Giving Tuesday Event at Conception Abbey

Giving Tuesday 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jenny Huard, Communications Director

Conception Abbey

660.944.2823 or jhuard@conception.edu

Conception Abbey Joins National #GivingTuesday Movement

Conception, Mo.  – Conception Abbey and Tri-C Partners 4 Progress join #GivingTuesday to transform how people think about and participate in the giving season. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving holiday and the kickoff of the shopping season, #Giving Tuesday is a movement to celebrate and provide incentives to give encouraging people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities by giving back to the charities and causes they support. Taking place December 2, 2014 – the Tuesday after Thanksgiving - #Giving Tuesday will connect the power of social media to create a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days that are now synonymous with holiday shopping.

“#Giving Tuesday shows that if we come together as a community we can accomplish so much more,” said Fr. Daniel Petsche, O.S.B., Conception Abbey Prior/Alumni Director and Tri-C Partners 4 Progress co-convener.  “As we prepare for the Advent season and the birth of Christ, what better way to show the love for one another during this time of year by helping improve our local communities.”

#Giving Tuesday happens all day nationwide, but Conception Abbey is hosting an event Tuesday, December 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

#GivingTuesday

Tuesday, December 2

6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Conception Abbey, Conception, MO – St. Raphael Hall

• Bring an item to donate to a family in need (adult & children’s clothing, non-perishable food item, cash).
• Help decorate a Christmas tree that will be given to our adopted families.
• Help us gift wrap donated items.
• Come send a Christmas card to those alone or without family during the holiday season.

The Bennet Book, Card and Gift Shop will be open. Cookies and cocoa will be provided. We’ll also have music to get you in the spirit of the season. If you can’t join us for the event you can still support us and our partners throughout the year.

Conception Abbey - www.conceptionabbey.org

Tri-C Partners for Progress - www.tri-c-area.com/

Jefferson C-123 High School  - http://www.jeffersonc123.org/ 

KAAN Radio - www.northwestmoinfo.com/

Community Service, Inc.  - www.communityservicesinc.org/

Conception Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in Conception, Missouri and home to Conception Seminary College, Abbey Guest Center and The Printery House.

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Tri-C Community Celebration of 1914 photo

September 28, 2014 has come and gone.  Fall was wonderful.  Providing days of Indian summer weather for putting the garden and herb beds to rest for the winter.  October was filled with harvest and getting ready for winter.  As the time flew past I check to see if local photo place could print the digital copy of the 2014 Tri-C Community Celebration.  They could not print a copy at WalMart or WalGreen or HyVee which are the local options.  I finally got a lead on a small printing shop that could print an 11 X 17 photo for those who wanted a printed copy.

Following are some of the comments heard by community members:  Well organized event.  All the organizations worked to make the event happen. Pleasant enjoyable afternoon.  Not long enough.  Registration went well.  Signage was well developed to help people find their way around.  Map and program available made people feel welcome and helped coordinate those involved in getting their part of the event staged and ready.  Golf cart transportation between events and parking were much appreciated. Next year have it on grass too.  The Abbey facilities were excellent.  Games were all in a grassy area with picnic tables for eating within sight of the games so that children race and played in sight of watchful parents and grandparents.

Fr. Abbot Gregory of the Conception Abbey and Sr. Rita Clare of the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration served as Grand Marshals of the Lollipop Parade sponsored by the Tri-C Community Betterment group.  Tri-C American Legion Post #464 provided the honor guard, Tri-C volunteer fire department provided the escort for the Grand Marshals and the Jefferson C-123 Choir lead the pledge and sang the National Anthem.  Judy Henggeler sang “Farmwife from Conception” accompanied by Dutch Luke and Bob Fannon.

Fr. Paul was raised towards the heavens by Darrell Schieber in his boom truck to take the photo.  Shane Walker Auctioneer loaned Fr. Paul his hands free microphone so that Fr. Paul could direct the arrangement of the persons in the photo.  Shane was also the volunteer MC announcing the parade participants.  Some estimate there are over 500 people in this photo.

Br. Cyprian gave a tour of the Abbey Basilica and its art. 

The Tri-C Partners 4 Progress participated in the parade and provided a booth with old class photos from the Clyde school.  They also had a 1906 parish census and a 1910 census that might help indicate if certain people were possibly in the 1914 photo.  I found my grandfather.  A large print of the 1914 photo was available and several people identified people they knew. Sr. Wilmarie has identified the four Sisters from the Benedictine Convent of Perpetual Adoration at Clyde who are in the 1914 photo.

Tri-C Community Coalition, St. Columba Parish groups and Jefferson C-123 organizations provided games of bingo, baseball, bounce house, dunk tank etc.  Knight of Columbus cooked up their now famous pork loin and hamburger picnic.

Fun was had by all.

