Day 29

06-29-2018Church Renovation

The work in the church is progressing. It all takes time to get it right. I figured I would share some pictures from Father's party on Wednesday night. Have a safe weekend.

Click Read More to view pictures.

READ MORE

Day 28

06-28-2018Church Renovation

Charlie is going over the walls with a sponge to smooth out the plaster. It will be a couple of weeks yet of patching and sponging to get the walls ready for paint. Steve is stripping each pew which is time consuming too.

Do not forget that in the month of July, we have a generous offer from a parishioner to match dollar for dollar up to $10,000 on the renovation project.

A few pictures of Father Jazdzewski and his gifts from the parish cluster. There were alot of people in attendance and it was a very nice social gathering. Thanks to Danzinger Vineyard for letting us have the party at such a beautiful place. And to the PCCW for the delicious food.

Day 27

06-27-2018Church Renovation

Charlie and the guys are done patching in the entrance way and under the choir loft. They are working on the side walls now. Very time consuming job but they are doing a great job.

Now off to Father's farewell party.

Day 26

06-26-2018Church Renovation

There are 4 painters working today. 2 are up on the lifts and one in the stairway to the choir loft and the last one is on the scaffolding underneath the choir loft. They have to go over the walls 3 times to get it smooth enough to paint.

Day 25

06-25-2018Church Renovation

The plumbing is buried for the bathrooms. The ground is leveled off ready for cement. The painters have to go over the plaster 3 times. One is finishing off the entrance way and one is up in the choir loft.

Steve and Liam have brought some of the pews down from the storage container to be stripped of varnish, sanded and put back together. Some had come apart when they were taken out.

Social Concerns

06-24-2018Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

In the diocesan offices, we have an office dedicated to Social Concerns. Historically the office was also known as Social Justice, Community Service, Social Outreach, Social Ministry and the like. I offer a reminder about these titles to attain a nuance regarding the subject of this week’s reflection. Here is the main quotation from our dioceses office of Social Concerns:

Seeking to affirm and support parish commitment and creativity in social ministry while defending human life and dignity. Then, to be more specific, these are some of the main areas into which particular ministry is directed: Catholic Charities & Missions. Catholic Relief Services. Catholic Social Teaching. Faithful Citizenship. Parish Social Ministry. Hispanic Ministry. Human Trafficking. Respect Life. Rural Life.

In essence, our role as Catholics is to become aware of and involved in these and other areas of social ministry. Ultimately, we are looking out for the presence of God among the human beings with whom we interact and respond to the needs which support their human dignity. And, as the Office describes, these ministries arise from a sense of creativity. So, each of us must continue to ask ourselves how much social ministry we accomplish individually and collectively.

READ MORE

Day 24

06-22-2018Church Renovation

As they were leveling the ground by the bathrooms, they discovered a brick arch that was buried in the dirt. It is a pretty good size arch. Not sure what it was for or how long it had been there. Curious as to the story behind it.

Steve has started to strip the old varnish off of the pews. They look so clean after the varnish is removed.

Day 23

06-21-2018Church Renovation

The painters are still patching the entrance and have started up into the choir loft. Very time consuming job. The sand on the floor in Hansen Hall is getting leveled. The walls and the plumbing for the bathrooms have been marked out. We will have some roomy bathrooms when this is done.

Day 22

06-20-2018Church Renovation

The electrician has all the wiring done under the left sacristy. Quite a bit of wiring left to do through out the church. They are done taking the cement out of Hansen Hall. It has been loaded up and trucked away. The painters have almost finished patching up the ceiling in the entrance way. That will be a long process.

Day 21

06-19-2018Church Renovation

One of our vendors has taken all the metalware (chalices, ciboriums, etc.) to clean, polish, and/or replate. Our tabernacle will be completely cleaned. The painter has started to patch the walls in the entrance way. All the cement has been removed in the bathroom and back room area. Also 6 feet into the furnace room will be taken out to make Hansen Hall bigger.

Day 20

06-18-2018Church Renovation

The cement flooring is coming out in the old wood room and by the bathrooms. They have cleaned all the old wiring and extra wood that was up in the basement ceiling and in the crawl space under the sacristy. The electrician has his wiring all there and has begun to rewire some of the church. The painters arrived today and brought some of their scaffolding and supplies.

The Father Calls Upward

06-17-2018Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

I hope we all spend some time reflecting upon the gift of fatherhood today. Whether or not we are a father, we all have one of our own. Its our Dad who has given us life in cooperation with our mothers. And, given the presumption that our father was "good," we have an easier time reflecting upon fatherhood. Conversely, given the presumption that our father was "bad," we can still reflect upon fatherhood because we come to realize what was lacking in our dad's imperfections and can arrive at a more clear understanding of what fathers ought to be.

READ MORE

Day 19

06-15-2018Church Renovation

The walls in Hanson Hall have all been removed. All is progressing well.

