Welcome to summer in Southwest Florida. The longest day of the year — the summer solstice — took place this past Friday. On June 21 2013, at exactly 1:04 a.m. EDT (5:04 UTC), the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth reached its point of greatest inclination to the Sun. With the arrival of summer, it looks as though we are already well entrenched in the rainy season. Depending on your location, we have received measurable rainfall every day for the past eight days. One look at the lake at the front of our campus will definitely prove an indicator of how much rainfall we have recognized at St. John the Evangelist. This is great news as we have plenty of water stored in order to irrigate our campus.
Our “Kingdom Rock” themed Vacation Bible School was the enormous “success” that everyone expected. The organization was flawless and the stage props once again looked like something out of a Broadway show. Although there were over 100 volunteers involved in this year’s event, a special thank you is in order for Charlene and Brian Youngs, Karen and Rick Beebe, Jasmine Dina and family, Natalie Campbell, Michelle and John Mattia, Trish Gasiorowski and Jennifer Grenardo. As Director of Family Ministry, Charlene was tasked with coordinating Vacation Bible School for the third consecutive year. She did a magnificent job yet again! Brian (Charlene’s husband) and Karen and Rick Beebe constructed the stage props from scratch at no cost to the parish. They spent countless hours creating a very innovative set. How good were the decorations and stage props? So good that representatives from other churches locally came to take pictures of what we created here. In addition, two parishes have rented our set to use for their own VBS. 
These volunteers spent an incredible amount of time and effort preparing for what has been the best Vacation Bible School yet. I say this every year and these incredible volunteers keep outdoing themselves. The aforementioned statistic is not a typo! There were actually over 100 volunteers involved in this year’s event. That equates to more than one volunteer for every two children. Over 200 children participated in this year’s VBS and Tom Oram stepped in again to lead the signing (and dancing) portion of the festivities. Without Tom, we would not be able to generate the enthusiasm that we did. Thank you again to all the volunteers for providing our children an invaluable experience. This is by far my favorite week of the year with regards to programs held within our parish. There is nothing that pleases me more than seeing all of the families come together and share in this ministry.
By now, most of you have met our new Associate Pastor, Fr. Jim Simko. Over the past four months, we have been working with a local real estate agent (and parishioner) to find a residence for Fr. Jim. We received permission from the Diocese of Venice to purchase a condo to house Fr. Jim. Rather than continue to rent, the decision was made to purchase a unit and build equity. After visiting over 20 condos in the area, we found a perfect fit at a price that was too good to pass up. The condo will be financed through the Diocese (10 years) and after all is said and done, our monthly expenses (principal, interest, utilities, maintenance fees) will be far less than what we were recognizing on our former rental unit. What we found during this process is that the real estate market locally has definitely rebounded. We made offers on several units only to find that they were already under contract. Considering that the real estate market was the primary driver in crushing our local economy several years ago, this looks to be good news moving forward.
Our maintenance staff has been hard at work recently installing the final touches on the “Lest we Forget” Veteran’s Memorial. All of the benches are being clad in travertine stone similar to what was installed at the base of the statue. 
This enhancement will be very aesthetically pleasing and a fitting addition to what is already an amazing memorial. We have sold over 80 pavers thus far and there is room for at least another 80. If you are interested in honoring or memorializing a loved one, please contact me to purchase yours. The cost is only $150.00. Many have asked if the pavers must recognize someone who has served in the military. Absolutely not! Parishioners may purchase a paver to recognize anyone they wish.
After a somewhat lengthy delay, the Hearing Loop system has been installed. Beginning this weekend you will be able to take advantage of this amazing new technology. Please carefully read my comments below so that you are able to connect your hearing device. St. John the Evangelist has installed a Hearing Loop to assist those with hearing loss hear more clearly during Mass. A Hearing Loop is an assistive listening system that transmits sound directly into ones hearing aids or cochlear implants rather than depending on sound coming from the loudspeakers. To receive the Loop signal, manually activate your T-coil or telephone setting on your hearing aid or cochlear implant. If you don’t know if you have a T-coil or if yours is properly programmed, consult with your audiologist or hearing aid professional. If you don’t wear hearing aids, ask to use a Loop receiver to receive the sound. A receiver may be checked out from the Sacristy. If you have further questions about Looping, please contact the installation company, Complete Hearing Solutions at www.CompleteHearingSolutions.org or call 727.260.3488.
In next week’s bulletin, we will publish an entire list of Q & A regarding the Loop System.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager