St. John Parishioners,

I hope that everyone is having a great week!  We have lots of information to share with you…

Festival Silent Auction – It’s Nearly Silent Auction Time …We Need Your Stuff!  Silent Auction is an important part of our festival fundraising effort and YOUR DONATIONS make it possible. Unfortunately, donations were down in 2012; this year we need to fill the tent and pavilion with your high-quality items! Before you schedule your garage sale, set aside the best items for your parish.  Items Needed (in good condition):  Cars (yes! donate your car!), Boats, Furniture, Stamps, Coins, Mowers, Bikes, Appliances, Stereos, Collectibles, Antiques, Certificates, Home Décor, Housewares … use your imagination!  Items We Cannot Accept:  Broken Items, Mattresses, Exercise Equipment, Organs, Pianos, Clothing, Most computers, monitors or TVs.  Drop Off Your Items at the Parish Education Center:  Sunday, June 30, 12:30 - 3 p.m., Sunday, July 14, 12:30 - 3 p.m. or Sunday, July 28, 12:30 - 3 p.m.  Need an item picked up? Contact Tom Deutsch to schedule at tomdeutsch@ymail.com or (513)543-1922 (leave a message!)  We also need help with item pickup (if you have a large vehicle)!!  Please contact Tom to assist us.

St. John Senior Ministry - May 14, 11:30am-1:30pm in the Pavilion.  Parishioners 55+!!  Are you interested in participating in a senior ministry at St. John?  We will be meeting on a monthly basis.  This ministry will include fun, education, service, entertainment and even a little travel for the seniors of our parish.  Please join us on Tuesday, May 14 in the Pavilion from 11:30am-1:30pm.  Lunch will be provided ($10 fee for lunch).  Questions?  Contact Kathy Mack at 777-6433 or kmack@stjohnwc.org or Marty McClain at martymcclain@hotmail.com.

God’s Gardeners - Spring Spruce Up, Saturday, May 11th, 9am.  We are in need of volunteers to help out on Saturday, May 11th beginning at 9am.  The generous gift of your time can save the church thousands of dollars in landscaping costs!  We will meet in front of the church at 9AM to dig our hands into God’s green earth!  Be sure to bring wheelbarrows, shovels, gloves and other gardening equipment that you have.  In the case of heavy rain, our rain date will be Saturday, May 18th (same time/place).  If you want to volunteer or have any questions, please contact Kirt Robb at 777-6433 or  krobb@stjohnwc.org. 

Confirmation – This Sunday, May 12th, we will be celebrating our Confirmation Mass with our 74 young Confirmandi!  Bishop Joseph Binzer will preside at the Mass, assisted by Father Don.  I hope that you will join us for this special Mass.  It is such a blessing to be able to share the gifts of our faith with our young parishioners!

Summer Grounds Assistance Needed - St. John parish is looking for assistance (must be over 18) to help with grounds maintenance this summer.  This paid position is 35 hours per week and you must be available to setup for our Summer Festival and continue working through September 1st.  Applications are available online under “Parish Forms”.  You must apply online to be considered.  Contact Kirt Robb for more information at krobb@stjohnwc.org. 

The St. John Nursery - A Great Way to Volunteer!!  Do you have a wiggly toddler or pre-schooler who has trouble sitting through Mass? Then, why not join the St. John Nursery! The nursery is maintained by a cooperative of families who use the nursery. One parent from each family volunteers about once a month. Joining is also a great way to meet other young families in the parish, who grow together as their children "graduate" from the nursery into the Parish School of Religion. The nursery is currently open only during the 9:30 mass, but we would love to hear from families that regularly attend 11:30 mass to gauge interest in opening the nursery at this time as well.  We are looking for a coordinator for this ministry!  If you are able to coordinate families for the 9:30am Nursery, please contact Scott Steinke at ssteinke@stjohnwc.org or 777-6433.  Thank you to Sarah Petterson, who has been handling this position for the past two years! 

Want to help on the Festival Committee?  We are looking for someone to shadow our “Electrical and Maintenance” Chair and our Piggie Chair (the person who manages the ordering, delivery and cooking of the pigs for the pulled pork booth) this year in order to be the chair of these areas for next year.  Please email Ruth Fenton at fenton@cinci.rr.com to volunteer!

Keystone Retreat for young adults is coming up on May 18th  in Favret Hall.  This one-day event will help to build your spirit life!  More detailed information and the registration form are available online at http://stjohnwcyoungadults.weebly.com/. 

As always, we hope you have a blessed week and if you need anything, feel free to return an email or call the parish office at 777-6433.