May 30, 2021
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We had graduation for our 8th graders last Tuesday – May 25th. Congratulations to all our graduating class. We pray that their new journey in High School continues to be a faith-filled one. We also concluded our School year on Thursday – May 27. I am grateful for all the hard work of our teachers and staff that made navigating this school year through this pandemic possible.
As we enter into our summer months, we have several projects that will be going on. We will be installing the new playground for our Preschool this summer. We will also be tearing up the concrete for our Entrance Plaza and will be pouring new concrete as well as installing a pergola, a water feature as well as new lighting that not only provides more areas for gatherings but also fosters a welcoming environment. Once the Entrance Plaza is done, we will replace part of the driveway asphalt that leads to our Entrance Plaza with concrete.
Another project that will happen this summer is the first stage of replacing the heater’s water piping in our school with a new variable volume terminal unit and a heating water coil in each classroom which connects to the existing ductwork. This would also include new temperature controls for the room and provide an extension of the heating water piping from the lower-level mechanical room to each coil. We will be installing this new system in the east wing of the lower level of our school. This was made possible because of the generosity of all who donated to our MARQUEE this year.
We will also begin the relocation of the Tabernacle that will make both the Tabernacle visible and accessible from the Church and a luna insert for the Blessed Sacrament to be exposed at the opposite side of the Tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The lunar insert for the tabernacle which has to be custom made has been ordered. As soon as the lunar arrives, we will begin the relocation. While we raised enough money for the Tabernacle relocation, we are still making a fundraising request of around $8,000 to replace the furnishings within the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to improve the environment.
To further improve our communication through our Parish, we will be installing four Digital Signage Displays in our narthex. This was made possible through the generous donation from our Knights of Columbus. Also, the last few weeks, we had to replace the amplifiers of our Church sound system. We are in the midst of tuning our system to where we need so please be patient. We have also upgraded our audio-visual system in our Trinity Rooms that have been giving us problems. Thanks to the Men’s Club, we installed a new sound system in the cafeteria. We will also be upgrading the sound system in our Gym thanks to the Athletic Committee.
With the general dispensation from the obligation from Sunday Mass being lifted last weekend, and after consulting with our Parish Council, these are the protocols that we are establishing here at Mary Our Queen: Beginning last weekend, we had the ropes removed for half our Church with no social distancing required. We have the other half of the Church available for those still wanting to social distance. Mask are required for the social distancing section. From this weekend onwards (May 29 onwards), mask will only be required for receiving Communion. We ask that you kindly work with us. We will follow these protocols at least until the end of June. We will review our protocols each week.
Our Church is open for meetings and groups. As a reminder, please monitor COVID-19 symptoms. As always, if you or a family member has a fever, chills, body aches, headache, sore throat, cough, and loss of taste and smell, they should stay home from school or church until symptom free. We continue to place the health and safety of all members of our school and parish community our top priority.
Please check out our Weekly Updates via email. If you have not received an email, kindly call our Parish Office and we will add you in our email mailing list. Thank you again for supporting us during this time. We continue to keep all those affected by this virus in our
prayers.
God’s Blessings,
Fr Marc