St. Joseph of the Lakes

I am finally sitting out on my deck almost every day as the afternoon warms and I am surrounded by beautiful shade trees that keep my deck cooler than the rest of the yard. I do not know who planted those trees so many years ago, but I have a debt of gratitude to whoever thought this out. I really do enjoy that sort of quiet surroundings, watching the neighbors walk their dogs and others run past. Every now and again someone will honk and wave. I feel like I am part of a bigger community as I keep track of the many activities in our parking lot (lots of drivers training) as well as the different groups coming and going as they use our facilities. There are a number of people who come by as they play Pokémon Go since there are sites of the game located both near the historic church and the cross in front of the church. 

Although I owe this debt of gratitude to those who planted the trees in the rectory’s back yard, I am also preparing to move away from that backyard. In the July 16^th 1961 bulletin Fr. Don Schnitzius writes to the Saint Joseph parishioners: “The archbishop directed us this past week to start a building program at once. He suggested a temporary rectory be prepared as quickly as possible to house the pastor. He stressed that the house be a temporary one, one that would be sold later as a family unit. He advised against the construction of a permanent dwelling until at least much of the school unit and convent are up. “

As the stairs in the house are becoming increasingly tough for me to use (actually climbing isn’t bad, but going down the stairs is at times frightening) . It is time to consider the construction of a single level rectory. It is also a very good time to look at selling the present day rectory while the housing market seems very active. The plan that the facilities committee has recommended is that we sell the house (once we get Archdiocesan approval) and house me in a temporary single level dwelling as we build the new rectory. The money we get from the sale will be the money we use to build the new building. It will be located in the south west part of the church property just south of the pavilion. I do not mind the idea of moving twice since I know I will have a lot of help to make that happen. 

The facilities committee has done some preliminary work and hopefully there will be a drawing produced soon so that you will be able to see what it will look like.  I do not think anything is going to happen until September, but this is letting you know as there might be a bit of a discussion going on in our little village.