SAINT MARY S PARISH GUILD 14 PARK STREET, NORTH ATTLEBORO, MA

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1 PARISH GUILD 14 PARK STREET, NORTH ATTLEBORO, MA DECEMBER 2016 VOLUME I, ISSUE 4 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: OFFICERS 2 DECEMBER 2016 NEWS AND ACTIVITIES GUILD TREE UPDATE 2 Cathy LaFra a and Donna concert featuring delicious!!! There is a NOVEMBER MINUTES 3 Fougere are the hosts for the December mee ng students from the St. Mary/Sacred Heart wonderful commi ee helping which includes HOW TO ADVENT WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND 4 A Christmas Gathering which will be held on School choir to entertain us with Christmas carols. Lynn LaFra a, Madeline Forsythe, JANUARY SERVICE PROJECT 5 December 13th at 6:30 p.m. at the Parish Center. The tables will have a fes ve spirit and the Judy Brunell and Joanne Dee. UPCOMING EVENTS 7 The evening will include a munchies will be Please join us!

2 PAGE 2 OFFICER S Name President Joan Marchi o Vice President Sandy Coyle Secretary Diana Gray Treasurer Karen Smith Sunshine Connie Schnack Publicity Donna Gilmore mail Cell Phone # Home Phone # ddsjoanie@aol.com SJCGRAM@verizon.net dgraysix@yahoo.com ksmith715@comcast.net bobcon4492@aol.com westst@comcast.net The St. Mary s Parish Guild meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month, September through June at 6:30 p.m. For information contact Diana Gray at or dgraysix@yahoo.com D u e s a r e $ 1 0 p e r y e a r. GUILD TREE UPDATE A huge thank you to everyone who donated gift cards for our tree at this year's Festival of Trees. Because of your generosity, it was once again a popular and wonderful success! The variety was amazing; I collected 29 cards, with a grand total of $625 and the lucky winner was Fr. Dave! I truly appreciate your willingness to contribute to our annual offering for the Christmas Fair! In addition, I'd like to give a special shout out to Diana Gray for her creative flair in helping me decorate it - because of her resourcefulness, the tree looked beautiful and we received many compliments! With my gratitude ~ Karen Bengtson

3 PAGE 3 NOVEMBER MINUTES The November mee ng of the Guild was held at the St. Mary s Parish Center. The theme of the evening was A Sisters Act with Members of the Sisters of Charity in Brockton, MA. President Joan Marchi o welcomed everyone back and acknowledged the new member present, Bridge e Mercier. She also thanked tonight s commi ee: Noreen Kiff and Ann Allen were the hosts and were assisted by Diane Prendergast, Connie Schnack, Bridge e Mercier and Manju Yoder. Secretary Diana Gray distributed the current roster and will also it to the members, please no fy Ms. Gray if any changes need to be made. The most recent newsle er has the minutes from the October mee ng, there were no changes proposed by any members. A mo on to accept the minutes was made by Noreen Kiff and seconded by Karen Bengtson, the mo on passed unanimously. The newsle er has been well received by the membership. A thank you card was received and acknowledged from Noreen Kiff for the plant and gi card from the Guild. Treasurer Karen Smith reviewed the balances for the guild accounts; there is currently $2, in checking, $ in savings, $ in the Adopt a Family account and $3, in the Scholarship account. A mo on to accept the financial reports was made by Jeanne Small and seconded by Noreen Kiff. The mo on passed unanimously. Charlo e Conlon will be selling 50/50 ckets this evening. A Thank you was offered to Ms. Marchi o for prin ng the yearly program. Ms. Smith explained that the Execu ve Board would like the guild members to consider moving to an online banking program, the bank requires guild approval via a le er, Ms. Smith and Ms. Marchi o will set up the account. A mo on to approve the use of online banking for guild funds was made by Margaret Smith and seconded by Mary Coogan. The mo on passed unanimously. Karen Bengtson who is the Chairman of the Guild Christmas Tree reminded members that it is not too late to submit gi cards that will be raffled off with the tree at the Christmas Fair. The tree will be decorated on Friday November 25 th so it will be ready for the fair on the 26 th. Ms. Smith gave an update on all the work being done by both guild and parish members for the Christmas Fair. The Chairmen are: Guild Tree Karen Bengtson; Bake Table Joanne Houle, Danielle Houle and Phyllis Tondorff; Kids Room - Colleen Ford; Books - Noreen Kiff and Mary Coogan; Sr. Kathee raffle baskets - Jen Alger; Café - Shirley Nolan; Sewing/Cra s - Connie Schnack and Elda Giansante; Candy - Deana Welter and Barbara McHoul; Silent Auc on - Karen Finocchi and Deb Fitzgibbons; 50/50 - Sylvia Eighmy and Margaret Smith; Greens - Donna Gilmore; Administra ve Coordinator - Judy Colvin; Confirma on Students Coordinator - Colleen Buckley; Fes val of Trees - Kerry Vigorito, Pa Wagner- Miller, Miles Miller and Rob Deschenes; Friday night entertainment - Don McHoul Deb Fitzgibbons gave an update on the Adopt a Family Bowlathon, they made the most ever this year with $9,100 being raised and it will go a long way in replacing the reserve funds in the Adopt a Family account. Colleen Buckley stated that there is a sign-up sheet going around for the annual Adopt a Family wrap night, it will be held on December 14 th star ng at 4:00 p.m. here in the parish center. They are star ng the process of picking the families for this year. Ms. Buckley would like people to bring scissors and gi labels, they have plenty of wrapping paper that was donated from Stop and Shop last year and they also have plenty of tape. The families will receive their gi s on December 17 th. St. Mary s Sacred Heart School is doing a Health and Beauty Aid collec on to benefit the families too. Ms. Marchi o then introduced Sisters Ann Whi aker and Anne Marie O Shea from the Sisters of Charity. They explained that their order was founded in Kentucky in 1812 and their first mission was to educate the se lers in the wilderness. They now have (Con nued on page 6)

