Parish Activity Meeting

November 13, 2014

In Attendance:

Leo Kowalyk, Bob Szymanski, Kim Kaye-Small, Carol Laramee, Claudia Jarvis, Marcia Hendricks, Carolyn Starin, Paula Dixon, Autumn Woodcox, Al Darish, Melinda Schinler

Questions about Room Reservation Form:

There were complaints and questions. I explained that the form is really a way to help; not to make their lives more difficult. I explained that if everyone follows the form, meeting rooms will be ready to go when each group arrives. Each group won’t have to clean up after the previous group before starting their meeting. This will also allow Paul to put more effort toward regular building maintenance instead of cleaning up behind the various groups.

People of Joy – Melinda Schindler

All day inner healing day tied in with Healing Mass, with prayer teams (4-5 hour event on a Saturday) in 2015. Pilgrim’s Way, 6 month life in the spirit seminar…in the works…just for Holy Spirit.

Squires – Al Darish

Christmas Hams will be on sale December 6/7 & 13/14. Hams will be available for pick up on December 20/21. Trunks & Treats was a success; about 12-15 cars participated with about 30 kids in attendance. Cider and donuts were served; the donuts were donated by the Looney Bakery. The Squires will get back with us on the dates for Trunks & Treats for 2015. The Squires sold breakfast burritos at the Craft Fair and they are considering raising the price of the burritos due to rising food costs.

Knights Daughters – Autumn Woodcox

The Knights Daughters will be holding a Membership Drive, along with the Squires, on November 18th & 19th; they will be speaking to the Middle School students during class. They will hand out flyers on November 22nd & 23rd after all Masses. December 7th will be their open house meeting. On December 20th the Knights Daughters and the Squires willbe going to the West Lake Nursing Home to do some caroling. They will sing from 2-4pm; the first hour will be with the regular residents and the second hour with memory impaired residents. The Knights Daughters sold food at the Craft Fair and raised around $300.

Worship – Paula Dixon

The Worship Commission will be meeting on December 2nd at 7pm. Stephen Ministry will be meeting on December 3rd & 17th with a Christmas dinner planned for December 14th. There are four members from our parish who are participating in the StephenMinistry training at the CommerceUnitedMethodistChurch. There are several churches participating in this training (Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic). The new Stephen Ministers will be commissioned on March 19th. Holy Spirit current has 15 Stephen Ministers.

Women’s Club – Marcia Hendricks, Claudia Jarvis, Carolyn Starin

The Craft Fair was a success with 57 crafters renting booths and a couple hundred shoppers. The Women’s Club will be holding a bake sale on November 15th. Advent by Candlelight will be on December 23rd. The Women’s club cookbooks are on sale after all Masses for $10. There are 300 cookbooks and will be on sale until they are gone. The Women’s Club is already busy planning the Business Expo, which will be held on February 21st & 22nd, they will be sending out letters to previous vendors. The annual Baby Shower will be on April 9th and the Living Rosary is planned for May 7th. The Women’s Club would like to thank the Squires for their help with washing dishes at the Jubilarian.

LARTL – Carol Laramee

The Mid-Term elections were awesome! Sanctity of Human Life is on January 18th, there will be a service at church at 3pm. The LARTL will once again be participating in the Walk to Washington. A Spaghetti Dinner will be held on February 28th (the KDS and Squires will be helping). LARTL will have messages on the billboard by Kohls for 4-months.

Knights of Columbus – Bob Szymanski

On November 15th the Knights of Columbus hosted their annual Spelling Bee. This year the Spelling Bee was held at the Highland Township Library. 19 kids participated and we are waiting to hear from Carol Laramee about who won. On December 6th, the Knights are holding a Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for the Tyner Family. The dinner will be from 6-9pm, tickets willbe on sale after all Masses starting this weekend. Ticket prices are: $8/adults, $6/children (5-years old and younger are free) or family tickets are available for $30 (you must live in the same household). Take-out meals will be available and there will be games for the kids and raffles for the adults. The Knights 4th Degree out of Fenton Christmas Party is also on December 6th. On December 13th the Knights will host their annual Children’s Christmas Party from 11-2pm. There will be a pizza lunch, games, a magician and Santa. They are asking families to donate a new book or toy for he needy (Brandan Luther & Tony Young chairmen). The Jail Ministry will be holding a Sing Along at the Oakland County Jail on December 13th at 6:30pm. If you would like to participate, a group will be meeting here and driving to the jail. A van has been donated from LaFontaine (Gary Corniellier in charge). The Super Bowl party will be on February 1st. The Knights will be holding their first Daddy/Daughter Dance on February 7th; the cost will be $10/couple. Currently the Knights are sponsoring a sweatshirt drive and they are accepting new XL XXL XXXL hats, gloves, scarves and twin bedding. The Knights have started a scrap metal for charity drive. They will pick up or you can drop off your scrap metal. Please call Gary Cornieller for more information 248-820-2208. Currently there is a trailer at Maury Luther’s house for collecting the scrap metal, please call before you arrive. The Knights Bikes Program has given away 28 bikes to date.

Bible Study / Library – Leo Kowalyk

The Bible Study group will be meeting every other Sunday until Easter. They are looking at doing another study group in the fall of 2015, maybe doing something with Psalms with Jeff Cavins. The Library is in the process of replacing old VHS tapes with DVDs. Leo would like to transfer cassette tapes to CDs. If anyone has the technology to do that, please contact Leo. It is a constant effort to try to keep the library clear of clutter. If items are left for more than a week; they will disappear. Can we brainstorm trying to find another location for pick up and drop off of items?

Christian Service Food Dirve

Gayle reports that the food drive was more successful this year than last year. She said within the first week of the food drive, she had collected 60 bags of food. Then on the last day, another 60 bags were donated. Christian Service currently has 90 families registered for Thanksgiving Day meals. This number is down from last year; however, Community Sharing is taking care of all the families in need from Highland Greens. She is excited because there will be food which can be used for Christmas.