We made it! With literally no daylight remaining, the finishing touches were made to the “Lest We Forget” Veterans’ Memorial on Friday, November 9 just in time for the dedication following the 9:30 a.m. Mass on Saturday. W
e are very proud of this beautiful addition to our campus. Thank you again to Bill and Eileen Fuller for their generous donation of the statue. There is still one bench available for purchase as well as numerous brick pavers. The cost for the remaining bench is $3,500.00 and brick pavers are $150.00. Now that you are able to see the completed project, I would hope that you will agree that $150 is a small price to pay for an engraved brick paver at the base of this magnificent memorial to our veterans. Please see the complete story on the Veterans’ Memorial on page 3 in this bulletin.
That didn’t take very long! After making an initial announcement regarding our Bicycle Drive hosted by the Ladies of Charity this past weekend, by 11:00 a.m. on Monday, we already had three bikes sitting in the reception area. This is before the trees with bicycle themed ornaments have been installed in the narthex. Please look for the trees this weekend and choose an ornament with the age range that you would like to buy for. We are looking to provide 200 bicycles for the children (and young adults) of Immokalee. Several families have inquired about going in together and purchasing a bicycle as a group. This is perfectly acceptable. If you do not want to go through the trouble of purchasing a bicycle, you may write a check payable to St. John the Evangelist with “Bike Drive” indicated on the memo line, and the Ladies of Charity will purchase the bike on your behalf.
Do you have a golf cart in good shape that you would like to donate to St. John the Evangelist? Our 15 acre campus is becoming tough to maintain by foot. The Buildings and Grounds committee has asked me to see if anyone would be willing to donate a golf cart to be used to transport items (landscaping, etc.) from one end of campus to the other. Please contact me if you have a golf cart that you are willing to donate? Your donation will be a tax deductible gift. Thank you for your consideration.
This Saturday, members of the St. John’s Youth Group under the direction of the Buildings and Grounds Committee will take part in “Fall Mulching Day.” There will be a lot more than mulching going on as these middle and high school students will be planting countless annuals and spreading two full pallets of mulch and a truckload of pine straw over the entire campus. From 111th Avenue to the far north end of our site, the youth of our parish will take a vested interest in their parish by enhancing its beauty. Thanks to Dave Quist and Bill Maguire for undertaking this project.
I am getting excited as we approach the homestretch with regards to the 2012 Catholic Faith Appeal. I hope my excitement and optimism are not unfounded. We currently are just shy of 85% of goal with less than two months remaining. We have less than $67,000.00 ($66,224.00 to be exact) to satisfy our goal for 2012. Remember that the CFA is the single most important component of our annual operating budget. As a reminder to our seasonal residents and visitors, please make your check payable to the Catholic Faith Appeal with St. John the Evangelist in the memo line. You may also make electronic contributions by visiting the Diocese of Venice website at www.dioceseofvenice.org. In addition, you may also make contributions of stock by contacting Deborah Shafer in the Diocese of Venice development office at 941.484.9543. Thank you for your continued support of the Catholic Faith Appeal.
Have you “liked” us on Facebook? By visiting our website www.saintjohntheevangelist.com you will have the opportunity to do so. Simply click on the link and you will be a friend of Saint John the Evangelist on Facebook and get updates as they are posted. If you are not one of the 750 million people currently using Facebook, now would be a great time to create an account.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg,
MBA General Manager