4 VOLUME I, ISSUE 4 PAGE 4 By Sterling Jaquith Sterlingjaquith.com Advent begins on November 27th this year, I think it s really important that we have an intentional Advent season. Many of us get hit in November Thanksgiving sneaks up on us, then BAM its Advent and Christmas everything. Before we have a second to take a breath and plan what we want to do, the season is already here! The stores are filled with Christmas music and decorations. Costco tempts you with lots of this deal is great and you know it won t be here the next time you come so it s easy to panic and start buying without a plan. Events start popping up left and right parties volunteering Christmas lights on everything and FREE refined white sugar everywhere you go. I don t know about you but I feel a little tense just thinking about the holiday storm that s headed my way. But it doesn t have to be this way. We don t have to give in to the way America does Christmas. We can be intentional about our activities, our food, our decorations, and yes, even the mood of our homes. This year I want to invite you to take control of the Advent season leading up to Christmas. I want you to cut out the things that stress you out and I want you to embrace the things that give you peace. I want you to do this even if it s counter-cultural. The world needs more peace right now and I believe that starts in our living rooms. Don t give way to MORE MORE MORE. We don t need more sound, more stuff, more food, and more stress. American Christmas is not the boss of you. Jesus is the boss of you. I have to work really hard to protect my heart during the holidays. It s easy for me to give in and feel envy, an overwhelming desire to eat all the free food put in front of me, a disordered urge to buy my kids things they don t need, and deep depression as I see the shallowness of how the world treats Christmas it really bothers my soul. Now, I can choose to give in to these emotions when they pop up or I can simply recognize them and say, Nope, I m going do X instead. By having a plan and knowing my next steps when temptation comes my way is how I live intentionally during the holiday season. Here are my top ten tips for How to Advent without Losing Your Mind! 1. Get on the same page as your spouse! Sit down and go over what happened last year. What was stressful? What was fun? Ask the kids what their favorite traditions are. They might surprise you. Choose the things that bring your family peace. 2. Create a CODE word with your spouse. Pick a word that means, Hey, I need to talk to you for a second. This allows you to feel empowered to talk to your spouse privately. Maybe you see your husband about to get in a political argument. Maybe your husband really wants to go but he doesn t want to be rude your friends. Whatever it is, having a CODE word helps us to be more kind to our spouse when we re in public knowing that if there s something difficult we need to say, we can do it privately. 3. Say NO early on. You re probably going to be invited to a ton of work/ school/friend parties. Do you like going? Can you handle going and not eating all the cookies? If yes, keep them on your calendar and spread the love of Christ everywhere you go. If you don t like going, politely say no early so you don t cancel at the last minute when you re too tired, too stressed, or it s not a good fit for your family. 4. Don t drink then be merry! I struggle with my weight and so I have to be very careful during the holidays not to eat everything that s put in front of me. One of the quickest ways I blow it is by having a glass of wine. Simply one glass of alcohol ruins my resolve to stick to my healthy food plan so my (Con nued on page 5)

