The annual Son Light Celebration set for Friday, Oct. 1, in Helena will offer some new aspects along with familiar features. Now in its fifth year, the celebration spotlights and supports youth and young-adult ministry in the Diocese of Helena.

As in years past, Son Light will begin with a Cathedral of St. Helena prayer service. A gala dinner and auction at the Helena Civic Center will follow, and the evening will conclude with drawings for a red, 2011 Ford Fiesta SE Sedan and a Seattle Seahawks-New York Giants weekend for two in Seattle, with the Alexis Hotel providing accommodations. The parish selling the most raffle tickets by Tuesday, Sept. 28, will be awarded $2,500, as will the parish that sells the ticket good for the car.

In a change this year, the evening’s live auction has been eliminated. In its place, "three priceless door prizes" will be offered, said Glenda Seipp, diocesan Stewardship Services director and coordinator for Son Light.

Each guest will have the opportunity to participate in a game of chance to win dinner for six with Bishop George Leo Thomas; Labor Day Weekend 2011 for six at Legendary Lodge, the diocesan camp on Salmon Lake; and a summer barbecue for 12 with the diocesan Formation Services staff. The barbecue prepared by chef Jim Tucker Jr. will feature music by David and Deidre Casey.

Son Light has raised more than $350,000 in the past four years and "promises to be another memorable evening," Seipp said. Proceeds will benefit youth and young-adult ministry throughout the diocese. Some of the money will be designated for The Foundation for the Diocese of Helena to permanently endow youth ministry and Legendary Lodge, the diocesan summer camp on Salmon Lake.

With part of the money from Son Light 2009, Legendary got a new swim dock. Plans are under way to allocate this year’s raffle dollars for the purchase of another pontoon boat for the camp. That boat already has a name, Dream Catcher, chosen by Bishop Thomas’s aunt, Jean Cronin.

Seipp said there are many ways to participate in Son Light, beginning with the cathedral prayer service at 5 p.m. Deacon Dan and Carol McGrath, members of Holy Spirit Parish in Butte, will give the stewardship witness message.

At the Civic Center, expect appetizers, a gourmet dinner and desserts, including Sally Sova’s chocolate fountain all evening. Michelle Lashway of DeWalt Studio in Helena will take complimentary group photos.

More than 100 youth and young adults from across the diocese will serve as greeters, readers and music ministers at the prayer service as well as greeters, musicians, servers and singers at the dinner and auction. Alex Neu, Resurrection Parish campus ministry participant and former president of the Catholic Youth Coalition board, will offer the youth witness after the dinner.

The silent auction includes experiences, such as weekend getaways, and items, among them two reminders of the Legendary Lodge Eagle’s Nest building dismantled to make way for a new gathering space. A door of solid Montana fir was saved and crafted into a coffee table, and a window has become a picture frame for both a "Legendary Memory" print by painter Bob Morgan and a collage of the 2010 Leadership Campers.

To preview the auction items, visit www.diocesehelena.org/sonlight on the Web.

Tickets to the Civic Center gala are $75 each, $500 for a table of eight and $35 for young adults, under 35. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Chancery at 442- 5820 or, toll-free in Montana, 800-584- 8914. Reservations will be accepted through Friday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m.

Raffle tickets are available in every parish in the diocese, at the Loyola Sacred Heart High School Scrip Office in Missoula and at Butte Central High School until 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26. Tickets are $25 each or $100 for five chances. They will be available at the Chancery until 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1, and at Son Light.

For out-of-town guests, blocks of rooms are available at Best Western Helena Great Northern Hotel, Wingate by Wyndham or the Red Lion Colonial Hotel. Use the words "Son Light" or "Diocese of Helena" to make your reservation.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 9, September 17, 2010.