Organizations
Parish Council
The Parish Council was established
sometime before 1980. The council acts
as an advisory board to help the pastor gather information needed to make the
decisions for the welfare of the parish.
Its meetings are held on the third Monday of each month from September
through June. Officers serve a two–year
term. To maintain continuity, three
members are replaced the odd years, and four members are replaced in the even
years.
From the council minutes of July 15,
1980:
There are ten
members: Leon Amos, Bernie Coons, Vernon Hattemer, Bob Keefe, Mike Recktenwald,
Carolyn Schraffenberger, Lorena Stemm, Steve Tarter, Fr. John Eckert, Fr.
Kendrick Williams and Mary French as secretary.
The council consists of co–chairmen, Leon Amos and Vernon Hattemer, who
alternate as chairman at meetings. There
are four committees: Service, headed by Steve Tarter; Worship, headed by Lorena
Stemm; Formation (no leader yet); Administration, headed by Mike Recktenwald
and assisted by Bernie Coons. Carolyn
Schraffenberger is the youth representative.
Mary French continued to as secretary
until the end of 1982, when Ann Recktenwald took the position until suffering a
stroke in 1991. Sr. Mary Naomi Buniff,
R.S.M., then took minutes until June of 2003.
With the arrival of Deacon William
Klump in 1996, the Finance Committee was established as required by Canon
Law. The members have been: Fr. Reilly, Deacon William Klump, Cecilia
Cassady, Mary French, James McIntyre, Jerry Popson and Joann Recktenwald. Its meetings are held monthly.
Booster Club
As noted previously, the Men’s Club was
organized “to do everything possible to increase the spirit of fraternal
charity and to promote recreation for members of the club and to cooperate with
the pastor in all endeavors pertaining to the welfare of the parish.” Since 1964, membership declined to around ten
to the regular monthly meetings. In
March, 1999, the club expanded to include women and changed its name to the
Booster Club. Its meetings are held on
the last Monday of the month.
For a parish to survive, it needs not
only spiritual opportunities to grow in faith, but events to raise funds to
support itself beyond the means of its parishioners. The Booster Club conducts a monthly drawing
to pay utility bills. The original 50–50
drawing was changed from a $599 payoff at $1.00 per chance to a payoff of $1000
at $5 per chance with only 400 tickets allotted for sale.
Over the years, the creativity of
parishioners led to several successful fund–raising events that are now held
annually: Winterfest in February, Fish Frys during Lent, Spring Festival in
May, Chicken Dinner in September, October Fest and even a chili cook–off
followed by karaoke. These events not
only provide additional funds for improvements and maintenance, but also serve
to bring family and friends together.
Booster
Club Chili Cook–Off –
Spring
Festival 2003
Our Lady’s Ladies Club
The Ladies Club meets on the first
Thursday of each month. They serve the needs
of the altar and sanctuary, just as members of the previous Altar Society. To fill those needs, the ladies host regular
bake sales after weekend Masses. New
ideas emerged over time, such as the selling of home–made patriotic pins and
the raffling of a throw designed by Vivian Saettel. Members participate in the 5pm Mass on their
meeting night four times per year, and enjoy a light supper prepared by those
who volunteer that month.
Ladies
Club with Fr. Reilly, Sr. Mary Naomi & Sr. Mary Nicholas – May 1996
Over the many years of its history in
the parish, the St. Vincent de Paul Society has endured sporadic life, but the
organization remains true to its original intent: to assist the poor who are in
need. Unfortunately, the Society must
also employ prudence to ensure that those who call upon it for assistance are
truly in need.
The most faithful members of the
organization during the past 25 years include Mike Recktenwald, Leon Amos and
Jim Doolan. Once women were accepted
into the Society, Betty Doolan, Sr. Teresa Anne Kelemen, C.D.P., Regenia Herron
and Delores (Sug) McBride attended meetings with Deacon William Klump and Fr.
Reilly.
Bishop Henry J. Soenneker, former bishop
of the Owensboro Diocese, once stated that he wished for every parish to have a
Legion of Mary and a conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He knew that the spiritual and corporal works
of mercy would be cared for in this way.
Legion of Mary
“The object
of the Legion of Mary is the glory of God through the holiness of its members
developed by prayer and active cooperation, under ecclesiastical guidance, in
Mary’s and the Church’s work of crushing the head of the serpent and advancing
the reign of Christ.” (Legion of Mary handbook p11)
In 1978, Sr. Mary Naomi Buniff, R.S.M.,
was instrumental in starting a Legion in a parish in
Its founding members were Samuel
McKinsey, Evelyn Bondie, Irene Cowles and Margaret Thompson. Meetings were held on Wednesday afternoons at
the home of Ms. Thompson until May 13, 1991 when they moved to Lehmann
Hall. On July 8, the time for meeting
was changed to Thursday evenings at 7pm except when the Ladies Club meets.
By the end of the first year, the
Legion accomplished the following apostolic works:
1.
Recruited new members, both active and auxiliary.
2.
Visited and checking on the ill and homebound in the parish.
3.
Visited the hospital, especially heart patients.
4.
Assisted with instructions in the Catholic Faith.
5.
Approached families about having an enthronement of the
Sacred Heart in their home.
6.
Reached out to invite non–Catholics to come to
7.
Made contacts with those parishioners who have children in
8.
Provided transportation to Sunday Mass for those who have
none.
9.
Transported Confirmation candidates to retreat and
supervised them.
10.
Took up the parish census.
11.
Helped at the Little Sisters of the Poor retirement home.
12.
Brought children to First Communion classes.
13.
Approached parishioners about membership of their children
in the Society of Our Lady’s Little Ones.
14.
Invited grandmothers to belong to the Grandmothers’ Club.
Legionnaires represented the Legion of
Mary at the ‘Rose Mass’ around January 22nd at St. Martin of Tours
Church. They also joined other
Legionnaires at the Living Rosary, which takes place in Knights Hall at
The youth were offered an opportunity
to join the Legion of Mary as junior members through the religious education
program. There was an advertisement in MARIA
LEGIONIS from a priest in Africa who had a youth group in his country of
One day she received a letter from Fr.
Nzolima requesting $100 to purchase a push–bicycle for his catechist so he
could circulate in the area assigned to his pastoral care. Some time passed, and Sister was able to send
the money to him, thinking that surely by that time he already purchased a
bicycle. His letter of thanks stated
that they had not yet purchased the bicycle.
From Fr. Nzolima dated September 19, 1998:
We are
trained not to request help from different sources on the same project. However, we never ceased to pray. I have already met the Catechist in question
and communicated to him the GOOD NEWS.
You should have seen the big smile on his face. Within the next week we shall get the
push–bike. It will facilitate his
pastoral operations by a large measure.
The Legion of Mary adopted Fr.
Nzolima’s parish as an extension and continued to support his Legion of Mary
apostolate in
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