ST. PATRICK PRESERVATION – SPRING/SUMMER 2009 ERIN TOWNSHIP NEWSLETTER

MAGNIFICENT is the only way to describe the weather on St. Patrick’s Day 2009, as the luck of the Irish was on full display.  We are so very grateful to Gay Griesbach and Kristine Walden of the West Bend Daily News/Times Press, for the wonderful articles on St. Patrick’s Church and the Parade.  As Kristine Walden described in her article, the church was full from front to back to hear Father David LaPlante’s inspiring Homily AND to get a taste of his famous cookies.  Former pastor of St. Patrick’s, Father Wally Vogel was also in attendance.  Since Mass attendees did their part in consuming every last cookie, we can confidently mark our calendars for Mass at St. Patrick’s on March 17, 2010. 

This year saw some changes at parade time with our usual trusty, green pick-up needing some repair work.  Many thanks to Supervisor Gene Eggert for the use of his trailer AND for doing an AWESOME job as St. Patrick—filling in for John Kaczor, who was feeling under the weather.  Of course, we are grateful once again to Jeff Kraft for providing St. Patrick with his beautiful attire and to our “decorations crew” of  Kayleigh Dlapa, Allie Vanden Heuvel, Cora Spuhler and Amanda Wiebelhaus.  With the beautiful weather, the crowd was unusually large for a Tuesday and it was a real treat to be able to decorate our float minus the mittens.   For those of you who missed the parade, you can visit our website:  www.savestpatrick.com to see the articles and photos.

At the May 12, 2009, 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. 

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 by the fall. 

Have a birthday, anniversary or special occasion and in need of a unique gift?  The 150^th Anniversary History Book of St. Patrick’s Church will bring hours of enjoyment especially for your favorite Irish relative.  If you haven’t already done so, please think about purchasing a copy—suggested donation of $30 or $35 if shipping is requested. The 187-page book packed with memorable information, very interesting facts and over 250 pictures. To get your copy, please contact Nancy Henke at 262/673-5219 or E-mail Mary Hasslinger at mary.weddingday@att.net.

For continued updates, please visit our web site at www.savestpatrick.com (don’t forget--check out the latest photos and articles from St. Patrick’s Day) or join us the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Erin Town Hall.  Coffee, dessert and catching up with family, friends and neighbors follow the meeting.  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 again thank you for your ongoing support during the past TEN years, as we continue our goal to preserve St. Patrick’s Chapel--an important part of the history of the Town of Erin.

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