Now the question becomes:  How do we record this event and how do we top this event in 2015?  Any suggestions please leave a comment on this blog.

September 28, 2014 Program

2014 Tri-C Community Celebration

100+ Years of Community, Education & Faith

      

14^th Annual Lollipop Parade

·         Check-in                                                                                                        11:30 am

·         Parade Begins                                                                                               12:30 pm

 **** Maps will be provided at registration.

Flag Presentation – Tri-C American Legion Post 464                    

·         Pledge of Allegiance – Jefferson C-123 Students

·         National Anthem – Jefferson C-123 Choir

                                                           

Welcome

·         Abbot Gregory Polan, Conception Abbey                             

·         Sister Rita Clair, Prioress, Benedictine Sisters of

Perpetual Adoration

Music Presentation

·         Judy Henggeler – “Farmwife from Conception” accompanied by

Dutch Luke and Bob Fannon

Community Picture – Conception Abbey – Front Steps                                     1:30 pm

·         ALL join in for a group picture of the 2014 Tri-C Celebration

·         This picture will be available (10/1/2014) at these two sites only:

 http://www.conceptionabbey.org/news/1539-tri-c-celebration

 http://www.jeffersonc123.org

·         Questions/comments:  

Mary Lee (Miller) Meyer (lucki13@grm.net) -- 660-254-0033

Sharon (Archer) Strueby (sstrueby@hotmail.com) – 660-652-3265

Marilyn (Archer) Alstrom (mjalstrom@gmail.com) – 913-721-3933

           

Registration                                                                                                               2:00 pm

·         If not a local resident, please register identification information

for 2014 Picture

·         1914 Picture – Identification of family members and 1906

Parish Census will be available throughout the day

Tour of Conception Abbey -- Br. Cyprian                                                             2:00 pm

·         Meet in St. Joseph Hall – near doors to Abbey Basilica

Food, Games, Activities                                                                                           2:00 pm

·         Enter through St. Joseph Hall doors toward St. Maur and

St. Benedict buildings

·         Bingo, Soccer, Baseball, Bounce House, Dunk Tank, and lots

of games available for all ages

·         Free will donation lunch provided by the Knights of Columbus

CYO Raffle

·         Winners from the CYO Raffle ticket will be announced                                4:00 pm

*Golf Carts: Will be available to assist in transporting (from parking lot) to the activities at the rear of the Abbey. Please ask an American Legion member if assistance is needed.

**Restrooms: Located in the walkway between St. Joseph Hall and the basilica, on the middle floor of St. Benedict Hall and the bottom floor of St. Maur Hall. Signs will direct you.           

Tri-C Community Celebration September 28, 2014

September 28, 2014.  Tri-C Community Celebration.  100+ years of Community, Education and Faith. 

Be there.

In 1914 a community photo was taken.  That photo has surfaced and there is an effort to celebrate community by taking a 100 year photo.  There are some 400 people in the 1914 photo and some 200 of them have been identified by people who remember their grand or great grandparents. Old photos of ancestors have been resurrected to use in making comparisons for identifying those in the 1914 photo.  Tales are been exchanged, ancestors personalities and stories are remembered and shared.   Come help identify your relatives who helped build the Tri-C community.  Bring old photos and stories to share.  There may be an oral history booth to collect those remembrances. These would later be shared on a Tri-C history site.

The Jefferson C123 Educational Foundation reunion, the Lollipop Parade and the St. Columba parish festival are all to take place to help celebrate 100+ years of community, education and faith.

The annual Lollipop Parade sponsored by the Tri-C Area Community Development is being held at 12:30 pm.  Participates in the parade should be at the staging area at 11:30 am near John Paul II formerly JFK on the Conception Abbey grounds.  Viewing of the parade will be in front of the basilica. Bring a lawn chair.  Lollipops will be handed out by Abe Lincoln to the children participating in the parade before the parade.  Those who want a lollipop after the photo op see Abe Lincoln aka Jerry Eckstien.

The 2014 photo is planned for 1:30 pm.  Anyone formerly and currently having any connection to the Tri-C area is encouraged to participate in this event.  A digital copy of this photo will be available free to those who leave contact information by registering at the Jefferson C-123 Foundation registration table.  Those wanting printed copies will need to get a digital copy and take it to a place that prints photos to get a printed copy.  Digital copies are free.

Following the parade and photo take advantage of a picnic, under the pines, of grill hamburgers or tenderloin provided by the local Knights of Columbus for a free will donation. Profits will be shared by the Jefferson C-123 Foundation, Knights of Columbus and American Legion. (All of these groups provide scholarships to the local Jefferson C-123 students.)

A tour of the Immaculate Conception Basilica will be available after the photo event.  The art is this church is museum worthy.  Many of us have lived here and not appreciated the treasures among us.

