A handcrafted quilt will be among items available at the Son Light Celebrating Youth Ministry live auction on Oct. 2.

Julie Bloomdahl of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Missoula made the quilt, which serves to commemorate her family’s 18 summers at Legendary Lodge, from 1991 to 2008. By combining the camp T-shirts from each of those summers she has captured the message of faith that is communicated in a unique way to the campers.

“The Legendary Lodge experience teaches and sustains the values of our Catholic faith in ways that are distinctive to a camp setting while remaining true to the heart of the Gospel. We are all blessed when generous hearts give back the hundred fold that this quilt represents to us,” Bishop George Leo Thomas said.

“The degree of planning and effort that are needed to create a quilt of this quality tells me that Julie has been preparing for a long time. Her friend, Jeanie Brown of Frenchtown, has artistically stitched the patterns of the T-shirt logos into the quilt. It is overwhelming to receive a quilt as remarkable as this and to recognize that others are invested in remembering and promoting Legendary Lodge in conjunction with our Son Light event,” said Glenda Seipp, stewardship services director for the diocese.

All people of the diocese are invited to join Bishop Thomas for the fourth annual Son Light Celebrating Youth Ministry prayer service, dinner and auction on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 5, May 15, 2009.