The upcoming Son Light Stewardship Celebration, scheduled for Sept. 29-30 in Helena, will benefit Legendary Lodge and help provide for a diocesan youth ministry director, according to event organizers.
Legendary Lodge will be the beneficiary of proceeds from the raffle of the custom chopper. Rocky Mountain Choppers of Gallatin Gateway donated the 2005 American IronHorse Legend motorcycle to Bishop George Leo Thomas.
Legendary Lodge, the summer youth encampment owned by the diocese, is located on Salmon Lake in the Seeley Swan Valley. Each year, several hundred youth enjoy the week-long “Legendary” experience unique to this outdoor ministry.
“This summer we have about 650 kids who come here to meet one another and to form a strong diocesan Church among the youth. They go back to their parishes with real enthusiasm for their faith, a desire to be involved in parish youth ministry programs and willingness to share what they’ve learned at camp.
“It’s
pretty amazing to see how their faith feeds one another and the parish communities
they go back to,” said camp director Colleen Dunne.
The Lodge has undergone major renovations during these past few years, including
the addition of a new “scrub” – washroom, shower and toilet facilities
– and a new cabin that lodges the camp director and the camp chaplain.
Dunne said the they wouldn’t be able to do what they do at the camp without
the improved facilities.
“The new cabin and the scrub give us a sense that this is a camp to take
a lot of pride in, with good space for living and meeting.”
She noted that
the scrub provides a comfortable and clean space for everyone’s personal
care, as well as a dependable water system to meet the camp’s needs.
Improvements to
the camp’s water system include a new water filtering and purification
system, a new drainage-septic field and a camp-wide fire suppression system.
Deacon Gerry Kuhl,
executive director of the Foundation for the Diocese of Helena, said that the
motorcycle raffle team hopes that ticket sales for the custom chopper will reach
the goal of $125,000. Of that sum, $100,000 would be used to pay for lodge improvements
and $25,000 would be endowed within the foundation to provide an ongoing and
perpetual source of income for future lodge expenses.
Kuhl indicated
that the lodge has a current permanent endowment of nearly $50,000, which he
believes could be doubled in the near future through donor contributions and
gifts such as provided through the Son Light Celebration motorcycle raffle.
According to Glenna
Obie, diocesan stewardship director, the Son Light event will also help fund
youth ministry needs for the diocese. During the parish and regional listening
sessions held by the Diocesan Pastoral Council this spring, the need for a resource
person to help parish youth ministers with their local parish programs was consistently
mentioned; thus, Son Light organizers chose to direct both the dinner and auction
funds to this emerging need.
And, in keeping
with the endowment mentality, 25 percent of the net proceeds obtained from both
the dinner and the auction will be placed in an endowment within the foundation
to provide a continuing resource to help fund the diocesan youth ministry office.
Raffle tickets
for the custom motorcycle are available at $25 per chance at local parish offices,
or from either the office of stewardship or the foundation. They can also be
obtained through the diocesan website, www.diocesehelena.org.
Reservations for
the Son Light Stewardship Celebration Dinner and Auction event will be available
on a first-come basis, at $75 per plate, from the same offices after Aug. 1.
Organizers of the dinner and auction expect ticket sales to be brisk and the
event may sell out quickly, so early purchase is advised.
Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 22, No. 7, July 21, 2006.