Voices in the rectory after hours. Lights in the parish center after dark. People armed with scissors and staplers and fabric in the school cafeteria. The ringing of the doorbell. The smell of new wax wafting up through the church air returns. And extra loads for the postman. It all adds up to one thing. The St. Ann Sponsor’s Dinner Dance must be just around the bend.
This coming Saturday, April 30th, marks the 46th Annual Sponsor’s Dinner Dance. What a gift that evening is to our parish community. And what a village it takes to pull it off. People who solicit gifts and sponsorships and auction items. People who give gifts and sponsorships and auction items. The Men’s Club members who help Alan Zagurski with the yearly stripping and waxing of the floor. Jennifer Bahan and her amazing creativity to create the ambiance for the night – assisted by a cast and crew of volunteers working late one Thursday night in the school cafeteria. Kate Flatley (this year’s chair) and her mom Pat, cataloging the items for the program. Randy Cosby who prints the auction book. Sean Leahy, joined by my nephew Peter Kempf, working on the computer programs which will tabulate the bids, and keep track of everything. Newman Center students, staff and volunteers who take tickets and run the computers and serve as gofers during the evening. Pat and Eileen receiving the items and answering doorbells and taking reservations and doing countless small tasks on ground zero we call the rectory. It does take a village to raise a Dinner Dance.
I have three hopes for what happens around the entire process. First, that people are empowered to use their gifts of time and talent and treasure for the good of the parish and school. Second, that all who help and all who attend strength-en the bonds of friendship, love and community that exist already among us. And third, that we are successful in meeting our financial goal for the good of our parish and school. What a gift ALL of those outcomes are and hopefully will be. THANKS, one and all, for all you have already done, and will continue to do this week as we prepare for the 46th installment of our Sponsor’s Dinner Dance.
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A blessing and a challenge:
The Newman Center is the recipient of a grant for the next five years to help foster lay vocations in service to the church. A portion of those funds are ear marked for an intern – some-one who volunteers two semesters worth of his/her time and talent to our Newman Center – assisting with outreach and retreat work, all the while discerning how God might be calling him/her to a life of service in the church. That is the blessing. The challenge is the grant did not include a housing stipend. That is where YOU come in. I am looking for someone who might have a spare room in their house who would be willing to open it up to our intern. (we are interviewing next week – two guys and one girl candidate). He/she would live with you (or watch your house if you are going to be gone for an ex-tended period) but serve our community. So I ask you to think and pray about that possibility. And then let me know if you have a solution to our challenge…