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NEWS FROM THE LAKE
Weekly Newsletter, 09/27/23 No. 7
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May the Lord give you His peace!
May the Lord bless and keep each of you!
I was very saddened to have to have canceled the Day of Recollection. Sometimes it is very hard to coordinate all the various schedules. Maybe it would be good if we offered a Day of Recollection every other month on the same day of the month, like the Second Saturday of the Month? Or something like that. It is tough to offer such ministries when we live in such a rural place with so few Catholics. But, we press on and hope for the best.
Here are some of the brief news items...not so news worthy, but news nonetheless.
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1. I have had the Solar Power company out here to the Lake. They were quite positive about our potential to go solar, Given the amount of sun that we get, we should have no problem. I have to still give them the electric bills for the year and the square footage of each house, but we are able to receive up to 50% in grants. I guess we will have to bring to a board meeting, but it does pay off in the long term.
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2. I have a workmen coming out to the property next week to install what we need for a washer and dryer in Ian's House. I also ordered the washer and dryer unit which should be here on Thursday. This will make it a lot easier for him to do his laundry.
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3. Along with the washer and dryer, I picked up a small stove for house 101. I got a great deal on it and the washer and dryer at Lowes.
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4. The Sisters of Divine Grace are on a trip through New England and New Jersey. They should be back between the 12th and 15th of October.
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5. I'll be flying out tomorrow for Boston, and then I am on to Italy on the 29th. I'll be there until the 12th of October. We will be going to Rome, Sienna, Assisi, San Giovanni Rotundo, and so much more. I am going to try to post a daily video log on my YouTube page. We'll have to see how that goes. Either way, I will be carrying all of you to each of the shrines and tombs of the saints that we will visit.
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6. Brian and Ian will be holding down the fort until our return. They may need some help, so, if you can, maybe give them a call during the time that I and the sisters are away and see if they could use a hand around the place. Thank you!
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7. Gene and Gigi are making the big move to the property this October. We expect them on either the 3rd or the 4th of October, most probably the 4th (the Feast of Saint Francis). We are so very happy to have them join us here and to welcome them to our little community.
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8. Our HVAC guy came out and put in HVAC units in the south side of the bathhouse. He will be back later to install HVAC units in northern side as well. This will give us a temperature controlled room to store things that mold.
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9. My roofers disappeared! Not sure what happened, but they were supposed to start the first week of September and never showed up, and never returned my calls. Any ideas? Any suggestions for roofers? I don't want to lose the pavilion. We already lost so much of the water side of the pavilion.
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10. I had the Friary assessed for changing doors and windows, especially the side door that lets in snakes and salamanders (caught another one in the glue trap today). I am waiting on estimates.
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11. I have been searching the internet for information on grants for the Home for Women. I really don't know what I am doing with this...any ideas? Does anyone have experience with writing grants? Or where to find them? We want to stay away from government grants. I am a poor friar, money and I don't get along.
12. We are all so overjoyed to hear how well Mike did! Congrads Mike! We have all been praying for you.
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I pray that you all have a blessed couple of weeks. Please pray for me as I make my way through the Mother Land. I am very excited to return to Italy after being away for so long. I have my dual citizenship so, Italy is truly my second home.
As I said, I will be praying for all of you and our foundation at all the shrines that I will be visiting.
If you have any special prayer requests Please Email them to me at:
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Your brother in Christ Jesus,
Fr David Mary
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