This past weekend we were treated to a hint of things to come. Due to the passage of a very early cool front, we experienced morning temperatures in the 60s with daytime highs in the middle 80s. But most importantly, the humidity levels were in the 60% range, which is a far cry from the 90+% that we typically encounter this time of year. Although this cool spell was very short lived, at least we got a brief taste of what we will experience for the next several months. This is a perfect segway to welcome our seasonal parishioners back to Naples. If you have been away, we welcome you back with open arms to “paradise.” You will see a letter in this bulletin from Fr. John and myself introducing a series that will run for the next eight weeks recognizing the gifts and donations made by our generous parishioners over the last two years. We hope that you are as excited as we are regarding the amazing transformation made on campus in such a short period of time.
I intended to make an announcement in my column last week regarding the granite benches that were installed in the memorial garden and outside the front of the church, however, due to space constraints, I decided to leave it for this week. With that said, the new benches have arrived and are in place in the aforementioned locations. They are absolutely beautiful and I have received numerous positive comments from those that chose to memorialize or honor their loved ones by purchasing a bench. If you arrive or depart Mass via the main church entrance then you can’t miss them. If not, please take a stroll through the memorial garden and see for yourself. We are experimenting currently with some new adhesives to attach the back of the bench to the legs. Until the issue is resolved, we kindly ask that you do not sit on the benches. Thank you again to those parishioners that made this a reality.
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Work continues in the Paniccia Prayer Garden to assemble the Stations of the Cross. Marty Gauthier and his crew have been hard at work assembling the pedestals which will house the Stations. Optimistically, the Prayer Garden will be completed by the end of October.
We are still approximately $130,000.00 shy of our Catholic Faith Appeal goal for 2011. Even with this large deficit, we have made some headway recently. As you remember, we exceeded our goal the last three years. This means with your continued support, we should finish the appeal with a substantial surplus which will be returned to the parish for use in our many ministries. Thank you so much for supporting the CFA.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING is required by The Diocese of Venice in Florida. All volunteers who have routine contact with children or vulnerable adults MUST BE TRAINED in safe environment awareness issues. No one should attend Safe Environment Training until their fingerprints have been cleared. Please contact Melanie for further information. The final classes for this year are October 13, 2011 from 6:00 p.m. -8:00 p.m. and October 15, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. – 11-30 a.m. at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Naples.
Save the Date! Bishop Frank Dewane will celebrate Mass for married couples celebrating milestone anniversaries (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 50+ years). The Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, March 3 right here at St. John the Evangelist. Information on registration will be available in mid December. I am sure we will have great representation by our parishioners at the Anniversary Mass.
Since taking over the management of our Memorial Garden back in March 2009, I have sold over 200 spaces to parishioners and their immediate families. As I have said before, I initially found the new addition to my job description quite morbid. Since that time, I have come to actually enjoy the interaction that comes along with the job. I have never claimed to be good at sales, however, the Memorial Garden sells itself, and at $1,200.00 per space, it really is an easy sell. Many of the couples I meet with really like the idea of being able to come to Mass every week and visit their loved ones before or after Mass. Yes, it costs only $1,200.00 to purchase a space in our Memorial Garden. This is an all inclusive price meaning it includes the opening, closing, urn, granite headstone and bronze nameplate. I can assure you that this is an incredibly competitive price. You will pay at least three times this amount at any other cemetery. With the addition of new landscaping, a beautiful fountain and new granite benches, the memorial garden is in tip top shape. As a reminder, space is very limited and sale of space in the garden may be terminated without notice. If you are interested in purchasing space in our Memorial Garden, please contact me at 566.1678.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager