St. Patrick's Altar Society
November 2015 Meeting Minutes Attendance: 21 members
St. Patrick's Altar Society November meeting opened with a prayer. The minutes from October were approved as read. The only correspondence was a thank you from the STARS Committee for the donation to the event. The Treasurer's report for October was distributed and approved.
Fr. Schweiger shared with the ladies that he has started the "walk-throughs" of the new church building with the various contractors and is closer to providing the list of preferred cleaning supplies. He also reminded the group that Advent is fast approaching and that we all should use this time to prepare for Christ's birth.
A special guest from Newborns in Need presented the mission and history of the charity. And she was very appreciative of the diapers and other items for newborns that several members brought for her organization.
A count of over 6200 Best Choice labels was shared with the group. Over $1000 was made by the Society at the bake sale and sloppy joes lunch during the Craft Fair. The Treasurer notified the group that the Quilt Raffle sales were at $700 with a few more weeks remaining until the drawing December 6. The Society is still in need of a President for the next term which starts January 1. The President encouraged everyone to support and attend the STARS event November 20. And the ladies were reminded of the upcoming bake sale December 5 and 6. Notices are planned for the bulletin and a sign-up sheet will be posted in the Narthex. While discussing the bake sale, it was brought to the group's attention that the church is sorely in need of new decorations. A motion was made and passed that the sales from the bake sale will go to decorations for the church.
Recommendations for our annual Christmas charity were sought. Several recommendations were brought forth, such as the Retired Priests and St. Gianni's. One member suggested that the ladies donate items to our new social hall this year instead of an outside charity. Many members agreed that we should be charitable with our parish family this year since the needs of the new social hall are great. After some discussion on what members should donate so that we do not end up with a lot of mismatched materials in the hall, it was recommended and agreed that members could contribute monetarily. A discussion was also held on the Society's Christmas Party. A suggestion was forwarded and approved that the party would be held at the meeting in January, which is in the Christmas season, instead of December, which is in the Advent season.
The members were reminded about the Pro Life talk scheduled for November 15 and volunteers were sought to host the event and to provide cookies. Members were also asked if they were interested in providing cookies for the Newman Center fundraiser on December 13. The group decided not to support that fundraiser since the parish has had quite a few of its own cookie sales recently.
More information was distributed to the members regarding countertop options. After a short discussion, a vote was held and a quartz surface was selected for the countertops, as well as using Midwest Tile as the provider. The committee members were asked to speak to the vendor about adding a stainless steel section for the coffee pot area.
An opportunity was shared for 2 more members to raise money for the Society by working the Farm Show at the Lancaster Event Center on December 9. A motion was made and passed to provide Christmas gifts to the priests, Mary Jo, the secretary, etc... like last year. The meeting ended with a prayer and delicious desserts.