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Sacred Heart parishioners join forces to give church face lift

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
(Email Katie)

TEMPLETON - When something needs to get done at Sacred Heart in Templeton, the parishioners come willingly.

This was the case when cleaning and remodeling needed to be done in the church beginning in January of this year. In 2008, the church entrance and restroom were redone.

Father Dale Reiff, pastor at Sacred Heart, pointed out that it had been a while since any refurbishing had been done in the church.

The interior of the church was painted and decorated including altar decoration early this spring. Other parts of the project included refinishing hardwood flooring in the sanctuary, new carpeting, work on the confessional, pew refinishing, kneeler pad reupholstering, lighting upgrades and heating and cooling system replacement.

Father Reiff said the parishioners were very good about stepping up to help. Most of the work was done by parishioners or local businesses. He said the project “brought the parish together.”

“If we called and said we needed help, they (parishioners) were there for us,” said Donna Kemper, one of the parish directors. “They were all for it and gung-ho. A lot of people would show up on their own and do this little segment or that little segment. There was a lot of donated time.”

She mentioned that parishioners of all ages, from 9 to 80, helped with the church project. She said this really impressed her.

Rhonda Schwaller, a life-long Sacred Heart parishioner, helped with cleaning the interior of the church once the carpet was laid and the statues were put back into place. She also washed some of the gowns, which was a joint effort between her and another parishioner.

“I think the colors are beautiful and it kept our history,” she said. “The church turned out great. People are proud of it and all the hard work they put into it.”

As a parish director, Kemper helped with decision making and labor (finishing pews, pulling up carpet) in the church. Glen Riesselman is the other parish director.

“About anything that needed to be done the finance board and the directors were involved. We did as much of the labor ourselves as we could,” she said. The finance board includes Melanie Bauer, Joe Behrens, Ryan Klocke, Schellie Meiners, Karen Prebeck, Terry Romey and Dan Weitl.

Kemper commented that the project was needed because there had been holes in the roof and leaking. It had been several years since the church had been painted so many updates were needed.

She mentioned that they get a lot of compliments on the refinishing. There have been times that Kemper has been showing the church to family members and people from other towns are there to look at it. They have commented that it is “simple but beautiful.”

“It is amazing how people never really noticed our stations [of the cross] until now,” said Kemper. “The ladies stepped up and repainted them.”

Masses were held in the school while the remodeling and redecorating was done. They were back in the church on Easter Sunday.

A Mass of thanksgiving and open house was held June 13 in recognition of the remodeling and redecorating project that took place from 2008-2010. The total cost of the projects in 2008 and 2010 was $208, 453.

Special recognition was given to three alumni of Sacred Heart High School, Albert Greteman (class of 1930), Norman Schreck (class of 1946) and Virgil Seyller (class of 1931), who generously remembered Sacred Heart Church in their estates.

Those who contributed to the altar decorating project were also thanked. When the bid was originally made, noted Father Reiff, there was not going to be as much gold leafing as was done.

“The parishioners did a special collection to raise another $25,000 to do the gold leafing,” he said. “They wanted all the gold leafing done.”