St. Mary School Bike/Walk-a-thon Saturday, April 26 9am to 11am Additional information: 3k - 7th grade may participate Participants please see the forms

A HUGE thank you to Steve Bernhardt for donating and installing the new amp and speakers at St. Mary's Church. Thank you to Pat Casey for generously donating copies of the Lenten Magnificat for St. Mary's families. Thank you to everyone who helped with the repairs and organizing St. Mary's Church Kitchen.

St. Mary’s Fish Fry Thank You’s We had a fantastic Fish Fry & Raffle with over 775 meals served! We deeply appreciate everyone who supported our Fish Fry and made it a fun and successful night! A huge THANK YOU to St. Mary's Parish Council and everyone who prepared the delicious meal especially the crew who prepared the fish. We have received a lot of compliments! Thank you to everyone who donated bars and cookies and the great people who helped during the evening. A special thank you to Mary & Kurt Adrian, Ma's Bakery for donating the delicious coleslaw and rolls. Thank you to all who gave donations toward our raffle prizes. Thank you to Dennis and Annette Knapp for donating part of their winnings back to St. Mary’s. Thank you to Catholic Financial Life Branch #34 for co-sponsoring the raffle and donating napkins. The following are the total amounts received during the Fish Fry before expenses have been paid: Raffle: $6,225.00 Raffle Prize Donations: $800.00 Meals: $11,527.00 Sale of Extra Food: $824.00 Refreshments: $109.00 Fish Fry Donation$250.00 Total to date: $19,735.00

Children are a great gift to us. One way families can find support for the moral and academic formation of their children is in a Catholic school. Below are just few of the reasons why we value our Catholic school: *There is weekly Mass and special feast days where the children are more involved in the liturgy and regular prayer is a part of the school day. *There is a regular religion class several times each week so the children can come to understand the rich tradition and teachings of the Catholic faith. *Our Catholic School has a strong family feel and students are welcomed, and feel safe and comfortable while being challenged to grow and mature according to God’s plan for each of them. *Teachers help the children connect the Catholic faith with all other learning and work with parents for the good of children. Thank you to all of our wonderful parishioners, benefactors, and volunteers who make Catholic education in our area possible. Thank you to all of our dedicated teachers and staff who share their knowledge and faith each day with our students. Thank you to our parents and families who made the decision to entrust St. Mary’s School with the education of their children. May God continue to bless our students, families, and schools as we give thanks for the great blessing of Catholic school. Please contact the school or parish offices to learn more about enrolling your child(ren) in our excellent school.

Still considering a New Year’s resolution? Decide now to take part in one of Grant Co. Right to Life’s upcoming 2025 activities! 1. Pray for GCRTL’s efforts to bring a Safe Haven Baby Box to Grant County. 2. Help plan a movie night! Join a team to bring the full-length documentary, Unthinkable, by former PP clinic director, Abby Johnson, to a Grant Co. theater. (Or donate to offset costs.) 3. 2/4/25: Participate - from anywhere – in a 6 p.m. GCRTL Zoom meeting. Call for log-in info. 4. 3/1/25: Volunteer at a GCRTL table at a late a.m. Platteville Public Library Involvement Fair. 5. 4/5/25: Attend a free WI RTL Pregnancy Help Center conference in Wausau. By 3/21/25, register at https://www.classy.org/event/2025-pregnancy-help-center-spring-conference/e626057 . 6. Participate in a group to distribute small gifts to nursing home residents. Consider making a walker bag or lap blanket for residents. (GCRTL will provide materials.) For more info., text or call Marge at 608.732.0850 or email GrantCoRTL@outlook.com (NEW address!)

Everyone is invited to attend St. Mary's Lasagna Supper at St. Mary School on Saturday, January 25 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. There will also be a Silent Auction and classroom displays.

THANK YOU to everyone who supported the Scrip Push! The goal was $30,000 and $69,700.00 in Scrip was purchased! The St. Mary's students will enjoy a pizza and movie party hosted by the Home & School Association.

