We Did It - For the Glory of God!

Dear Friends in Christ,

            It was back in April of 2023 that we hosted several gatherings in our parish center to present our plans for a three-year capital campaign that would address the failing heating and air conditioning system in our church as well as some much needed updating to our church interior.  Well, the rest is history.  We successfully completed what was presented to our community at the outset- on time, and according to plan.  This was a major undertaking that not only required vision and leadership, but the generosity of so many parishioners who contributed to our campaign titled Building on the Past with Hope for the Future.  I am most grateful to all those who participated in this campaign. There is still time to make a new gift or pledge if you have not yet done so as we have not yet reached our goal of $2.5 million.  We still have immanent future needs as well, such as a new roof for the church and exterior plexiglass coverings that need to be applied to our stained-glass windows to protect them and keep the rain from penetrating through the porous concrete. 

            We were blessed to benefit from the multi-talented services of our former Director of Facilities, T.J. Froemsdorf.  TJ not only supervised both phases of this work in our church, but he also contributed to various aspects, such as installing the new ceiling and lighting in the vestibule.  TJ has taken a new position as the Director of Facilities at Camp Damascus near Emmitsburg, MD, which is closer to his home.  Camp Damascus originated in Ohio and has branched out to Maryland.  It has become a much sought after Catholic youth camp and evangelization-centered organization.  I am also grateful for the assistance Ally O’Neill offered during our church renovation as well.  We also benefited from consistent weekly volunteer support from Glen Sauer, Jim Marrow, Lora Viegas (who also polished all the metalware in our sanctuary), Dennis Ward who offered his carpentry skills, and Chris Daigle who installed the new wall lights.  My Dad cleaned and painted the metal diffusers along the baseboard of the entire church and used a muriatic acid solution to clean the brick walls approximately chair height throughout the church.

Finally, we could not have brought this vision to fruition without the gifted and generous support of Don Smith.  Don was most gracious in donating his architectural services, as he did when we installed the new bathrooms in the church- something I was told when I arrived couldn’t be done.  We all need incentives and goals in life and for Don, one of his incentives was not wanting to be remembered for being the parishioner/architect who designed our new bathrooms.  Well, now he won’t, that’s for sure.  After the 10:30 am Mass we will celebrate this significant moment in the history of our parish with an Oktoberfest celebration on the upper field.  I hope you can join us.  We did it- for the glory of God!

With Deepest Gratitude,