Parishioners in action

Bruce & cecilleOrganizer Bruce Weicker and parishioner Cecile Traa clean up the bushes and vegetation around the perimeter of the parish property. Volunteers have been hard to find but Bruce has persevered with minimal help! The last outing had 2 helpers…..A call for help may be going out again…PLEASE HELP!

Co-ordinator  Kathryn says Volunteers are still needed for weekend masses… a head usher for collection  and someone to sanitize pews etc after mass( takes 10 minutes after mass)… Call Kathryn at 250-803-0103 if you can help out…it’s easy, anyone can do it!Kathryn & kidsKathryn Weicker with her volunteer crew and Family members.(Annamarie, Kirsten, Justin)DSC04122

parishioner Mike Swoboda signing in for Thursday mass (only 50 may attend) with Chris Weicker looking on.        

Roman Blain and Baby Felix

father Dale , behind protective shield, giving communion to Roman Blain ( with baby Felix in his arms).

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On July 19th, in a special   ceremony, Bechara Saab was initiated into the Knights of Columbus, along with others.    He is a doctor,as is Michel, and resides in Switzerland.    Michel is a past Grand Knight and currently is the Faithful Navigator for the 4th degree knights. Janet is a past president of the Catholic Womens League. Here is some personal information ,supplied by Michel. 
My wife and I came to Salmon Arm 31 years ago, on July first 1989. We had 6 children and our third child had died in infancy. Our five living children are now adults and while they do not live in Salmon Arm, they periodically come for visits.
Our son in the picture initially came for a one week visit and had to stay in Salmon Arm as the COVID 19 pandemic greatly restricted international travels. His name is Bechara John Saab. Bechara means “Annunciation”. This was my father’s name as my father was born on March 25, the day of the feast of the Annunciation. (Hail Mary full of Grace…).
Janet and I met and married in Edmonton in 1970. I had to provide the Edmonton priest an official certificate from my diocese in Beirut certifying that I was Catholic, baptised, confirmed and not previously married. Janet was “Anglican” and we enrolled in the mixed denomination preparation for marriage. Following our Catholic wedding, and for the next 20 years, we would go to 2 masses on Sunday, one in a Catholic church and one in an Anglican. One day, Janet on her own accord decided to join the Catholic denomination.This took place in Salmon Arm when Monsignor Mac Intyre was our pastor. She became quite involved in our parish and participated in the Catholic education of the children. Our youngest 2 children, Bechara John and Adam, taught catechism under the supervision of their mother. Janet was also in charge of the RCIA program and I became involved in that ministry. Janet and I also served on the Parish Council to Father Peter, Father Joe, Father Jay, Father George and now, Father Dale. At one time, our parish had a program for preparation for marriage,and we both served in that ministry.We were also involved in the “Pregnancy Support Centre”, an interdenominational organisation aimed at supporting would be mothers who had chosen to keep their pregnancy and refused to have an abortion, and for its first year, we hosted the meetings in our home. Janet took a course in Calgary and came back to become the first accredited  Executive Director of the Pregnancy Support Centre of Salmon Arm .
We were involved in the Parish visits of the sick and shut-in  and were part of the Friday Bible study group til the COVID 19 put a halt on these two activities.

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.borkents July 2020

    “Art and Annette Borkent played music at the wharf on Sunday, July 5th for 2 hours to fundraise money for our local food bank. Maddie and Zoë Borkent, their granddaughters created a beautiful sign and asked passers-by for donations and also joined in by singing some of the songs. They collected $120 which they brought to the food bank the following morning.”     photo by Grant Cruikshank

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St Patricks dinner  ….March 15th 2020

Knights Community Program………………Knights of Columbus Council  7107 Salmon Arm has given out  COATS FOR KIDS this year.This is our first year to do this. The NEW coats come 12 to a carton & are very good quality and were a good selection of colors.   Since the program’s launching in 2009, nearly 500,000 coats have been distributed in 49 states and all 10 Canadian provinces. In winter 2017 alone, the Knights of Columbus distributed 105,192 coats in 1,600 communities throughout the U.S. and Canada, including events at military bases, in Native American communities, at inner-city neighborhoods and through partnerships with local police and fire departments.         Pictured L to R..Ken Nowicki, Alex Leible, Paige Hilland, from Safe Society  &  Pat Harford.

Marian Prayer Program..2019..we are pleased to report that 26 parishioners (14 Knights)  attended this yearMarian icon 2019

    

 Alex Lieble        Alex Leible   …….Alex has been a St. Joseph parishioner for 30 years and a Knight for 20 years. He and his wife Anne, (who passed away in 2006) moved here from Revelstoke. He worked at Overwaitea(Save-on) for 20 years and retired in 2010. Alex is a heart transplant recipient ( 1997) and still gets his yearly checkups in Vancouver at St. Pauls hospital. . You may know Alex as our main Head Usher at Sunday mass. He takes this ministry  seriously and usually does this 3 times a month . Alex still visits his 95 year old mother in Calgary each year,  as weather and road conditions permit. Thank you, Alex, for all the time you put in! …………………..printed with permission..