Parish announcements this week

11. BOOK SIGNING:  “My Ukrainian American Story” on Sunday at the Ukrainian Women’s League bazaar. Meet the author/illustrator who attended our own Ridna Shkola. Adrianna Bamber will be signing and selling her books after each Divine Liturgy in our hall on Sunday, December 10th.

12. BULLETIN UPDATES: Dear parishioners. As you may have noticed their have been some changes and improvements to your parish bulletin over the past six months. In a continuing effort to make the bulletin more parishioner friendly, I call upon you to let me know what else you would like to see and or change. And as always I appreciate the various information materials that you are providing. I look forward to your responses. Father Iura.

13. CELL PHONES: Please, please, please. Turn of your cell phones when you come to the Divine Liturgy. If you are expecting an emergency call, please put it on vibrate and go outside to answer. Also, please stop using your cell phone during the Divine Liturgy. This is for the benefit of all. Thank you.

14. VETERANS POST 33: The next meeting of the Ukrainian –American Veteran Bishop John Stock Post 33 of New Haven will be held on Sunday, December 17, 2017. We will begin the meeting immediately following the second Divine Liturgy. The meeting will be held in Classroom 2. For more information, contact the Post Commander Carl Harvey at 203-389-6076 or crharv384@optimum.net.

15. PYROHY We will be making Pyrohy on Saturday December 16, 2017 in the Church Hall. and we are always looking for new talent to help with this twenty-five+ year Parish project. Please feel to come and join the fun. Luncheon is provided on Saturday. Call the Project Director Walter Ushchak @ (203) 789-9554 for details. Also please be sure to place your order as soon as possible.

16. ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: The Knights of Columbus are spearheading an effort to provide Adult Religious Education – Refresher courses to the members of the Parish. The basic plan outline is to provide an English class after the English mass on Sunday and a Ukrainian class after the Ukrainian mass. The class will be offered once or twice a month. A curriculum is being formulated as we speak. We now turn to you the parishioners to tell us what topics you would like to see covered. We also invite you if you feel you have a topic that you would like to lecture on to bring it to my attention. I look forward to all of your suggestions, Father Iura.

17. CHURCH AND BUILDING REPAIRS: As you may have noticed there is an ongoing program of repairs being conducted on the property. The entire interior of the church is having its walls repaired, replastered and then completely repainted with a semi-gloss white paint. The work is in its ninth week of progress and has had numerous difficult challenges to overcome. In addition the handicap door to the church has been repaired. The church front door lock and latches have been updated and repaired. The steeple door locks have been rekeyed and repaired. The three outbuildings, Heritage Center, rectory and rental property has had repairs completed to the damaged soffits, gables aluminum siding and gutters. We brought in aerial lifts to complete the work and completely replaced the gutters on the Heritage Center. The Heritage Center also has had some of their aging windows replaced with new energy efficient windows. The property has had all its fire extinguishers upgraded, tested and repaired as needed with additional extinguishers installed to cover all possible issues. An inspection was conducted by the Municipal Fire Marshal. The doors to the church hall have been repaired so that they open and close easier. In the church hall the lower level meeting room has been completely upgraded, repaired and painted with new ceiling tiles installed as part of a mold abatement program. The lower level bathrooms and hallways are in the process of being repainted. And of course you have all noted that the front entrance to the church hall has a brand new burgundy carpet. A special thanks to the KofC member volunteers who provided countless hours of donation labor in helping to complete some of these projects. All these items are in addition to the massive outside repair/protection work that has been conducted this year. The roofs and the blue panel repairs on the church hall. These efforts have been expensive and we are currently facing a severe financial shortfall by end of year. It is unfortunate, but necessary, to maintain the physical plant of the property. These were items that could not be put off anymore. The delaying of these repairs would only have caused more damage and been more costly in the future. Please take note that there is additional expensive and extensive work scheduled for next year.