These things take time
Some people are concerned that, for the moment, there is less parking because of the KGS Project. If you used to park across the street from the School and miss your spaces, right now there is a roadway made of asphalt millings, which takes you back to the former tennis courts and parking lot. Mr. Meyer and the Committee assured me that more millings will be on the way to make the road smoother and fill in some of the areas damaged because of the demolition. If anyone knows where we can get more millings, please let me know. I’m told the more we can get the better. Thanks for your patience. As I have said over and over again, we will move forward on the project as the pledges come in. There are still just over $600,000 in pledges outstanding. It is important to remind ourselves that the campaign is not even a year old yet. While the demolition was expensive, the Committee informed me that this phase of our project was still under budget. That’s music to my ears. As always, the Parish will get a complete accounting of the project when the financial report is distributed in January.

Get Ready and Get Set
I think that we are in pretty good shape as two of our biggest Parish ministries, our Religious Education and our School, gear up to begin classes. The enrollment in both programs is good. There is a slight decrease in the school, but our kindergarten is substantially larger than last year. People are still calling to inquire about our school and register for our Religious Ed Programs. Our PreK program has an incredible reputation in the community. In both programs, we have lots of excellent educators who really care about our young people. The other day I was watching the news and it said that when a family has a child today, they should expect to spend $250,000 to bring their children to their 19th birthday (not including College). Kids are expensive. Our parish has 2,002 children 18 years of age or younger. When you look at the financial reports from January, it becomes clear that we dedicate a significant portion of our resources to our youth. I assure you, they are worth the sacrifice.

It’s that time of year again.
Once again, lots of people are bringing us fresh vegetables. We love them. When they come all at once, we share them with the staff or people who would enjoy them. Last week, on Tuesday, a big box appeared on our doorstep. Tuesday is the day we invite the local priests without a cook for dinner. The priests who came were so happy to get some of those fresh vegetables . Keep them coming. Fr. Raymond and I love fresh tomato sandwiches. Fr. Mark Curesky was here and he loved the fresh peppers. Thanks a million!

Confirmation Program
Our Confirmation Program is completely transformed this year. Last year we began a pilot program for the 9th grade. This year, both the 9th and the10th grades will be on the new program. The academic part of the program is media based and has weekly quizzes to make sure our kids are learning the material. There are also new service requirements and “Service Days” when our kids go out into the community as a class. This year the 9th Grade will, once again, be going to Talcott Mountain for Mass and a view of the fall foliage. A special thank you to all who make our Confirmation Program such a great success. I am very proud and grateful for our expanded effort and success.

We didn’t know he died.
We have begun the practice of posting upcoming funerals on the Parish Facebook Page, unless the family requests that we don’t. Frequently, the parish learns of a funeral after Masses on Sunday and the funeral is celebrated before the next Sunday. If you miss the obituary in the paper, frequently parishioners never know about the funeral until they hear the announcement at Mass the following Sunday. All funerals are also immediately listed on the Parish Calendar.

Fr. Robert