Building the future: The school and gym as they appeared during Pamela’s early years in the parish.
A True Act of Christian Charity
By Pamela Macloskey
In the almost 60 years in which my family has called St. Patricks our church and school we have seen many changes. Haney, as it was called when we first arrived was a hamlet of approximately 26,000 people. My husband, Dennis, and I moved here in early 1964 because we wanted our children to be educated in a Catholic school.
At that time, the parish was quite small, and, as the province did not support parish schools financially, we had to depend on small school fees, Bingo, and nuns from London, Ontario to run the school. Our finances were in very poor shape.
“Patricia arranged an anonymous loan and I took the catering exam… by the end of the next year the dishwasher was paid for. That dishwasher is still being used by the CWL and the Knights of Columbus to this day.”
Once the NDP government agreed to support parish schools, the first thing the Parish Council tackled was to build a gym so the students could join in sports with other schools in the district. Our finances were now improved but more was needed, so a plan to use the gym on weekends to host weddings and dances. The mothers group in the parish at that time was very active. My dearest friend, Patricia Sorenson, took charge.
The hours were long and hard sometimes starting early on Saturday morning, and finishing in the early hours of Sunday but we set to work. St. Patrick’s Church and school have been the recipients of many acts of charity over the years.
The Haney family were staunch Catholics who provided the land on which St. Pat’s is built. They also provided the marble altar. The two side altars were built and donated in the 1970s and the roof, which often leaked in the early days, was mended often, by a lone parishioner.
“What kind of Christian would I be if I did not help out another local church in need?”
Many early parishioners donated time and money over the years, but it was not only they who helped. When hooligans smashed the school windows one time, my husband, Dennis was in charge of maintenance on the Parish Council. The workman, who was a member of the local Baptist church, refused to charge for the repairs.
Another time when the school gym was badly in need of paint but the Parish hadn’t the money, the janitor at that time, who was a member of the Mennonite Church in Chilliwack arranged for a group from his community to spend the weekend helping him to paint the gym again without charging the Parish—a true act of Christian charity!
Originally handwritten for the St. Patrick’s 100th Anniversary Collection.