5 PAGE 5 HOW TO ADVENT WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND (CONT) (Con nued from page 4) solution I don t drink at holiday parties. 5. Set gift expectations early. If you re tight on money this year, communicate it now to your family. Write a nice explaining that you re paying down debt and you won t be giving presents this year. Instead, maybe you can give coupons. Help snow shoveling or Sister tea date at home 6. Prepare for sticky family situations. It s likely that if your family was crazy and contentious last year they re going to be this year too. Write down some uncomfortable conversations you re likely to encounter and come up with some responses. Even if you re answer is, I d love to talk about that. I ll you tomorrow, at least you ll be armed with a response. 7. Volunteer! If you re lonely during the holidays, the best way to cure this is to get out and volunteer. When you re giving food or warm clothes to homeless people, it puts your lack of a boyfriend into perspective. Serving other is always a way to lift your spirits. 8. Focus on Mary! Jesus tends to steal the show during Christmastime but really, I think Mary is the star of Advent. I picture our sweet mother traveling, super pregnant, on a donkey having no idea where she s going to have her baby! I think she deserves extra prayers and thanks during Advent. 9. Squish your envy bug! Don t give in to the idea of keeping up with the Jones s. Envy/Jealous steals our joy. When thoughts of envy pop into my head, I imagine a little bug flying near my ear whispering awful things to try and get me to want more things and to stop being grateful for what I have. I squeeze my thumb and my pointer finger together, pretending to squish that bug and I move on. 10. Be grateful! We hear this over and over again during the holidays but really, how many of you are actually keeping a WRITTEN account of all the things you re grateful for? Do it this year. It s one of the fastest ways to have a peaceful and joyful holiday season! Don t let the world steal your joy. Our peace comes from Jesus Christ and no one can take that away from us. JANUARY SERVICE PROJECT Sandy Coyle, Colleen Buckley, Norma McCarthy are organizing the January meeting service project, which will be called MiLady s Pocketbook Complete details will be in the next newsletter but there are a few things needed that you can start gathering now in the midst of your Christmas shopping. Needed are: gently used or new pocketbooks and purses along with things to put in the purses such as: feminine products (tampons and pads), Personal wipes, chap sticks, deodorant, tooth brushes and paste, small hairbrush, comb, elastics, clips for the hair, Pocket size address books and calendars, Nail polish, Lip stick, Lip gloss, Individual packets of tissues, Key rings, Travel size shampoo, hand lotion etc. Thanks!

6 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 PAGE 6 NOVEMBER MINUTES (CONTINUED) (Con nued from page 3) members in the US as well as Botswana, Africa, India, Nepal and Central America. Their mission involves educa on, healthcare, social services and providing care for orphans. Sr. Whi aker and Sr. O Shea are currently located at the Catherine Spaulding House in Brockton, it is a farmhouse located on 2 ½ acres. The original mission worked with people (mostly women and children) who were struggling economically. In 1997 the last Sister from the original order re red. Sr. Whi aker and Sr. O Shea started the order up again in 1998 but they needed a loca on. There was a gentleman in Brockton whose sister was a Religious; he invited the Sisters to come to his house, they looked the property over and saw the possibili es within; to their surprise the gentleman gave them the house for their headquarters. They started working with the Mung people from Laos, that were displaced from their homeland by the Vietnam War who the US government allowed to come to the United States and there was a large group located in Brockton. They started a summer camp for their children, gave the women land for gardens and encouraged the young girls to get an educa on and go on to college. They helped them all become self-sufficient and then began working with the poor elderly popula on and also spiritual programs for women. Tonight, they would like the ladies in a endance to take some me before Thanksgiving to reflect on the gi s we have every day with a Harvest of Blessings program and the Abundance in the Autumn Season. The medita ons centered on earth, air, fire and water and consisted of prayers and readings. A gi of a small basket with bulbs for next spring was given to each member in a endance. Be y Poirier, who arrived late to the mee ng, wanted to extend to the membership a Thank You for the Adopt a Family Bowlathon par cipa on and especially to Deb Fitzgibbons for helping to organize the bowling ac vity. Ms. Poirier explained that the Adopt a Family project has been going for the past 40 years, all the families who are chosen are pre-ve ed and the families receive benefits for an en re year, not just Christmas presents. Ms. Poirier also noted if any members of the Guild are interested, there is a pe on drive to form a North A leboro Charter Commission, 3000 signatures are needed and she has sheets to sign if you are interested and are a Registered Voter in North A leboro. This would allow the forma on of a nine member elected commission that would study the different forms of government that would run the town. The three choices would be keep the RTM/Town Mee ng, have a Mayor form of government or have a Strong Town Manager form of government. Respec ully Submi ed, Diana Gray, Secretary

7 Upcoming Events: If you would like to contribute anything to future newsletters such as stories, recipes or pictures please contact Diana Gray at or Please submit newsletter info by: Monday December 19th Deadline is always the Monday following the December 8, 2016 The Feast of the Immaculate Concep on December 13, 2016 Guild Mee ng A Christmas Gathering 6:30 p.m. December 14, 2016 Adopt a Family Wrap Night 4:00 p.m. December 24, 2016 Christmas Eve December 25, 2016 Christmas Day December 31, th Saturday Luncheon at The Chie an, 23 Washington Street, Plainville 12:00 pm WE RE ON THE WEB: NAWOMENSGUILD.WEEBLY.COM general meeting.