An Adoring and Tithing Parish
CELEBRATING 125 YEARS AS A FAITH COMMUNITY
Parish Capital Campaign
Preserving Our Past
Preparing for Our Future
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Parish Capital Campaign
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PARISH ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 27, 2006 Present: Msgr. Bronkiewicz, Bob Salvestrini, Henry Hein (partial) Ron Singer, Mary Lou Hanney, Patricia James. Paul O’Connell, Laura Devlin Also present: Ray Sturz, Liz Zaglauer Monsignor Bronkiewicz opened the meeting at 7:05 with a prayer. The following agenda items were discussed. Report from Finance Committee – Bob Iseley Bob Iseley was not present to give the report. Monsignor Bronkiewicz reported that he is preparing a covering letter for the next quarterly financial report which will go in the bulletin this week or next. Report from Stewardship Committee - Fr. Murphy Father Murphy was not present due to commitment to be at the 6 th Grade Seder which was going on at the same time as the meeting. Status of the Thank You/Recognition Ministry Monsignor reported that a letter went out to ministry heads. He said that information is still coming in. According to Monsignor, most, but not all ministry heads have responded. Plans for the 125 th Anniversary Celebration The subject of Bishop Lori coming during the year to help celebrate the 125 th Anniversary was brought up. Monsignor will contact the Bishop to see if he will come for a Mass. 125 th Anniversary Brochure Ron showed the council a brochure that Sacred Heart, Georgetown, is doing in honor of their 125 th Anniversary. The two fold brochure looks like it was done on an inkjet printer. There was a general discussion as to whether St. Mary should do something similar for our 125 th Anniversary. Monsignor was not sure that a brochure would generate any interest among parishioners. He pointed out that we are a different kind of parish than Sacred Heart. There’s a lot going on here all the time. He didn’t think people knowing 8 months in advance makes any difference at all. He cited the example of last Sunday’s Vespers which had to compete with the UCONN basketball playoffs. Bob Salvestrini suggested that a brochure would show we have made a sincere effort to acknowledge the 125 years …that we have given it thought and planning. Laura suggested that if we had a flashy brochure, maybe people would look at it. Monsignor and Laura agreed that they would put copy together for a brochure. Outdoor Mass and Parish Picnic The Outdoor Picnic/Mass will be held on Sunday, June 4 with a rain date of Sunday, July 16. Ron reviewed the proposal (complete proposal is included at the end of minutes) with the council. The park has been officially rented for these dates. The question was asked of Bob Salvestrini about the 100 th Anniversary celebration. Bob said the best he could remember that it was a barbeque held during the summer and that it was pretty full. Paul O’Connell suggested that the Men’s Ministry, Knights of Columbus, Mothers’ Club be contacted for volunteers to help at the picnic. Patricia James asked since Ballard Park is a public park, how do we control access. Tickets would be required for the food. No alcoholic beverages are allowed. This should be clearly stated on tickets. Besides chairs, it was suggested that parishioners could bring blankets to sit on at the picnic if they preferred blankets to chairs. Barbequed chicken was added to the children’s menu as some children do not eat hot dogs. Ron said there is nothing going on in town at this time and none of the other churches have anything going on except Jesse Lee which has a boutique sale. Ron said that the entire event has been underwritten by a donor and any monies collected would go directly to St. Mary. The altar would be set up in the gazebo and it would face Main Street. Congregants would be seated in a semi circle in front of the altar. The Anniversary banner we are getting for the church would be placed across the fence on Main St. There was a question of whether there was room in the gazebo for three priests to concelebrate Mass and an altar server. It was allowed that there is room. The question came up are there enough outlets for the sound systems. Ron said he looked into it and there are enough outlets. Based on tickets we sell, we could afford to rent seats. Still to be determined are the number of ushers and greeters needed. Since the outdoor Mass is on Sunday, the question came up as to what Church/Hall Masses would be canceled. Monsignor indicated that we still have time to make that decision. Ron read a memo from Rob Ayotte regarding music. Rob suggested that musically it would be better to have a single singer rather than a choir. He also felt a large group of musicians wouldn’t work. The teen group is mostly instrumental and getting better. He suggested Kevin Briody or Kathleen Kruze as singers for the Mass. Monsignor said he would work out the music with Rob. The town provides two port-a-johns which they would pump out before the event. If we have more than 500 people we would need a third one. Cost is $85 for the third port-a-john, As far as activities for the kids, it was suggested that we have someone to take over this project. Parking was discussed. There is a strictly enforced 2 hour parking in the CVS lot. Ron suggested the priests could park in the driveway or Ballard Green. Monsignor suggested