Day 18

06-14-2018Church Renovation

Walls in Hansen hall are being removed to make room for a bigger room. Relocation of bathrooms and new wiring is progressing very well.

Day 17

06-13-2018Church Renovation

The electrical work/rewiring of the church has started today. Precious items such as the Tabernacle, Chalices, Candleholders and all metal have been sent out for specialty cleaning.

Day 16

06-12-2018Church Renovation

Today the work took place mainly on the flooring by the front entryway to the church. While cleaning and making repairs, it was discovered that there was quite a bit of rotting that had taken place in the wood that was providing support to the floor. You will see the hole that needed to be dug in order for the proper replacement to be made. Also attached is a photo of Father Brian with our incoming Priest Father Prince. Please keep both in your prayers as they make this transition in their lives. We are blessed to have them.

Also attached is a photo of wallpaper that was found in the hole that is being repaired. If you have old photos of our church you will notice this pattern.

Day 15

06-11-2018Church Renovation

Today our Contractor met with the Electrician to review all the necessary information in order to replace the damaged wiring. Meetings with a Church Painter from Illinois also took place to discuss the ongoing renovation with our church.

Settling In and Some Gratitude

06-10-2018Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

There has been a whirlwind of activity, decisions, emotions, thoughts, etc. following the news of my new assignment, our recent church fire, life, etc. In the midst of it all, I seem to think some gratitude ought to be extended to some of the major players in these recent episodes of the game called life. These people/groups need a little recognition: The Fountain City and other area Fire Departments; Scott Curtis (local attorney) who provided some food and beverages for the firefighters and other responders on the day of the fire; The Buffalo County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies; local and other vendors who assisted with electrical, HVAC, LP and other responses to secure the church; Catholic Mutual Group Insurance; ServiceMaster Restore for quick action on cleaning; Steve Duellman who will be the general contractor for the restoration process.

READ MORE

Day 14

06-08-2018Church Renovation

Servicemaster Restore is done with the cleaning. They will have the air purifiers running in the church all weekend long so no one can go in there when they are running.

Day 13

06-07-2018Church Renovation

Today they continue to clean with the dry ice machine. It is a very time consuming process. You can see how clean the timbers have become. Many years of dust and dirt have also come off. They are done on the main floor so the lifts have gone away. Soon they should be starting on the rebuild.

Click Read More to view pictures.

READ MORE

Day 12

06-06-2018Church Renovation

The dry ice blasting machine is doing the job. It has cleaned soot (and years of dust & dirt) from the walls and the beams in the furnace room and former coal room. They are moving on to the bathroom area. You can see the beams before and after Lane has cleaned them with the dry ice blasting machine. The compressor outside supplies the air to accelerate the crushed dry ice. The process removes the soot before a sealant is applied to both eliminate the smoke smell and re-seal the exposed surfaces.

Click Read More below to see pictures.

READ MORE

Day 11

06-05-2018Church Renovation

The furnace room has been completely gutted. The whole ceiling is gone as well as all the duct work. The duct work has also been removed from Hanson Hall. The old ducting was specifically made for the old furnace. When the new furnaces are installed, they will pre-fab new duct work for it. That way there will be a less chance that any smoke odor or soot will be in the joints of the ducting. They finished cleaning the walls in the sanctuary. Tomorrow they will start with the ice blasting in the basement which is the final step in the cleaning process. The blue ozone machine is what they run to get the smoke odor out of the church and any material.

Click Read More below to see pictures.

READ MORE

Day 10

06-04-2018Church Renovation

They continue the tear out of the furnace room. The ceiling and some more of the duct work has been removed. Which is a very dusty job. We had the insurance adjuster and one of the head people from our insurance company looking at the church today. They just want to make sure that our church is taken care of and rebuilt properly. Continue to pray for everyone involved.

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

06-03-2018Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

By way of reminder, many of us know enough about Latin that Corpus Christi translates into the Body of Christ. Today, we celebratethe Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Further, for us as Catholics, we know that each of the seven Sacraments define and distinguish usfrom other Christian denominations. We also know that we make a big deal about Corpus Christi, and justifiably so. Our Catholic faithprovides us the privilege of receiving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His Body & Blood, Soul & Divinity into our very own bodieseach and every time we celebrate the Eucharist.

READ MORE

Day 9

06-01-2018Church Renovation

The Servicemaster crew have been really great and very respectful of our church. They are all very nice people. The crew in grey are from Green Bay- Lane, Toby & Xue. The crew in blue are from Wausau-Marshall, Matt, Raven & Kessler. There are 2 temps on the crew from Winona area - Brian is in construction usually and Liam just graduated from St. Mary's college with majors in History & English. With week 2 coming to an end they have all of the demolition done except for the furnace room. The ceiling will be coming down next week. They removed all the black ducting and it will be cleaned next week with some dry ice technique. It should bring it back to its original shine. I had to throw a picture in of the 3 masterminds of the operation.

Click Read More below to see pictures.

READ MORE