As we
plow through the hot days of August, the parish is starting to prepare for the
Fall programming onslaught. It is just never dull.
After changing the filters in the
church AC system last month, we discovered that the increased airflow blocked
the AC vents with an accumulation of what in the HVAC world is technically
referred to as “gunk.” The vents have now all been cleaned. You should notice
increased airflow in the church AC, and hence better ability to cool the church
on these hot August weekends.
Because Microsoft
Corporation in its great wisdom has decided that it will no longer support
security upgrades for Windows 7, the parish needs to upgrade our office
computers to Windows 10. The only problem is our old computers cannot be
upgraded to be able to handle Windows 10, so we find ourselves with a need to
purchase a minimum of six new computers just to be able to continue doing what
we have been doing for years. This represents a sock to
our parish budget, but we are working to handle it. Maybe we will have to have
an “IT” (information technology) second collection. We will see.
Also, in our continuing efforts to
maintain safety at our parish, we are looking to purchase two AED (Defibrillator)
machines; one for the church office and one for in the church. This also
requires training and certification for several of our staff members, so in the
event someone suffers cardiac arrest, the victim can be treated immediately,
even before the paramedics arrive. The school already has one in the gym, and
several faculty members have been trained in its use. These machines run about
$950 each.
Ready or not, St. Austin School
opens this Tues., Aug. 16, beginning slowly with just a half day. Meanwhile
much progress has been made on the installation of new boys and girls bathrooms
at the school, a new art room, a new resource center, and new staff bathrooms. I
am very pleased with how it is turning out. Unfortunately it is impossible to
complete all of this large undertaking before school resumes. I trust that the
Principal, Mr. Fred Valle, and the dedicated faculty of the school, along with
all the students and their parents, will recognize the need for these
improvements, work around the inconveniences, and take this all in stride. We
are used to improvising at St. Austin Parish and School. Watch this bulletin
for an announcement of a grand opening and dedication of all this work at the
school in early November.
Next weekend (Aug. 20-21) is the
Parish Ministries Fair, and there is information about that in this bulletin. We
need more help here, so please consider how you can use the talents you have
been blessed with to help our parish community.
The following weekend (Aug. 27-28)
is Parish Registration weekend, a VERY IMPORTANT event in the life of our
parish. And the following day, Mon., Aug.
29, the 5:20 p.m. weekday Mass resumes on Monday through Thursday.
Where did the Summer go?
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