Snow Snow Go Away… and don’t come back (On Snow Plowing)
The Pre-K 4 kids told me a special secret. They said that when they don’t want to go to school they put an ice cube in the toilet and it snows so school is cancelled. Enough Already ! Keep the kids away from the ice cubes. On a serious note, from now on when it snows in the morning and school is closed, our plow company will only plow the lower half of the church parking lot and the parking lot entrance to the Church. We can’t have him come multiple times during a storm when maybe only one person will come to church in bad weather. It is very cost prohibitive. So far we have spent $10,300 on snow removal, not including last Thursday’s storm. If the weather is bad stay home and watch the Mass on our internet connection. To do so, go to our website, stpaulkensington.org, and click on the red button half way down the page which says “watch.” You can expand the viewing by clicking the fullscreen button in the lower right hand corner.

Thank You
Just a note to thank you for your very warm reception of our parish’s Annual Report. Good news, rather great news, is always easy to share and receive. As I said, we only have such great news because we have great parishioners who assist our parish both by volunteering and supporting the parish financially… It’s all a tribute to you.

Three Calls
I received three calls this week concerning our new membership policy. Each of the families who called stated that they attend, but don’t use envelopes. That’s your choice and you are free to do so. However, it is in your best interest to simply throw a note or an envelope with your name and address in the basket letting us know that you attend. If you do that, then we will mark you registered and active even if your giving history is 0. There are a number of families who chose to do that and we are grateful that they let us know that they attend Mass regularly. We simply can’t continue to list half of Berlin as active members when we haven’t seen them in years.

Those who ignore History are doomed to repeat it.
Tonight David Cyr and I will be meeting with some members of the Berlin Historical Society. Among the items we will discuss is a suggested party or “Irish wake” for the KGS building. It will be a perfect opportunity for those who went to school in the building to share stories. We will be happy to offer the free use of our Church Hall for such a celebration.

In a recent letter from the Historical Society they understood that we did not have the resources to save the building, but asked that we could try and save some of the elements for the society or the town. Tonight my response will be, “Of course we will try and save anything we can from the building, as long as it doesn’t break our tight budget.” Two of the elements worth saving are the tile reliefs surrounding the water fountain in the High School portion of the building. Sadly, they are on walls covered with lead paint and mounted on asbestos plaster which may make saving them difficult. The big relief outside over the steps is also somethingthing worth saving but it is cracked and may fall apart when we try to move it. There are some brownstone elements which may end up in our parish green or in a town park if the town or the historical society wants them. I want to assure everyone that we will do our best to save what we can save, but also feel the need to remind everyone that we do not have unlimited resources.

It’s Signed
Here is a picture of me and Mr. David Manafort after I signed the most expensive contract in my life to abate and tear down the KGS building. Don Lombardo and Diane Funk were present and the contract was also reviewed by the Archdiocesan attorney. In the next few weeks, you will see some digging around the foundation of the building. The contractors will be digging around the foundation to determine if the waterproofing on the underground foundation contains the dreaded “A” word, “asbestos.” If it does, then the foundation will have to be taken to a “hot” landfill along with the roof which also contains asbestos. While I’m gone, the committee will keep you updated on what is going on over at the KGS. God Bless You!

Fr. Robert