it was close enough that they could walk to the park. The plan is to have a shuttle bus from the St. Mary parking lot for parishioners. Each bus (cost $300 each) holds 44 people and takes 15 minutes to do a round. It was decided that Monday of the week of the picnic based on ticket sales we would decide on how many busses would be needed. Ron said he would talk to Chief Ligi to determine if a police officer was needed and what the cost would be. There was a general discussion on whether embroidered T-shirts/golf shirts promoting the anniversary should be handed out. This got a lukewarm reception. Mary Lou Hanney suggested handing out imprinted balloons. Ron pointed out that we have to clean up the park after the event, and balloons or anything like that could present a clean up problem. Paul O’Connell suggested handing out a St. Mary Christmas ornament and someone else suggested a kitchen magnet. Paul O’Connell expressed concern about possible anti-Catholic sentiment in the town as being a problem and that the council should be prepared for this. Ron said he would speak with Rudy Marconi. The question came up do we need written permission. Once the site plan is approved, all systems are a go. Ron is going to present the final site plan as soon as possible rather than wait. It was suggested in any event that we get something in writing. Additional communications via website Ron is in the process of reviewing software that can be used on the website for a variety of activities, i.e. a place to store minutes. To access it one would need a secret password available only to Council members. Monsignor felt this was too complicated. Why not use e-mail to send the minutes. Ron said that he has looked at two software systems (one of them our PDS systems).These software systems do part, but not all the things he has in mind. Henry asked about the cost. The two software systems Ron looked at were relatively inexpensive. Ray Sturz reminded the group that we have a volunteer doing the website now. Could adding all the things Ron has in mind (i.e., surveys, reservations, calendar, etc.) be too burdensome for her and or does she feel she’s capable of handling this. Liz would like to see work orders on the website. She thinks it’s an ideal way to communicate needs and a way for people to see what’s available. Ron asked the members to think of anything else they would like to see on the website. Laura Devlin said we should make it more user friendly. Miscellaneous Bob Salvestrini brought up the question regarding Mass changes. At the last meeting, it was decided to ask Sr. Joan to discuss (at this meeting) with the council her objections to changing the Religious Ed hours to conform better to the Sunday Mass schedule. Sr. Joan was involved this evening in the 6 th grade Seder and could not be here. Monsignor pointed out that Sr. Joan has great difficulty in recruiting catechists. The catechists do not want to come in 15 minutes early. In addition 15 minutes makes a difference to the parents. Monsignor passed out a parish survey from the Diocese. The Diocese asked that this questionnaire be passed out to select parishioners. When compiled, the compilation will help the Diocese in its strategic, long range planning. He asked that it be returned by the end of the week. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35pm. St. Mary Parish Outdoor Mass and Picnic Proposal below… Proposal for St. Mary Parish Outdoor Mass and Parish Picnic Sunday, June 4th, 2006 11:00AM to 4:00PM (rain 07/16/2006) at Ballard Park Schedule of events are as follows: 11:00AM to 12 Noon Arrival and seating at the Park 12 Noon to 1:00PM Mass 1:00PM to 4:00PM Parish Picnic and Music Food (adults) Southwest Pulled Pork on a Roll Texas B.B.Q. Chicken Pieces Boston Baked Beans Sweet and Sour Cole Slaw Garden Salad Dessert Ice Tea, Lemonade and Water Food (children under 11 years) Hot Dogs Ice Tea, Lemonade and Water Dessert Music By the Catoonah Street Jazz and Blues Society Band - 1:00PM to 4:00PM Seating The suggestion was made to allow people to bring their own folding chairs. We could add the following to the bulletin announcement: “We will provide folding chairs for seating. If you would prefer to bring you own folding chairs for both Mass and/or picnic seating please feel free to do so. We will reserve an area for personal folding chairs during Mass.” Parking We will have to encourage everyone to use St. Mary Parish parking due to the 2 hour limit when using the municipal parking lots. The decision on how many shuttle buses needs to be finalized. $20.00 Donation for Family Ticket $5.00 Donation for Individual Ticket For those of you that were at the last stewardship committee meeting Digby Barrios volunteered to look into the possibility of obtaining funding to underwrite the cost of this event. If he is not successful the admission for the picnic portion of the event may have to be changed. The ideal spot for the altar is in the gazebo facing the Library with seating surrounding (in half circle fashion) the gazebo. The band could then set up on the stage and the food service tables could be placed in front of the park garden area. This would allow the tables with table clothes to be placed in the large area in front of the stage and serving area. The following is a list of questions/information that came up during the evaluation of this event:
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