St. Patrick's Altar Society
August 2015 Meeting Minutes Attendance: 28 members
August's St. Patrick's Altar Society meeting opened with a talk given by Fr. Morris on gay marriage. Fr. encouraged the ladies to initiate conversations on the subject. And he recommended a couple of books, What is Marriage by Ryan T. Anderson and Getting the Marriage Conversation Right by William B. May, to help parishioners with the dialogue. There was a brief intermission after Father's talk where the ladies and Father enjoyed delicious refreshments.
The minutes from June were approved as read. And a few thank you cards were read to the group. A couple of the cards were for funeral luncheons, one from Irma Walter's family and one from Betty Northup and the family of Oma Snell. Another one was from Fr. Kipper for his reception and the $25 gift. And the last one was from JoAnne Munn for the Hy-Vee gift card and the Mass intention. The Treasurer's July report was distributed to the members and approved. A suggestion was made to allocate the money needed for the sacristy countertop and for Fr. Schweiger's alb. The Treasurer agreed to separate those expenses on next month's report.
Mary Jo L. gave a quick update on the construction of the new church. It is almost time for the dedication, so Father and others are putting in very long hours trying to get everything finished. Melissa B. shared with the group that the Lancaster Event Center fundraiser was a success and she thought they made approximately $600 for the society. Several ladies from the society worked concessions on Friday and had a good time while they were there. It was suggested that the society do it again next year. Betty Z. notified the members that she and a few other members have completed the sewing of the Altar Linens and they are ready for use. A count of 3,674 Best Choice labels was shared with the group.
The Altar Society plans to sell sloppy joes at the Craft Fair scheduled for Sunday, October 25th. Mary Ann O. and Eileen W are heading that fundraiser. The weekly church cleaning will be restarted the week after the dedication. The families assigned will be in the bulletin the weekend of the dedication. The group is hoping that listing the families will encourage more people to show up to clean. There will be big changes in the cleaning tasks in the new church. Eileen W. is creating a guide so that all the cleaners will know what needs to be done each cleaning day. It was suggested by a member that Eileen notate the imperative tasks since sometimes it is only a couple of people that show up to clean and not everything can be done.
A discussion was held regarding the potluck dinner for the Sunday after the Consecration of the new building. Some members thought we should postpone the potluck since it will be a very busy week. But commitments had already been made, so it was decided to hold the potluck as planned. The rectory Spring cleaning was initially postponed until August due to all the woodworking being performed in the rectory. With all the cleaning needed in the new building, it was decided that the rectory cleaning would be added to September's agenda. The KofC are planning to show October Baby on September 13th and asked if the society would like to provide cookies. The members voted to let the Knights pop popcorn and not provide cookies this time. Diane notified the members that she has served as president of the society for 4 years and has reached the term limit. She asked if anyone would be willing to accept the position. Melissa B. agreed to stay on as vice president. Jeanne V. agreed to another two years as treasurer and Kathy K agreed to stay on as Secretary for another two years as well. The society still needs someone as president for the next term. The members were asked to approach anyone they thought might be willing to accept the position.
The topic of fundraisers was brought up again this month. Betty Z. brought in a beautiful quilt that will be raffled in the Fall as a fundraiser. And the reintroduction of the society's cookie sale was suggested.