June 5, 2006VOL. 44, NO. 11 Oakland, CA

Patriotic gift to St. Catherine School
Members of Junior Girl Scout Troop #43 hold the California state flag they gave to Andrew vonHaunalter (right), principal of St. Catherine of Siena School in Martinez, for use by the school. The girls bought the flag with earnings from their recent cookie sale. Troop members are, from left, Rosemary Cook, Angela Willis, Laura Lejano and Megan Toni. Other members are Eulove Delos Reyes and Ashley Westerlund (not pictured).

One year of safety at cathedral site Bishop Allen Vigneron enjoys a visit, May 25, with several of the 100 construction workers building the new Cathedral of Christ the Light. Webcor Builders hosted a BBQ for the workers to honor them for a full year of work without any days lost to injury. The lunch was held on the site of the new diocesan headquarters adjacent to the cathedral at the corner of Grand Avenue and Harrison Street in Oakland. The construction is slated for completion by mid-2008. MICHAEL MUSTACCHI PHOTO

Honored alum Father Mark Wiesner, parochial administrator of St. Augustine Parish in Oakland, addresses students at De La Salle High School in Concord after receiving its Alumnus of the Year award for his service to Church and community. He was cited for his work as anAir Force reserve chaplain, as co-director of the diocesan Jubilee 2000 celebration, as founder of the Ruach Players, as diocesan communications director, and for his pastoral leadership in the four parishes where he has worked.

Health and safety

Students at Our Lady of Grace School in Castro Valley received an up-close look at emergency response and medical issues last month at a health and safety fair on their campus. They were wide-eyed as a helicopter that transports critically ill patients to Eden Hospital’s Trauma Center landed in the school parking lot. Then health care workers and the pilot gave the students a chance to peek inside.

The students also got to handle stethoscopes and blood pressure devices, learn about the fat, sugar and salt content in fast foods, and hear about safety and emergency preparedness from representatives of local police and fire departments, the California Highway Patrol and Eden Hospital.

A performance by the eighth grade rock band Uturn concluded the fair. The band was one of 12 finalists at the Chabot College Battle of the Bands earlier this year.

Around the Parishes

A non-denominational prayer service honoring those who have battled cancer will be held June 19 at Alameda’s St. Joseph Basilica Parish, beginning at 7 p.m. The service is part of the parish’s participation in the Alameda Relay for Life, a 24-hour event sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise money and awareness in the fight against cancer. Last year more than 70 individuals from St. Joseph Parish participated in the event and raised over $16,000. This year’s relay will take place June 24-25 at Encinal High School. For more information, contact Jo Berning at (510) 521-0247 or jberning@comcast.net.

Christa Fairfield will become director of parish life at St. Bonaventure Parish in Concord, beginning Aug. 1. Fairfield, who had been working part-time as the parish’s business manager, will continue in that capacity as part of this new full-time position.

Members of St. Columba Parish in Oakland joined Adrian Dominican Sister Marian Castelluccio and members of her family for a May 7 liturgy celebrating the nun’s 50th anniversary of her entrance into religious life. An Oakland native and a graduate of St. Louis Bertrand Elementary School and Bishop O’Dowd High School, Sister Castelluccio has served in various ministries throughout the country. In the Oakland Diocese she has been pastoral associate at Santa Maria Parish in Orinda and at St. Columba Parish in Oakland. She currently is a social worker with Alameda County.

The Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA), whose members include three Berkeley parishes, organized an immigration forum yesterday (June 4) at St. Joseph the Worker Church. BOCA provided information about immigration reform and offered free legal consultations and a citizenship orientation.

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Around the Schools

Major kudos go to three schools who helped with the Get On The Bus – 2006 event that united children throughout the state with their mothers who are in prison in central California. St. Leander School in San Leandro helped with the May 12 send-off of East Bay kids and St. Catherine School in Martinez collected coloring books, magazines, felt pens and coloring pens for the participants to use on the bus ride. Students at Carondelet High School in Concord assembled 40 new backpacks with blankets and games for the participants; they also collected more than $10,000 to pay for the local bus and to help with statewide expenses.

