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ST. PATRICK PRESERVATION – SUMMER 2011 ERIN TOWNSHIP NEWSLETTER
FANTASTIC is the only way to describe the weather on St. Patrick’s Day
2011, as the luck of the Irish held for five years straight! We were
blessed to have Father David LaPlante one again kindly agree to open the
doors of St. Patrick’s Chapel for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass,
which continues to be very well attended. We don’t know what people
enjoy more—Father David’s homily or his home-baked St. Patrick’s Day
cookies. Special thank you to Audrey Thimm Rinehardt and Steve Tennies,
son of Frank and Grace Tennies for once again providing the beautiful
music and Ron Weber for assisting Father David.
Parade decorating always provides surprises, as even the best laid plans
can present challenges. It was a bit windy but at least it was dry and
50 degrees. Even though we haven’t won in many years, we love being a
part of this wonderful celebration. We appreciate Jeff Kraft allowing us
to once again use his beautiful hand-made St. Patrick’s costume, and
John Kaczor our resident St. Patrick made sure he had plenty of “holy
water” this year, with the crowd yelling their approval. Thank you to
John Fitzsimmons for being our driver and providing his pickup truck and
for Erin Mueller and Donna and Tom Liddle for their decorating
expertise. Tom Liddle was suffering from leukemia and being in a parade
was on his “bucket list.” We tried to tell him this isn’t your typical
parade and you have to see it to believe it. Tom passed away peacefully
on May 4, and his wife, Donna, will always be grateful to the people of
Erin, who made his last St. Patrick’s Day so special.
At the May 10, 2011 St. Patrick Preservation Meeting, elections were
held for the coming year. Officers are as follows: President – Maureen
Fitzsimmons-Vanden Heuvel, Vice President – Robert Schwengel, Secretary
– Peggy Kenealy and Co-Treasurers – Margaret Van Beckum and Joan Coffey.
The Board of Directors also includes Joyce Weber.
Now that warmer weather has arrived, the St. Patrick Preservation Group
will continue our cemetery project of photographing and recording all
gravestones in the Old St. Patrick Cemetery. It has been a long, slow
process and we are hopeful to complete the process this year.
The St. Patrick’s Ladies Altar Society are on summer hiatus until
September, but will be back meeting at the Erin Town Hall the second
Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m., September through May.
For continued updates, please visit our updated web site at
www.savestpatrick.com or join us the second Tuesday of each month at 7
p.m. at the Erin Town Hall. The Rosary is prayed on the steps of St.
Patrick’s May through October at 6:40 p.m. To get your copy of the 150th
St. Patrick’s Anniversary Booklet, please contact Nancy Henke at
262/673-5219 or E-mail Mary Hasslinger at mary.weddingday@att.net. If
you would like to become a member of the St. Patrick Preservation Fund,
Inc. (reasonably priced at $5/Single and $10/Family), please contact
Maureen Fitzsimmons-Vanden Heuvel at 262/670-0975 or E-mail her at
SaveStPats@aol.com.
We remain hopeful that God will inspire the Milwaukee Archdiocese to
find a special use for our beautiful, historic 156-year old chapel
especially with the upcoming US Open events.
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