April Sister Parish Meeting

Tues. April 17, 2012

Attendees: Bob Walz, Marla Simmet, Carl and Judy Scheider, Diane Grasse, john Riehle, John and Chris Twohy, Bill DeVahl, Jan Schiltgen, and Nancy Robertson

John Twohy called the meeting to order

Opening Prayer by Chris Twohy.  Nancy volunteered to be recorder.  Judy will write the April letter to Teustepe

Finance Report: Bob presented the report in a simplified format. We currently have a balance of $14,428.29 including the April plate collection which was $3528.

Raffle: Raffle for the Nicaraguan rocking chair started last weekend. We will do raffles on the weekend of the 12/13 along with coffee and again on May 19/20 during the St. Rita’s festivities after mass Bob will have raffle tickets available in his box in the Information Center if anyone wants to sell to neighbors, family members, etc.

Public Relations:

Judy talked about thinking “outside the box” for publicizing Sister Parish. We now use The Angel News, bulletin, and the Website to some degree to get out the word on Sister Parish Activities. Would it be possible to use parish emails to send out information? Some other Church groups have used it with the Finance Committees permission. Bob said that two-thirds of parish families have email addresses entered in the church database. What is the process for getting permission to use emails and would this be effective?

Facebook was also suggested as a possibility. We could have a Sister Parish Facebook account and have activities and pictures.

We need to explore new options for publicity. Marla suggested we table this item and get more Information on the process of parish emails. This item will be on a future agenda.

Clean Water Filter System: John referred to a recent Minneapolis Tribune article about a purification system that is being used in developing countries. The cost is about $125. Would this be of any benefit to Teustepe? Carl and Bob both said that a central purification system is not what they need. The well in Teustepe is OK, it is the pipes that are old and corroded that are causing the water issues. Carl said there is individual filtration systems available to folks in Teustepe. They have been made aware of this but no one in Teustepe has made an attempt to get them installed. Bob felt that this was more an issue for Rotary to get involved in.

2012 Delegation: We have 5 firm commitments to the delegation. Nora and Tori Slawik, Diane Kammarude and her daughter, and Allison Mateo. There are others expressing interest Including Bill DeVahl and his “little brother”.

An information meeting is being offered on April 24th to get questions answered for those who are “thinking” of joining and at that meeting they will be asked to make a firm decision by the end of the month. The application requires a $100 down payment followed by payments of $300 for the month of May, June, and July. Diane, Bob, John Twohy and possibly Bill will be At that meeting to speak with the potential delegates. It will be at 7 pm in a GA classroom.

St. Rita Day Celebration: Nancy, Marla and Diane met to plan the weekend events prior to the Sister Parish Meeting. At the May 19/20 masses we will have 6 display stations that introduce Teustepe and our relationship. They will be: 1) Facts about Teustepe, 2) Teustepe’s “Community Dream” project, 3) The Microloan program, 4) All about St. Rita and her feast day, 5) our relationship and the people of Teustepe, 6) upcoming delegation to Teustepe. At each Station we will have “passports” that will have questions regarding the information at theIndividual stations. If the passport holder visits 4 out of 6 stations and answers the question, they can turn in the passport and receive a donut or churro. We will plan a procession of St. Rita at each mass where the statue is carried to a place of honor on the altar at the beginning of mass, and then processed to a decorated platform in the Holy Family Room at the end of mass. Roger will include “Spanish” music during the masses and Mike Stande will have an intercession about the celebration of the feast of St. Rita in solidarity with our brothers and sisters. Marla also asked Mike to include a statement from the priest at the end of mass about the feast day and to welcome everyone to come to the Holy Family Room to participate in the celebration.

Bob has made arrangements for a bilingual mass at 9:00.

Paula will help with publicity. She will have a bulletin announcement as well as information for The overhead projector at all masses.

We will be asking for volunteers to “process” St. Rita during all masses on May 19/20.

Prayer Requests:

1. For friends of Judy and Carl Scheider who are moving to the States from Bolivia, that their uprooting and relocation go smoothly and they transition to life in the States easily.

2. For Elena Hendrick and all of AKF, that the issues at the farm school be resolved justly and peacefully.

3. In thanksgiving for the safe return of Patrick Twohy from service in Kuwait and for the continued recovery of his sister Beth Twohy.

4. For Jeanne and Bob Walz and their loved ones as they face multiple health issues.