A Wedding at Saint Mary's Church

Phyl and Dino got married on June 25, 1966, in Saint Mary's new church. My husband worked on the committee which planned the building of the new church. Looking at the blueprints it is shaped like a cross; it has three sections. There is a middle and two side sections. Later, a parish house was added to the middle section. It is a beautiful modern church.

The committee men on the board also figured how to get pledges. They sold a book about the church and all who helped. I bought one of the books. We have a Catholic paper called The Visitor which is sold in all the Catholic churches. In this paper there was a write up on Saint Mary's church and all the men who helped. They also had pictures and names of these men. Our friends from Madison were surprised to see how active Tony was in the church.

When they demolished an old home, to clear the grounds to build the church, my husband sent his two sons with our truck to clean the trash. He enjoyed helping. The Mr. and Mrs. Club from Saint Mary's would come to our place and have picnics. We put tables and benches outside. The food was catered. They would build an open fire out in the fields. We would all sit around the fire and sing. One man played an accordion. A good old time was had by all of us. The Knights of Columbus also had some of their affairs at our place. One year the Knights of Columbus had a complete carnival on our grounds! The Lions Club also ran a few affairs at our place. They all missed the place after we sold it.

Carmela, our oldest daughter, had been married in the small Saint Mary's church, Ann in the school hall and Phyl in the new church. The church was decorated with many beautiful flowers.

At Phyl and Dino's wedding, Ann was the maid of honor and Dino's brother the best man. The reception was at a place called the Showcase. There was a sit down dinner for about 125 people. One of Dino's sisters sang for us. She has a wonderful voice.

Phyl and Dino went to Canada for their honeymoon. When they came back their home was ready for them to move in. Phyl always loved cooking; she had many beautiful dinners for our families and her friends. She kept working until she was going to have her first baby.

On December 23, 1967, they were blessed with a little girl. They named her Mary. I stayed a week with them, when Phyl came home from the hospital, in order to help with the baby and house work. Sometimes I would catch Phyl telling her baby, “Don't cry, Aunt Phyl will help you.” She had helped so many nieces and nephews that at first she got mixed up. Then she would pick the baby up and say, “Mommy will take care of you.” Dino was very happy because he loves children. When Phyl first got pregnant I worried about her because she was 36 years old. Thank God, everything turned out fine.