Two graduating seniors at Alameda’s St. Joseph Notre Dame High School have picked up some distinctive honors. Diego Flores has been awarded a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship. He will be attending Yale in the fall. Gabrielle Soria received a 2006 Outstanding Senior in French Award from the American Association of Teachers of French.

Ten members of the graduating class at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland received Jefferson Awards for Public Service at a May 16 Senior Awards Assembly ceremony in the school gym. They are: Annie Berenberg, Sarah Bookin, Gina Conway, Isabelle Dupont, Anne Marie Ferruzzi, Devan Gregori, Sorren Lindstrom, Erica Pang, Joanna Smith and Lindsay Spangler. The students were honored for their contributions as volunteers in the community.

Sondra Arnsdorf is the new dean of women at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School. She has been vice principal for student affairs during the past year and has served in a number of administrative positions at the school since 1994.

Leo Lopoz has been appointed athletic director at De La Salle High School in Concord. Lopoz, who begins his new duties in late June, has worked as the assistant athletic director since 1999 and has been an economics and physical education teacher and coach. He succeeds Terry Eidson who will become director of student activities.

Speaking of sports, membership in the Athletic Hall of Fame at St. Mary’s College in Moraga recently increased by six individuals. Joining the Hall were David Carter ’89 (basketball), Mike Estrella ’94 (football), Cheree Tappin ’95 (basketball), Lori Hokerson ’92 (soccer), the late Henry Van Gieson ’48 (football) and Giancarlo Trevisan (crew coach). Also honored at the April 30 luncheon was the 1958-59 basketball team, led by the late head coach Jim Weaver.

Tony Freccero, head men’s junior varsity basketball coach at Bishop O’Dowd High, is once again collecting gently used and new athletic shoes for underprivileged youth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Last year Project Shoe Assist collected and delivered over 3,000 pairs of donated shoes. Freccero is hoping to match that amount this year. Want to help? Visit www.triplethreatonline.com.

Mike Sommers, a math teacher and coach at St. Mary’s High in Berkeley, has been honored by the school as Lasallian Educator of the Year.

Melanie Sarti, an eighth grader at Christ the King School in Pleasant Hill, received a $200 Marian Huhn Memorial Scholarship from the California Junior Scholarship Federation for achieving high standards of scholarship and service. She is one of five students in the central coast region to be honored.

Got news? Send items for Around the Diocese to Carrie McClish at The Catholic Voice, 3014 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, CA 94610; phone: (510) 419-1074; fax: (510) 893-4734; e-mail: cmmcclish@oakdiocese.org. Deadline for the next issue is June 8.

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Names, News, Notes

Congratulations to Raquel and Juan Rodriguez, members at St. Michael Parish in Livermore, who recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.

If your summer travels take you to the Carmel Mission, be sure to take a look at the exhibition, “The California Mission Art of Jo Mora,” on display there from June 23 through Dec. 31. The exhibit features the historic mission-themed art work of Joseph Jacinto “Jo” Mora (1876-1947). There are pencil and ink drawings, watercolors from his sketchbooks and illustrations on maps. The price of the exhibition is included in regular Mission fees: $5 for adults, $1 for children six – 17, and free for children under five. The exhibition will be open from 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday.

School-age children can learn more about the foreign missions and the work of missionaries on the homepage of the Holy Childhood Association: www.worldmissions-catholicchurch.org. On a special section called “The Bread of Life,” they can read about the breads of the world and learn how they share a connection with children of the developing world through the celebration of the Eucharist. Free, grade-specific mission education/activity sheets are available for download.

Information and application forms for local grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) are now available on-line at the Catholic Charities of the East Bay web site, www.cceb.org/public_policy.php#subhead

To receive CCHD funds, organizations must show that they enable groups of low-income people to influence the decisions that affect their lives. A majority of the board of the organization must be low-income, and the funds may not be used for direct service, unless that service is shown to be an integral part of the group’s empowerment organizing strategy. A workshop on June 12 will describe the application process.

For more information, contact Maurine Behrend, maurineb@cceb.org, or call (510)768-3164. CCHD Local Grants range from $2,000 - $5,000.

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