Time flies but not memories

How can it be nearly the end of July…In less than five months Christmas will be over! By then we will maybe waiting for these warm temperatures…84 degrees with humidity at 66 and thunderstorms late tonight. Right now it looks like rain on Saturday, the Day of the Morrison County Paint-A-Thon. My prayer is that it remains dry where the houses to be painted are located.

It was a quiet weekend here…and not many extra activities this week, either. Next Wednesday (August 5th, 4 to 8 p.m.) is the Green Fair Folk Festival so there is lots of activity preparing for that as the days go by. The UROCK youth were here practicing this past weekend. They will come again next weekend and the performances will be at the Green Fair on the 5th.

Wednesday we will have “Twins Day” here. Noon lunch will be ballgame-day-foods. Other activities include watching the game and other events.

The Church Ladies continue to practice for their August 12th and 13th performances. This is a fundraiser for Oasis, a Little Falls based nonprofit organization that helps provide food and housing for those in need. Several Sisters and Employees are in the cast. I have my ticket.

The Relay for Life walk was July 17th. There were 13 teams and they raised over $67,000. The funds stay here to help Morrison County residents suffering from cancer. Thank you for your generosity.

“The Well” from Clare’s Well is now standing near the Labyrinth, just north of the orchard. It is good to see it there.

On Saturday I went to look at our Convent Garden and at the Community Gardens. They are just beautiful! Everything is growing so well. At least one could be on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. The flower gardens are tall and colorful, also.

That’s all there is for this week.

God bless you.

Sister Mary Lou

Summer fun!

Our busy week at the Wisconsin Dells with our family was great! There were 33 of us! God was good to us: giving us safe travel, good health, great food, card and Domino games, beautiful sights to see, and lots of sharing times. A few of the highlights for me were the day at Mt. Olympus Theme/Water Parks, the Tommy Bartlett Ski and Water Show, the tour of the Wollersheim Winery in Prairie Du Sac, WI, and the Duck Boat Ride. Breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty is something to also remember. I thank God for such good days and fun experiences with my family---and the little black dog, Midnight, was SO happy to have us come back to the farm. He just couldn’t get enough petting.

On Sunday, 19th, was the St. Francis High School Reunion. We had a chapel full of people for the Mass and lots for the luncheon afterwards. Much visiting took place before Mass and at the meal. It was great! St. Francis High School was in operation from 1926 to 1977…2339 women graduated from the school and then there were MANY others who came for a time, but did not graduate. The Sisters and lay teachers who taught there influenced a lot of women those 51 years. The High School is an important piece of our Franciscan Sisters’ history. I am grateful for the foresight of our early Sisters for founding the High School. Many of our Sisters are graduates of St. Francis.

This week we have about 30 Nursing Leadership Symposium participants here for meeting for three days—12 of them are staying nights here at St. Francis Center.

This coming weekend and next weekend we have the U-Rock youth here practicing for their Green Fair performances on August 5th. One can not only hear them practice…in the building you can also feel the beat of the drums! U-Rock youth have an opportunity to form bands, work together and to learn music together.

The Green Fair Folk Festival is only two weeks away—August 5th from 4 to 8 p.m. We are expecting about 70 vendors exhibiting earth-friendly products, health and wellness information, family entertainment and Kids activities. We will also again have the horse-drawn wagon giving tours of campus. There is a lot going on in that 4-hour period of time! Put it on your calendar to come. You won’t be sorry.

My prayer for you is that you’ve been safe and healthy so far this summer…and that it continues.

Peace and blessings,

Sister Mary Lou

Celebration and Sadness

I Hope you had a good and safe 4th of July celebration. I went to West Union for their BIG Parade….at least 60+ units in all. Because this is “small town” and “rural,” we had many tractors from 1910 models to modern, a horse-drawn carriage, the West Union Marching Kazoo Band, some novelty units and LOTS of candy! After the parade everyone went to the City Park for hotdogs and watermelon. The crowds along the parade route were big. Everyone seemed to be having a good time…and the weather was perfect.

We, too, have skies covered with a hazy overcast caused by the uncontrolled fires in Canadian forests. “They say” it will get better in the next couple days.

Our Sister Elizabeth (Liz) Weier died at 8:20 Sunday morning, July 5th. I had her as an English teacher at St. Francis High School and she came with me on my first home-visit after I finished the Novitiate. Our Sister Vianney Weier and Poor Clare Sister Helen Weier are her blood sisters. May Sr. Elizabeth be experiencing joy-filled Life with the Lord. Our sympathy to Sisters Vianney and Helen and their family. The Franciscan Wake for Sister Elizabeth is Friday evening at 7 p.m. and her Funeral is Saturday, July 11 at 10:30 a.m. Burial is in our Cemetery

The other big event on Sunday was the celebration of Sister Fabian’s 100th birthday. She is such a gracious welcoming lady. Many of her family members joined us at the 11 a.m. Mass and for dinner afterwards. And LOTS of people came for the open house from 2 to 4 p.m. When one lives to be 100, one makes lots of friends along the way! She is blest to have such an alert mind and is able to move around so well. (She frequently takes a walk outside by herself on nice days.) One of her gift from family is a marble bench that is now in the courtyard. Happy birthday, Sister Fabian, on July 10th.

Wednesday evening, at 6:30, we have a speaker coming. Kathy Kelly’s talk is titled, “Can Earth Survive Endless Wars?” (In my head, when I read the title, I said, “NO.”) I look forward to hearing her.

Last Thursday we had the funeral for our good friend Rosemary (Rosie) Boehm. She had been a member of our Community at one time until she went home to care for her aging parents. She once had her own band and was an excellent drummer. So the entrance procession at Mass was to drumming done by Sr. Maurita. In 1996, Rosie came to St. Francis Convent to set up a rehabilitation department for the care of our Senior Sisters. She knew how to make people happy. On her memorial card she used St. Augustine’s quote: “The Christian should be an alleluia from head to foot.”

This week we are having Sisters Driving Road Tests and a Driving Awareness Class. I will do both.

There will be no blog next week. I will be on vacation with my family. Please pray for safe travel for us. Thanks.

Peace and blessings,

Sister Mary Lou