Have you ever walked into the church and just smiled from the joy of your surroundings. Arlene Pyke, a member here since 1975, helps to put that smile on your face and God’s. She leads a small group of volunteers in taking care of the plants in our church. She organizes the group to meet to take care of changing the decorations in the parish as the liturgical year changes. One of Arlene’s bucket lists goals when she retired from Education was to become a Certified Master Gardner. Once retired she started taking classes and became certified in 2012 and our parish is enriched by this skill set. When the church was in the preparation stages for renovation she was on the committee to make banners. Arlene graduated from Western Michigan University with a Master’s degree in Speech & Language Therapy. Using her teaching experience here at the church, she taught religious education and was on the religious education committee in the ’70s and ’80s. Arlene is a mother of two sons and has two grandsons. At times you will see them in the church helping her do a joy job. Some of the other jobs she has volunteered for over the years are working in the Mary Garden, Recipes for Change, Marketplace, and sewing altar cloths, banners, and flags. If you see Arlene in the church, tell her "hi", give her a pat on the back, or better yet say a prayer that God continues to keep giving her the desire to help our beautiful church and the health to keep doing it. If you would like to hear more on the Arts and Environment ministry please call our office (327-5165 ) or email us ([email protected]) and we will connect you with Arlene. Thank you, Arlene, for your selfless dedication to our parish, and to keeping our church beautiful!

The average age of our volunteers in our art & environment ministry is 70. This ministry needs some younger help added to help put up decorations in the church as the church year evolves. It can also include taking care of the plants/flowers inside of the church building or outside flower arrangements. If you're interested in this ministry, please reach out to Marianne Verner at 978-2340 or [email protected].

During this National Volunteer Appreciation Week, we wanted to take a few minutes to recognize some of the many, many volunteers who serve our parish. It has been a busy month at St. Catherine’s, and without our volunteers, we truly could not do everything we do. Please continue to check our bulletin, our website, and our Facebook page for more spotlights on the many, many volunteers who selflessly give their time, talent, and treasure to our parish every single day. Please click on the article title to see the full article and pictures of some of our fantastic volunteers!