Annual Report

This weekend Fr. Damian thanked everyone for their support this past year. He also referred to the Annual Report which has been mailed to everyone.
We discovered that the mailing was initially delayed because the layout did not meet a new postal regulation. Fortunately the postmaster was kind enough to grant us an exemption and you should have your Annual Report soon.

CFCA follow-up

In January Fr.O’Toole spoke at all of our Masses about the work of the Christain FOundation of Children and Aging (CFCA). CFCA has a sponsorship model in which one sponsor partners with one child or aging friend in a developing country, offering support and encouragement. This relationship impacts not only the child or aging friend but the sponsor as well.

CFCA recently contacted us say thank you. They have attributed 330 people being sponsored as a result of the weekend visit to St. Columbkille. They said they were delighted with the results and consider is one of the most successful weekends they have done. So thank you.

Because many of the people being sponsored are from Guatemala, the video below about their work in Guatemala is included here:

Notes from the Field: Guatemala from CFCA on Vimeo.

More Festival Pictures

As promised, more Festival pictures.

Even the goldfish had a good time!

Seminarians get Quilts

From The Catholic Voice:

Marble Party

In First Grade, whenever a student does something right, they get to put a marble in the jar. When the room is a little loud, the teacher may ask a quiet student to put a marble in the jar. Somehow, everyone hears that marble drop and the room hushes. When the jar is full, the class gets to have a party. Yesterday, the classes got to have their first Marble Party.

There are lots of treats.

When they get their plate loaded, they watch a movie.

It's a lot of fun.

School Rabbit

Mrs. Winkelman had a bunny

Had a bunny, had a bunny

Mrs. Winkelman had a bunny

It was young and very scared

A young bunny was confused and was trying to hide at the main school entrance. Mrs. Winkelman was able to "Catch and release" the young animal. It was last seen on Fr. Wee's lawn.

Arbor Day Farm

Last Friday the third grade classes to a field trip to Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City.

They took a tour through the woods.

The saw the forest from the treehouse.

They saw skeletons.

They learned about bees.

They got to smell the forrest.

It was very interactive.

They even got to eat outside.

There was a lot of fun.

Family Fun Festival 2009

Thank you to everyone who made the Family Fun Festival such a success this year. Here are a few first pictures from the Festival. We hope to have some more including some from Fr. Damian's first use of his new camera.

The Festival Raffle ticket winners are:

Kent Vuagniaux $5000
Henry Rieden $1000
Julie Slizinski $500
Joe Klassen $250
Vince Van Haute $250

Thanks again to everyone!

Happy Birthday Fr. Wee

Today is Fr. Wee's birthday.

We hope he has a great birthday and a blessed year to come.

Be sure to wish him a happy birthday: dwee@saintcolumbkille.org

It's a train, it's a slide, it's ...

... Blues Amusements

For the first time we are having a few amusement rides at the Festival Sunday. Come see the new, fun things that are planned.

When you can get them wet

The times are set for the Tidal Wave at the Festival Sunday. Come & get them wet!

You will notice the Mr. Emanuel, who got the most votes in our poll, will be there for two sessions.

xxxxxxxxxTime xxxxxxxxxDunkee
xxxxxxx11:30-12:00 xxxxxxxYouth
xxxxxxx12:00-12:30 xxxxxxxYouth
xxxxxxx12:30-1:00 xxxxMrs. Puszewski
xxxxxxx1:00-1:30 xxxxxMrs. Overkamp
xxxxxxx1:30-2:00 xxxxxDeacon Bill Hill
xxxxxxx2:00-2:30 xxxxxxxxFr. Wee
xxxxxxx2:30-3:00 xxxDeacon David Krueger
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxYouth
xxxxxxx3:00-3:30 xxxxxxFr. Damian
xxxxxxx3:30-4:00 xxxxxMr. Emanuel
xxxxxxx4:00-4:30 xxxxxMr. Emanuel
xxxxxxx4:30-5:00 xxxxxxxxYouth

Into Temptation

The movie "Into Temptation" about a priest opens Friday at the Dundee theater and will run through the 25th. This independent film was written and directed by a friend of Fr. Damain's. Even though the priest character's last name rhymes with Zuerlein, it is entirely fictional. The movie is R rated because, as Fr Damian explained, the priest encounters some people who are "not nice people and they use language typical of Hollywood." He says, "It's a good movie, but not for children." Do not forget, it is fiction.

If you get a chance to see it, come back to this post and comment.

Paintball Sunday

Paintball is 20 shots for $1 at the Festival Sunday.

It will be just West of the 3 on 3 basketball.

Enjoy the fun!

Old Files

In the process of cleaning out the parish basement for future Dead Theologian Society meetings, some boxes of old school records were found and given to Mrs. Overkamp at the school.

Some of the records go back to 1919. Above are how some of the records were kept before later types of filing were used.
All of the early teachers were nuns. Above you can see how everything was hand written including the teacher's name on the top and the end of the year remarks on the right.

There were also numerous newspaper clippings including the pages from the Papillion Times when they used to print a photo of each 8th grader who was graduating that year.

This is some great information to have as the school would like to do a better job of keeping track of, and reaching out to, alumni.

Cleanliness

Our parish nurses have been diligent in teaching that we should frequently wash our hands to avoid picking up or transmitting the flu. In the North and East entry areas of the church there are now dispensers for hand sanitizers.

YNIA & Youth Serve Presentations

Tomorrow there will be a YNIA and Youth Serve exhibit

during the pancake breakfast at St. Columbkille

from 8:00 a.m. to noon.

It's your chance to learn about the fun and the adventures.