St. Andrew the Apostle 50th Anniversary 2008

The committee was formed and our first meeting was held on August 14, 2007. Committee members:  Marge Conroy, Imelda Castillo, Nancy Olmstead, Jerry Goebel, Bryant Sayers, Fran Cassidy, Maryann Hockstad, Roger Wysong, Lorenza Wysong, Christine Ramirez, Brenda Malarchik, Frank Feracco.

The committee planned many events during the year of 2008, which were in addition to the regular annual events of the church ministries.  Some of these events are listed:
      
We began the celebration with a theme contest in which the parishioners participated, to find a suitable theme and slogan for the coming year.  44 entries were submitted, with the winning slogan of: “Celebrating 50 years of Faith in Action.”

Two banners were made ready for the next event of unveiling the beautiful painting by Barbara Gurwitz.  She had been contracted to paint a portrait of our new church.  The unveiling was November 3 &4 to coincide with the ladies bazaar.  Many prints and cards of this painting were sold during the year.

Joe Paiz brought a very talented artist to Kino Hall for our enjoyment; Carlos Morales, a young award winning guitarist and vocalist from Texas.  Those who attended the concert were very impressed with the grace and strength of this performer.

In April 2008, a new parish directory was available for our parishioners.  Many participated in having their photos taken for the directory and all of the ministries were pictured as well.  Maryann Hockstead headed this activity.

In June our committee presented a talent show for our parish and the community.  Fran Cassidy headed this event with Bill Cassidy assisting.  The “St. Andrews’ Cleaning Ladies” were the comic relief for the evening, bringing in some Carol Burnett nostalgia.  It was amazing to see and hear all of the great talent that was featured this evening. Many in our parish were unaware of the artistry in their own parish. We all loved the intermission when homemade cookies and punch were served.

July 6 was the dedication Mass for the military prayer entry to our new church. Many dignitaries from Ft. Huachuca were present and following the dedication by Fr. Greg, we had an ice cream social headed up by the youth group. YUM!

In September the ministry fair was held along with the parish picnic.  From 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM there were 30 tables out in the kiosk area decorated and ready for the parishioners after the morning Masses.  People could visit the tables to learn more about all of the ministries here at St. Andrews.  Pamphlets, balloon, candy, rosaries, prayer cards and various other items were given out to the visitors.  All the participating ministries felt this was a wonderful event and should be an annual affair.  Many parishioners were surprised to see all of these ministries doing such good work in our community.  Many decided to join up!

October 17, 18, &19 of 2008, Karen Stahl and Rebecca Williams brought a fantastic three day organ festival to our church.  The organ concert filled the church and demonstrated how beautiful our newly acquired pipe organ can sound.

The last event to fill out the years’ celebration was a dinner for the parish given by the committee at the Knights of Columbus Hall.  The Knights were very helpful in defraying the costs and allowing us to use Phil and Anita Garcia and Imelda  Castillo as the banquet chefs.  Imelda had supervised the grand cake for our dessert.  What a wonderful surprise this was for everyone.  It was a huge replica of our new church.  How did the baker ever do that?  We enjoyed a delicious dinner along with a video presentation of our church history, made and presented by Don Phelps and Greg Figueroa, our Parish Photographer.  Our guest speaker came to us by Fr. Greg’s invitation.  Monseignor Thomas Calahane was lively and fun, with a strong voice and an enjoyable speech.

We are all grateful for our priests, Fr. Gregory Adolf and Fr. Bartolome Vazquez, for leading us and bringing our community closer together through our 50th celebration!

Margie Conroy