ford was greeted by pastor Msgr. Chester Meloch with traditional bread and salt, which he sampled. Bread and salt is a Polish symbol of hospitality, implying wishes of good fortune, good health and a bountiful life. The President then received red roses and white mums from children from the Polish Saturday School.
Over 4,000 (1500 inside the Church) packed Peckham Street to welcome Ford. Ford was accompanied by Buffalo area Congressman Jack Kemp, New York Senator Jacob Javits, State GOP chairman Richard Rosenbaum and other Republican figures. Ford was the third president to worship at St. Stan’s, having been preceded in pre-presidential visits by Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
After mass, Ford attended a fundraiser breakfast at the Statler Hilton Hotel before traveling to Rochester.