Thank you to everyone who worked to make our churches beautiful inside and out for Christmas. Thank you to all who gave donations for the flowers and decorations. We can be very proud of our beautiful churches. Thank you to everyone who has very generously supported our parishes throughout the year and at Christmastime. May God’s love and blessings be with you and your family in 2025! St. Mary’s School is deeply grateful to everyone for their very generous gifts to St. Mary’s teachers and staff. A special thank you to all the families who have participated in Family Faith Formation. It is such a blessing to watch the families share a meal, pray together, and grow in their faith. Thanks to our prayer warriors, snack providers and catechists who provide their time to help build God's Kingdom on Earth.

We invite you to find help through Retrouvaille, (ret-tro-vi), where husbands and wives are helped to re-discover each other. In Retrouvaille, couples discover they are not alone. There is hope and grace. Madison’s upcoming Retrouvaille program is January 31 – February 2, 2025 at the Green Lake Conference Center. Follow up sessions will be in Madison. Call (920) 369-8836 or check our website at www.helpourmarriage.org Your confidentiality is always respected.

St Mary’s School has teamed up with Hamann’s Helping Hands again this holiday season to help gathering gifts for children that are spending the holidays in the hospital. We will be collecting gifts until December 20.

St. Mary's Home and School Association is sponsoring a Calendar Raffle for the month of January. Please contact the school office at 608-994-2435 if you are interested in purchasing a chance to win. All money must be turned in by December 20.

The annual "Christmas Club" where you can donate money for gifts for the staff has begun. Donations may be left at the parish office or school.

Share the gift of life by donating blood. The Red Cross will be holding a blood drive at St. Mary School in Bloomington on November 25 from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

The council now has 180 Form 100s in our hands. The Form 100s were needed for the council to be able to start the Member Transfer Process. The member transfer will start immediately in hopes to be completed by January 1, 2025. The council gave out $300 Charity Checks to two brother knights with health conditions. Council 4416 does not hold meetings during the holidays. The next council meeting will be on Jan. 21, 2025 in St. Charles’ School Computer Lab in Cassville at 7:30 p.m.

Operation Santa Claus in the River Ridge area is sponsored by the West Grant Lions Club to help those families and individuals in need to have a Merry Christmas. The club serves the Bagley, Bloomington, Glen Haven, Mt. Hope and Patch Grove areas. The members of the West Grant Lions Club have already been checking the five communities and surrounding areas served by the club for people in need. This has been necessary to provide enough time for the proper ordering of food items and other needed items. If a new situation develops that the club should know about, please contact Lion Mike Farrell at 9143 Kussmaul Rd., Mt. Hope, WI 53816. His phone number is: 608-988-4527. Money donations which are needed for the purchase of food items may be mailed to the West Grant Lions Club Treasurer, Paul Wegmann at 10998 Holly Rd. Bloomington, WI 53804. Be sure to make checks out to the West Grant Lions Club. The deadline for making money donations is Monday, Dec. 2. If you have any nonperishable food items (especially canned goods) please bring them to one of the collection locations which will be announced at a later date. Also please mark the bags or boxes as being for the West Grant Lions Operation Santa Claus. Sometimes there are other organizations or classes who are gathering food items for a different project. The Lions Club cannot distribute home canned foods or home baked items or clothing.

Masses intentions for loved ones to be said during 2025 at St. Mary's and St. John's Churches may be scheduled during November and December. The stipend is $20.00 per Mass. To schedule Masses, you may send a note listing possible Mass dates and the name of the person(s) for the intentions. You may also call St. Mary's Parish Office (608-994-2526) from 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Monday-Friday to schedule Mass intentions.

We will remember loved ones who have died this past year at the Masses on Sunday, November 3 at St. Mary's Church, Bloomington. If you would like to have your loved one remembered, please contact the St. Mary's Parish office (608-994-2526).

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the St. Mary School Pizza and Bulb Fundraiser. A special thank you to Patsy White and Deb Van Bogaert for their help and to Catholic Financial Life Chapter #15 for generously donating $1,000.00 in matching funds.

The Ladies Night Out committee would like to thank all the gals and businesses that contributed to the success of our evening. Thank you to the ladies who attended and helped make the evening a fun time for all. - Ione, Alysa, Jen and Mary Jo.