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ASHLAND CLUSTER PARISHES

Ashland • Odanah • Moquah • Dauby • Ino

Parish Newsletter no. 18 June 2017 www.ourladyashland.fa i th

Toward the end of the Liturgy of the Eucharist at many week-

end Masses, the congregation and the presider hold out their

hands in blessing over those parishioners who will soon be

bringing Communion to the “sick and homebound”. These

ministers build bridges between the larger faith community

and those who, for whatever reason, are physically--but not

spiritually--separated from us.

One such builder of bridges is Bill Mattes, who shares a Com-

munion ministry with Karen Hanson that includes weekly

stops at Ashland Arms, Bay Tower, and MacArthur Court. On

a typical Sunday morning, Bill is found in the common room

at the Ashland Arms, in prayer with Ann Bellinger. Using a

protocol from The Catholic Handbook for Visiting the Sick and

Homebound, Bill leads Ann through abbreviated versions of

the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Ann

follows along with a copy of the readings that he has provid-

ed. She receives the Body of Christ from Bill, and the service

is concluded, with some time to spare for chatting.

On to Bay Tower. Three ladies--Debbie Meintz, Patti Jellish,

and Kim Finnegan--are waiting for Bill to arrive. They are

soon joined by a gentleman, Don Jensen, who comments, “I

like this guy. He makes me very happy.” The warmth and mu-

tual respect among all present is obvious--as is the shared

sense of humor, evidenced by the lively exchange of jokes

following the service. Clearly, this group has some history. In

fact, Bill has been bringing Communion to the “high rise” for

over ten years. He started back when his mother-in-law was

a resident and he realized there was a need. He has been

coming back ever since.

Bill’s experience, while heart-warming, is not unique. Many

of the ministers to the homebound at Our Lady of the Lake

have been carrying out their ministries--in city apartment

buildings, nursing homes, the Ashland County Jail, private

homes, etc.--for ten, fifteen, or even more years. What keeps

them energized? As Bill says, “meeting the people”--also, the

deep, genuine appreciation expressed by those people and

the profound privilege of bringing Christ to our brothers and

sisters. Additional ministers to the homebound are always

welcome, as substitutes or regular visitors. If you feel called

to this ministry--or just want more information--contact Ric

Johnson at the Pastoral Center.

Bill bids farewell to the Bay Tower group and heads to Mac-

Arthur Court, spreading the joy.

Building Bridges: Ministry to the Sick & Homebound

Ann Bellinger: “I would not receive Communion or get the

bulletin if not for Bill.”

Patti Jellish receives Communion from Bill Mattes at Bay Tower.

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Fr. Paul Paré, OFM, Pastor

Fr. Joseph Kumar, Associate Pastor

Deacon William Holzhaeuser

Deacon Owen Gorman

Deacon Clarence Campbell

Deacon John Grek

Ric Johnson - Business Administrator

Karen Wolfgram - Parish Secretary

Sr. Peggy Kacvinsky - Bookkeeper

David Hart - Data Assistant

Anna Richardson - Religious Form. Dir.

Randy Hudson - Maintenance

Our Lady of the Lake Pastoral Center

106 N. 2nd Avenue East, Ashland, WI

715-682-7620 / ollcatholicchurch@ourladycc.org

New Faces at the Pastoral Center

Karen Wolfgram is the new secretary at the Pastoral

Center. She replaces Mary Timmons, who moved out of

the area with her husband, Paul. As the former owner of

the Embellishments shop in Ashland, Karen has a back-

ground in dealing with the public. Although she says the

learning curve has been steep, Karen feels more com-

fortable every day. She is available Monday through Fri-

day, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM [lunch break 12:00-

12:30] to assist with scheduling, facilitate scrip purchas-

es, provide information, help with articles for the bulle-

tin, etc. Stop in and say hello. Karen greeting visitors with a smile.

David Hart recently began working part-time at the Pasto-

ral Center, entering parish sacramental and school alumnae

records into the computer system. The goal is finally to

have all of the Baptismal, First Communion, Confirmation,

Marriage, and DePadua High School records digitized, com-

pletely and accurately. This has been an ongoing effort over

the years. Now that there is a position dedicated to the

task, it will be finished more quickly and efficiently. The

written records are kept in a vault in the pastoral center.

Some of the oldest volumes are becoming almost too frag-

ile to handle. Having all of this information digitized will

help to protect the written records, as well as make it easi-

er for the information to be accessed by those who need it

to verify that they have re-

ceived a sacrament, to do

genealogical research, to

answer diocesan statistical

requests, etc.

As some of the written rec-

ords are incomplete, Dave

sometimes finds himself

playing detective, making phone calls and cross referencing

to track down accurate information. Dave is very detail-

oriented and takes this job very seriously, ensuring that

these important records will be intact and available for fu-

ture generations.

David at his desk in the Pastoral Center.

A few of the volumes of sacramental records

Our Lady of the Lake School

215 Lake Shore Dr. E., Ashland, WI

715-682-7622

shelley@ourladycs.org

www.ourladycs.org

Betty Swiston - Principal

Shelley Knabe - School Secretary

Angie Moravetz - Billing Clerk

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What a wonderful school year we had at Our Lady of

the Lake School! There has been so much growth in

our students in

body, mind, and

soul. We wish the

eighth grade grad-

uates well in their

future education.

They will certainly

be missed.

Father Paul spoke

with the eighth

grade graduates

recently as they

reflected on a

document that

discussed the qualities of an Our Lady of the Lake

School Graduate--personal, academic, spiritual, and

social. Fr. Paul, who has known nearly all of them since

they began first grade, complimented them on their

maturity and ability to exemplify all of the qualities that

are expected of them as graduates of Our Lady of the

Lake School.

The eighth graders all agreed with Fr. Paul that they

certainly have grown in their faith in God and were able

to demonstrate their faith in their actions and words.

They also expressed that Our Lady of the Lake School

has prepared them academically for high school and

that they will always remember the lessons that they

learned about mak-

ing good moral

choices in their lives.

We also graduated

our four-year-old

preschoolers. Many

of them will be

attending our school

in the fall! We have

a full kindergarten

class and have hired

a full-time aide for

the classroom to as-

sist Mrs. Punjak. We

are looking forward

to the next school year with an increase of nearly 20

students in grades K-8. This is due, in part, to the posi-

tive promotion of the school by our happy and satisfied

families. Please like our Facebook page to continue to

see what is happening throughout the summer.

A Note From

the Principal

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School

Betty Swiston

Graduates with Fr. Joseph, Mrs. Boyd, Mrs. Swiston, and Fr. Paul.

Preschool graduates in a spontaneous moment.

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN OUR

ALUMNI LIST!

E-mail shelley@ourladycs.org

with your name, years of attend-

ance, and contact information [OR

mail to 215 Lake Shore Dr. OR drop a

note in the collection basket at Mass].

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106 N. 2nd Ave. E

Ashland, WI 54806

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

Ashland, WI

Permit No. 24

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Community

First Prize: $2000 Second Prize: $1000

Third Prize: $500

Fourth - Tenth Prizes: $100

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT

THE PASTORAL CENTER OUR LADY OF THE LAKE SCHOOL

BENOIT CHEESE OMER NELSON ELECTRIC

COLOR CENTER LULICH IMPLEMENT NEIGHBORLY BAR

1/$5 5/$20 20/$60 40/$100

Drawing 3:00 PM Sunday, July 16, 2017

ALL PROCEEDS GO TOWARD NEW PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT OUR LADY OF THE LAKE SCHOOL!!