St. Mary’s Holy Name Fair Stand The Blake’s Prairie Fair on July 18-20 will soon be here. LOTS of workers are needed to make sure that the fair stand is successful. Men from other parishes can also volunteer to help! All workers will need to have a fair button. The fair stand provides delicious food from morning to evening all three days of the fair and has also been an important part of the fair experience in Bloomington. The income from the fair stand is used toward the parish insurance which was over $20,000 this year. The stand will also need LOTS of double-crusted apple and cherry pies from our wonderful bakers! Please contact Mike Patterson or St. Mary’s Parish office if you would like to help at the stand or to make a donation. All men are asked to contribute $20.00 to help defray expenses. Everyone is invited to attend the fair, enjoy the delicious food and to help make this event successful.

Everyone from our pastorate is invited to join us for a fabulous SUNSET CRUISE on Friday, August 1. The cruise will be from 8-10 p.m. and will depart from the Cassville Ferry Landing with loading to begin at 7:45 p.m. The cost is $12/person. Pay and Sign Up for the Cruise at the St. Clement Parish office. Please make checks out to Knights of Columbus and sign up by July 22! Bring your own chairs, drinks and snacks. Please Note: No Glass of any kind is allowed on the Ferry! We’ll be having live music too, for an enjoyable evening on the Mighty Mississippi! Invite your friends (and sign them up) and meet new friends from our pastorate! While everyone is invited, space is limited, so sign up soon. For more information, contact Bill & Judy Seyer at 608-988-6543.

SS. Andrew-Thomas School is seeking to hire a Music Teacher for the 2025/26 school year, please contact Beth at 608-763-2120 or [email protected].

St. Mary School is looking to hire a Middle School teacher (grades 5-8) for the 2025-2026 school year. Please contact Kelly Copsey if you are interested in being a part of our St. Mary's family. [email protected] / (608)994-2435.

We are very grateful to the parents for following through with the promises they made at their child’s Baptism, to bring them up in the practice of the faith. May God continue to bless them as they teach their child about Christ’s love and presence in the Eucharist. Our First Communicants: Kinsley Breuer Madilyn Cooper Everett Guthrie Jensen Hampton Clay Mezera Case Mulrooney Liam Needham Everett Patterson Owen Price Reid Raisbeck Bennett Redman Scarlett Udelhoven

St. Mary in Glen Haven’s Drive Thru Pork Chop Dinner on June 22 is approaching fast! Anyone with a raffle prize, please contact Joe or Cindi Breuer.

Ss. Andrew-Thomas School Spaghetti Supper on May 13 from 5-6:30 p.m.

St. Mary's 3K Program is enrolling children for the 2025-26 school year.

Women of the pastorate, give your week a Great Start on Monday mornings with coffee and donuts at 8:00 AM, prayer, Scripture readings of the day and discussion, 8:15 – 9:15, lower level of St. Clement Rectory, beginning Monday, Feb. 24. Sponsored by St. Clement Council of Catholic Women. Bring your copy of Word Among Us or Magnificat. Questions? Call or text Bernadette Schaefer at 608-732-7475.

High School kids, June 8-13 at St. Vianney, Janesville. Middle School kids: July 7-10 at St. Joseph, Dodgeville. Register at https://madisondiocese.org/lovebeginshere Call Bill Seyer with any questions at 608-988-6543 Love Begins Here provides middle and high school youth with an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ in a life changing way through week long, local mission trips where they live in Catholic community and continue his work on earth. The Love Begins Here Core Team works for the summer season of mission trips with teens and chaperones from the Diocese of Madison, serving those in need throughout the Diocese. Questions, please contact Caroline Locke, Coordinator of Youth Apostolates and Young Adult Formation, 608-821-4578 or caroline.lockemadisondiocese.org.

Children are a great gift to us. One way families can find support for the moral and academic formation of their children is in a Catholic school. Below are just few of the reasons why we value our Catholic school: *There is weekly Mass and special feast days where the children are more involved in the liturgy and regular prayer is a part of the school day. *There is a regular religion class several times each week so the children can come to understand the rich tradition and teachings of the Catholic faith. *Our Catholic School has a strong family feel and students are welcomed, and feel safe and comfortable while being challenged to grow and mature according to God’s plan for each of them. *Teachers help the children connect the Catholic faith with all other learning and work with parents for the good of children. Thank you to all of our wonderful parishioners, benefactors, and volunteers who make Catholic education in our area possible. Thank you to all of our dedicated teachers and staff who share their knowledge and faith each day with our students. Thank you to our parents and families who made the decision to entrust St. Mary’s School with the education of their children. May God continue to bless our students, families, and schools as we give thanks for the great blessing of Catholic school. Please contact the school or parish offices to learn more about enrolling your child(ren) in our excellent school.

