Celebrating Community & Planning Future Upgrades

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

What a great night it was this past week with the National Night Out being at St. Francis. Our parking lot and grounds were filled with over 500 people who came to share food, music and just an overall fun time. A lot of kids came and enjoyed the water from the fire department’s ladder truck, face painting and balloons. Many thanks to the organizers and helpers for this wonderful event. Just to name a few, it involved the fire department and the local police, the sheriff’s office and even a warden, clowns, balloon twisters and face painters, the Creamery, Altar and Rosary, school teachers and staff, lots of parishioners who set up and tore down and who grilled burgers and shucked corn. A special thanks to the Brickners and our School Vision Committee for getting the ball rolling. If you missed it, you missed a great time. No fears, though, we are already planning for next year!

As I am writing this, preparations for the Fair are going strong. One hundred and fifty pounds of pulled pork (it must have been a very big pig, - just kidding!) is being prepared and many more pounds of hamburger is being made into patties. So many of our parishioners make this a great community event for St. Francis and it helps out financially as well. Thank you to all who make this a great event for us and for the wider Ellsworth community. Special thanks to Alesha Radke who is spearheading the work.

In this bulletin you will see a report from the monthly meeting of Buildings and Grounds. One of the things to note is that we are looking at some initial drawings for updating the area around the altar. The proposals that we have gotten highlight the marble in the sanctuary and the area around the tabernacle. We have another church design group we want to get plans from before we start making decisions. Eventually, we will share the concept drawings and get more input from the parish. And, then like most things, we will have to get the Diocese to approve. Another way of saying it will take some time.

Lots of things in a parish happen behind the scenes and one of those is that new software for donations, especially ACH and recurring payments, will be coming soon. It is a program with ParishSoft, the same company which every parish in the Diocese uses for parish member records and donation tracking. This will be an easy way for parishioners to give on a regular basis and manage their giving much easier.

In all, lots of good things are happening in the parish. Emphasizing the positive is one way to -

Go out and Make Jesus Famous!
Fr. Olson