Last night's celebration

Many thanks to all who made last night’s Appreciation Potluck such an enjoyable evening! It was wonderful seeing the gym packed with so many of our school families and parishioners. We were planning on 300 or so participants and we easily had that many present if not more.
I want to thank again our Home & School , ESA and School Board for their dedication and generosity that made last night possible. Your love of Epiphany is evident and we are blessed by your service. Last night was truly a celebration of our parish family. A family that is experiencing a profound loss in the closing of our school, but one that continues to come together to celebrate our faith.

Profound thanks to our staff for the selfless dedication in their varied vocations to our parish family. All of us have been blessed and inspired by your example of faith during these last five years. It is too easy to dismiss, forget or minimize the significance of your sacrifices. I don’t. From the end of the ’04-‘05’ school year when all of you took a pay freeze to help manage expenses to this last round of even more dramatic sacrifices, your example of love has illustrated your faith and witnessed to your hope. Above all it has revealed your love for our students and the family of faith that is Epiphany. Every day when I do the prayers that are part of the daily rhythm of my priesthood, thanks for your witness is near the top of my list of gratitude. There is so much to be thankful for in our lives.

For those of you who couldn’t make it last night. Ms. Torlina (Computer and Pre-school teacher) put together an awesome video of the history of our school and a special look at this last year. The video runs 49 minutes long and was a true labor of love. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it was, both the physical sorting and compilation of the pictures and the emotional intensity of working on it in the midst of our closing. I know it could not have been easy, but it is a beautiful testimony to our 98 years of parochial education. Ms. Torlina puts her heart and soul into her projects, and we benefit from the fruits of her labor. I hope you consider purchasing one through our school. I believe the videos are being sold for ten dollars apiece.

Thanks to Mr. Will Horton for his generous service to the parish, Will has provided many of the graphic designs for our Run for the Stars and the logo you see below. If you would like a t-shirt with the design on it, please contact me at my e-mail address askpadre@aol.com to order a shirt. They are five dollars apiece. The current design is red on white, but I think I am going to order a white on red shirt or two to wear.