Still considering a New Year’s resolution? Decide now to take part in one of Grant Co. Right to Life’s upcoming 2025 activities! 1. Pray for GCRTL’s efforts to bring a Safe Haven Baby Box to Grant County. 2. Help plan a movie night! Join a team to bring the full-length documentary, Unthinkable, by former PP clinic director, Abby Johnson, to a Grant Co. theater. (Or donate to offset costs.) 3. 2/4/25: Participate - from anywhere – in a 6 p.m. GCRTL Zoom meeting. Call for log-in info. 4. 3/1/25: Volunteer at a GCRTL table at a late a.m. Platteville Public Library Involvement Fair. 5. 4/5/25: Attend a free WI RTL Pregnancy Help Center conference in Wausau. By 3/21/25, register at https://www.classy.org/event/2025-pregnancy-help-center-spring-conference/e626057 . 6. Participate in a group to distribute small gifts to nursing home residents. Consider making a walker bag or lap blanket for residents. (GCRTL will provide materials.) For more info., text or call Marge at 608.732.0850 or email [email protected] (NEW address!)

Everyone is invited to attend St. Mary's Lasagna Supper at St. Mary School on Saturday, January 25 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. There will also be a Silent Auction and classroom displays.

THANK YOU to everyone who supported the Scrip Push! The goal was $30,000 and $69,700.00 in Scrip was purchased! The St. Mary's students will enjoy a pizza and movie party hosted by the Home & School Association.

Thank you to everyone who generously gave donations for the flowers and decorations and to everyone who worked to make our church look beautiful during the Christmas season. We are deeply grateful for your support of our parish! God bless.

We invite you to find help through Retrouvaille, (ret-tro-vi), where husbands and wives are helped to re-discover each other. In Retrouvaille, couples discover they are not alone. There is hope and grace. Madison’s upcoming Retrouvaille program is January 31 – February 2, 2025 at the Green Lake Conference Center. Follow up sessions will be in Madison. Call (920) 369-8836 or check our website at www.helpourmarriage.org Your confidentiality is always respected.

St Mary’s School has teamed up with Hamann’s Helping Hands again this holiday season to help gathering gifts for children that are spending the holidays in the hospital. We will be collecting gifts until December 20.

The start date is December 27 (start noon on Friday)- 29 (ends 3:30 on Sunday). TEC (Together Encountering Christ) is centered on the Paschal Mystery of Christ. Our Shepherd Bishop Donald Hying has also centered his 'Go Make Disciples' initiative on that same theme. TEC is especially designed to help us grow in our love for Christ and our Holy Catholic Church. It is an amazing experience for any age who are young at heart and at least 15 years of age. Regardless of your present walk in our Catholic Faith, you will be rejuvenated. This is also a 'shout out' to those of you who have already experienced a TEC retreat and would like to help out. Fr. Greg Ihm will be our Spiritual Director. Jeff Jackson is the lay Director and can be reached at 608.778.6027 Or [email protected] More information about TEC can be found at www.MadisonDiocese.org/TEC

The council now has 180 Form 100s in our hands. The Form 100s were needed for the council to be able to start the Member Transfer Process. The member transfer will start immediately in hopes to be completed by January 1, 2025. The council gave out $300 Charity Checks to two brother knights with health conditions. Council 4416 does not hold meetings during the holidays. The next council meeting will be on Jan. 21, 2025 in St. Charles’ School Computer Lab in Cassville at 7:30 p.m.

Operation Santa Claus in the River Ridge area is sponsored by the West Grant Lions Club to help those families and individuals in need to have a Merry Christmas. The club serves the Bagley, Bloomington, Glen Haven, Mt. Hope and Patch Grove areas. The members of the West Grant Lions Club have already been checking the five communities and surrounding areas served by the club for people in need. This has been necessary to provide enough time for the proper ordering of food items and other needed items. If a new situation develops that the club should know about, please contact Lion Mike Farrell at 9143 Kussmaul Rd., Mt. Hope, WI 53816. His phone number is: 608-988-4527. Money donations which are needed for the purchase of food items may be mailed to the West Grant Lions Club Treasurer, Paul Wegmann at 10998 Holly Rd. Bloomington, WI 53804. Be sure to make checks out to the West Grant Lions Club. The deadline for making money donations is Monday, Dec. 2. If you have any nonperishable food items (especially canned goods) please bring them to one of the collection locations which will be announced at a later date. Also please mark the bags or boxes as being for the West Grant Lions Operation Santa Claus. Sometimes there are other organizations or classes who are gathering food items for a different project. The Lions Club cannot distribute home canned foods or home baked items or clothing.