The Pastor's Pen

April 27, 2024

Of buildings and grounds…   

So, through the kindness of a parishioner, Mike Parhomski, we now have three ‘replacement trees’ planted – two in Clara’s garden and the third in front of school in place of the trees we took down last fall and winter. Mike has been working with our site committee in the planning and placement of the trees. They are Autumn Blaze Maples, and will look amazing in the fall. Though it will take a few years to get back to the shade levels that covered Clara’s garden, I am grateful to Mike and his generosity in providing these trees for us.

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Sometime within the first two (maybe three?) months of arriving, I was approached by the Athletic committee about redoing the gym floor and freshening up the paint on the walls and ceiling. As those discussions evolved, the possibility of making the gym a more livable space year round rose. What began with floors and painting now became a much bigger project. Through some prudent planning of folks long before I arrived, a fair amount of the support structure was already in place to update the electric supply – (drum roll, please) so that the gym might one day be air conditioned. 

So, that day has arrived. 

While the exact timing of the project is still being worked out, with funding coming from the Athletic associations and the Auction committee to reimburse the parish over the next three years for our up-front costs, (plus the pledge from the Athletic Association to help offset the increased utilities that the A/C will demand), it seemed like now was a good time to do the ‘extreme gym makeover’. One of the main drivers of that decision has been conversations with HVAC folks (three bids for any project) about the ‘supply chain’. Currently, depending on the size of the equipment needed, it can be anywhere from 18 to 36 months to get the units. The low (and we think best) bidder for the project was able to procure what we need for our gym in record time, even by their standards. Knowing that it could be another year and a half to three years before we would have this chance, at the recommendation of the site committee and with the support of the Athletic Association and Auction committee, it made sense to go forward with this project. I thought you should know. And I will keep you in the loop for any possible changes to gym availability once we have a better sense of the time frame – but most likely, it will begin mid to late June…

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If you were around during spring break, you may have noticed a crew installing security cameras in and around the school and the parish property. That is a portion of your Auction funding at work. While we are still waiting for a few parts to come in, are ability to control access to the school and have a video feed of all the activity in the campus is vastly improved. And, you may have also notice that the St. Denis end of the lower parking lot is a LOT brighter, with an energy efficient LED light fixture there. Thank you for your generosity in making all of these improvements happen.

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One of the things that ALL my friends comment on each time I they come to visit is the beauty of the grounds. I cannot agree more. And each Tuesday morning, I see the crew of volunteers, hard at work with the various tasks needed to keep the grounds looking so amazingly beautiful. Thanks for your ministry of hospitality and welcome. Even before a single word is uttered by an usher or greeter or parishioner or priest or deacon to the visitor, your work is already saying: “We are glad you are here. You matter. We hope you know that, because we have prepared a place in our hearts for you, and beauty in our grounds for you to enjoy.” Thanks to all of you who do such an amazing job for the parish. You are a gift!

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Note, that the Tuesday crew does a lot more than grounds keeping. Minor (and sometimes not so minor) repairs, replacement of electric fixtures, overseeing the general maintenance and repair of all of our parish facilities on all four campuses – all of that gets done by this intrepid crew, under the watchful eyes of our maintenance crew... Call Mr. Dennis Rauscher of our parish staff if you want to lend a hand, every Tuesday morning…