American Legion 464 members will be available to help with parking and answer questions. Golf cart transportation to and from parking areas will be available.

St. Columba parish festival will consist of games and other entertainment provided by community organizations.  Tickets for these activities will be available at individual booths. A bounce house will be available to kids with extra energy.  

Come join the fun of community celebration.

Directions and questions may be sent to rockyridge44@yahoo.com or katydid@grm.net or daniel@conception.edu.  Phone number 660 254-0033

Tri-C Community Celebration

Tri-C Community Celebration --- September 28, 2014
The photo below was taken 100 years ago in 1914 at the Conception Abbey Basilica of Tri-C area community members.
A new photo is planned for September 28, 2014 as a celebration of community.  This will take place along with the Parish Festival, the Jefferson School Reunion and the Tri-C Community Betterment Lollipop Parade. There are 400+ people in 1914 photo.  Some could be your relatives.  This photo has made an appearance at a number of events and is on the letter sent to all alumni of Jefferson C-123.  Some of the people have been identified.  The Jefferson Educational Foundation group needs your help to identify others in this photo.
The photo will appear at the Tri-C Community Celebration.  Come see if you can help identify others and participate in this historical photo opportunity and celebration.  More details will follow. 

CART Cleanup a Success

April 26, 2014 was a wonderful day for the Community Action Renewal Team (CART) community wide cleanup.  CART is an action team of the Tri-C Partners 4 Progress. This action team plans, organizes and implements the annual community cleanup. Students from Jefferson C-123 School help man the two dumpsters arranged by CART.  CART members work with the students to pack the dumpsters as full as possible with trash brought in by community members.  There is a dumpster placed near the American Legion building in Conception Jct. and one at the south end of Clyde near Dan’s Welding.  Both of these town’s government agencies give a donation to support this project.  Don McCrary also helps by providing trailers for metal and electronics recyclables.   Those contributing trash as encouraged to give a small donation for the convenience of this yearly service.

Tri-C Community Cleanup Sponsored by CART

Jefferson C-123 Educational Foundation Meeting

Jefferson C-123 Educational Foundation will not hold its annual whole school class reunion in May of 2014. They encourage any classes ending in 4 to hold their own individual reunions in May.  Instead they are planning a bigger and better Tri-C Community Celebration to be held on September 28, 2014, so save the date and look for more information in the coming months.
They are collaborating with the Conception Abbey, the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of Clyde, Knights of Columbus, American Legion, Tri-C Partners 4 Progress, Tri-C Community Betterment, St. Columba Parish Counsel, and the Tri-C Volunteer Fire Department to hold this celebration at the Conception Abbey.
Lollipop Parade will be held at that time in Conception.  The St. Columba Parish Festival will be held under the pines at Conception Abbey.

Jefferson C-123 Homecoming

Congratulations to the Jefferson C-123 School, a small rural school without football, who holds an indoor homecoming.

Students learn to design, create and complete a float that will fit through the gym door and meet the theme, decided on by a student group, for homecoming.  They create a poster and participate in theme activities all week. 

There are trivia questions daily that each class may collaborate with their teacher sponsors to answer.  They are not to use outside resources.  Some questions are academic in nature: usually covering the core classes, others are trivia related to school history.  The winning class is allowed to lead the lunch line, behind royalty on Friday which is banquet day.

Students learn to work with their whole class to go through the complete process of “building” the class float and poster projects to meet a theme and spec of a judges scoring guide.  Their teachers work with the class to complete these activities.  This is work on a different level than the classroom work where teachers are their “bosses”.  The student gets to work alongside their “bosses”.  The project begins with the designing, planning and ordering of materials. The students may work on these projects outside of class the month before homecoming.  This is done in some parents shop or garage. They then have one school day to bring the projects to the school and complete them within the school day. Either parents or teachers supervise these out of school activities.  These projects are judged by a group of outside people, usually including an art teacher or artist, and some retired teachers and community members.

Students learn to respect their classmates’ unique abilities that may not be apparent in the structured classroom.  They may discover that the student who struggles in language arts is skilled with wood and other building tools.  The quiet student who has all the questions in math class is a wonderful artist or another student excels at problem solving.  The student who can accurately measure a required piece may not be the same student who comes up with the fix needed to make the project work together.  The student who has no physical building skills may be the one to create the lettering for float theme.

Even the king and queen coronation is many times a surprise.  The school is a k-12 in one building.  Students 7-12 may vote on the king and queen.  Sometimes the winners are not the most popular or beautiful, but the student who takes time to talk to that 7^th grader who is struggling.  It may be the student who makes a habit of smiling at everyone they see including those lowly junior high students every day.  It may be the senior who rides the bus and reads to the third grader on the hour long bus ride.  Other students notice this kind of behavior.

Congratulations to the Jefferson students, staff and community for creating another outstanding homecoming.