St. Michael’s members Patrick and Christian Neary will be confirmed on May 19th at St. John’s-New Milford by Bishop Curry. Readers and assistants who would like to participate in the service, and those who would like to attend or bring food for the reception, are encouraged to call the parish office.
The presentation of “the purse” at Jenni’s Farewell Fete was a light moment.
The community house was decorated beautifully in Spring-like colors (thank you, Dragon Ladies!), there was an overflow crowd of well-wishers, many delectable buffet selections, an ovation for Jenni’s sermon, and an outpouring of love and affection to bid Jenni farewell. She was gifted with a purse of $3700 from church members’ donations, plus a large gift basket filled with cards and mementos.
The parish gift to Jenni was an exquisite Madonna and Child statue by an Early Renaissance sculptor, and the youngest members of St. Michael’s showed their love with a memory scrapbook.
Dear Jack Balaguer, Dick Loyer, Carolyn and Mark Poley, Susie Pollock,
Judy Radasch, Dana Rohn, Elaine Swanson, Michele Veseskis and George
Ziemba . . .
What a huge thank you St. Michael’s and I owe you all. What we
did this morning is very hard work and we accomplished a lot and made a
great start at presenting the Rectory to the buying public in a much
better way.
I can’t thank you enough for giving of your time and muscle
and energy and all in good humor.
Blessings to all. ~Martha Olin
Music Director Marguerite Mullee was the guest of honor at a Tea Party held in Jeannette Ching's home.
Jeannette Ching hosted a lovely tea party at her home to better acquaint Music Director Marguerite Mullee with St. Michael’s Altar Guild.
Spring in St. Michael’s Memorial Garden is the perfect time to host coffee hour on the stone patio overlooking the lovely weeping cherry trees.
Chris Clarke, Mary & Dick Loyer, Jack & Barbara Balaguer, Lee Cordon and Michele Veseskis were among the Lenten Soup Supper Servers.
Thanks and praise to all those who set up and cleaned up, cubed cheese, sliced bread, made soup and served soup, donated drinks and dollars, attended, greeted, welcomed and prayed with an outstanding crowd of 73 at St. Michael’s Lenten Ecumenical Supper on April 12.
The room looked lovely, the aroma of many delicious handmade soups was enticing, the table discussions were lively and Jenni’s presentation with the theme “Reconciliation” struck the perfect note with the gathering.
The “how we met” story for a young couple is always interesting, but in the case of Rebecca and John, it’s circuitous as well as serendipitous.
Rebecca was very involved in her Catholic church and John was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Bridgewater. They attended St. Anthony’s when they first moved to the area, but ultimately found that St. Michael’s was a better fit. They feel that Jenni is a wonderful priest and the church community has been friendly and welcoming.
Their wedding is scheduled for this September at St. Michael’s and they took Jenni’s advice to heart, “You only want people at your wedding who will support you in your marriage.” So it will be a small wedding with their nearest and dearest and with a lovely reception in Barkhamsted.
They are already beginning to get involved in the church community. They will be volunteering at the soup kitchen and Rebecca expressed interest in joining a mission trip, possibly to Costa Rica. When she and John visited there on vacation, they brought educational items for the Bribri tribe which is quite unique in that the people speak their own language and are struggling to hold onto their original traditions and customs.
John served seven years with the US Army and was deployed to Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. He received his degree in Cultural Anthropology and History, spent some time building homes with his uncle, then took a position with a company in Newtown that specializes in market intelligence for the Aerospace/Defense, Electronics, and Power Systems industries. He became a Space System and a U.S. Defense Budget Analyst. He is now Director of Global Sales & Marketing.
Rebecca has a B.A. in Latin American studies and Economics from Boston University, is fluent in Spanish, and has studied abroad in both Costa Rica and Mexico. She is now a Defense Analyst for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eurasia.
The company where they both ended up has two separate buildings, but they eventually got together. Meeting cute? More like meeting smart!
After years as apartment dwellers, they are currently focusing on interior design for their lovely hilltop home in Torrington. Their companions are an impressively large yellow striped cat and a much smaller black cat that were cage mates at the shelter and are now inseparable.
They both love the water. Rebecca grew up near the coast and always sailed and John visited the Cape Cod beaches as a youngster. And, appropriately, the marriage proposal took place at the Highland Lighthouse in Truro on Cape Cod. John stashed the ring in the car and as she was trying to snap a photo, Rebecca saw him get down on one knee. A photo of the lighthouse is prominently displayed in their living room.
They now sail together on a small Sunfish and are anxiously awaiting warmer weather since they prefer summer sports. Rebecca played semi-pro soccer in Mexico and John played Rugby in college.
They both share reading as a favorite pastime and John is currently embroiled in a fascinating and complicated hobby: tracing his family lineage to four of the Mayflower Pilgrims. He’s a history buff, but this sort of genealogy requires strict documentation through birth and death certificates. The result will be family membership in the Mayflower Society, and possibly the Sons of the American Revolution.
Rebecca Barrett and John Edwards will be married at St. Michael's this September.
Exactly how many chores do the Dragon Ladies accomplish? When I asked that question, I received a paper listing 98 different items and these numbers: An average of 275.82 hours per year, or approximately 6.9 weeks at a 40-hour workweek. Thus, the answer to the question is . . .a LOT.
But there’s more to it than working in unison. Tuesday morning for the Dragon Ladies is a chance to socialize, worry about each other, occasionally share lunch, and enjoy a warm sisterhood that enriches their lives and connection to St. Michael’s. Head Dragon Sara Gadomski gets high marks from her compatriots, Barbara Balaguer calling her “a marvelous leader” who “always knows exactly what needs to be done.” And Laura Wichmann says everyone in their close-knit group is caring and fun to be with.
Peg Sullivan says they are a committee of the whole where everyone fills the needs as they identify them, whether it’s stuffing envelopes, picking up fallen branches, setting up for weddings and funerals, preparing candles or offering church tours to those who happen in on a Tuesday morning.
Chris Clarke says she feels guilty when she can’t come to their regular get-together and takes pleasure in the doing of all their tasks.
The Dragons are the go-to people who can tell you where to find everything since they have cleaned, dusted, sorted, labeled and organized everything at one time or another. They also set a sterling example of the purest form of service.
Barbara Balaguer, bathed in morning sunlight, pauses to refresh the altar flowers.
The Dragon Ladies began as volunteers in the creation of the Colossal Puppets in 2005, sewing them together and providing the “dental work” for the dragon (golf tees.) They saw other tasks that needed to be done around the church, formally organized as a subcommittee of the Property Committee, set to work and have been humming along ever since.
Their name was chosen in honor of St. Michael slaying “the dragon” and their mission statement is simple: Love all and serve all.
In their service to the church, they have encountered many and diverse challenges: ironing the Pentecost ribbons on candleholders and sorting them according to color so they resemble fire, spending 159 hours in the summer of 2007 sorting and cleaning Ernie’s carriage house apartment in preparation for the tag sale, decorating Christmas trees, watering live plants and washing artificial plants, shoveling snow, dusting, straightening, counting chairs, vacuuming pews, polishing wood. The Hands of God wreath nearly did them in, but they successfully raised it in place.
The present membership of the Dragon Ladies includes Sara Gadomski, Peg Sullivan, Laura Wichmann, Chris Clarke, Barbara Balaguer and Judie Juliano. They invite others who want to share in this unique, vital and always interesting ministry to join them in laughter and labor on Tuesday mornings.
Dragon Ladies Laura Wichmann and Sara Gadomski make sure the stained glass windows sparkle.
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